‘Cheers, Rach.’ Jason laughed. ‘You do wonders for a man’s ego. I’m okay,’ he assured her, noting that she actually looked extremely concerned. He should have spoken to them sooner. He couldn’t have. He’d been incapable of thinking coherently, let alone communicating.

‘Could’ve fooled me,’ Mark said, narrowing his eyes as he looked him over. ‘That place stank like a bloody distillery after the last time you were in.’ He nodded towards Jason’s office.

‘Yeah. I, er… Drowning my sorrows.’ Jason shrugged an apology. He wasn’t about to share why he’d consumed enough whisky to risk alcohol poisoning – not all of it anyway. He needed to convey the outcome of his meeting with Robert Fenton though. He’d been going to do that straightaway, but then he and Karla had ended up having a blazing row in front of them. He just hadn’t had the heart since, for anything. ‘I need to have a word,’ he started reluctantly. ‘About the financial backing I was hoping to secure.’

‘We know,’ Mark said, before he could continue. ‘Paul Edwards called.’

The key client who’d gone elsewhere? Jason looked at him curiously.

‘He was also worried about you,’ Rachel supplied.

‘Decent of him.’ Jason tried not to, but he couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit cynical. An extra week was all they’d needed to get the customer-fronting software right, he’d been sure of it. He’d asked Edwards to give him a few days. The guy had turned him down. But then, that was business, he guessed. ‘And?’ Sighing, he pulled up a chair. Exhaustion was catching up with him. If he didn’t sit down, he was sure he’d fall over.

‘He told us, confidentially, that your delightful father-in-law had backed Logic Solutions,’ Mark went on, his expression now bordering on contempt.

Jason flinched inwardly at the mention of the man as his father-in-law. ‘Right.’ He tugged in a breath. ‘So you know we’re stuffed then? That is, I am,’ he clarified. ‘You two need to be looking around. Use whatever you need to here, and if something comes up, grab it. You don’t need to work any notice. That goes without saying.’

Feeling emotional, Jason stopped. Mark had turned down the offer of a well-paid position to work with him. Rachel and Mark had always given more than one hundred per cent. Jason felt as if he was stuffing them both.

‘Finished?’ Mark asked, pushing his hands into his pockets.

Jason smiled ruefully. ‘It definitely looks that way.’

‘Not quite,’ Mark said, walking across to perch himself on the edge of the desk. ‘How would you feel about me buying the business?’

It took a second for that to register, then, ‘What?’ Jason squinted at him.

‘Delirious, obviously.’ Mark clearly noted his incredulity.