The Billionaire's Gentle Rescue (The Sisterhood) (7 page)

Chapter 3

Zoe woke the next morning feeling as if she were trapped. Not the same feeling as the day before though. This was a much more crazy kind of trap. Hunted, she thought as she pulled on a pink, wool dress with a stiff collar that framed her neck and face. No more conservative suits, she though as she added several chains of gold, adding the perfect classic touch to the outfit. She pinned her hair up on top of her head, clipped on small gold earrings and a pair of gorgeous pink flowered heels. Yes, today was going to be a very different day.

She practically skipped down the back staircase to her workroom and smiled at the early birds who were busy sewing or packing up orders. “Good morning!” she sing songed to Debbie when she arrived with two cups of coffee.

Debbie eyed Zoe’s flashy outfit and smiled. “I’m guessing from your attitude that it’s going to be a very good morning.” She pointed in the direction of Zoe’s office. “Let’s talk!”

Zoe laughed and walked into her office, closing the door when Debbie followed. Zoe leaned against her desk and took a sip of the hot coffee.

“Let me guess. The police arrested the bastard and you’re getting all your money back, no worries and we’re staying in business until at least the next crisis.”

Zoe grimaced. “Do you have to ruin the day?”

“Shooting too high?”

“Definitely,” Zoe laughed. “But, I’ve found an investor who is willing to front the money so we’re still in business.” Zoe swallowed hard after that statement. Having said it out loud made it much more real.

Debbie gasped and stood up. “That’s fantastic! Are you kidding? Who is it? And what are the terms? How did you do this so quickly?” She hugged Zoe enthusiastically, barely managing to keep the coffee from spilling all over the gorgeous pink wool dress. “Oh, wow! I’ve been sick with worry. For you as well as for me! I didn’t want to find another job with the competition!”

“Good! You won’t have to.”

“Excellent! Tell me the details.” She sat back down and waited, eagerly waiting to hear how they were going to weather this storm.

“Your husband’s boss actually is our white knight. Apparently your husband mentioned something about our predicament to Marco DiAngelo and he showed up and offered to loan us the money.”

Debbie’s smile faltered. She stared at Zoe for a long moment before shaking her head. “Are you kidding?”

“No. Why?”

Debbie took an unsteady breath. “Because Marco DiAngelo doesn’t take over companies. He’s famous for tearing them apart and selling them off.”

“He’s done that in the past with companies that were too weak to survive. But in our case, he wants to build something, to loan us enough so that we can grow and expand more rapidly.”

“Why is he going to do that?”

“Because we’re a good investment.”

“Hogwash!” Debbie came back adamantly. “That man doesn’t help anyone but himself. He pays my husband a good salary, but he also works him to the bone, driving harder and harder. There are nights Michael sleeps at the office because he’d been working too long to make it home. I’m telling you, you don’t want to get involved with Marco DiAngelo. He’s worse than a shark. He’s like…like…”Debbie struggled to find the right words to describe what Michael went through working for his boss and what they did to other companies. “He’s like a swarm of piranha but he does the same amount of damage all on his own.”

“He’s not going to break us up this time. He’s going to help.”

Debbie wasn’t convinced. “Why doesn’t Michael know about this?” she asked suspiciously. “Michael is in on all the major acquisitions, doing the due diligence prior to any sale.”

Zoe faltered on that issue. “I’m not sure. Maybe we’re not a major acquisition?”

Debbie guffawed at that. “You can say that again. The last company the DiAngelo Group bought was worth over one point two billion dollars. That’s billion, with a ‘B’. Why would Marco step in and save our little operation?”

Zoe suspected she knew the reason Marco was interested in them but was loathe to explain. Looking at her friend, she knew she had no other option but to tell her. “I knew Marco when I was younger.”

Debbie eyed her skeptically. “How much younger?”

“I was only eighteen, he was twenty eight. We’d met at a pool party for one of my friends,” Zoe explained, not proud of what she’d done back them. “We were testing our wings, trying to figure out the world and I met him. He was tall, dark and handsome and we hit it off instantly. We went out on a couple of dates but by the third one, we kissed.” Zoe stopped, her mind traveling back to that night, her body tingling just at the memory of how incredible it had felt to be in Marco’s arms, to feel his body press her against her beat up old car, to feel his muscles, to anticipate the kiss she knew was coming. And when his lips touched hers, she’d actually seen stars, and rockets and fireworks. The whole shebang.

Debbie laughed softly. “Earth to Zoe. What happened?”

Zoe blinked, not realizing she’d zoned out during the telling of her story. “Um….” She blushed and stood up, sifting through the papers on her desk. “Well, a few days later, I saw him with another woman and I never heard from him again.”

“He never called to explain? Or even to gloat?”

“I never went back. I couldn’t handle it. Years passed and here we are today.” She didn’t go into how devastated she’d been over the betrayal, or the fact that she’d never found anyone who could stir her the same way, always finding her dates lacking.

Debbie sighed and stood up. “So here we are, and we’re about to get into bed with a shark.”

“I thought you said he was a piranha.”

“I said he attacks like a swarm of piranha. Not that he personally was one. There’s a difference. And now that I think about it, it would be more appropriate to call him a shark now instead of a swarm of piranha. Sharks eat anything they can find. And Marco is now going to gobble you up.”

Zoe shook her head, ignoring the sexual reference that she wasn’t sure Debbie had meant or not. “He’s not going to gobble us up. He’s just investing and helping me be able to pay the staff.”

“Are you sure?”

Zoe bit her lower lip. “You’re making me nervous.”

“Good! Caution is always appropriate when swimming in infested waters. Be careful that you don’t jump from the frying pan directly into the fire by letting Marco into our business.”

Debbie had a very valid point. She didn’t want to deal with Marco personally, and maybe professionally she needed to take a step back.

Someone stuck their head in the office doorway and asked a question. “I’ll handle this,” Debbie said quickly. “You make sure you know what you’re doing.”

Debbie walked out and Zoe continued to bite her lip, worried now that she was doing something monumentally stupid. Why would Marco want to invest in her company? It was small potatoes compared to what he normally dealt with. Was he trying to use her company for a strategic takeover or something like that?

Taking the business card out of her purse, she dialed the number. His secretary answered immediately. “May I speak with Marco DiAngelo? Just tell him it’s Zoe.”

She was immediately transferred and Zoe’s heart rate increased as soon as she heard Marco’s deep voice. “Have you opened up the bank accounts already?” he asked.

Zoe hesitated for only a moment. “I think we need to talk about this a bit more.”

“What’s there to discuss? You need financing, I need a good investment. We’re going to grow your company together.”

“Yes, but that’s what I don’t understand. Why would you be bothering with a company as small as I am? You normally deal with larger companies and takeovers that require months, sometimes years of negotiations before everything is settled.”

“So this will be a refreshing change. Why don’t you come over to my office and we’ll talk about it?”

Zoe loved the sound of his voice. It got all soft and husky when he invited her over. But this was business and she needed to stay focused. “Let’s talk about it over the phone,” she countered.

“We can discuss it better when you get here. I’ll even have George on standby so he can set up the appropriate accounts once we’ve dealt with all of your concerns. I’ll see you in…” he hesitated as if he were looking at his watch, “Twenty minutes?”

“No, Marco…please, I don’t want to come down there.”

“Why Zoe?” he said, and again, that voice just melted her insides. It was all coaxing and soft, as if he knew she was afraid to be alone with him and he was trying to be reassuring. But that was crazy, she told herself. He couldn’t know that much about her, and especially couldn’t read her mind over the phone.

“Because I think it would be easier, due to our past, if we make this less personal.”

He chuckled. “Our past is the only reason this is going to happen. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

Again, he hung up the phone, leaving her staring at the speaker as if it were a worm.

Then she realized that Marco was on his way over here. Soon!

She hurried out of her office and found Debbie but couldn’t pull her away since she was dealing with a vendor. Zoe realized that this might be about money, perhaps a cash on delivery order, so she let Debbie handle the issue and slipped back into her office.

The only escape she could find was sketching. She picked up her drawing pencils and started making lines, losing herself in the fall and sway of the artistry in making her fall line. When she finished one idea, she moved on to the next, and another, not really getting the idea she wanted exactly correct on paper. She was working hard when she felt rather than heard Marco’s arrival. It was as if the air started sparking with electricity and she looked up to find him standing in her doorway.

“That was fast,” she said softly, loving the way his dark gray suit looked on his tall, muscular frame. Today he wore a yellow silk tie which only increased how dark his skin and eyes looked.

He glanced at his watch. “It was twenty minutes exactly.”

Zoe sighed and put her pencils down. “I guess so.”

“Why don’t you show me around?” he suggested, walking into her office looking relaxed and confident, and Zoe was relieved to have something to do other than try and argue with him about investing.

She took him through the sewing and cutting rooms, introducing her to several of the team members, all of whom were very excited to meet a man as handsome as Marco, giggling in their obvious interest. Zoe tried to ignore their blushes and giggles but by the end of the tour, she knew she was standing a bit closer to him, a subtle signal that he was off limits.

Leading him back to her office, she took her seat behind her desk in a defensive position. “Okay, I don’t have any other options so tell me what we need to do first.”

“First, you need to talk to George and get the bank accounts opened up,” he explained and dialed a number on his cell phone, putting it on speaker. “George, this is Marco. Is everything set up like we discussed earlier today?”

“Yes, sir. I just need to type in some business information from Ms. Parker and I can courier the forms over to her place of business for her signature. Once that’s done, the money can be transferred over. All the vendors on the list you sent me earlier today have already been notified of the change.”

Zoe looked up at Marco, not sure if she should be irritated that he’d gone ahead with the transition even though she hadn’t been completely on board or if she was impressed with his efficiency. Remembering that she didn’t have any other alternative, she gave George the information he asked for, then fifteen minutes later, a courier was handing her the bank documents, waiting for her signature before rushing them back to the bank.

Twenty minutes after that, she was standing in Marco’s office, receiving a thick contract which she was told to bring to her lawyer for review before signing it. At her blank look, Marco sighed and made another phone call, then gave her directions to a lawyer’s office in Manhattan, along with the address. “Go now, ask all the questions you can think of and tell the lawyer to put your concerns into the contract so that you feel secure moving forward with this partnership. Once you’ve gotten the terms to a point where you’re comfortable, then come back and I’ll sign them. We have more plans to make.”

By two o’clock that afternoon, Zoe was almost dizzy with how quickly things had moved. The lawyer had gone through the contract and explained the terms, which were exactly how Marco had described to her yesterday, along with the six month term limit. The lawyer cautioned that she would be required to go along with Marco’s marketing and distribution ideas. Zoe didn’t really understand what that meant, but she signed the papers anyway, unable to think of anything to add. The contract stipulated that, if Marco didn’t grow her business by fifty percent within the six month period, he would owe her the remaining revenue as a buyout clause. The lawyer explained that the contract terms were basically all in her favor so Zoe felt much more relieved after the conversation.

During the cab ride back to Marco’s office, she went through everything the lawyer had said, and came to the conclusion that Marco was simply taking on this project as a way to prove to himself that he could succeed in the fashion industry, one area he hadn’t yet tackled.