Façade: A Billionaire Single Dad Romance

by J. J. Bella

  She knew he was doing this on purpose, making her look like a stupid woman. She was not going to play that game. “Oh, but you ‘big boys’ are too busy with hundreds of business ventures to care much about this small business, isn’t that right? Seems to me, sweetheart, that the last time you made a deal like this, the company was shut down in months, employees out of work, owners without a steady paycheck. And conveniently, just a few weeks after the date you guaranteed in your contract that you wouldn’t sell the company. Just wondering, William, Henry, how many months did he give you a guarantee for?”

  William and Henry looked at each other. William’s eyes narrowed and he said, “Eighteen months.”

  “Then you can bet in nineteen, Jack Goods will be no more. But don’t take my word for it. Google ‘Tate Enterprises Sells Hinds Hardware.’”

  They exchanged looks again.

  Dalton held up his hand to explain. “That was a very different situation than this one. I can assure you that selling Jack Goods is not in our plans.”

  “Right now it’s not,” Henry said.

  “Why not make it five years then?,” William said. “Ten years? Eighteen months isn’t very long.”

  Dalton ground his teeth. “Eighteen months is standard. Five years is absurd. Unheard of.”

  “Not with RS Company.” Sierra sat back in her seat and grinned.

  “We’re going to have to consider this more carefully,” Henry said. “If either of you wish to change your proposal, send it to us. Until we see your best offer, we can’t sign anything.”

  “Come on, Henry,” Dalton said. “Don’t let a little girl—err, sorry, little company—get in the way of you making real money. The sooner you sign, the sooner retirement starts.”

  “We need to consider all sides of this,” William said. “We’ll be in touch.”

  He stood, then Henry stood. They held out their hands, signaling that the meeting was over. Sierra waited for Dalton to leave, then she gave them each a two-handed shake and her assurance that they would do their best for Jack Goods.

  2

  Sierra pushed open the door of the conference room, feeling confident that they would win in the end. Dalton showed his true colors in that meeting, and they had to see what a jerk he was. She’d make them the best deal she could. Anything to make this deal happen.

  She stepped out of the conference room and felt a hand grab her arm. She turned to see Dalton Tate glaring at her.

  “Get your hands off me,” she said.

  “Then get your hands off my business.”

  He still hadn’t let go of her. “All’s fair in war, sweetheart.”

  “It’s ‘love and war,’” he said smugly.

  “Not in my world. I don’t have time for love. But this is war. I will win this deal, and Tate Enterprises is going down, you can bet on that.”

  “Oh, yeah?” He leaned closer to her ear.

  She could smell his cologne or aftershave. She didn’t know which it was, but she didn’t want to admit it smelled good. It was a shame that such an arrogant prick had to also be so good looking. Why couldn’t the nice guys also be the hot ones?

  “Let me tell you something, Sierra.” His deep voice was hard and serious. “If you get in my way, you will regret it. I’ll make sure of it.”

  “Is that a threat?” She glared at him. “And by the way, if you don’t take your filthy hands off me right now, you’ll be facing a sexual harassment suit on top of everything else.”

  He removed his hand, but stayed too far into her comfort zone. “Consider yourself warned.”

  “Consider yourself warned right back. This isn’t the end. RS Company will run Tate Enterprises into the ground.”

  He starting laughing and she walked away, her head high. He could laugh all he wanted. Her company would come out on top, no matter what he thought. His company was too big to pay attention to the needs of the smaller companies like Jack Goods. She’d make sure William and Henry knew it, then she’d make sure every other company out there that they might buy out knew it, too. RS Company would be top dog, best in the industry. And Dalton and his money would fall to second place.

  Instead of driving home like she had planned, she headed to the office. She’d already talked to Tom, her business partner and co-CEO of RS Company. She entered the building and went right to his office.

  “We need a plan,” she said. “I want to take Tate down.”

  “Don’t we all,” Tom said. “What happened today?”

  Sierra went through in full detail everything that had been said at the meeting, including Dalton’s warning after.

  “He better never lay his hands on you again, that’s for sure.”

  “I will call the cops next time,” she said. “The scandal alone would cause him trouble.”

  “Not enough. And I don’t want to beat him like that.”

  “Me either. But it’s an option. So, how can we do this?”

  “Well,” Tom said. “First Jack Goods. We need to make them a sweeter deal. Offer things Tate can’t possibly and make sure to point out where they’ve failed in the past. Then”—he slid a folder across the desk to her—“this is where we go next. There are ten companies in there. All of them, Tate has their eye on according to my source.”

  Sierra flipped it open and looked over the paperwork. “These are good. Great start. But it will take more than this to bring them down.”

  Tom chuckled. “We have to start somewhere, don’t we?”

  She let out a sigh. “I guess. Let’s get on these.”

  Sierra sat in her office for hours—on what was meant to be her weekend off—researching. When she’d finally closed her computer hours later, she’d found several more companies that were a possibility for a takeover. And plenty of dirt on Tate Enterprises and Dalton himself, that would help her.

  The building was dark as she locked up. Nothing new, but after her encounter with Dalton earlier, it had her a bit more cautious. One thing she’d found on him was an alleged assault. The charges had been dropped—a payoff, no doubt, but it made her pause. He might be more violent than she thought. Maybe his threats hadn’t been too empty after all.

  Walking out to her car, her paranoia heightened. She felt eyes on her, watching her as she walked across the lot. The feeling was so strong that she reached into her purse and closed her hand around her pepper spray. It made her feel safer, and once she got into her car and turned out of the parking lot, the feeling of being watched faded. She needed this weekend off more than she knew.

  3

  After analyzing and reanalyzing the meeting that day, Sierra had made up her mind about one thing. She needed to have the same camaraderie that Dalton had somehow achieved with William and Henry, the owners of jack Goods. She didn’t have fishing in common with Henry, but there had to be a way to make friendly with them. She’d do whatever it took.

  The next morning, she composed an email that she sent to both owners:

  William and Henry,

  In light of our latest meeting, I’d love to take you both out to dinner to chat a bit about what could make the deal sweeter for you. There is nothing RS wouldn’t do for Jack Goods, and I’d like the opportunity to prove it. Tell me the day and time that’s good for you.

  - Sierra Saunders

  She hoped the email would work.She’d call Monday morning if she had to and schedule something with them. At first, she planned to bring Tom along, or maybe even Jeffrey, who’d worked on this deal with her, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew flying solo would be the way to win these two.

  As it turned out, she didn’t have to wait until Monday to make the call, or even until the next week to have the dinner. They responded hours later, saying they were free that night, Saturday, and had requested a specific restaurant. Sierra would have taken them somewhere even nicer, but if this is what they wanted, then so be it.

  She dressed purposefully for the meeting, choosing something tight and low cut. It was goin
g to take all she had to win this, and she had a few things Dalton Tate could never hope to have. She’d use them all to the best of her advantage. She glanced in the mirror, satisfied with her black dress and the way her dark hair fell over her shoulders. With red high heels, the seductive look was complete.

  Sierra arrived at the restaurant several minutes early. This game was all about impressions. If she showed up before them, and sat waiting, it showed them something. She was taking the time to meet with them and hear them out, do what they needed for their company.

  While she waited, she looked over some numbers. Jack Goods’ last year sales, their projected sales this year. Dismal numbers. Compared to how RS Company looked, it was clear that Jack Goods needed more than a little help. She also reviewed their latest contract and the notes she’d taken from Tom on what they planned to change to make the deal better. She had all this information fresh in her mind when they walked in.

  “Hello, gentlemen,” she said, shaking each one’s hand as they sat, and smiling at them. “I’m so glad you could make it tonight. I’ve been talking with my partner, and we’re ready to do whatever it takes to make Jack Goods successful.”

  “I know you are, Sierra,” Henry said. “But you have to understand that Dalton gave us pause.”

  “He made us see that we were worth more than what RS Company wanted to pay,” William said.

  “We believe that the value of a company goes far beyond just a price tag. It’s also about the time and money we’ll invest in the long run. We’re willing to do what you asked, which was to keep you both on as acting CEOs, to keep all your employees, and not break up the company or resell it. Tate isn’t going to do that. Oh, and we’re also willing to pay you more up front. You have to look at the whole package, though, not just one part of it.”

  “That’s why we didn’t sign with him, either,” William said. “Sometimes he makes sense—”

  “I am starting to rethink having us be so involved,” Henry added. “It might be nice to retire.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” William said. “If us retiring means they take over everything and destroy the company, then what good is that?”

  Henry shook his head. “At some point, we have to realize that it’s time to move on from what we started. We made it successful, then we ran it into the ground, and now we need a bailout. Maybe we should retire and let someone make it into something better than what we could.”

  Sierra decided to jump in before this became an argument. “I hear what you’re both saying, and these are valid points. It doesn’t have to be one way or the other, though. What if we put something together that let you both mostly retire, but still have a say in how the company works?”

  They looked at each other, then back at her.

  “Go on,” William said.

  “We could create a board and put you at the head. In the board’s charter we could add a term that says nothing major happens without your approval. But, you wouldn’t have to be involved in the day-to-day running of things.”

  “I think I like this,” Henry said.

  “It could work,” William said.

  “Great. Then what else do we need to do to convince you that RS is the best option for Jack Goods?”

  “What can you do on the buying price?” William asked.

  “We can come very close to matching what Tate Enterprises offered you. But I don’t think you can put a price on everything else we’ll be doing over the years. When you add it all up, we’re offering much more.”

  “We’ll have to think about it,” Henry said.

  “What’s to think about?” she asked. “Two handsome, intelligent men like you know exactly what you want. If you think you’re going to take this offer back to Tate and get something more, you’re wrong. He’s going to lie to get to you to sign, and if you don’t read every inch of fine print, he’s going to ruin everything you worked for. Do you really want to trust that? Or would you rather trust the ones who were there first, willing to help you out when you needed it and no one else would listen?”

  Before she knew it, the dinner was over. They’d barely paused their discussion to order and eat, and by the time they’d finally agreed to sign a new contract with RS Company, the food was gone, as were several drinks. She shook their hands and called Tom on her way home to tell him the good news.

  “We got them,” she said.

  “Great work. Let’s get that new contract written up immediately and have them sign before Tate can get in the way.”

  “Absolutely.”

  When she got home, she went straight to work making adjustments to the contract. She emailed it to Tom before finally heading off to bed.

  4

  Monday morning, Sierra gathered her things to head to the office. She needed to drop off the contracts first thing so they could be properly drafted. Then they’d printed on triplicate paper and ready to sign. They had a meeting with William and Henry to sign the new contracts later that week.

  She slipped the papers into her briefcase, then drank down the rest of her coffee. With her purse on one shoulder and her briefcase in her hand, she headed out the front door to her car.

  As she closed the door behind her, she heard a noise beside her in the brush. When she looked, she didn’t see anything strange. She figured it must just be an animal climbing a tree or digging in the ground for something to eat.

  The feeling of paranoia that she’d felt leaving the office returned, however. She looked around several times as she walked the few feet to her car. She unlocked the door, wishing she had another free hand to put on her pepper spray.

  With the car door open, she leaned in to put her purse and briefcase on the seat beside her. As she stood back up, a hand clamped down over her mouth.

  “Don’t make a sound,” a deep male voice said.

  Sierra’s heart raced a million miles a minute, but she managed to keep quiet. Oddly, his hand on her mouth helped her not make any noise—she knew she wouldn’t get a full scream out anyway.

  She tried to think back to her self-defense class. She jammed her foot down hard onto her attacker’s foot. He grunted in pain and pulled harder on her mouth, tilting her head back.

  A cold, thin object was pressed to her throat. It took a moment for her to realize it was a knife. He was holding a knife to her throat. Maybe he’d kill her.

  She struggled again, trying to break free, trying to use her elbow to jam it into his soft stomach, but the harder he struggled, the harder he held her. The knife started to sting at her throat.

  “Stop struggling, or you’ll end up doing my work for me,” he said.

  She stood still when she felt a small drip trickle down her throat.

  “Listen very carefully.” His mouth was at her ear, so hot it tickled the inside of her ear. “You will cancel the deal with Jack Goods. You have 24 hours to back out or I will kill you and worse.”

  He moaned and pressed his pelvis into her backside. “Do you need help imagining the ‘worse’ part?”

  She could feel that his dick was hard, and it made her both faint and sick to her stomach. She shook her head carefully, so as not to get cut further.

  “The ‘worse’ part will definitely come before the killing part. I’ll draw it out and make you bleed from every inch of your body. And that’s after I’m done with it. Got that?”

  She nodded, tears tripping down her cheeks.

  “24 hours.”

  The hand was suddenly gone. She spun to see a man dressed all in black disappear into the bushes beside her house. She wanted to run after him, pepper spray him, and turn his knife on him, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to pull something like that off.

  Instead, she got in her car, put it in reverse, and slowly backed out. When she was out of sight of her house, she grabbed her phone and tried to dial 911, missing the numbers once before getting it right.

  “911, what’s you emergency?”

  “I’ve just been attacked.”

>   The woman on the other end of the line asked her many questions and Sierra gave as many details as she could recall about what had just happened. When she arrived at work, she sat in her car for a moment, trying to gather herself before going inside.

  One glance in the mirror told her that wasn’t possible. There was a bright red line at her throat, clotting now with blood. Her cheeks were tear-stained, her eyes puffy and red, and she looked as pale as the moon.

  The police would be on their way soon to take her statement. She decided to make a run for it the best she could. She hurried inside, thankful it was still early and most of her employees hadn’t arrived yet.

  With the door closed to her office, she felt safer. She cried quietly until there was a call for her. The police were there to see her. She told the receptionist to show them to her office.

  She sat them down and explained again what had happened to her. They wrote notes and asked questions, then asked more questions. They took a photo of the bruises and cut on her throat. They asked if she needed medical assistance, which she did not. But there was one question that stuck in her mind long after they’d left.

  “Do you have any idea who might have done this? Do you have any enemies or anyone that might wish you ill will?”

  Her first reaction was to say no. But then one name and one face came to mind. Dalton Tate. He had reasons to attack her. She had threatened to destroy him, hadn’t she? He’d already grabbed her once and threatened her. This was just the next step. The thing he was doing now that a new deal was sealed.

  She told the police in no uncertain terms that she believed Dalton was behind the attack. Not that he had done it himself. No, no. He had way too much money to get his hands dirty like that. He’d hired someone. And now she had to act fast.

  If Dalton had made the threat, then he really wanted this deal to go his way. Only one thing would stop this from getting any worse.