The Billionaire's Salvation

ILL-CONCEIVED IDEAS OF MARRIAGE

He got up to get himself another drink and then returned to his seat.

Nicklaus took his time ordering his thoughts before answering his friend. He did not want to give too much away about how he was feeling. In truth, he was still processing the exchange he had with Vanessa.

He admired how she was able to stand her ground, despite being scared and vulnerable.

Moreover, the way she had gotten angry before practically kicking him out of her apartment was a down right turn on. For some reason, he found himself being attracted to her feisty spirit.

“I really pissed her off when I offered to pay her for her child,” he said, his lips twitching in amusement. She had looked as if she would have gladly ripped out his vocal cords. He had found her reaction surprising and oddly attractive.

“Oh?” questioned Mark before adding, "and, should you really be pissing her off at this stage? You are trying to get her to cooperate, are you not?"

“After I explained what was in the contract I wanted her to sign, she was outraged and flung it back at me. Undaunted, I persisted, and her reaction was to rip it up and throw the pieces in my face.”

“Why do you look so pleased by her response?”

“Well, her response confirms my original assessment of her character.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning she is not swayed by money, I offered her a lot. She cares deeply for her unborn child, despite the way it was conceived, and she will make an excellent mother and wife.” Nick surmised. “The added bonus is that she is smoking hot without even realizing it, and has a keen intellect.”

“Wife and mother? What are you planning, Nick?”

Nick gave his plans one final thought before cementing in his mind what he was going to do. There was no need to start second guessing himself now. Everything will work out. He would make it so. He would clean up this mess created by his father and in so doing resolve a few of his problems at the same time. He had a lot of practice. Left to deal with his father’s disastrous personal choices, Nick had worked nonstop during the past ten years to rebuild the family name and wealth.

His investments had delivered ten times the returns. The acquisition of a chain of restaurants across the country sent the company’s stocks skyrocketing.

All in all, business-wise, he was doing phenomenally. His personal life, on the other hand, left much to be desired. He was ashamed to admit that he was tired of the dating scene and the playboy lifestyle. Not that he had ever been a playboy in the real sense of the word. But with his wealth and family's notoriety, the media had blown his life out of proportion, and he had decided a long time ago to just play the part. But at the age of thirty, he was now jaded and cynical. He had had no intention of getting married, for he did not believe in love or the institution of marriage. But he was pragmatic. He needed an heir to pass on the billions he had accumulated. This disaster was a blessing in disguise, he decided. As such, he had formulated a plan during his drive back to the office. One which he thought would solve both his and Vanessa's problems.

Looking directly at Mark as he saw his plans play out in his mind's eye, Nick said “I intend to marry Vanessa and raise the child as my heir”.

Mark's eyebrows shot up. He had long grown accustomed to Nick's crazy schemes, which more times than not worked out in his favor. But there were a few occasions where Nick's audacity and brazenness managed to shock even him. This was one of those times.

"Say that again. I do not think I heard you correctly." Mark stalled, trying to subtly nudge Nick to the realization that his idea had a snowball's chance in hell of surviving. He knew his efforts were futile, but he would not be worth his weight as Nick's best friend if he did not at least try.

"You heard me."

"I was afraid of that. Why marriage and, more importantly, would she agree?"

"What's there not to agree to? This is a brilliant plan, if I do say so myself. Vanessa's main concern is not financial gain, but rather she wants her child to carry the Ramirez name and for him or her to know the family. Meanwhile, I am trying to keep this scandal from becoming public knowledge and, at the same time, I need an heir. If we get married, I will adopt my half-brother or sister, thus making him or her a Ramirez and my heir. Problem solved on both ends."

Mark was shocked the billionaire was actually thinking about marriage when he had spent his life saying he would never marry. This showed exactly how desperate he was to keep this scandal under wraps.

He considered Nick for a moment before responding.

"Bro, that sounds good in theory, but you are forgetting one significant variable."

"And what is that?"

"Vanessa's agreement. After the traumatic ordeal she experienced at the hands of your father, no less, I do not see her readily agreeing to marry you."

"You let me worry about her agreement. I can be persuasive when I need to be. I did not build a multi-billion dollar empire by not knowing how to persuade people. Besides, I now know what motivates her. Once you figure out what motivates someone, what drives them ...it is easy to cater to their needs and get them to do what you want. So it will not be difficult to appeal to her desires."

"If you say so, do you need me for anything else? I do need to get back to my own multi-billion-dollar security firm, as we are throwing figures around."

Laughing, Nick responded, "Yes, actually. I need one more favor from you. I need you to help me secure a marriage license under the radar and I also need you to assign two of your best security agents to Vanessa's protection detail. But let them be covert about it. I do not want anyone or anything to spook her before I have had a chance to bring her around to my way of thinking."

"No problem. I will get right on that. Good luck and keep me posted on your progress. It will be fun watching how this all plays out."

Before Mark got up and made his way to the door, he said "by the way, I emailed you the only remaining footage of what occurred that night. It is on a secure server. Do with it what you will. Also, I was able to complete the forensic report of the company's finances and your father was indeed embezzling funds from his own company. The report is in your inbox along with my suggestions on how to replace the funds without anyone else being the wiser."

With those parting words, Mark left Nick to his plans and thoughts.