The Unknown Billionaire (Captured by Love Book 6) (9 page)

Jarryd gave him a tight smile. “It’s a good investment, from what I’ve learnt about the company so far. Plus, Margaret did leave me the shares. I want to make the right decision regarding them.”

Elliot sat back in his chair, arms locked behind his neck. “Did she really leave them to you?”

“Elliot,” Olivia said sharply.

Jarryd narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, Elliot?”

“You have to admit it’s highly suspicious that Aunt Margaret would leave you almost all of her wealth when she’d only known you for a year.”

“She did give birth to him, Elliot,” Olivia said, her tone warning her son to back off.

Elliot smirked. “I’m just saying.”

“I expect that my decision to keep the shares will not affect the way you run the company,” Jarryd said, holding his temper even though angry heat rose up to his face.

“Of course not,” Olivia answered placatingly. “We care about this company.”

“Yes,
we
do,” Elliot said.

“Good,” he said with icy calm. “Now, is there anything else we need to talk about?”

“Nope,” Elliot said. “Pity you had to come all the way here. You could have told us your decision over the phone.”

“I thought I’d let you know face-to-face, just to be polite.”

“Look, Jarryd, I apologise for Elliot’s outburst,” Olivia interjected. “We’re just still surprised—shocked, actually—about you and Margaret’s will. We never knew you existed until after her death.”

Jarryd took a deep breath. Hell, even he was still incredulous about the whole thing. And even though he resented having his integrity questioned, he had to admit that he’d be suspicious too, if the shoe was on the other foot. He nodded. “I understand where you’re coming from. I’m still as shocked as you are. And, for the record, I assure you that in no way did I manipulate or coerce Margaret into writing me into her will.”

There was silence for a long minute as Jarryd stared at the two. They didn’t meet his eyes.

“Well, I better go,” he said finally, feeling like he’d made his point. “Thank you both for taking the time to see me.”

“Sure,” Olivia said with a smile, escorting him to the door while Elliot gave him a lazy goodbye wave.

“Please excuse my son, Jarryd,” Olivia said as they stopped by the elevators. “I’ll talk to him. He was wrong to insinuate that you’re dishonest.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that. See you again soon.” He followed Olivia with his eyes as she walked back to the meeting room. He might own half of the company, but if he happened to demand changes, there’d be a stalemate if Olivia and Elliot both disagreed with him. Not that he saw any reason to go against the two at this point in time, but he was pleased that Olivia didn’t seem to have any animosity towards him.

He switched his attention to the indicators that flashed the levels the lifts were currently on, and he felt the need to go to the bathroom before leaving the building. He walked to Lilah’s desk. “Excuse me, could you tell me where the men’s room is on this floor?”

The woman flashed him a simpering smile. “I think you should use the executive restrooms, Mr. Westbourne. It’s right next to Boardroom One, two doors down from the meeting room you’ve just been in.”

“Thank you.” He was surprised that the receptionist appeared to know his status as the leading shareholder of the company.

He turned to the corridor and was about to pass the meeting room where he’d met with Olivia and Elliot when he heard Olivia’s raised voice—muffled but clear behind the closed door.

“All I’m asking is for you to be nice to him! Is that too much to ask?”

Jarryd couldn’t help but stop in his tracks. Were they talking about him?

“I can’t stand the man!” Elliot said, his voice just as loud. “And who knows? I just might annoy the hell out of him enough that he’ll sell his shares so he won’t have to deal with me anymore.”

“That’s stupid thinking. He might want to annoy you back and keep the shares. Just let me deal with him alone next time. We don’t want him sticking his nose in our business.”

The hairs on Jarryd’s neck rose. He looked around, ensuring there was no one about, and leaned closer to the door as Olivia and Elliot’s voices calmed down.

“Fine,” Elliot said. “You deal with the idiot. Patrick obviously doesn’t want to tarnish his wholesome image.”

Jarryd scowled. What the hell did that mean? Were the two in cahoots with Patrick in Patrick’s mission to strip him of his inheritance?

He grabbed the doorknob, intent on confronting mother and son.

“Fucking Grant Ace is another problem,” Elliot said. “We have to stop them.”

Jarryd froze.

“Be careful what you say out loud,” Olivia said, her tone steely.

“Sure, Mother,” Elliot said with sarcasm. “Anyway, I’m late for a staff meeting. I’ll see you later.”

Jarryd hurried to the next room, instinct telling him not to get caught.

Bloody hell. Olivia and Elliot seemed to be doing something dodgy. And it involved him, Patrick and the Grants.

*****

“
I don’t know, Jarryd,” Carl said, stroking his jaw in contemplation. “What you heard might have sounded suspicious, but there’s nothing concrete about any of it. They do want your shares, so it’s understandable that Olivia wants Elliot to be nice to you so you’ll cooperate. As for mentioning Patrick’s name, well, they obviously know of his conflict with you. Maybe what Elliot said was just an observation on his part about Patrick’s reluctance to take a definitive step against you. And their comment about Grant Ace could simply mean they want to stop them winning Well of Brilliance by outbidding them.”

Jarryd let out a heavy sigh. He’d been running Olivia and Elliot’s conversation over and over in his head in the last couple of days, and he knew Carl was right. Nothing he’d heard warranted putting a noose around Olivia’s and Elliot’s necks. But his instinct insisted it wasn’t all innocent. “I know there’s not much to go on, but I think we need to check up on it. I’ll hate myself if I just sit and wait, knowing they might be planning something detrimental against me and the Grants.”

“You want Bray Hayden to sniff around?”

“That’s a good idea.”

Carl called the private investigator and put him on speaker. Jarryd got him up to speed.

“No problem,” Bray said. “But you also have a good chance of picking up something of substance, Jarryd. You have a reason to keep meeting with Olivia and Elliot and questioning them about things. And you’re still friends with Marilyn Grant, right? You can do some subtle poking around without revealing your secrets to her. She might let it slip that her parents have known enemies, for example. Then we’d have something to sink our teeth into.”

Jarryd stared at Carl’s phone. Bray was right. He did have the opportunity to get some good information. Unfortunately, this was further reason why he couldn’t tell Marilyn and her parents about Margaret and his inheritance.

No way they’d believe he was only interested in helping Grant Ace if he told them he owned fifty percent of Greeves Minerals. Given their past experience with Marilyn’s deceitful ex-boyfriend, they’d most likely think he only wanted them to back off as Greeves Minerals’ competition for Well of Brilliance. That would hurt Marilyn so much.

He let out a heavy breath. As far as he could see, his only acceptable option was to keep them in the dark until he had something concrete to share with them. And he had to be careful not to arouse their suspicions while he tried to draw out some information. If there was anything he didn’t want to lose, it was Marilyn’s trust.

M
arilyn hurried to the coffee shop where she’d agreed to meet Jarryd for lunch, the several bags she was carrying making it hard for her to walk as fast as she wanted. She hated making him wait, but selecting outfits for the various Christmas parties she needed to attend had taken longer than expected. And frankly, shopping was one of her favourite things to do.

She entered the café and immediately spotted Jarryd sitting at a table near the window, playing with his phone and looking oh so handsome.

Her lips curved up happily. Heck, she could even feel her heart smile. They’d both been so busy trying to get things done before the holidays that they hadn’t had time to sleep together during the weekdays. Fortunately, they’d be spending another weekend together.

She navigated her way through the aisles, careful not to annoy people sitting at their tables with her bags.

Jarryd looked up when she reached him, his grin blinding.

“Hi, babe,” he said, standing up to give her a peck on the lips.

“Hi. Sorry I’m late. I had to finish my shopping since I won’t have any other free time before the parties.” She placed the bags under their table as she sat down in the chair next to him.

“Looks like you bought the whole store,” Jarryd joked. “What did you get?”

She took out a black-and-gold V-neck sheath dress from its carry bag. “What do you think of this? This is what I plan to wear to the Christmas Eve party my parents are hosting at their place.”

Jarryd’s gaze went to her cleavage, then back to the dress, then back again to the valley between her breasts. His forehead creased and his lips pursed.

“It does show a little skin,” she said, surprised by his expression. “I thought you liked my boobs.”

“Of course I do. But I don’t relish the thought of having to poke out other guys’ eyes at your parents’ party.”

Marilyn raised her brows. “What?”

“Which of your exes are going to be attending? You said before that you’ve gone out with sons of your parents’ friends.”

She suppressed her smile at his jealous tone. “I only dated a couple of them
a long time
ago. I wasn’t at all serious with them or them with me.”

Jarryd leaned close to her, his gaze intense. “I still want to be introduced to them.”

“Why?”

“So I can hammer it into their heads that you’re mine now.”

She grinned, loving that he was possessive of her. “No need to bring anything from your toolbox. One of them is already happily married and the other one is Simon—and you already know Simon.”

Jarryd narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous of Simon. You know he’s one of my best friends.”

“He wants to get in your panties,” he said with a low growl.

She laughed, remembering Simon’s joke at Lexie and Rick’s place. “He does not. You know how he loves to tease. And as if I’d want to sleep with him. He’s like a brother to me.”

That seemed to placate Jarryd. He kissed her lips and smiled at her. “I was thinking of getting a new suit today for your parents’ party, but I’ve changed my mind. I think I’ll get it on Wednesday or Thursday instead.”

She gasped delightedly. “I didn’t know you planned to go shopping today. We can get it after lunch.”

“Nah.”

“Why not?”

“I’d rather we go back to your place.”

“But why? This is the perfect time to get it. I really don’t mind. I can help you chose, since you seem to hate shopping so much.”

Jarryd snorted, and his actual intention dawned on her.

“Tell you what,” Marilyn said coquettishly, running a finger on his arm. “You can imprison me in my bedroom all weekend...”

Jarryd’s nostrils flared as he sucked in a deep breath.

“If we get your suit after lunch.”

Jarryd groaned, slumping back in his chair.

“I’ll help you choose,” she said pleadingly.

“Okay, then,” he said resignedly.

She clapped her hands.

Jarryd chuckled. “So what else have you got here?” He bent down to check out her other purchases.

She bit her lip. Not that she didn’t want Jarryd to snoop, but the rest of the items were a lot pricier than the dress she’d shown him.

She knew Jarryd wouldn’t have a problem mingling with people who wore outfits costlier than his. Those things didn’t bother him. But she had a feeling he would extend himself for
her.
While he seemed to be doing well in his business now, she assumed he couldn’t afford to fork out the kind of money her parents’ circle spent on mere clothes. She’d deliberately bought a dress that would go with the black suit and gold tie he’d worn before, so he wouldn’t need to get a new outfit. She hadn’t realised he was planning on going shopping for one anyway.

Jarryd’s eyebrows shot up as he peered inside one of the shopping bags. He must have seen the price tag.

“They were on sale,” she said hurriedly.

Jarryd cocked his head. “Don’t you get discounts since your family owns the shopping centre?”

Marilyn let out a laugh. “No. Although they’d probably give me a good one if they knew who I am.”

“Hey, you could lose that anonymity if you went on
Biz Q&A
.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh. Jarryd had been subtly discouraging her to appear on the show. He probably didn’t like the idea of being dragged into the spotlight for being her boyfriend.

Fortunately, Patrick was agreeable to her delaying her decision until mid-January. That would be the time the Tramwells would be announcing which offer they’d accepted. There wasn’t much motivation for her to appear on
Biz Q&A
if they weren’t successful in acquiring Well of Brilliance, which she’d told her parents she would head if Grant Ace became its new owners.

“Wow, look at this,” Jarryd said, whistling as he held up her new Hermès evening bag.

She felt heat rush to her face.

“Are you blushing?”

“Um... well... I don’t usually spend this much money on myself in one day. But I have to go to this function attended by—”

“Hey.” Jarryd reached out for her hand to silence her. “Why are you justifying yourself to me?”

She stared into his eyes. “I don’t want you to think I’m high-maintenance.”

Jarryd frowned. “As if I don’t already know you’re
not
.”

“I don’t want you thinking that these are the kinds of gifts you have to top to impress me.”

Jarryd exhaled loudly, shaking his head. “Marilyn, please don’t make excuses for the fact that you can afford these things. I don’t care.”