Billionaire ultimatum

Chapter4

Jessa

The day turned worse at precisely 2 pm.

Damien walked into the Lowe Inc. office building, his presence immediately catching everyone's attention. The ladies around especially, were smiling even wider than Anna had the day before.

On a normal day, Jessa would reprimand a guest for not making an appointment beforehand, but this was no ordinary visitor. Her fate, quite literally, rested in his hands.

"Mr. White, this is a surprise. I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

The binder of the merger proposal was still clenched in her hands as she stood up to receive him. Anna was not here today— Jessa already learned from her mistake the first time.

“Call me Damien. Something tells me I’ll be seeing a lot more of you.” Damien came up behind her. Gingerly, of course, because how else could he make it clear that he was annoying?

Jessa could not decide whether that was a good thing or not.

"I apologize for the sudden visit,” he continued, taking a seat opposite her. “I've been thinking about our previous meeting."

"You have? That's... unexpected."

"Indeed. I must admit, you intrigued me. That doesn’t happen often."

“Am I supposed to be flattered?” came out before Jessa could bite her tongue. The edge of Damien’s mouth curled up for the first time today. “Mr. White—”

“Damien. I insist.”

“Damien.” Tight smile. “Why do I intrigue you?”

“I don’t think you want to know that.”

Damien shamelessly raked his eyes up and down her figure— at least as far as the desk allowed —and that was all Jessa needed to know.

“That’s inappropriate, Damien,” she told him, rolling her eyes.

The subtle innuendos in their conversation only intensified the atmosphere. Damien's gaze remained locked on Jessa's, and he seemed unrelenting in his pursuit of pissing her off.

The smirk widened. “I didn’t even say anything yet.” The glint in his eyes turned into one of fake innocence. “What were you thinking?”

Jessa's heart raced. She ignored it. "Are you here to give us a second chance?"

"Precisely. I believe Lowe Inc. has a little potential to thrive. Perhaps I could to explore the possibilities of a collaboration."

Damien was saying the right words, but his eyes were amused. Jessa hated that it got her flustered. It was like there was something underlying what he was saying— something only he knew.

As Jessa and Damien sat in the boardroom, the s****l tension between them was undeniable, lingering just beneath the surface like an electrifying current. They both tried to focus on the business at hand, yet their mutual attraction simmered in the background.

His gaze didn't waver as he focused on her. His voice lowered before growing more intimate.

"I appreciate your willingness to reconsider. Our software uses a unique natural language processing algorithm, allowing it to understand and respond to customer inquiries with unprecedented accuracy.

“It can adapt to various industries, making it highly versatile. A collaboration with your company would be a significant opportunity for us. It’s a win-win situation."

His eyes remained on her, not wavering once as she spoke. "Interesting. Innovation is a key factor in today's business landscape. What kind of projects are you currently working on?"

"We're focused on a new AI-driven software that has the potential to revolutionize customer service in various industries. It's a project we believe could be a game-changer."

The boardroom seemed to shrink around them. There was a charged atmosphere, an unspoken tensity that simmered beneath the surface. Their eyes locked across the table, as the air crackled with an energy that neither of them could ignore.

Damien's eyes lingered on her, his tone suggestive when he muttered, “I like it when you get all bossy.”

He couldn't help the surge of desire as he recognized these unspoken cues. It was a living, breathing entity, and it was clear that Jessa was not immune to its pull. Damien was tempted to see just how far this dance would go.

Her voice was steady, but she couldn’t help getting lost in his deep blue eyes. Jessa could have slapped herself. What the hell was wrong with her? “We've worked hard to improve and refine our operations since our last meeting.”

"I can see that, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. Lowe Inc. seems to be in a slightly better position that a couple of months ago. Keyword: slightly."

Her eyes narrowed. Didn’t they already discuss all this in length the day before? There was no way not to pick up the hidden meaning in his words. He was making fun of her.

Jessa felt a flush of heat rise to her cheeks, but she refused to back down. “We spoke yesterday. My company is suddenly a safe bet within that 24-hour difference?”

“Let’s just say I’m willing to take the risk.” That annoying grin was still firmly in place. “You managed to convince me. Congratulations.”

She was over all his tactics at this point. “It’s obvious that you think this is some kind of joke, so why don’t I just save us both the trouble? You don’t think we have a future. Why are you here?”

"I make it a point never to miss the latest business news, and the word on the street is that Lowe Inc. is hanging by a thread, financially speaking.”

He held one finger up before she could interrupt. “No, I don’t mean a few bad months. Your company seems to be tap dancing on the edge of a financial precipice, and I must say, it's quite the spectacle. I mean, even the stock market gossip has caught wind of your impending bankruptcy, and you know how they love a good drama.

“Now, I'm all for being the hero who swoops in to save the day, but this, my dear, seems like a Herculean task. The least you could give me is the truth. Be frank about it. How is Lowe Inc. looking on the financial front?”

“Fine. We’re dead broke,” Jessa confessed stiffly. Broke was a nice way to put it. They were done for at this point.

“Finally! Some truth,” he exclaimed. “That was not so hard, was it?”

“I can help,” Damien continued. “But I do need to evaluate all of your company's strengths and weaknesses first."

As the meeting progressed, they delved into the specifics of what a collaboration might entail. Jessa's hope for a second chance was slowly turning into a well-founded optimism about the future of Lowe Inc.

Finally they agreed.

“Your company is in the galleys. I can help. But I’m not merging or buying you out till you prove to me that it’s not a waste of my time.”

Jessa grimaced. Surely there was a more polite way to phrase that. “Of course. Thank you so much, Mr—Damien. Thank you, Damien.”

Smooth, Jessa.

“Don’t thank me yet.”

Damien stared right into her eyes. They were so smoldering Jessa could not look away. Her palms pooled with sweat and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“It comes with a condition, Jessa. And you have to do it.”