Maid for the Billionaire(40)

"You are more than I hoped you could be when I first heard of you," Zhang said.

Abby felt uncomfortable with the praise. "I'm not making any promises, Zhang. All I'm saying is that I'll talk to him."

Zhang took a small cellphone out of her jacket pocket and read a text message. She said something beneath her breath that Abby could only guess was profanity. "My source with the Minister reports that we're out of time. The negotiations are not going well. Stephan Andrade, an old rival of Dominic's, has just put in a last minute counter bid for the contract. We might have been able to sway the decision with the backing of the Foundation for Women, but it looks like your man might be bankrupt before he's given a chance to prove your opinion of him correct. My source says the Minister will announce his decision today. The international media is already gathering."#p#分页标题#e#

Abby's heart broke for Dominic. To have built up such an incredible company only to lose it in one business deal, it hardly seemed fair or possible. "Does Dominic really have that much to lose in this deal?"

"Dominic chose some influential investors. If the deal fails," Zhang said, "they will freeze his assets. It will be the beginning of the end for him, then."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Abby pleaded.

Zhang seemed to think it over, then she said, "No, but there might be something you could do." She spoke to the driver in Mandarin directing him to head toward the commercial center where the Minister was. "An old proverbs says, 'There are many paths up the mountain, but the view is the same.' If my plan works, Dominic is not going to be happy with you, but the women of China will thank you and perhaps your man will forgive you when he becomes one of the most influential men in the world."

Abby's stomach did a painful summersault. "How do I know I can trust you? How do I know any of this is true?"

Zhang studied her for a moment. "You don't and you are right to tread carefully. A mistress does not get involved in her lover's business, but we both know you can be more than a vacation plaything. If you love Dominic, you are going to have to stop being so afraid and start acting like the strong woman he needs—or you will both lose everything."

"I don't…" Abby's voice trailed away.

She did.

She did love Dominic.

Crap.

One of Zhang's eyebrows arched in disbelief as the words Abby hadn't realized she'd said out loud echoed through the limo.

"I need to talk to Dominic," Abby said urgently.

"No time. If you call him out of that meeting, Andrade will have his contract signed before we can even get there."

"Why can't you do this?" Abby asked in desperation.

"They'll never let me into the conference area. They, will, however let you see Dominic … especially if you say that you have an addendum to the contract that was left at your hotel and that Dominic needs."

"An addendum?"

"The additional provision asking for a government scholarship for women to be created and funded by the five percent profit from Corisi Enterprises."

"But I haven't had a chance to talk to Dominic about any of that yet. He won't understand why I'm doing it."

"You'll have plenty of time to explain your actions later, once you've saved his company."

"What if he won't agree to it?"

"He will." Zhang said as she quickly typed instructions into her cell phone. "He won't have a choice."





Chapter Fifteen





Something was not right. The Minister was reintroducing issues which had been resolved months ago. He was bringing in additional consultants to the meeting who where adding roadblocks at each step.



In the US, Dominic would have called him out for it, but the rules of exchange were different here. He wasn't about to lose everything because he couldn't hold his temper.

The general tension in the room told Dominic that more was going on in this meeting than was being discussed.

When the door opened and Abby walked in holding a small stack of papers, Dominic was sure that his body had succumbed to the stress of his job and he'd fallen into some daytime hallucination. She walked straight up to the Minister, bowed her head slightly in deference and put the stack of papers on the table before him.

"What is this?" the Minister boomed.

Abby answered in softly spoken Mandarin. The Minister began flipping through the papers even before she finished speaking. The Minister called over an advisor to read over the paper. He spoke briefly to two men on his right and seemed to come to a mutual agreement with them.

"Mr. Corisi, you would have been wiser to lead today's talk with this. Your offer is generous and your request would benefit many across China. I don't see a problem with the government agreeing." And with that the Minister signed the paper and began to sign all of the areas of the contract that required his signature.