Page 21 of Hate to Crave You
Roman
Roman was torn been smilingabout how the night had gone and scowling because Julianna had rushed out of there before they could fit in a morning fuck.
He had hopes of at least one more chance with her since she’d agreed to go to the gala with him, but he wasn’t sure if it would happen or not.
If she found out—
He cut the thought off before it could finish. He had to stop brooding over his actions. He’d done what was necessary to secure the future for his family’s company as one of the top jewelers in the world.
If the prototype Templeton had bragged about was truly everything he’d made it out to be, then the Montrose family had to be the ones to win the bid.
Spying his father through the glass walls of the family boardroom, he smiled and tipped his coffee cup in greeting. He also took note of those two people with Michael Montrose, both company employees. One of their top gemologists, Meredith Chin, a Chinese woman in her fifties with sharp brown eyes and an even sharper sense of humor. She rarely let it out of the box, which made it all that much more cutting. Roman’s smile widened as he saw her. He’d always liked Meredith. She inclined her head in greeting but continued her conversation with the senior Montrose. The third person in their room was another one of their top people—a member of one of the science teams, although Roman couldn’t remember his title. His name was Douglass…something. Roman rarely had reason to meet with him and the man hadn’t made much of an impression on him.
Idly, he recalled some of the questions Julianna had fired off at Edgar Templeton and he suspected that Julianna would remember exactly what the man’s title was, if he’d been one of her employees, and she could explain exactly what his function was.
Roman would have to be honest—some of the more scientific aspects of the business bored him senseless. He could follow the science and tech well enough, but he found it uninteresting.
He wondered if the geological surveys and the dry data that lie behind the glamorous face of the gem and precious metal industry was something that would appeal to Julianna.
He didn’t know and he found that he was irked by that lack of insight.
And he didn’t know why in the hell that was the case. He wanted to know more about her.Everything, a small voice inside him whispered. He silenced it because that wasn’t going to happen. Their brief time together was already almost over.
Pushing his way through the boardroom doors, he greeted everybody and sat down across from his father.
“Were we able to find out what we needed?” he asked in lieu of greeting. His father wasn’t one for small talk and Roman had learned by example.
Michael gestured to Meredith and she turned her gaze toward Roman. “It’s an interesting prototype for certain, and I can see where Templeton had reason to be excited.” A grin tugged at the corner of her lips and she offered an elegant shrug. “I would have liked a bit more time with it, to be honest.”
“I hear abutcoming,” Roman said.
“You do, indeed.” She gestured to Douglass. “Fenwick did the majority of the testing since we were so pressed for time and it was the tech aspects we were most interested in at the moment.”
Fenwick,Roman reminded himself. The man’s last name was Fenwick. Turning to Douglass Fenwick, he cocked a brow and waited.
Douglass pushed his glasses up his nose, his pale brow beaded with sweat despite the coolness of the room. “Meredith is right. The prototype is interesting, but it wasn’t what I would have expected from the tech arm of Templeton Legacy. I have to say I was excited to get my hands on it, but…” Reaching for the material in front of him, he shuffled the papers, then flipped through them, clearly checking for something. “It was a bit of a disappointment.”
“Cut to the chase, Fenwick,” Michael said, cutting Roman off before he could suggest the very same thing.
“The prototypedoesmake improvements on current treatment methods,” Fenwick said, bobbing his head deferentially at the head of the Montrose enterprise. “But it’s nothing that we can call a game changer. Clarity is improved marginally…” He checked his papers and rattled off a percentage, then gave a few more details, ending with a shake of his head. “After learning about the changes that Templeton brought to the precious metals industry, I was expecting something along that scale. But that’s not what we have here. Maybe in a few more generations, or if they’d invested more time…” He shrugged. “And that’s not to say our people can’t improve on it. But even then, I don’t see it turning into a game changer.”
“I get it. Templeton was overstating things,” Roman said shortly.
“I’d say so.” Meredith took over and glanced at Michael for a moment. When he gestured at her, she continued. “Roman, your father briefed me on the details of the talk with Templeton and while the mines themselves are a huge benefit, it seems he was trying to sweeten the pot with this tech. I wouldn’t even take it into consideration while putting together the bid you’ll make on the mines—those mines need to be your main concern when bidding.”
“Understood.” Roman met his father’s eyes, then nodded at the two employees. “Thanks for the time you put into this. Why don’t you take the day off and get some rest?”
His father frowned at him, but Roman didn’t take back the offer.
Hell, they’d stayed up most of the night doing rush tests on the damn thing. He was a little tired himself, but he’d had a chance to rest in between bedroom antics and dinner with Julianna. With a faint smile, he mused that his part in the whole charade had probably been the most enjoyable. It still left a sour feeling in his gut, but what was done was done.
After Meredith and Douglass left the room, Roman looked at his father. “How do you want to proceed?”
“Dig into the mines. Make sure they’re worth what we think they’re worth,” Michael said, reaching for the phone on the desk. He punched a button and when a woman answered, he said, “Sybil, send Geoffrey down.”
Geoffrey Adams was the CFO.
The request had Roman arching a questioning brow at his father.
