Page 22 of Merging with the Billionaire

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 suggesting, 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 Nowwill 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 are largest contract, aren’t they, Miss Boswell? What are we going to do?”

---