place.
“We are entirely alone,” Stone said, lying back and letting her do the work. He waited until she had come three times and exhausted herself before rolling her off him and sitting up on one elbow. “Now to business,” he whispered in her ear.
“I released the account this afternoon,” she said. “Your client is now three and a half million dollars richer. Oh, and you can thank your friend Mike Freeman, who called the attorney general on your client’s behalf.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that at dinner?” he asked.
“Because if your wish had been granted too early, you might have been less interested in the latter part of the evening,” she said. “And I’m staying the night.”
“I hope you won’t mind if I get some sleep,” Stone said, rolling over and pulling up the covers.
“Not at all,” Tiffany said. “I’ll let you know when you’re needed.”
And she did.
The following morning, suffering from soreness, Stone called Herbie Fisher.
“Herbert Fisher’s office,” a female voice said.
“Good morning. It’s Stone Barrington.”
“Mr. Barrington, this is the receptionist. Mr. Fisher and his secretary are in a real estate closing at the moment. I’ll tell him you called.”
“Thank you.” Stone hung up, wondering what real estate sale Herbie was closing.
An hour later, Herbie called. “Sorry about not taking your call, Stone.”
“Not at all, Herbie. What were you closing?”
“A new client of mine, High Cotton Ideas, bought an old building in SoHo for its headquarters.”
“Oh, this is Marshall Brennan’s software start-up?”
“One and the same. I’ve already got a construction crew in the building, making it habitable for a shiny new corporation.”
“Then you’re a full-service attorney.”
“You betcha.”
“I have good news, Herbie.”
“By the way, it’s Herb, remember?”
“Of course, negligent of me.”
“What’s the good news?”
“Mike Freeman called his friend, the attorney general, on your behalf and yesterday the U.S. attorney released your ex’s brokerage account. You may now do what you will with the money.”
“That’s great news, Stone. After what I’ve seen and heard downtown, I’m going to put it all into High Cotton Ideas. My client is so happy with my services that he has offered me an investment opportunity.”
“I won’t ask you for details, to avoid having to explain myself to the SEC after the IPO takes place.”
“You give yourself good legal advice, Stone.”
“I do, thank you. And you owe me a very good dinner for what I had to do last night on your behalf.”
“I think I know exactly what that means,” Herbie said, “and I take the position that your lack of virtue was its own reward.”
Stone hung up, laughing.
21
Herbie oversaw the signing of the last of the closing documents, then invited Mark Hayes back to his office for a cup of coffee.
“How does it feel to own commercial real estate?” Herbie asked.
“It feels just great,” Mark said, “and I want to thank you for suggesting that I buy the building personally and lease it back to the company.”
“And I want to thank you for your invitation to invest with you,” Herbie said.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Mark said. He took a notebook from his pocket and did some scribbling, then ripped out the page and handed it to Herbie. “That’s the number of my shares you’ll get for investments of one, two, or three million dollars.”
Herbie took a quick look at the numbers and made a quick decision. “I’ll do the three million. I’ll draw up the documents, move the money today, and have a cashier’s check for you tomorrow.”
Mark nodded. “I’m impressed that someone your age can come up with that kind of cash on short notice.”
Herbie smiled. “I’m impressed that someone your age can start a company that’s worth the investment.”
“I suppose you’re wondering why I’m willing to sell you these shares,” Mark said.
“I expect you can use the cash for the renovation of your new building. That way, you won’t need to mortgage it.”
Mark nodded. “My new architect and builder tell me it’s going to cost a million dollars a floor to make the space habitable, and I’m going to reinforce the roof, so that I can build myself a penthouse up there.”
“What a great idea! I live in a penthouse, and I can tell you, you’re going to love it.”
There was a rap on the door and Bill Eggers stepped in.
“Good morning, Bill,” Herbie said.
“I understand our new client is here,” Eggers said, offering his hand to Mark.
“Mark,” Herbie said, “this is our firm’s managing partner, Bill Eggers.”
“Good to meet you.” Mark rose and took Eggers’s hand.
“I’ve wanted to meet you since Marshall Brennan told me about your start-up,” Eggers said. “Are we meeting all your legal needs?”
“More than meeting them,” Mark said. “Herb has given me a wealth of good advice in a very short time.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” Eggers said.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Mark said, “I have a computer to get back to. I’m unaccustomed to seeing daylight during the workday.”
They said their goodbyes and Mark left. Eggers took a seat, and Herbie handed him a cup of coffee.
“Well, Herbert,” Eggers said, “congratulations on making our new client happy.”
“Thank you, Bill.”
“Now, what have you done for me lately?”
Herbie laughed aloud. “Greedy, aren’t you?”
“You’d better know it.”
“Well, last night Robert Bentley the Third and I had dinner at the Brook with Robert Bentley the Second.”
Eggers’s eyebrows went up. “And?”
“And the elder Mr. Bentley says he’d like to give us some new business soon.”
“How soon?”
“I’m going to leave that up to him, and I’m not going to rush him. He said something interesting, though.”
“What was that?”
“He put this to me hypothetically: how would I handle a major piece of commercial litigation for a client?”
“Tell me what you told him.”
“I told him that we are a large enough firm to have specialists in every area of the law, and that I would assemble a team of our best litigators, then act as the firm’s liaison with the client.”
