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

by Zante, Lily

  “I don’t want a Daddy who makes you and me cry. I want someone kind like Mr. Stone.”

  “Honey,” she slipped her arms tightly around his small frame but he soon wriggled out of her hold. “Why can’t Mr. Stone be my Daddy?”

  Ok, enough madness. “Because he can’t, Jacob.” She lamented the lack of positive male models in her life. Apart from her father there were none. She had no brothers, and neither did Kay. They didn’t keep in contact much with her father’s side of the family and she had no male friends she could occasionally ‘borrow’ who would take Jacob to a game, or to watch a movie. And now to make matters worse, to remind him even more of what he didn’t have, Tobias Stone had stolen into her life, and into her son’s heart and had shown him, in vivid technicolor glory, the very thing that was missing from his life.

  “Why not?” Jacob persisted. “He was all by himself that day at the park, and we were all by ourselves and we had a good time together, didn’t we?”

  Damn Tobias Stone. She nodded, because she knew Jacob had had a good time, but she had to knock this nonsense out of his head. “It’s not as simple as that.” That meeting last week at the park had been freakily weird. “Jacob, I know he seems like a kind man.” At this Jacob’s face clouded over, “I mean, he is a nice man and he’s wonderful—“

  “You do like him, Mommy?”

  “What? No, that’s not what I mean.” She shook her head, worried that her son might get the wrong idea. “I’m saying he’s wonderful to work with,” she struggled to keep her chain of thought, “but our work life means he’s very important and everyone listens to him and I’m just one of the little minions. He’s in charge of hundreds of people.” She wasn’t sure where she was going with this, in her quest to put Jacob off.

  “He’s in charge of that many people?” Jacob asked, full of admiration. Tobias Stone just went up another notch in Jacob’s book. “I want to be just like him when I grow up.”

  Eager to change the subject, she told him, “People like Henry Carson don’t know that your Mommy loves you two hundred million times as much. I’m sorry you feel alone, Honey. But you’re not alone and it’s wrong of other kids to say things like that, but people sometimes say nasty things to other people because it makes them feel better about themselves.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “You did?” She replied, proudly, knowing that some of what she tried to pass onto her son had helped.

  “I told him he was being unkind because he had a big nose.”

  “Jacob!”

  “He has! It’s a real hooter.”

  “Jacob Samuel Page. That is being unkind, picking on someone because of the way they look. You don’t say things like that to other children.”

  “Why is that unfair? He was nasty to me because I don’t have a dad.”

  “You do have a dad.”

  “Not one who cares about me.”

  “He does…” She bit back on her tongue as Jacob buried his head in her shoulder. “Henry said my daddy didn’t love me, and that’s why it was just you and me.” His muffled words stabbed her heart.

  “Your daddy loves you but it was better for him to be alone, and for us to be alone. Don’t you agree?”

  He nodded and she ran her fingers through his floppy brown hair. It was darker than hers, more like Colt’s, but unlike his father’s, Jacob’s was fine and soft. “I like it here.”

  “I like it too,” she said, gently stroking the back of his head. It killed her, his worries and his sadness, especially over this.

  The divorce hadn’t been painful, not as painful as staying too long in the marriage, hoping things might get better. But what had hurt was the finality of it, that a partnership that was meant to last forever had been severed and a boy had been effectively left fatherless. She was doing her best for her son and trying to make theirs a life that wasn’t one full of struggle, but being a single mother had shown her the reality of just how hard it really was.

  Not that Colt had ever been there, much, especially in the later years, but if he’d been the same man she had married, even half of that man, they might have somehow survived. If the emotional abuse, and the times he had lashed out at her, had never happened, they might have had a chance.

  She was even more worried now that she had uncovered the worries Jacob had been carrying around on his tiny shoulders. In her struggle to make ends meet, she’d lost sight of the things her son desperately wanted; a home, a family, a father.

  “So when can we see Mr. Stone again?”

  Goddamnit.

  He coughed again and this time she heard the low rumble in his chest. “Jacob Samuel Page, did you wear your scarf and hat and gloves today?” It was the tone and his full name she used to express her gravity. Losing her married name and giving Jacob her maiden name hadn’t been as hard as she thought it might have been. She’d been determined that her son didn’t bear the name of a man who didn’t really want him.

  “Jacob?” His looking at the floor gave her the immediate and right answer. She leaned her head against his chest. “Does your chest feel tight?”

  He shook his head.

  “Can you breathe easy?”

  He nodded.

  “I don’t care how excited you are to go out and play, Jacob. You still have to make sure you put your hat and scarf on first, do you understand?”

  He nodded.

  “I can’t hear you,” she said, lifting his face up.

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  “And always make sure you—”

  “Have the inhaler on me. I know, Mommy.” He parroted the words she said all the time, fearful that one day he’d need it and not have it. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Can you read to me, Mommy?”

  “Sure I can. Come on. Brush your teeth and change into your PJs. I’ll be over to tuck you in.”

  “And read to me,” he reminded her.

  “And read to you.”

  He scampered away to get ready and she walked over to the coffee table where the laptop was and hit the keyboard, jerking it back to life. She re-read the email from the new agency telling her the company was interested in interviewing her, and that they would get in touch with her soon.

  Chapter 9

  “I still don’t trust him.” Tobias stared out of the car window, his brow creasing into tiny grooves.

  “You don’t trust Xian Yanling?” Disbelief echoed in Matthias’s voice. Tobias turned to face him. “No.”

  “Why the hell not?” his colleague asked, stunned. “We’ve been having meetings with him and his associates all week. You’ve been interested in him for a long time. You said yourself that Yanling is a big player in the Far East.”

  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 n
ot 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 repl
ied, 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.