by Jenna Brandt
“Don’t talk about yourself that way, Tiff. None of that is true. Dad loves you and is proud of you. You can’t take any of what he just said seriously. He wasn’t even making sense when I talked to him. The disease is getting worse.”
“I wish I could blame the disease, but he’s been that way with me my whole life. He’s never believed women can do what men can do, and that’s never going to change.”
“Well, I believe in you, sis, and I know you’re doing an excellent job. I couldn’t do this without you,” Roger said, slinging his arm around her shoulders. “Now that we have that settled, I want to make sure you’re coming to church with us tomorrow morning.”
Tiffany nodded as they walked down the hallway and over to the elevator banks of the office building. She reached out and pressed the button to call the elevator car. “Of course I’m going. I’m glad you invited me to go to Journey Church last week. I knew something was missing in my life, I just didn’t know what until I heard the message by Pastor Greg.”
“It makes days like today a little bit easier,” Roger agreed.
“What’s wrong? Is Marcus still struggling at Marybell?” Concern for her nephew prompted her to probe Roger for details. “I thought putting him into preschool would be good for him, but not if it makes him feel like he doesn’t fit in. Maybe you should consider a private tutor?”
“I don’t think it’s because he can’t fit in, but rather, because he wants to pretend he can’t because he misses his old preschool. He thinks if he does bad, I’ll let him go back. Honestly, part of me wonders if I should.”
“Don’t give up, Roger, you’re doing the right thing. The other school was too far away, and his mother could have gotten access to it. He’s safer where he’s at now.”
Roger had gained full custody of his son, Marcus, but the boy’s mother continued to try to see him, despite the state deeming her unfit to have contact. She’d managed to avoid prison despite her drug charges when her powerful clients intervened, which just gave her all the more time to try to get Marcus back.
“Thanks, Tiff, I appreciate your support.”
“Of course, that’s what family is for.”
2
As Conrad entered the reception area of Boswell Oil, he prepared himself to see his enemy. It was going to be hard to pretend to be civil to the man, considering how much he despised Roger Boswell. But pretend he must if his plan was to be a success, and Conrad had put too much time, money, and effort behind it for it not to be the case.
“Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you?” a pretty brunette woman greeted with a friendly smile.
“My name is Conrad Gaines. I’m here to see Roger Boswell.”
The woman clicked a few buttons on a keyboard, then looked up at Conrad with a puzzled look on her face. “I’m sorry, Mr. Gaines, but I don’t see that you have an appointment with Mr. Boswell III.”
Conrad shook his head. “Of course, you wouldn’t. The appointment was set by Mr. Boswell Senior. There should be an appointment on his calendar with the details.”
The woman turned her attention back to the screen, clicked a few more buttons, then looked up at Conrad with a look of surprise. “So, it seems you’re right, Mr. Gaines. Mr. Boswell Senior did indeed make an appointment for you with Mr. Boswell III. I’ll have my assistant show you into the conference room while I let him know you have a meeting with him.”
A short, redheaded woman stood from the other side of the reception desk, saying, “Follow me, Mr. Gaines.”
They weaved through the back areas of the office building, turning down several halls until they reached a large room with glass windows and a large table with over a dozen chairs.
“You can take a seat anywhere. Can I get you any refreshments while you wait?”
“No, I’m fine for now. Thank you,” he said, deciding to stand rather than take a seat. He didn’t want to be caught off guard when Roger entered the room.
“If you change your mind, all you have to do is press the call button on the phone and I can come right back in. My name is Kari, and I can get anything you need.”
The way she said anything made Conrad realize she was implying more than just a drink or snacks with the word. Though she was a pretty woman, Conrad didn’t get distracted by pretty faces.
“I’m quite content to wait without further attention.”
“I’m sorry, I just want to make sure I make your time with us pleasant. It’s not every day we end up with someone as well-known as you in the office.”
“I’m surprised you’ve heard of me,” Conrad confessed. “I make it my ambition to stay out of the limelight.”
“That’s kind of hard to do, when you’re Manhattan Magazine’s #2 most eligible bachelor.”
He had forgotten about that ridiculous list. When they informed him they wished to put him on it, he asked to find out who else made it. When he found out he would be knocking Roger Boswell completely off it if he accepted, he did it out of spite. Never did he realize it would haunt him for months after the fact, bringing him all sorts of unwanted attention. He had taken to saying he wasn’t available, simply to keep the vultures from circling.
“Don’t believe everything you read.”
A look of disappointment crossed the woman’s face before she looked down at the ground. “I hadn’t heard you were dating anyone. My apologies for not being as well informed as I thought I was,” she said, before exiting the room.
Conrad was alone only momentarily until Roger came bursting into the room, with a strikingly gorgeous blonde woman right beside him. He had done his research, and assumed it to be Tiffany Boswell, the second child and co-COO of Boswell Oil. Their father hadn’t mentioned her being present, but he wasn’t worried about being outnumbered. He had an ironclad agreement on his side, signed and notarized months ago.
“What do you want? Why are you here?” Roger demanded with a narrowed glare. “I was told my father set up a meeting for me with you, but for the life of me, I can’t fathom why.”
“I’m here to inform you that your father has made a deal with my company to integrate our solar technology into your new solar energy division.”
“You must be mistaken. We’ve only recently started looking into the expansion of our company in that direction,” the blonde woman countered.
“You’re mistaken. I started working with your father a couple of months back. He mentioned that his children were firm believers that solar power was the way of the future. He wanted to diversify the company and we began working out the plans to move in that direction.” Conrad looked from one sibling to the other, then added, “With his need to take time off to see to his health, he decided it was time to involve others in the matter.”
“I don’t believe you,” Roger stated firmly. “You must be trying to gain information through this meeting, but let me assure you, it won’t work.”
“I’m not sure why your father hasn’t informed you before about our agreement, or why he didn’t tell you about this meeting, but everything is in order. I have all the documentation here,” Conrad explained, pulling out a stack of papers, placing them on the table, and sliding them across to the other man.
Roger picked them up and started glancing through them, then handed them off to the woman next to him. She did the same, then they both looked at him with distrust.
“We’ll have to have the company’s lawyers look into this matter. Considering our father’s health, I’m not even sure these are legal,” the woman accused.
“I can attest that they absolutely are, and you won’t be able to break the terms. However, they’re beneficial to your company, so I’m not sure why you feel the need to contest the plans.”
“Though both my brother and I agree the best course for our company is to move towards producing sustainable energy, there are far more amiable partners we would prefer,” the woman declared. “We won’t be doing business with the likes of you.”
“You can see yourself out,” R
oger chimed in. “We’re done here.”
Normally, Conrad would be offended by the attacks he was receiving from the Boswell siblings, but considering his history with Roger, it wasn’t surprising. He knew it was going to be difficult, which is why he set up the final measure to ensure their cooperation.
Conrad raised his finger to the siblings, waited for his phone to ring, and then placed it down on the table with the speaker button activated.
“Roger, Tiffany, I’m making this call so you are aware, Conrad Gaines has my full support in the solar technology acquisition and integration. We were working on this deal before I started to turn the reins of the business over to you. I hadn’t mentioned it because quite frankly, I didn’t know if Mr. Gaines would be able to follow through on his end of the agreement. As it turns out, he’s delivered everything he promised and then some.”
“You certain you know who you’re dealing with?” Roger asked his father, the distrust and irritation clear in his voice. “You might have wanted to talk with me about this first, Dad, since I had many dealings with Mr. Gaines during college.”
“Roger, you’ve only proven useful to the company recently. This deal was already set in motion long before that. As for your dealings in college, I have no need to hear about youthful antics and troublemaking. You had your fair share as I recall, so we are all going to let bygones be bygones and move forward in the spirit of making both our businesses even bigger successes.”
“We can have the head of mergers and acquisitions handle the integration,” Tiffany explained. Giving Conrad a weary glance as she added, “You don’t need us managing this.”
“On the contrary, this is critical for the future of our company, Tiffany, which is why I’m tasking you with overseeing it. You will be directly working with Conrad Gaines until the integration is complete.”
“Why me?” she squeaked out, as if appalled. “Can’t Roger do it?”
“No, I need Roger to oversee the rest of the business to make sure we keep producing a sizable profit. You can focus on this, since as of right now, it’s our smallest venture.”
A look of hurt crossed the pretty blonde’s face before she quickly masked it. “As you wish, Dad. I’ll make sure that the solar energy division will be the best in the world when I’m finished with it.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Just make sure it’s not a waste of our resources,” her father ordered. “I’ll leave you three to finish going over the details.”
Boswell Senior disconnected from the call, leaving the room in an awkward silence.
Conrad decided to be the one to speak first. “I think we should sit down and go over the details.”
Both of the Boswell siblings did as he suggested, resigning themselves to the fact they were going to have to work with Conrad.
Tiffany was furious with the situation. She couldn’t believe her own father put her in it. The man sitting across from her was insufferable, and though she hated to admit it, pleasing to the eye. He had features that made him extremely attractive, with a strong jaw, an angled nose, and chiseled frame. Add to that, his thick head of dark brown hair and matching eyes, and any woman could be swayed to his side. She had to remind herself, Conrad wasn’t just any man though. He was the enemy of her brother, and thereby her entire family, including her.
The man had a reputation as being a shrewd businessman, and she wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to boss them around at their own company during the process. Add in the fact that he didn’t get along with her brother, and this couldn’t be a worse predicament during a critical time of transition. She needed to bide her time until she could find a way to get rid of him.
“You both understand the first steps in what we need to do to make this work, correct,” Conrad said in a way that made it more of a statement rather than a question.
The way he took possession of the room and acted like he was in charge made her want to spit fire.
“You do know I have a degree from Harvard business school, don’t you?” Tiffany pointed out, wanting to make him understand she was more than capable of comprehending the basics of any business plan.
“I do, but this is your first actual job, isn’t it? Perhaps it would be good for you to let a more seasoned expert navigate this process,” Conrad countered.
She hated the fact he thought he could question her merit for being there, that he had the audacity to make it seem like he had more of a right to run her family company than she did. If he thought he could push her around, he was mistaken.
“If you can show me said expert who knows how to integrate solar technology into an oil company, I would be happy to defer,” she stated snidely. “Until then, I’ll be taking lead, and if I deem your advice useful, I’ll take it.”
Roger let out a chuckle, leaning back in his chair. “Conrad, you might have come in here thinking you were going to be able to bulldoze right over us, but you were completely mistaken. Tiffany Boswell is a force to be reckoned with.” Standing up from his chair, he added, “Since I can see my sister has this well in hand, I’m going to take off. I have a fiancée and a son waiting for me to take them to dinner.”
Once they were alone, Conrad folded his hands on the table, then jerked his head towards the door Roger just exited through. “I can see he hasn’t changed; still trivializing everything important and playing it off as charming.”
Tiffany narrowed her eyes with anger. “I’d be careful what you say about my brother. Our entire company is loyal to him, as I am.”
“Really?” Conrad probed, rubbing the stubble on his chin as if he didn’t believe her. “I’ve heard the whisperings that many doubt your brother capable of doing this job, though watching you in action, I’m starting to wonder if it’s simply the fact everyone’s been focusing on the wrong Boswell sibling. You might be the only salvation left for this company.”
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere with me, Mr. Gaines, nor will your attempt to cause division between me and my brother. We’re each other’s biggest supporters; you won’t be able to come between us.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Conrad said with a smirk. “I was simply giving my observations.”
“They hold little weight since you’ve known me all of an hour,” she replied dismissively. Wanting to get as far away from him as possible, she added, “Let’s finish this up. I’ve got other more pressing business to attend to.”
As they continued their meeting, all Tiffany could think about was how much the smug man infuriated her. It was going to be a hard several months being forced to work side-by-side with him. She wasn’t even sure how she was going to do it, then she remembered she could ask for God’s help. Silently, she sent up a prayer, knowing she was going to need every ounce of grace and patience God could give her.
3
It was definitely a two cups of coffee morning, Conrad decided as he stood from his chair in his home office. He headed down the hall and made his way into his modern kitchen which had every gadget imaginable, but he seldom used them except for coffee. He hit the button on the state-of-the-art espresso machine and waited for it to brew the beans into a shot and then let it add steamed-milk to the top.
He took a long sip. Ah, perfection. It was so worth the investment of getting the machine they used at The Brew House. No more running to the coffee shop around the corner from his apartment building in order to get his fix of the delicious drink.
Conrad made his way back into his office and took the seat behind his desk once more. The numbers for his solar company’s first quarter since acquiring the new technology were impressive—far better than he could have hoped for, which meant it would look just as good to the Boswells. He moved over to the merger plans for his panel technology into Boswell’s solar energy division, wanting to make sure he was ready for Monday morning.
Tiffany Boswell’s pretty heart-shaped face came floating into his mind, and he realized given different circumstances, he would find himself wanting to ge
t to know her on a personal level. Considering she was the kind of distraction he didn’t need; he would have to make a concerted effort to keep his relationship strictly business. He knew some men who were fine with using a woman to get what they wanted, but Conrad wasn’t like that. He wanted revenge on Roger, but not by using his sister romantically to do it.
A ding drew his attention to an alert that popped up on his computer screen. Was it the score of the latest football game? He wasn’t an avid sports fan, but he did enjoy watching an occasional game. Plus, it was always important to stay current on the latest news and cultural activities for when he had social events for business. He needed fodder for the endless trivial conversations the elitists liked to droll on about.
He clicked the alert and a video started playing.
“Today on Entertainment Now, we have an exclusive interview with Brian Stone, a former employee of Gaines Energy. Mr. Stone worked directly for Conrad Gaines, the owner and CEO of the largest solar energy company in the world, and the most notorious Manhattan billionaire.”
Conrad hit the pause button and inhaled sharply, his stomach knotting in dread. Whatever Brian had to say, it wouldn’t be good. He had been one of his earliest hires for the company, with him from the very beginning when he was still living and working in a small Brooklyn apartment with five other guys he had hired to help him. All of them were gone now for various reasons, but Brian’s departure was the hardest. Conrad had hated firing him after he got caught sleeping with one of their clients. Brian had insisted it wasn’t a big deal, but Conrad explained it reflected poorly on the company, especially because the client had been married. Brian had sworn revenge; this must be how his former employee planned to get it.
He pressed the button, unpausing the video and letting the reporter continue. “Known for his ruthless business tactics and keeping his private life out of the spotlight, the now infamous footage of the billionaire getting angry is our most viewed video of all time.”