money.”
“You’re telling
me
?” Gillette chuckled. “Look, I’m about to make my investors five billion dollars on Laurel Energy.”
Stiles caught his breath. “Five
billion
?”
“Yeah, so I don’t think they’ll give me too much trouble over five million. That’s chicken scratch to them.”
“Jesus.”
“And five million’s a fair price for QS, anyway. It’s full, but fair, and Craig and I think it’ll be a nice tuck-in to round out McGuire’s service offerings. McGuire has a high-end protection division, but it caters mostly to business executives. You’ve got connections in the sports and entertainment industry Craig doesn’t. After we close, I’ll expect you to work with him on those relationships, make all the introductions.”
“Of course.”
“Good. See, everybody wins. McGuire and Company gets a new business line at a decent price, you get five million bucks, and I get all your time. Okay?”
Stiles made a face as though he were trying to work through a calculus problem. “Okay.”
Gillette could see it was all just beginning to sink in. Stiles had grown up dirt poor in Harlem, and now he was about to make five million dollars. More money than he probably could have dreamed of as a kid. But Gillette didn’t want there to be any appearance of impropriety, either. They’d have to go through all the normal due diligence. “As part of the deal, you’ll sign a noncompete.”
“A what?”
“A noncompetition agreement. It’ll stipulate that you can’t start, or work for, another personal security company for at least five years.”
“Well, I—”
“And you’ll sign all the normal reps and warranties as part of the purchase agreement.”
“The normal
whats
?”
“Representations and warranties. Promises that you alone have the power to sell the company and that you’ve been a good corporate citizen while you owned it. Specifically, that you’re the only owner of QS stock and, if you’re not, that the others can’t block you, that you’ve paid all your corporate and personal taxes, and that you don’t have any lawsuits pending against you. Things like that. If it turns out some of those things aren’t accurate, and I find out about it after we do the deal, you’ll owe me my money back and then some.”
“So, I’m gonna need a lawyer,” Stiles said glumly.
“It’s all standard stuff in the deal business.”
“I don’t know deals, I know personal security and investigations.”
“You’ll be fine.”
“You wouldn’t take advantage of me, Chris.”
Gillette grinned. “Sure I would. It’s what I do. That’s why you’re going to get a lawyer.” He could see Stiles was struggling, unsure of himself in this situation but trying to maintain his signature cool. Stiles didn’t want to insult the man who was going to make him rich, but he’d sacrificed and risked a great deal to get QS where it was now, and he wasn’t going to throw caution out the window for anyone. “I’d never take advantage of you, Quentin,” Gillette said seriously. “You’ll get your five million, and you’ll never have to pay me back anything. Unless you lie to me, and we both know you’d never do that.”
“Of course not.”
“I’ll get the lawyers started on the documents. We should have everything finished up in thirty days, okay?”
Stiles nodded deliberately. “Thanks, Chris. This is all pretty amazing.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’ve worked hard, you deserve it. Most people fail where you’ve prospered.” Gillette could see Stiles appreciated that someone else understood how much sacrifice it had taken to make QS successful. Just as he appreciated Stiles understanding how isolated he felt sometimes as chairman of Everest. It was one of the reasons they’d gotten so close. Each took the time to understand the other’s situation.
Stiles cut another piece of steak and put it in his mouth. “How did your meeting with Landry go?”
“The guy tried
“You’re telling
me
?” Gillette chuckled. “Look, I’m about to make my investors five billion dollars on Laurel Energy.”
Stiles caught his breath. “Five
billion
?”
“Yeah, so I don’t think they’ll give me too much trouble over five million. That’s chicken scratch to them.”
“Jesus.”
“And five million’s a fair price for QS, anyway. It’s full, but fair, and Craig and I think it’ll be a nice tuck-in to round out McGuire’s service offerings. McGuire has a high-end protection division, but it caters mostly to business executives. You’ve got connections in the sports and entertainment industry Craig doesn’t. After we close, I’ll expect you to work with him on those relationships, make all the introductions.”
“Of course.”
“Good. See, everybody wins. McGuire and Company gets a new business line at a decent price, you get five million bucks, and I get all your time. Okay?”
Stiles made a face as though he were trying to work through a calculus problem. “Okay.”
Gillette could see it was all just beginning to sink in. Stiles had grown up dirt poor in Harlem, and now he was about to make five million dollars. More money than he probably could have dreamed of as a kid. But Gillette didn’t want there to be any appearance of impropriety, either. They’d have to go through all the normal due diligence. “As part of the deal, you’ll sign a noncompete.”
“A what?”
“A noncompetition agreement. It’ll stipulate that you can’t start, or work for, another personal security company for at least five years.”
“Well, I—”
“And you’ll sign all the normal reps and warranties as part of the purchase agreement.”
“The normal
whats
?”
“Representations and warranties. Promises that you alone have the power to sell the company and that you’ve been a good corporate citizen while you owned it. Specifically, that you’re the only owner of QS stock and, if you’re not, that the others can’t block you, that you’ve paid all your corporate and personal taxes, and that you don’t have any lawsuits pending against you. Things like that. If it turns out some of those things aren’t accurate, and I find out about it after we do the deal, you’ll owe me my money back and then some.”
“So, I’m gonna need a lawyer,” Stiles said glumly.
“It’s all standard stuff in the deal business.”
“I don’t know deals, I know personal security and investigations.”
“You’ll be fine.”
“You wouldn’t take advantage of me, Chris.”
Gillette grinned. “Sure I would. It’s what I do. That’s why you’re going to get a lawyer.” He could see Stiles was struggling, unsure of himself in this situation but trying to maintain his signature cool. Stiles didn’t want to insult the man who was going to make him rich, but he’d sacrificed and risked a great deal to get QS where it was now, and he wasn’t going to throw caution out the window for anyone. “I’d never take advantage of you, Quentin,” Gillette said seriously. “You’ll get your five million, and you’ll never have to pay me back anything. Unless you lie to me, and we both know you’d never do that.”
“Of course not.”
“I’ll get the lawyers started on the documents. We should have everything finished up in thirty days, okay?”
Stiles nodded deliberately. “Thanks, Chris. This is all pretty amazing.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’ve worked hard, you deserve it. Most people fail where you’ve prospered.” Gillette could see Stiles appreciated that someone else understood how much sacrifice it had taken to make QS successful. Just as he appreciated Stiles understanding how isolated he felt sometimes as chairman of Everest. It was one of the reasons they’d gotten so close. Each took the time to understand the other’s situation.
Stiles cut another piece of steak and put it in his mouth. “How did your meeting with Landry go?”
“The guy tried
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