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It seemed they’d solved their problems. The data was excellent, and the potential profits would be phenomenal. This wasn’t something he needed to run by his father. “Send me your budget projections for the next year, and I’ll be in touch with your CEO. This looks fabulous, Harry. I’m glad you called this emergency meeting.”
Harry was his contact with a high-tech Australian firm, and he was all smiles as he closed his laptop. They were sitting at one of the back tables in the largest of the hotel bars. Like most conference hotels the service wasn’t great because of the amount of people they stuffed in, but the lack of a drink was fine. He’d had a single beer during his meeting with Oakley and Huisman and wouldn’t touch another drop until after they’d played. He fully intended to follow all of The Station’s rules. He would give them no reason to not invite he and Tash back.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting the data to be that good. I tend to take everything the research group says with a tiny bit of skepticism,” Harry admitted as he started to pack up. “They can be overly optimistic, but I think they hit it out of the ballpark this time.”
“It was worth missing some time with my girlfriend.” He was already considering how he could use the good news to soothe his father. When things were going well, his father could sometimes be tolerable. That was when he could ease the man into a potentially reasonable deal. He could maybe buy himself some time to find a way out of his problems.
What he needed was leverage. Which was just a nice word for the one he really meant—blackmail.
It was time to start playing dirty when it came to his father.
It was time to dig into the business and figure out where all the secrets were. Because he knew damn well there were secrets and probably some illegal shit going on.
Harry stopped, a startled expression coming over his face. “You have a girlfriend? I’d heard you were completely single. Sorry. Rumors abound. There are some unethical groups that keep information on investors so they can perhaps influence the investors in some ways.”
He was aware. He’d dealt with them several times. “I’m happily with someone right now, so I can’t be influenced that way.”
Though he had to admit that putting Tasha in his world would definitely have worked. He would listen to her and be influenced by her. Luckily for him, he’d met her randomly. Otherwise he might not have trusted the relationship. His Tash had an interest in his business, but only in helping him.
“I’m happy for you, Dare,” Harry said. “You should lock her down if you think she’s the one. I’ve been married to my Ashley for almost ten years now, and nothing has made me happier.”
More and more he intended to do just that. “It’s good to hear. Not all marriages are happy.”
“Mine is, and the way to make it so is patience and listening to your wife,” Harry said, sliding out of the booth. “Being home on time is important, too. I have to cut this conference short because my daughter’s birthday is tomorrow, and there’s a petting zoo being put up in my backyard at six in the morning.”
“That sounds fun.” He actually meant the words. He’d never truly considered having a family, but he couldn’t deny that the thought of having one with Tasha was appealing.
Harry’s head shook. “Only because you’ve never been around twenty six-year-olds and a bunch of barnyard animals. And I want to apologize because it’s now hitting me that you called this an emergency meeting. I’m so sorry for the confusion. When I talked to Brian, I made it clear this could wait. I was surprised when you texted me and asked me to meet you. I expected we would do a conference call next week.”
Brian had been clear. He was still in his meeting, and he needed Dare to deal with the emergency Harry had declared. “I suppose he was being overly cautious. He knows how important your group is.”
They were a mid-level investment. They would likely move up the list with the latest numbers, but Brian didn’t know the numbers so he couldn’t have known exactly how important it was. Though if Harry had been willing to wait until the conference was over, it shouldn’t have mattered. Still, he wasn’t about to let Harry know there was a problem.
He wasn’t sure there was a problem at all. It could be a simple miscommunication. He needed to talk to Brian anyway, so he mentally put this situation on his list.
Harry waved good-bye and went along to get to the airport so he didn’t miss his daughter’s birthday. Dare sat back and looked around the bar, wondering if he could catch Brian as he was finishing up his meeting. He’d been with the client for hours. It should be wrapping up by now.
