by Jenna Brandt
“I don’t have time to talk to you, Conrad. I have to go.” Tiffany said, continuing down the hallway. He must have sped up to reach her side, because the next thing she knew, he was reaching out to stop her.
“You should make time. It’s important.”
“It’s not, though,” she countered. “It was a mistake, one that I was stupid enough to repeat, but I won’t any longer. I won’t let you use me to get back at my brother.”
“That’s not what’s going on,” Conrad objected with hurt in his eyes.
“Oh, really? Should we ask Celeste how you try to use the women in my brother’s life to hurt him?”
Conrad’s eyebrows came together in a furrow. “What are you talking about?”
Tiffany squeezed the edge of her nephew’s backpack in anger. She needed to control herself. It wouldn’t be appropriate to fight with anyone, let alone Conrad, in the middle of the office.
Dropping her voice to a whisper, she seethed out, “Roger told me all about how you hit on Celeste at Lana and Bryce’s wedding.”
His eyes grew wide with recognition as he pressed his lips together.
“What, nothing to say? No witty comeback or defense?”
Conrad shook his head. “I’m not going to deny that. I did that. However, they weren’t together at that time.”
“Even if they weren’t, we both know you were doing it to irritate my brother. I won’t let you use me to do the same thing.” Glancing around with apprehension, she added, “This isn’t appropriate to be discussing here.”
“Can we meet up later then?” Conrad requested.
Tiffany shook her head. “No, that’s the last thing we should do. You need to understand, going forward we are strictly colleagues, nothing more.”
“You don’t mean that,” Conrad argued. “You know there’s something going on between us.”
There was no point in arguing with him further. He didn’t want to listen. Maybe some time apart would make him understand how serious she was about keeping it professional.
Tiffany brushed past him without looking back. If she stayed, she was afraid she would look up into those gorgeous brown eyes of his and she would find herself back in his arms instead of heading to her waiting Town Car. She couldn’t let that happen. She needed to get as far away from Conrad Gaines as possible.
8
A month had passed and Conrad barely saw Tiffany. When he did, she only talked about business and kept him at arm’s length. Part of him knew he deserved it. He shouldn’t have kissed her at work. It put her in a vulnerable position to be ridiculed and mocked by everyone else, not to mention it strained her relationship with her brother.
He had wanted to apologize to her, explain that he had the upmost respect for her, but in the beginning, he had worried it would sound like he was only trying to sweet talk her back into his arms. After some time passed, it became harder and harder to find the right time to bring it up.
Now, he wasn’t sure if it was going to ever happen since Boswell Senior had passed away in his sleep just two weeks prior. His death ushered in complete chaos when the public found out. The shares of Boswell Oil were plummeting, partners and customers were calling in and breaking off deals, and the company was in jeopardy of either going under or being susceptible to a hostile takeover.
Conrad’s phone buzzed, drawing his attention to the number. He recognized the out of country area code. It was Daniel Maddox, which only meant one thing, he wanted to put into action their plan to move on Boswell Oil.
Conrad had been putting off the other man for weeks, telling him the time wasn’t right. The truth was, Conrad had become less and less enthused about being involved in Daniel’s schemes.
He clicked the button, jumping the screen to video.
“Finally, you picked up,” Daniel said in a huff, running his fingers through his auburn hair. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were avoiding me.”
Conrad ignored the antagonistic comment. “What do you want, Daniel? It’s rather chaotic over here, I’m assuming it’s the same there in Indonesia.”
“Oh, it is,” Daniel confirmed with a chuckle, “And I’m loving every minute of it. These rich, entitled jerks deserve every minute of the misery they are receiving.”
“I don’t agree with that,” Conrad corrected. “No one deserves to lose their father to such a vicious disease as Alzheimer’s.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed as he snapped the pencil in his hand. “What’s going on with you, Conrad? It seems like every time I talk to you lately—when I can actually get ahold of you—you’re attitude towards the Boswells is softening. Have you changed your mind about our plan?”
Conrad wasn’t sure what to say, knowing that if he admitted he no longer wanted to go through with the takeover, Daniel would be furious. Conrad was also smart enough to know that if he confirmed the other man’s suspicions, it would tip Daniel off and then he wouldn’t be able to warn Tiffany what Daniel planned to do.
“I didn’t say that,” Conrad said, dodging a direct answer. “I think we need to figure out exactly when we are going to approach the board.”
“I think we need to do one more thing before we go to the board. We need to leak to the press what happened with you and Tiffany Boswell.”
“What are you talking about? Why would we do that?” Conrad asked with disgust. “We have enough to make the board side with us because of the financial problems the company is facing due to Boswell Senior’s death. We don’t need to embarrass Tiffany on top of it.”
“You’re wrong. They still might think the Boswell siblings can salvage the company, but if they find out that she was stupid enough to get romantically involved with a business partner, they lose all faith in her leadership ability.”
“It won’t make me look good either,” Conrad pointed out.
“We both know, the woman always looks bad in this type of situation, which is why it was so genius of you to plan it, Conrad. It was the exact ammunition we needed to get the Boswell siblings removed as head of the company.”
Conrad never thought about the fact that Daniel would want to use his indiscretion with Tiffany as a weapon. It was just one more reason why he shouldn’t have kissed her in such a public place. Why did he let his desire to be with her override his good decision making? Was it because he was falling for her? If that was the case, he needed to do whatever he could to protect her and her family.
“Why don’t you let me handle discreetly releasing the information to the press,” Conrad suggested, knowing he didn’t have any intention of actually following through on the task.
“Okay, but make sure to get the details to all the big ones. We want this information to go viral. Entertainment Now will want to pick it up because they love anything to do with you.” A loud screeching noise made Daniel shake his head as he let out a heavy sigh. “Stupid monkeys. I can’t wait until I get out of this place and get back to New York. People always act like the tropics are so great. Let me tell you Conrad, they don’t know what they are talking about. I hate this place.”
A vibration on Conrad’s phone alerted him it was time to go. He was scheduled to head into Boswell Oil to try to help with damage control. “I have to go, Daniel. If I don’t show up for my meeting over at Boswell Oil today, they’re going to know something is up.”
“Why? I’m betting there’s no work going on over there state side. Everything is suspended just like it is over here.”
“True, but I have to keep up appearances with Tiffany if we want the press to believe me about what is going on between us.” He hoped Daniel would buy his flimsy excuse.
Apparently, he must have believed Conrad because he nodded his approval. “Okay, don’t get into too much trouble.” Then with a wink, he added, “Actually, I take it back. Get into a lot of trouble. It will make the scandal even bigger when it hits the press.”
Conrad hung up the phone and quickly gathered his briefcase and keys. He needed to get over to
Boswell Oil and tell Tiffany what was going on. Part of him knew it was a gamble. There was a strong possibility she might hate him forever because of what he planned to do up until a few weeks ago, but if it meant keeping her from getting hurt, he was willing to take that chance. He might not end up with Tiffany, but he could at least do what he could to keep her from losing everything she worked so hard to keep.
Everything was done. The funeral was over, her father was in the ground, and Tiffany had just written the final reply to the last condolence card. Though she should feel some sense of relief that there was nothing left to do, she didn’t. Tiffany felt broken inside, like a piece of her was missing and she wasn’t sure if she would ever feel whole again now that her father was gone.
Tiffany glanced around her parents’ penthouse. Dozens of bouquets of flowers and baskets of food lined every surface available. What was her mother going to do with all of this? It would be best just to donate all of it to a local hospital. Her mother didn’t need any of it, and frankly, wasn’t in any condition to deal with the well-meaning gifts. Other than for the funeral, her mother refused to leave her room, and was surviving simply on a strong dose of prescription drugs and tons of sleep. It wasn’t ideal, but Tiffany wasn’t sure what she could do to help her mother besides pray.
Tiffany spent the next hour making the phone calls and arranging for the items to be picked up and delivered to St. Augustine’s. Next, she went and checked on her mother, who was sleeping, then left strict instructions for the maid to make sure her mother ate at dinnertime. She didn’t need her mother getting sick on top of everything else going on.
Her final task for the day was to go in and make sure Boswell Oil was still standing. Despite her best efforts, the company was floundering, and she needed to figure out a way to get it stabilized before it was too late. She gathered her purse and briefcase and headed out the door.
Twenty minutes later, Tiffany arrived at the office, to find everyone running around like the sky was falling.
“What’s going on?” Tiffany inquired as she came up to the front desk.
“Portman Transportation just announced they’re moving their accounts to a rival oil company. Everyone is in a panic,” the receptionist explained with a worried look in her eyes. “They’re our largest contract, aren’t they, Miss Boswell? What are we going to do?”
“We’ll figure it out, Kari. Is my brother here?” Tiffany hoped Roger was there so he could help her figure out a strategy to stop the company from hemorrhaging customers.
“Yes, he just arrived a few minutes ago. He’s in the main conference room with the other executives.”
That was good. For once her brother was taking this seriously. They needed to pull together if they were going to keep from losing everything their father had built for them.
“Tell my assistant to hold all my calls until the meeting is over.”
Kari nodded, jotting down the information before rushing towards the back of the office building. Tiffany hurried to the conference room, knowing there was no time to waste.
“Roger, I understand why you think that would work, but a simple email won’t fix this,” Harry Stine argued. “We’ve already tried that.”
“But if it was from Tiffany and me personally, wouldn’t that make a difference?”
“No, it’s not going to make enough of a difference to stop customers from leaving,” John Wen pointed out. “We need to figure something else out.”
“What if we do a video?” Tiffany suggested, entering the room. “We can send it out to all of our customers, along with a detailed plan of how we guarantee to meet production and demand.”
Harry rubbed his chin as he tilted his head in contemplation. “That could help. Not sure if it will be enough on its own, but it would be a step in the right direction.”
Tiffany pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. “I just told my assistant to handle the details. We’ll have a crew here within the day to prep and shoot the video. What else can we do?”
“Maybe the company should consider hiring a public relations expert. I know we have a regular P.R. Rep that handles day-to-day situations, but I’m talking about one specifically trained in handling problematic situations like this,” Roger suggested. “Didn’t Dad know a few reps that were really good at it?”
Tiffany frowned, then shook her head. “He probably did, but I never came across the information when I went through his files.”
“How do we find one then?” Roger probed with frustration.
“I can help with that,” Conrad said from the door, coming into the conference room. “I have a couple I’ve worked with over the years. They’re the best in the business.”
“What are you doing here?” Roger asked, folding his arms across his chest. “We aren’t working on the solar division until we get everything else settled.”
“I came here to offer my help,” Conrad explained.
“That’s not necessary,” Roger rejected his offer firmly.
“Hold on, Roger, it couldn’t hurt to get his opinion on all of this. He’s seen companies in this situation before. He might very well be the best person to give us some insight,” Eli Smith countered.
“Before we get into all of that, is there any way I can talk with Tiffany and Roger,” glancing around the room, he added, “alone.”
Roger looked over at Tiffany, who nodded her acceptance. The other dozen people left the room.
“What is it that you want to discuss, Conrad?” Tiffany asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs next to her brother.
“I came here to warn you about something,” Conrad said, placing his briefcase on the desk. He opened it and pulled out a stack of papers. He slid it across to the siblings.
“What’s this?” Roger asked, flipping through the documents.
“It’s proof that one of your executives, Daniel Maddox, has been working to undermine and then takeover your company.”
As Tiffany skimmed the contents, the one thing that stuck out was the name of the other sender/recipient of the emails. Her eyes snapped up at Conrad in anger. “Your name is all over these secret emails. You wrote several of them and helped make the plans to take over our company.”
Conrad nodded. “I could have tried to keep myself out of it, but I want you to know the validity of what I’m telling you. Daniel Maddox wants to destroy both of you and take what’s left of Boswell Oil for himself.”
“And let me guess, you were more than willing to help him,” Roger seethed out in rage. “I get that you and I didn’t get along in college, but to resort to trying to destroy my family’s legacy as retaliation seems a little extreme.”
“Says the spoiled bully who never had to fight for anything in his life,” Conrad countered. “I earned my spot at Yale, but you were handed your spot because of your daddy.”
“Typical, someone who doesn’t come from means resenting someone who does. You want to blame all your problems on me.”
“Not all of them, but definitely the ones that happened to me while I was in college. If it had just been words, it would have been one thing, but you tried to get me kicked out of school when you and your friends tried to frame me for cheating.”
Roger eyes grew wide with shock. “That wasn’t me. I didn’t even know that happened.”
“Right, you had no idea,” Conrad mocked.
“Contrary to what you might think, I wasn’t aware of everything my friends were doing. They probably didn’t tell me because they knew I wouldn’t have approved. It’s one thing to tease a guy or make fun of him, but it’s a whole other to resort to ruining someone’s life.”
“You shouldn’t have been involved in any of it,” Tiffany defended. “You’re lucky you’re a different person now, Roger, because I wouldn’t want to be around you, let alone work with you, if you still behaved like that.”
“I’m telling you, I didn’t have anything to do with them framing you.” Giving Conrad a sympathetic look, he added, “I’m sorr
y that happened.”
Conrad nodded. “I guess that makes me a little gladder I came here to warn you.” Looking over at Tiffany, he added, “The real reason I came though, was that I wanted to make it right for you, Tiffany. I’ve grown to respect you over our time of working together, and it was the reason that I started dragging my feet with the takeover. I stopped responding to most of Daniel’s emails or calls, hoping to delay his plans until I could figure out a way to stop him.”
“Why should we trust anything you have to say?” Roger questioned. “You could be saying all of this to get us to trust you so you could take us down from the inside.”
“I could have done that weeks ago,” Conrad pointed out.
“It’s true,” Tiffany defended, though part of her knew she wanted it to be true because she still cared for Conrad. “He didn’t have to come here and warn us. If he wanted to, he could have destroyed us, or simply sat back and watched the company go under. Instead, he’s here offering to help us.”
“I want to make it right, for the both of you. I was wrong to get involved in Daniel Maddox’s schemes.”
“Don’t think this means I’ve forgiven you and I won’t be watching you,” Roger warned.
“I wouldn’t expect any less, but I’ll do whatever I can to minimize the damage.”
“What do you suggest, then?” Roger inquired with reservation in his voice.
“I have a plan,” Conrad said, pulling out another stack of papers. “We’re going to expose Daniel to the board, unveil Boswell Energy and the new solar division to the world, and make you the poster family for clean energy.”
9
Two weeks had passed and the crisis at Boswell Oil—now Boswell Energy—was averted. The plan that Conrad revealed to the siblings did its job, removing Daniel from the company and effectively excluding him from getting a position with any other company, salvaging the siblings’ and company’s reputation, and establishing Boswell Energy as the newest force in the industry.