Page 4 of Merging with the Billionaire

“If you change your mind, all you have to is press the call button on the phone and I can come right back in. My name is Kari, and I can getanythingyou 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 your 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 starting 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,” Roger 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.”

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