“Thank you, Herb.”

They arrived at the High Cotton building and drove into the garage, then took the elevator to the penthouse apartment. Herbie was stunned when the doors opened to a huge living room, beautifully designed and furnished. Everyone, even Mark’s young colleagues, was in black tie, and the women were gorgeously dressed.

James Rutledge, the architect, came to greet them. “Good evening, Herb, Mr. Brennan. Your son arrived a few minutes ago.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Marshall replied.

“Jim, you’ve done a spectacular job on this place, in an amazingly short time,” Herbie said.

“There are half a dozen design writers here tonight,” Rutledge said. “Architectural Digest has already committed to a multi-page spread on both the offices and the house. Be sure and see the upper floor.”

“Will do,” Herbie replied. He and Marshall got drinks and wandered around the room. Herbie spotted Dink, there with a beautiful girl, and so did Marshall, but neither made a move to speak to him.

Stone Barrington walked over with Marla Rocker in tow. “Hey, Herb.” He swept an arm. “See what you have wrought.”

“I’m terribly impressed with myself,” Herbie said, and everybody laughed.

Mike Freeman joined them. “Hello, Herb.”

“Mike, how are you?”

“Just great. Did you spot my security people around the place?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then I’ve done my work well. You’ll probably run into Josh Hook, who is personally supervising the crew. All the cameras are in operation, too, so none of the guests had better lift anything.”

Dino Bacchetti got off the elevator with a beautiful woman in what Herbie thought must be an Armani dress. Dino’s arm was still in a sling, but he looked well. Greetings were exchanged, and drinks were snagged from passing waiters. He shook Herbie’s hand. “I’d like you to meet Vivian DeCarlo,” he said, and she offered her hand.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, and thank you for saving Dino’s ass last week.”

“It was my pleasure,” Viv replied, smiling.

“No date tonight?” Stone asked.

“Just Marshall,” Herbie replied.

“No Allison?”

“Allison bowed out,” Herbie said, shrugging. “She felt that having an office relationship wasn’t good for her career.”

“She’s probably right,” Stone said.

A waiter passed, paging the guests to a large buffet dinner set up in the dining room. Everyone got a plate and a glass of wine and found seats.

Mark Hayes came by and welcomed everyone. “I want to thank you, Herb,” he said, “for making this happen.”

“It was more of a pleasure than I can tell you,” Herbie replied. “And you’re welcome. How’s the software going?”

“We’re out of beta and on the market,” Mark said, “and the reviews have been amazing.”

“I smell an IPO coming,” Herbie said.

“You have a good nose—hang on to your stock.”

“I certainly will.”

“The IPO is going to be something,” Marshall said. “There’s great anticipation in the industry and in the investment world, too.”

“Then maybe I’ll hang on to my stock for a few years, instead of dumping it on day one,” Herbie said.