Then he murmured something to her.
Eleanor looked back at Gavin.
“Three-point-eight million over three years?”
“Yes.”
“And your response to potentially losing that account was to terminate the employee who stopped because he believed another human being might d/i/e?”
Gavin opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Eleanor nodded thoughtfully.
Then she turned toward the tall man by the window.
“Daniel?”
He stepped forward.
“Yes, Mrs. Halston.”
“Cancel it.”
Gavin blinked.
“Cancel what?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Our negotiations.”
Gavin stared.
“What negotiations?”
Eleanor picked up a leather folder from the table.
“The acquisition.”
The silence that followed seemed to swallow the room.
My head snapped toward Gavin.
His expression answered the question before I asked it.
Halston Capital had been planning to buy the agency.
Eleanor continued calmly.
“We had intended to acquire seventy percent of Mercer & Field by the end of the quarter.”
Gavin’s face became almost gray.
