A Forever Love(54)

Tasmina Tadasai, that was the reason Aubrey had left? The reason she’d called it quits after the night they had shared. She was ridiculous. He’d thought so much more of her. She was a businesswoman, smart and quick and astute, but deep down inside she was just like any other woman, filled with insecurity and petty jealousies. How absurd. He hadn’t mentioned his evening at the Met because as he recalled, there’d been nothing to mention. Of course page six had reported him escorting Tasmina. He’d been one of the wealthiest and most available bachelors in the country at the time, and she was one of the wealthiest heiresses in the world. But their evening had been about business, much like his leaving now was business. His decision to leave today had nothing to do with his personal feelings or desires and everything to do with what needed to be done to protect Travati Financial.

There was Max. Heading down the steps. He wouldn’t expect Justin, as he’d been riding home with Dolby all week, but Justin had contacted Dolby’s mother to tell her that he’d pick up Max today. He pressed the button and lowered the window of the Range Rover.

“Max!” Justin called and waved to his son.

Max’s head swiveled toward the sound of Justin’s voice and a smile flew over his face. Justin’s heart exploded with the look on Max’s face. Of course they were developing a relationship and they seemed to be getting on well, and yes, Max did call him dad, but it was in this moment with the effortless smile that Justin thought he might for the first time understand what it meant to be a father. Max walked toward the car, waving good-bye to his friends, the smile still plastered to his face.

Then it hit Justin like a full load of bricks to his head. He would cause that smile to fade and possibly fall. He would cause his son, in this next few minutes, to question his newfound father’s devotion and his importance in Justin’s life. Then Justin would leave him and fly away in his private jet, and Max would most assuredly wonder if Justin would return for him as he’d promised. But they had no history, there was no precedent upon which Max could rely. He’d only have his father’s word, a man he’d just met. Justin suddenly understood all the things Aubrey had said and why. Suddenly it was all painfully clear.

“Hey, Dad,” Max said and pulled open the car door. He slid into the seat and plopped his books onto his lap. “Thanks for picking me up. I didn’t expect you.” He said it as though it were a pleasant surprise, as though Justin had made his day by simply showing up, and perhaps he had.

Justin’s chest tightened, and dammit, a lump thickened his throat. Max pulled at the seat belt and thrust it into the clasp.

“So what’s up?”

Justin put the car in drive. Suddenly this conversation didn’t feel as though it was easy or painless or uncomplicated. Suddenly the very idea of disappointing his son simply for business seemed like the worst decision in the world.

“Max,” Justin started and cleared his voice. “There’s something I need to ask you.” He carefully pulled into traffic.

“Okay,” Max said. He pulled his phone from his back pocket and scrolled down the screen, looking for any important text or picture he might have missed during his three-hour enrichment program.

“It seems there’s a problem at home.”

“The farm?”

“No, I’m sorry. Not that home. My home, your other home, or what I hope someday you’ll think of as your other home.”

“Uh-huh,” Max said, his focus still obviously divided between his phone and his father.

“There are two major deals falling apart, and it would seem one of your uncles needs help. Leo, my brother, can’t get back from Dubai until end of week, possibly next, and Anthony is in China for another seven days.”

“Guess it’s good we’re going back in three days.”

Justin took a deep breath. How to explain to a fourteen-year-old boy that seventy-two hours was seventy-two hours too long? “Yes, well, that’s the problem. This problem in New York can’t wait.”

Max looked up from his phone. Slowly his face turned toward Justin. And the smile was gone. The happy, effervescent smile that had indicated how much Max loved his father had disappeared from his face, and with it came the horrible guilt Justin had never felt before, a deep, leaden creature that collapsed his belly and tightened his limbs. Never had he ever felt as though disappointing another human could cause him so much personal pain.

“If it’s okay with you, I need to return to New York today. Now. After we go back to the farm.”

“Oh,” Max said. He set his phone on his books and stared out the windshield. “Right. I mean sure. I understand.”