LITMIR.BIZ

      CONTENTS

      CHAPTER ONE

      CHAPTER TWO

      CHAPTER THREE

      CHAPTER FOUR

      CHAPTER FIVE

      CHAPTER SIX

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      CHAPTER NINE

      CHAPTER TEN

      CHAPTER ONE

      “OY GEVEH!” Saul Karsh muttered before lighting the end of his cigar, the kind for which the Club Macanudo on the upper east side of Manhattan was famous. “You’re mishega!”

      “Actually, I’ve never been more sane,” Gabe Corbin countered. He should have sold his company two years earlier. “Aside from Sam Poon who’s already acting CEO, you’re the first person I’ve told in case you want to buy me out. That gives you five days before I approach anyone else.”

      “What’s the hurry? You’re only thirty-six!”

      “In my case that’s already too old.”

      When Saul could see that Gabe wasn’t about to enlighten him, he took a few more puffs on his cigar before he spoke. “If you’re selling a billion-dollar company that’s been operating in the black for years and is growing every day, then your reason must be personal.” A hint of alarm entered his eyes. “You’re not dying are you?”

      “Of a disease? No.” Gabe finished off the rest of his drink. “Send your people around tomorrow if you want to see the books. Phil Rosen’s my chief accountant. He’ll show you everything.

      “Try to make a decision before Monday. By then I’ll be gone and you’ll be dealing with Sam.”

      Saul, the CEO of Karsh Technologies Inc., dealt in twenty-first century computers used for medical research and the Space program. The acquisition of Corbin’s Business PC’s would give him another playing field altogether, one he’d wanted for quite a while if Gabe’s source was right.

      Saul was tough and aggressive, but Gabe knew of his reputation for fair business ethics. Of the five American entrepreneurs in the country who could buy Gabe out, he trusted Saul to be good to the employees and keep the company going in the right direction.

      They stared at each other. Finally Saul muttered, “Stan Abrams and his team will be there at nine to take a look.”

      Those were the words Gabe had been waiting to hear. “Excellent.” He put two twenty-dollar bills on the table and stood up. “It’s nice seeing you again, Saul.” He shook the older man’s hand. “I hope we’ll be doing business together.”

      “Gabe? I have a son who isn’t much younger than you. If he were contemplating anything this enormous, I’d be worried. Are you absolutely positive you know what you’re doing?”

      The man’s concern went a long way to prove to Gabe that Saul had been the right man to approach. “I know what I’m doing.”

      He left a bemused Saul sitting there puffing on his cigar. After exiting the bar, he climbed into the waiting limo.

      “Benny? Take me back to the office.”

      “Yes, sir.”

      Now that Gabe had a probable buyer, there was work to be done. He rang Phil and Sam on his cell phone and asked them to come back to the office as soon as they’d finished dinner. In all probability they’d be working until midnight.

      The process of divesting himself of the international business Gabe had built over the last fourteen years was a complicated one. But with Saul’s people coming in the morning, Gabe could see light at the end of the tunnel, thank God.

      As Gabe stood in the lobby waiting for an elevator to take him to the floor of his office, Bret Weyland, his North American sales manager, emerged from another one. For once Andrea Bauer wasn’t with him. That was a surprise considering Bret had intimated he and Gabe’s attractive chief software engineer, had been living together for the last three or four months.

      Gabe could rarely find Andrea alone because Bret was always right there exhibiting a proprietorial interest in her that bordered on the possessive. It was a miracle Bret got any work done, or Andrea for that matter. But amazingly enough they did. Gabe had no room to complain.

      He nodded to Bret. “Where’s your other half tonight?”

      “Cooking dinner at our apartment.”

      A vision of the two of them together behind closed doors doing anything and everything besides eating food disturbed him a great deal more than it should have. He wasn’t walking away from his company any too soon.

      “Lucky you.” Gabe stepped on the elevator.

      Bret flashed him a quick smile. “You’re right about that,” he said as the doors closed.

      It was a good thing their conversation had been cut short. Gabe had come within a hair’s breadth of wiping that smug expression off the younger man’s face.

      At 9:30 a.m. Andrea hurried through the office to her boss’s suite. His secretary looked up when she saw her. “Hi, Andrea. What can I do for you?”

      “Is Mr. Corbin here?”

      “Yes. He was already in when I arrived.”

      “Good. I need to talk to him right away.”

      “Just a minute and I’ll see if he’s free now.”

      “I’d appreciate that.”

      After the appointment with her gynecologist yesterday afternoon, Andrea knew what she had to do. There was no sense putting off the inevitable any longer.

      “He says to go right in.”

      “Thanks, Karen.”

      She rushed into his private office. “Please forgive me for barging in like this when I know how full your schedule is.”

      His penetrating gaze

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