Chapter 81 Victory or Death
Emily couldn’t stand the thought of Byron losing the business empire he had worked so hard to create and possibly sinking into another depressive bout. He was doing remarkably well and seemed well-balanced, considering the destructive forces working against him. But she was going to make sure he didn’t lose his companies.
Her meetings with Byron’s financial advisors went very well, and she was soon ready to introduce Byron to her new plan.
When Byron walked into the office of Julian Markle, his financial advisor, Emily was there waiting for him. Byron looked surprised but happy to see her.
“I knew you couldn’t stay away from helping with my finances,” he said, greeting her with a kiss.
“There’s a plan I’ve been discussing with your financial advisors,” Emily said. “They think it’s quite reasonable.”
Byron looked amused. “Are you plotting to take over my company, Miss Danzi?”
“You may be closer to the truth than you realize,” Emily said. “What I have in mind is a merger. My clothing company with your watch company. It makes sense.”
“And you think it’s a good idea?” Byron asked Julian, who was a grey-haired, experienced financier.
“I believe it could save your whole fleet of companies,” Julian said.
“It’s too risky for you,” Byron objected. “I could drag Emily down with me. The market is unpredictable.”
His advisor nodded in agreement. “Considering the way our company is doing at the moment, it is Miss Danzi who has most to lose if she goes through with this.”
“I don’t want you to put your company in that kind of danger,” Byron said, “Thanks for thinking of me, but I can’t accept this.”
“No,” Emily said in a resolute tone, “Either we go down together or we try to fight for victory together. I’m not going to sit there and watch you fail.”
He had always been protective of her, practically since the night they first met, but what Byron didn’t seem to realize was how protective she had become of him. Maybe it finally dawned on him because he looked touched just for a moment.
“All right... partner.” He took her hand in his, giving it a gentle shake and then brought it to his lips, dazzling her with his dashing charm as always. “Wait, does this mean you’re going to be my boss?”
“I don’t think so,” Emily said, “I’d rather spend time with you at home than at work. Let’s just consider this an alliance.”
“I remember a time when you didn’t want to add work into the mix,” Byron said. He was totally flirting with his eyes, and it was hard to resist, even in a financial office.
“That was because our relationship was a little precarious, as you may recall,” she explained, giving him a teasing smile. “Now, things are going better. I don’t think mixing a little business with pleasure is going to be bad for us.”
“Would you like me to leave you two alone?” Julian asked.
It seems the sexual tension in the room was becoming overwhelming.
“No, that’s okay,” Byron said, “Let’s discuss this merger.”
As they left the office building, Emily was content with how everything went. They reached an agreement, and all they needed was to go through some formalities with the lawyers.
“I have some interesting news too,” Byron said. “I’ll show you when we get home.”
The dogs greeted them with loud barks, and Emily released them to play in the back yard.
“So, what’s this news?” Emily asked.
“I’ve got a copy of Chipfairies 2 just arrived from L.A.” Byron held up the disk.
“Oh.” Emily was a touch disappointed. This was going to be a disaster, if the first film was anything to go by.
“Give it a chance,” Byron said as he inserted the disk into the drive. “I watched the first ten minutes earlier, and it was surprisingly okay.”
Emily plonked down onto the couch, her expectations not very high. But as soon as the film began, she could tell there was something different about it.
Gone was the sickly sweet taint of the first Chipfairies. This one was much more funny, and the plot was not as predictable. The actors, probably thinking it was going to be a flop anyway, felt free to be as goofy as possible and had fun with the material.
“This is a great film!” Emily remarked, “Even if you made it for perverse reasons, I’m glad it exists.”
“The new screenwriter Nova brought to the project made a big difference,” Byron said. “I’ve got to give her credit.”
“If all else fails, you may have a future in the film business,” Emily said. “As long as viewers can forget about the first Chipfairies and give this film a chance...”
