Surrendered(33)

“Mr. Hardy. How are you?” I smile wide as I take a seat opposite him.

“Lilly.” He mimic’s my smile. “You are looking as lovely as ever.” Hardy seems to dance the line of professional and over friendly, but not enough that you could ever accuse him of anything untoward.

“Thank you. I wasn’t expecting to see you today.” I prompt him. I don’t have time for chit chat, and I’m totally unprepared for this meeting.

His lips twitch in an amused smirk. “I have some urgent business that I need you to look over. I tried to speak with you earlier in the week, but you were away.” I don’t know why, but I get the distinct impression he’s digging.

I smile politely. “I apologise. My colleague Mr. Walker was able to help you though was he not?”

“Of course. I just prefer to deal with you.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “With all due respect Mr. Hardy, I really thought you would rather deal with somebody else after our last conversation.”

“James, please.” He tilts his head slightly, his dark eyes regarding me carefully. “And as for that, you were just doing your job. I understand that your hands are tied in such a situation. That doesn’t mean that we can’t work together.”

Men like Hardy, don’t like being denied in any way. Maybe he’s just here to prove a point. Maybe he’s just determined to work with me, to feel as though Theo didn’t get one up on him. I nod. “Okay. What is it that you have for me?” I say reluctantly. If I can keep both Theo and James Hardy as a client, Simmons may just double my salary. Well, not literally, but it would make him very bloody happy. I do owe the old guy.

“There is a company that I want. It is being made available for public auction on Monday. Everyone who is anyone will want shares in it. There are parts of it that when stripped off, could be very profitable. However, with the right push, it could also be expanded into a billion pound business.”

“Okay, so you want me to draft a proposal.”

He nods. “Yes, but more than that, I need you to try and find a partner for me.”

I frown. “Partner?”

He flashes me a crooked smile and runs a hand through his dark hair. “In order to buy these shares, it will require a large financial input, more than I can justify to my board.”

I tap my index finger against my bottom lip. “How much are we talking?”

He shrugs one shoulder. “Roughly forty million.”

I blanch, waiting for him to laugh. He doesn’t. “You’re serious.” I stutter.

“Remember, with an investment of roughly eighty million, this could be a billion pound business.”

I blow out a breath, shaking my head. “Surely you’d be better at finding someone yourself? I don’t have contacts with that kind of money.”

He cocks his head, a small smile kicking up the corners of his lips. “Don’t you?”

There’s only one person with that kind of money that I know. One person that he knows I know. One person that I am sure as shit not about to ask for forty million from, and certainly not for Hardy. I got the distinct impression Hardy doesn’t like Theo, so why would he want to be in business with him? I narrow my eyes at him. “No.”

He leans his elbows on the massive table, pressing his palms together in front of him. “Think on it Lilly, and please bare in mind, that I will of course broker you a fee for finding such an investor.” Basically, he wants to pay me to get Theo on board. I start to speak but he cuts me off, obviously reading the scowl on my face. “We have a meeting scheduled on Monday. Think on it. Perhaps make some calls. I’ve already emailed you the company’s portfolio.” With that he stands up, smoothing his perfect suit.

I grit my teeth, resenting the fact that he is trying to use my private life to get what he wants. He pauses just before he reaches the door. “Think of it like this Lilly, if you can pull this off, it will exponentially boost your career, I will make sure of it.” And then he’s gone. Fuck him and his manipulative fucking business deals.



It’s almost five o’ clock when I get a text from Theo: ‘Hey, sugar. You about this evening? Xx.’

I smile and send him a quick text back: ‘I’m at the office. I can’t see me leaving for at least another couple of hours. Sorry. Xx.’

He doesn’t text back, and I assume he’s just busy with something. He’s probably at the office as well. Truth be told, I really have no idea what he does half the time. I mean, he runs businesses. I know his main business is advertising, but I really don’t know what that actually entails. As far as I can tell, he really just oversees stuff, whilst other people run the companies.