“From the sound of it, it’s probably too late for that. At least he won’t be in management, so he won’t be able to interfere with my new deal at Centurion.”

“How many pictures is your deal for?”

“Three, but it’s a writing deal, not a production deal. I don’t have a company to move there and take up a lot of office space, the way Boris does. I’ll get a small bungalow, and that’s good enough for me, since I do most of my work at home or while traveling.”

“If Boris’s deal isn’t signed and sealed, I may be able to have some effect on it after tomorrow, when I’m appointed to the board.”

“Don’t do anything on my account,” Gala said. “It would just get back to Boris and make things more difficult for me.”

“Whatever you say,” Stone replied, downing the rest of his orange juice and pouring himself some coffee. “I’ll stay out of it.”

“That would probably be best.”

Stone turned to the Sunday New York Times, and in the Arts section immediately found a story about Boris Tirov’s move from Sony to Centurion. He handed it to Gala. “Looks like he’s serious enough to give the story to the Times. Or is that just a PR move, to make Sony think twice about his deal there?”

“Could be,” she said. “Boris has done that sort of thing before.”

Stone picked up his iPhone, looked up the name of the CEO of Centurion, Leo Goldman Jr., and pressed the button.

“Good morning, Stone,” Leo said. “Nice to hear from you on a Sunday.”

“Sorry about that, Leo. I just wondered if you’d seen the story in the Times about Boris Tirov leaving Sony for Centurion.”

“Yes, I did see that, and it was a surprise, since the board is not scheduled to consider that deal until tomorrow. You’ll be there, won’t you?”

“I will be.”

“Do you have a view on the Tirov move?”

“I find it a little premature to announce a deal that is still awaiting board approval.”

“Tell me, Stone, is it possible that you are calling from Santa Fe?”

“Entirely possible.”

“I thought perhaps you might be. There’ll be time for a full discussion of the Tirov deal at tomorrow’s meeting. See you there.”

“Goodbye, Leo.” Stone hung up. “Boris’s deal is before the board tomorrow. I think Leo was annoyed that it was in today’s Times.”

“Oh.”

“And he figured out that I am here with you.”

“How did he do that?”

“The grapevine, I suppose.”

“Does he know what we did in bed last night?”

“He’d better not.”

“Oh, good, then it’s not so bad, is it?”

“I suppose not. How would you like to see the board’s decision go tomorrow?”

“I don’t have an opinion,” Gala said primly.