The Billionaire Renegade. Catherine Mann

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       Two

      Conrad knew better than to push his luck.

      He held the door open for Felicity on their way back out of her boss’s office an hour later. Follow-up meetings had been scheduled for brainstorming potential initiatives for the Steele-Mikkelson charity foundation, to best utilize their donations. They just needed to coordinate with Isabeau Mikkelson for times that worked for her as well, since she was the foundation’s official PR person.

      Their primary goal? To have a prospectus in place to unveil at the banquet for the board next month. The next four weeks would offer the perfect opportunities to win over Felicity.

      And if she still said no after that? He didn’t want to believe that would happen. But he also wasn’t a jerk. It wasn’t like the two of them had fallen in love at first sight.

      Still, he was certain they could have one hell of an affair.

      He stopped at the elevator, the set of her shoulders telling him he’d pushed his luck far enough for one day. He pulled out his phone and stepped away from the sliding doors. She shot a surprised look his way and he stifled a smile, surfing his emails by the window to check for updates before heading back to the office.

      An hour later, he strode down the corridors of the Alaska Oil Barons Inc.’s corporate offices. He served on the board of directors for his brother’s company, while maintaining an investment business of his own.

      Windows along the length of the corridor overlooked the frozen harbor. The other wall was lined with framed artistic photographs of the Alaskan countryside. This building had been the Steele offices, and since the merger, it was the primary headquarters. The Mikkelson tower was still open and filled to capacity, and the styles of the two offices had begun to merge. The chrome decor of the Steele building now sported some metal-tipped teak pieces.

      Conrad opened the conference room door. The lengthy table was already more than halfway full. At the head, his brother, Jack sat, beside his new wife, Jeannie Mikkelson-Steele, whose influence extended well beyond changes to the furniture.

      Jack leaned back in his seat, waving his brother into the room. “We’re just waiting for Naomi to arrive. How did things go at the hospital?”

      Conrad rolled a chair away from the table and placed his briefcase on the sleek, polished wood. “The kids were grateful for the books and the story time.”

      Jack smiled slowly. “I was talking about the meeting with Felicity Hunt, her boss and the hospital’s PR director.”

      Taking his seat, Conrad used the excuse of pulling out paperwork to delay answering the question. The last thing he needed was an overeager family spooking Felicity.

      From his briefcase, he pulled an extra copy of the children’s book he’d read at the hospital. He passed the paperback to Glenna Mikkelson-Steele—Jeannie’s oldest daughter. “I brought this for Fleur.”

      To everyone’s surprise, Glenna had married Jack’s oldest son, who many had thought would assume the family helm. But Broderick had held firm to his position of splitting the CFO duties with his wife so they could focus on their growing family. Everyone in the family was stretched thin, and the acting CEO had moved to North Dakota for a less taxing position so he could spend more time with his wife and start a family.

      The board was in final talks trying to lure Ward Benally from the competition. Landing him would be a coup. He worked for a rival company and was a respected—and feared—leader in the oil industry. Benally was also a tough negotiator—which made hammering out a contract a challenge, but it would be a boon if they pulled it off.

      Conrad was doing his best to help his family through the transition of the merger. He slid another copy to the far end of the table where Trystan Mikkelson—black sheep of the family—sat with his very pregnant wife. The company’s PR consultant, Isabeau Mikkelson, rested one hand on her very pregnant stomach and her other hand on her service dog’s head. The Labrador retriever assisted in alerting to Isabeau’s diabetes, especially important with a baby on the way.

      Jack snagged an extra copy from his brother’s briefcase, fanning through the pages. “And your meeting?”

      “I’m not sure what you mean,” Conrad evaded while pulling his tablet from his briefcase. “I attended. We discussed data and look forward to having Isabeau at the next meeting.”

      “And Felicity was okay with being the point person with you when Isabeau’s unavailable?” Jack pressed.

      Couldn’t his brother have brought this up away from all these prying eyes? “She’s professional. And this is business.”

      Jack grinned. “Would you have volunteered for the charity board if she wasn’t involved?”

      Conrad snapped his case shut. “I’ve always been loyal to the family.” That went without saying. Although it was best to go ahead and address the elephant in the room. “I’m not denying I want to spend more time with her. It’s nice how life lines up sometimes.”

      Saving him from further questions, Naomi Steele-Miller pushed open the door. His niece had faced death as a teen and many had thought she wouldn’t survive cancer. Conrad hadn’t been sure how his brother would make it through losing another child after Breanna. Thank God, that hadn’t happened.

      And as it turned out, he hadn’t lost Breanna either.