The Protégé (34 page)
Authors: Stephen Frey
24
FAITH AND GILLETTE
sat outside the Everest building on Park Avenue in the back of a limousine, saying good-bye. She was leaving on a two-week tour to promote her new album, which had just hit stores and was racing to the top of the charts. He was going back to Everest for the first time since facing off against Norman Boyd in northern Virginia.
He’d been wearing a wire that day, so everything Boyd had said was on tape. Ted Casey had more than enough to go to the Justice Department with. Casey had called to tell Gillette that Boyd was probably going to prison for the rest of his life—even with all his high-level connections. That Ganze was in the ICU of a hospital close to the mall, almost certain to follow Boyd to prison if he recovered. And that Gillette now had friends at the CIA, for life.
“I had such a wonderful time,” Faith said quietly, stroking Gillette’s arm as she nestled against him on the comfortable seat. They’d spent the last week together at a cozy resort in Antigua.
“Me too.” He smiled down at her.
“I’ll miss you. It’ll be so hard not seeing you for the next couple of weeks.”
“I know.”
She gathered herself up on the seat so her face was close to his. “Christian?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry for how I acted. Not calling you back those times. I was just jealous.” A frustrated expression crossed her face. “I’m so embarrassed. I wanted to tell you in Antigua, but, well . . . There won’t be any more episodes like that. I promise.”
He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have let Allison come out on the boat like that. That was—”
Faith touched her fingers to his lips. “Stop. She’s your business partner. I understand that now, I really do. I’m just glad you’re safe. That this thing with the people in Washington is over.”
Gillette grinned wryly. “
You’re
glad?”
“And it’s so wonderful that Quentin’s okay.”
“Yeah.” It was much more than wonderful, but he appreciated her saying that.
“I’m glad you have closure on your father, too.”
He nodded. After sixteen years, he finally knew what had happened to his father. He thought knowing would make it easier. Make the hollow feeling go away. But it hadn’t. “Thanks.”
She stroked his arm a little longer. “I have to go.”
“Right.”
“Chris?”
“Yes?”
Faith hesitated. “I’m ready.”
“For what?”
She sat up and slipped her hands around his neck. “To be yours. I want us to be committed to each other. Completely.”
“
WELL, IT’S GOOD
to have you back, old man,” Faraday said, beaming from the chair on the other side of Gillette’s desk. Gillette had been giving him a blow-by-blow of the mall scene with Boyd and the Carbone people. “That’s all I know.”
Gillette glanced around the office. “It’s good to
be
back.” After a few days in Antigua, he’d started to miss the pace. It was great to be back in it again. “Give me a quick update, will you?” Faith hadn’t allowed him to have contact with anyone from Everest while they were in the Caribbean.
“Sure. Well, I assigned Hush-Hush to Blair Johnson. I hope you’re okay with that.”
“Absolutely.”
“Blair’s doing a great job. Maddox and Hobbs love him. They haven’t missed Wright at all.
And,
” Faraday said, looking up from his notepad, “the French are bugging me every day for more info. We’re going to make a killing on this one. Fast. Just like you thought.”
Gillette liked the sound of that.
“Not much has happened as far as Vegas goes,” Faraday continued. “You’ll keep that one, I assume.”
“Yup.”
“As far as Apex is concerned, the Strazzi estate is still very committed to selling.”
“Good. I was worried they might have second thoughts.”
“And Morgan Stanley is working hard on the Laurel Energy sell-side book. They’re pretty cocky about getting us a big payday.”
“Have you spoken to Wright’s father?”
“Yeah. He didn’t bring up David at all.”
Gillette nodded somberly.
“Christian.” Debbie’s voice blared through the intercom.
“Yes?”
“Allison wants to see you.”
Faraday rolled his eyes and rose from the chair. “We still on for lunch today?”
“Yup.”
“I’m not going to be preempted by Miss Wallace, am I?”
Gillette shook his head. “Never, Nigel. You’re my right-hand man.”
“Yeah, yeah, heard that one before.”
“Well, well,” Allison spoke up as she replaced Faraday in the doorway. “The conquering hero returns.”
Gillette tried to hide a grin.
“Pretty proud of yourself, huh?”
“Just glad to be here.”
Allison sat in the chair and sniffed. “Thought I was working with the Mob, did you?” she asked, her tone turning edgy.
“After sleeping outside for two nights, I wasn’t really sure what to think,” he replied, catching her quick glance at his left hand. “I was just trying to stay alive. And no, I didn’t go do anything stupid in Antigua.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I didn’t get married.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You were looking at my ring finger,” he said. “I saw you.”
Allison grinned. “Oh, you did, did you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, why would getting married be stupid?”
Gillette shrugged. “Ah, I meant impulsive.”
“Why
weren’t
you impulsive?” Allison wanted to know. “Don’t you love her?”
Gillette hesitated. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“You
should.
A lot of guys all over the country do right now. I got a load of her on the new album cover yesterday.” Allison held out her hand and shook it slowly. “Whew. She’s hot.”
“She does look good.”
“Of course, they can do a lot of things with those digital photos now. You know, to hide the flaws.”
Gillette grinned. “Well, Allison Wallace, I never would have thought you’d—”
“I want to give you a quick update,” she interrupted. “Veramax is moving forward fast. Rothchild is into the Racquet Club, and
what do you know
? The company’s products are on the fast track at the FDA.”
“Yeah, what do you know?”
“We’ve got a meeting with this guy who owns the leasing company in Pittsburgh on Wednesday,” she continued. “Here. Ten
A.M
.”
“Okay.”
“And I’ve got two other deals going. No need to go over the details with you yet. Probably another few days until we do that.”
He watched her tick quickly down the list. She was such a natural-born rainmaker. “Just let me know.”
Allison stood up. “That’s it. Maybe we can have lunch at some point.”
“Hey,” Gillette called as she neared the door.
“What?”
“What about those conditions?” he asked, standing and coming out from behind the desk.
She stopped and turned around. “Conditions?”
“The things you said you’d need before you’d commit to joining Everest full time.”
“Oh, right. Why are you so interested?” she asked, moving to where he stood.
“I think you’re good at this,” he said honestly. “People naturally listen to you.” He took a deep breath. “You could be chairman of this place someday. Especially now that David’s not around.”
Allison’s eyes went wide. “Wow.”
“I’m not kidding. I’ve thought about it a lot. I can’t promise anything, but you have a lot going for you.” He held up his hand. “And think about this. You’d be doing this on your own. No family help. More respect.”
“Yeah.”
“So?” he pushed.
“I really only have one condition,” Allison said after a few moments, her voice still subdued.
“What?”
“You don’t get married for six months.”
He leaned back, caught off guard. “Why?”
“I don’t have to tell you
why,
I just have to tell you
what.
”
Gillette shook his head. “We’re business partners. That’s all it can ever—”
“Will you meet my condition or not?” she cut in.
Gillette thought about it for a second. “Okay.” He had no intention of getting married soon anyway. Commitment was one thing, marriage another. “But that’s it, right? I agree to that one condition and you’ll sign a contract to join here.”
Allison turned away and headed for the door again.
“Allison.”
She stopped at the door. “As long as you put in the contract that you agree not to get married for six months. As long as that clause is in there.” She winked, then disappeared through the doorway.
Gillette stood in the middle of his office, staring after her. Allison wanted the clause in there so she could show Faith. So she could demonstrate to Faith her ability to manipulate.
He shook his head as he headed back to his desk. There it was again, that tendency to always suspect there was a hidden agenda. Maybe Allison simply wanted him focused on the business. Or maybe it was her way of politely saying no, certain he’d never actually put anything about his personal life in a contract.
He eased into the chair and started reviewing a prep file Debbie had dropped on his desk earlier. He focused on it for a few seconds, but then looked at the doorway again and smiled, thinking of Allison, thinking of Faith.
There are always issues, he thought, but most men would kill for problems like mine.
WRITER’S NOTE ON NANOTECHNOLOGY
I first heard of nanotechnology from a great friend of mine, Matt Malone, who is a top middle-market private equity professional. He reads more than anyone I know, and he’d recently seen an article in a popular national magazine on nanotech related to potential military applications—i.e., creating super-warriors who would be able to do physical things that even the strongest men and women of today couldn’t dream of doing.
After Matt alerted me about it, I did some research and found the subject absolutely fascinating. I then called another friend, Teo Forcht Dagi, who is a neurosurgeon turned venture capitalist. Teo provided excellent technical assistance and introduced me to other specialists in the field; and soon I was off and running with the book.
It’s incredible to think about it from a biological perspective (which is really all we can do right now), but if nanotechnology will ever be perfected to become available and allow us to live decades, maybe even centuries, longer, it will pose some terribly traumatic social questions. The weightiest of them will be: Who gets to take advantage of it? Only the wealthy? Because, like any technology, it will be extraordinarily expensive at first. Or will the government try to make it available to everyone? That, of course, would be incredibly costly. And what will happen when nanotechnology gets cheap and nearly everyone can afford it? Will funeral homes and cemeteries go out of business and beachfront property get
really
pricey?
If you’re inclined to delve further and do some of your own research on the subject, here are some excellent websites to start with:
Enjoy!
—Stephen Frey
June 2005
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
S
TEPHEN
F
REY
is a principal at a northern Virginia private equity firm. He previously worked in mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan and as a vice president of corporate finance at an international bank in midtown Manhattan. Frey is also the bestselling author of
The Chairman, Shadow Account, Silent Partner, The Day Trader, Trust Fund, The Insider, The Legacy, The Inner Sanctum, The Vulture Fund,
and
The Takeover.
ALSO BY STEPHEN FREY
The Takeover
The Vulture Fund
The Inner Sanctum
The Legacy
The Insider
Trust Fund
The Day Trader
Silent Partner
Shadow Account
The Chairman
The Protégé
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2006 by Stephen Frey
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
B
ALLANTINE
and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Frey, Stephen W.
The protégé: a novel / Stephen Frey
p. cm.
1. Wall Street (New York, N.Y.)—Fiction. 2. Capitalists and financiers—Fiction. 3. Investment bankers—Fiction. 4. Corporate culture—Fiction. 5. Fathers—Death—Fiction. 6. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction. I. Title
PS3556.R4477P76 2006
813′.54—dc22 2005048139
eISBN: 978-0-345-49096-4
v3.0
