CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

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CHAPTER 4: THE VERDICT AND THE NEGOTIATION

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At exactly eight in the morning, the air conditioning on the forty-second floor hummed with the same relentless cold as always. However, the atmosphere in the boardroom was suffocating.
Smart occupied the left head of the table. He wore an impeccable navy-blue suit, his tie adjusted with millimetric precision, and an expression so impenetrable that it seemed carved from marble. No one at that table would ever suspect that beneath the starched collar of his shirt, the trace of another’s skin still burned.
Boom entered two minutes later. He sat at the opposite head of the table with his usual elegance, wearing a charcoal-gray suit and a high-collared shirt that strategically covered any indiscreet trace of the weekend. When their eyes met, Boom merely inclined his head with such professional and cold courtesy that for a second it seemed to erase everything that had happened in the hotel library.
But the tension between them was not indifference; it was a high-voltage cable about to snap.
The chairman of the conglomerate cleared his throat, opening the golden folder containing the final resolution.
—Gentlemen, directors, after a thorough analysis of the risk assessments and market projections, the board has reached a unanimous conclusion —the veteran executive announced, looking from one to the other—. The operational strength of Chisanupong’s firm is undeniable. But the expansion vision and international reach of Raveewit’s agency are essential for the new channels.
Smart did not blink. Boom kept the pen motionless between his fingers.
—Therefore —the chairman continued—, the bid will not be awarded individually. The three-year exclusivity contract will be granted through a shared strategic alliance. Both firms will be required to manage fifty percent of the production, sharing executive management, budgets, and creative control. Either you sign jointly, or the contract will be opened to an international tender. You have twenty-four hours to present the terms of the joint agreement.
The room fell into a deathly silence.
The board members began to stand and congratulate both parties on the historic agreement, but neither Smart nor Boom moved from their seats. They remained looking at each other across the enormous mahogany table while the staff cleared the room.
When the last assistant closed the glass door, Smart slowly stood, placing both hands on the table and fixing his dark eyes on Boom.
—Fifty percent —Smart said, his voice low and dangerous, contrasting with the silence of the room—. I do not share operational control with anyone, Raveewit. Much less with you.
Boom smiled slowly, standing calmly and walking around the table with measured steps until he was standing in front of him, closing the distance until only the corner of the table separated them.
—The contract is worth forty million, Chisanupong —Boom said in a biting whisper, leaning in slightly so that Smart could feel the weight of his closeness—. And if you think I’m going to leave you in the driver’s seat just because you like giving orders, you’re very wrong.
Smart took a step forward, invading Boom’s personal space until he forced him to move back a centimeter against the edge of the table, his jaw tense and his breathing growing heavier as he remembered exactly the taste of his mouth two nights ago.
—Then get ready —Smart murmured, his tone blending professional threat with a lethal intimate promise—. Because if we’re going to share this contract, you’re going to have to negotiate every clause with me alone.
Boom raised an eyebrow, his eyes shining with that insatiable provocation that drove Smart crazy.
—Name the time and place, director. Let’s see who gives in first.