The Gift, Book 3 (The Billionaire's Love Story) (7 page)

Tobias gave him a steely look. “I want to generate the best return for my investors but I’m not so sure we can do that by continuing to invest in China and Hong Kong.”

“You’re bullshitting me, now, aren’t you?” Matthias laughed nervously.

“I’m dead serious.”

“But we’ve spent the last week and a half in meetings with him and his associates. Couldn’t you have said something sooner? He thinks we’re in.”

“It’s too convenient,” Tobias replied, in a smooth voice. Ever since he’d been summoned into a hasty meeting with Yanling, his gut had told him that something wasn’t right but he’d persevered, in spite of his reservations and because Matthias had been adamant that this was a good deal for them both. Tobias had used the meetings to observe Yanling and his people and had come away with the notion that they were desperate. Watching the Far Eastern markets, as he had been doing in the last quarter, the falling share prices of the top companies spelled doom despite what Yanling and Matthias said.

“What’s too convenient?” Matthias’s voice balanced on the edge of laughter.

“Our deal falls through just before Christmas and a few weeks later Yanling’s here in the US demanding that I see him on the spot, and things are fine again.”

“It’s not just you. He’s seeing other companies too. He’s looking for more investment. Why wouldn’t he?”

“It’s the sign of a desperate man.” Tobias replied, grabbing his suitcase as Morris parked the car. Both men got out and walked into the Stone Building.

“Know what your problem is?” Matthias shot at him. Tobias didn’t care to know. Something didn’t smell right and he was going with his instinct. “Paranoia,” his friend continued. “You don’t trust anyone.”

“Its served me well up to now.” Tobias answered and then did a double take at the slim figure that hurried out of the elevator. Savannah Page rushed towards them.

Matthias stared in the same direction and let out a low whistle. “Wonder where she’s rushing off to.” She stopped in her tracks as if she had sensed that they were talking about her. Tobias could have sworn she blushed a little. She looked pretty damn good, he thought, raking his gaze up and down the length of her body. She’d done something to her hair. It looked tidier, straighter and shiny and the tousled look he was beginning to admire had disappeared. It was lighter too. And she was wearing cream. Was that a new coat? Rich brown wool, it was open at the front and she was belting it up as she walked.

She looked like a new woman. Not that there had been anything wrong with the other Savannah.

“Hey.” She glanced at them both, giving him a fleeting look. He hadn’t seen her since that first day back, and now the sight of her stole his breath away in little pieces. They still had unfinished business to deal with. Or rather,
he
did. But he’d been caught up with Xian Yanling and finding time to talk to Savannah still remained as elusive as ever.

“Look at you. New look?” Matthias waved his hand up and down the length of her body in unashamed admiration.
Way to go,
thought Tobias.
Now there’s a great way to embarrass her
.

“What? No!” She blushed furiously, just as Tobias had predicted, and then she avoided his stare, the second thing he had predicted. “January sales, and start of the year resolutions,” she said quickly, her eyes darting to the exit. “I’m in a rush, actually, and I need to go.”

“Then go,” said Matthias, leaning towards her and giving her one of his hungry looks which Tobias had come to know. “We must catch up at some point. Maybe drinks one Friday?” Matthias called out, as she sped off. “She looked like a different person,” he remarked as they stepped into the elevator.

“She looked the same to me,” Tobias commented, drily.

~~

With the second week at work almost over and with no further news from Briony about future projects, Savannah was getting anxious. The only light in her tunnel of doom was the interview she had been called for.

“I’ll make up the extra hour at the end.” She had promised Briony.

“You’re working late on a Friday night?” Briony had looked surprised. “You don’t have to.” True, she didn’t but it would be an hour’s wage that she would lose and given her recent shopping splurge, not to mention letting Rosalee talk her into getting her hair cut and highlighted from her hairdresser friend, Savannah definitely couldn’t afford to lose an hour’s wage.

But she had been more than happy with the outcome. For the first time in years, her hair had shape, and a long fringe which she swept to the side, though she wasn’t sure about the highlights yet. They seemed too drastic a move for her, and she had almost decided against the coloring, but the hairdresser had persisted, and because the woman’s own hair had looked celebrity-worthy, she had given in. The end result had been quietly spectacular, just the way she liked it, and lifted her hair from dull brown to brown with gold bits. It even made her eyes look brighter and more noticeable.

She’d had the new makeover done when she’d heard from the agency last week. “You sound perfect on paper,” the recruitment consultant had told her, “But ideally we’d like to see you in person to see if you’re the right fit.”

The only problem was that she had to squeeze in the interview during her lunch hour and she’d arranged for Rosalee to keep Jacob for an hour longer than normal so that she could make up the time.

She slipped on a plum-colored lipstick and pinched her cheeks. Any more makeup and she’d feel overdone. With that, she rushed out of the elevator.

But the first person she saw as she walked across the lobby was Tobias. That man would be hard to miss in a crowded stadium. He had that kind of presence about him. Tall and with a magnetism that seemed to get stronger each time she saw him, she knew she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t seen him, even if she rushed across the marble lobby super-fast. Eyes the color of gunmetal burned through her. It had been over a week since she’d seen Tobias, and only now that she’d laid eyes on him, did she acknowledge that she’d been looking out for him every single day since.

Snippets of conversation and information she’d extricated from Briony and the others told her that he’d been busy working on a deal with a foreign company.

She knew Matthias had seen her, the way he flashed a large toothy grin at her and she stopped to talk. Matthias commented on her appearance, and in the fog that now enveloped her brain—thanks to the way Tobias was silently looking at her—she mumbled something in return. She forced herself not to look at Tobias and feigned interest in everything his partner had to say.

This was crazy. Whatever
this
was. Tobias Stone had an effect on her that, as time went by, turned her into a throbbing and pulsating combination of bones and blood.

After a little while, she made her excuses and escaped; thankful to have gotten away unscathed.

She flew through the revolving doors and stopped to take a deep breath outside. It wasn’t the thought of the interview that had sent goosebumps creeping out all over her body. It was seeing Tobias.

Chapter 10

“We’re one of the top ten hedge funds in the United States. I want us to be in the top three by the end of the year.” It was an ambitious plan. After all, he was young compared to the other hedge fund managers who had been in this business for decades.

They all looked at him as a one hit wonder when, the year after Ivy’s death, his company started to creep into the top one hundred. Working like a mad man in order to cope with his grief had made him take more risks than he would have done. But it had paid off. Now Stone Enterprises looked like a strong contender. And he had bigger goals.

“We have the chance to attract new investors, and to offer more products, so we all need to be ready. That means you need to let me know if you need resources to help you. I don’t want excuses, I want results. Any questions?” He looked around the table at his management team as they sat in the glass conference room. Matthias to his right, smoothed down his tie and nodded back at him. On his left, Candace took the minutes of the meeting. Briony and the other managers shook their heads at him. He took this to mean a ‘No’.

He liked holding these weekly meetings last thing on a Friday. It meant the manager would be thinking and planning ahead so that their start back at work on Monday would be more action-oriented and not the usual slowly-getting-back-to-work-on-Monday mindset. Most managers would have held meetings on a Monday, but Tobias knew this would be the time when most employees’ thoughts would linger on what had happened over the recent weekend. Friday meetings, just before the end of the day, when most were anxious to leave, meant he had everyone’s full attention and there would be no needless discussion of points back and forth.

It worked like a charm.

“Then we’ll call it a day.” Everyone rushed to get up and leave, including Matthias. The room began to clear quickly and as he got his file and pen together, he heard Briony talking to Matthias. “I need to speak to you about segmenting the client data for your marketing purposes. I want Savannah to work on part of that project and we need to talk about budgets and timeframes sometime next week. The sooner the better.” Tobias’s ears pricked up at the mention of Savannah’s name and he listened intently while pretending not to.

“That’s a good idea,” Matthias replied, giving her an understanding smile. “We could do with an extra pair of hands.”

“Savannah would be working for
me.
I need someone helping me out,” Briony told him. “But an extra pair of hands, to collect the information and to enter it online would make for a more efficient process. She could help with the marketing effort as well.”

“Let’s talk on Monday. I have places to go and people to see,” Matthias replied, his tone suave and smooth. “Check my calendar and book me for the first available time on Monday. Let’s get together then.”

“Thanks and have a good weekend,” Briony replied.

“You too.” He turned to Tobias, “Don’t work all weekend.” Tobias nodded and he and Briony left the conference room together.

“You’re looking to fill a full-time position?” He asked.

“I am,” replied Briony. “I’m going to speak to HR. I know we can’t fabricate positions out of thin air and you need a case for hiring a new person and—”

Tobias cut in. “As I said in the meeting, I don’t want money or lack of resources to be a reason for our business not hitting its expected goals this year. I have high expectations and I’m aiming for a sharp increase in revenue. Nothing can jeopardize that.”

“I understand, Tobias. Savannah’s the person I have in mind—she’s working late tonight, as a matter of fact—but before I can put my case forward, I need to have ironed out exactly what I need. That’s why I figured if I can get Matthias to commit to the workload he’s assigned for me, which always seems to grow, over the timeline of the project, then I can justify her position.”

Tobias listened. “Don’t leave it too late,” he told her, as he entered his office. Closing the door behind him, he pressed the pressure points below his eyebrows and held it there, closing his eyes. Two weeks back at work already seemed like a month. He would work for a few more hours and then maybe order some food in once he got home. The thought of going back to an empty place held no appeal. Neither did going to a bar.

Savannah was working late, was she? Maybe now would be a good time to get it out of the way; the talk he’d been trying to have ever since New Year’s Eve. He wasn’t sure he wanted her working alongside Matthias, either, even though Briony had implied that she’d be working for her.

He didn’t like the idea of Savannah working for anyone else, period.

The offices emptied early on a Friday evening, at least they did on the 21st floor. Tobias offered big enough bonuses and incentives to his employees and he knew that on other floors, the offices would still be busy, Friday or no Friday. Yet senior management, who were already offered more than generous health and financial perks, cleared off faster than anyone else. As long as they delivered, he saw no reason to fire them.

He picked up his phone and called room 218. “Would you mind coming to see me?”

“Now?” She sounded surprised.

“If you can.”
I need you to.

“Uh—sure.”

He put the phone down and wondered whether he should have gone to see her, instead. He ran his hands through his hair and paced around the room, his nerves jangling in anticipation. A few moments later when she knocked, he opened the door to see her looking anxious.

Close up, her eyes were brighter and his gaze scanned over her fitted cream dress. “Hello”, she said, her voice almost a murmur.

“Hi, come in.” She threw him a quick glance and he could see something tighten around her eyes when she looked away. He closed the door, a lightning flash of heat piercing through his body, making his heart rate quicken as he admired the view from behind as she walked towards his desk. She was having that effect on him again.

This was not going to be easy.

He didn’t walk around to his chair but instead balanced on the edge of the desk, facing her and even now he could see that she looked hesitant as she wavered by the chair. “Sit down, Savannah, I won’t bite.”

Chapter 11