Page 51 of His Daughter

Julian picked up his folder. "You figure out what you have that isn't money, and you offer that instead." He stood. "In the meantime, we have a deal to close. Get your head right."

He walked out of the office. I spent the next hour trying and failing to focus on Caine’s file. All I could think about was the argument and possible ways to make it up to her. I couldn’t come up with anything.

My mind was still blank as we made our way to the conference room. We sat. Graham was behind me, notebook open. Julian to my right. Nolan to my left, still as a wall.

Roland Caine walked in with two of his people — his Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and a lawyer I hadn't seen before. "Declan." I cocked my head. So we were on a first-name basis now. Interesting. I leaned over so we could shake hands. "Beautiful building you have here."

"Thank you, Caine. We try."

The term sheet was between us. Twenty pages. Six weeks of negotiation compressed into clean type and defined margins. I walked Caine through the revisions, the valuation adjustment, the earn-out structure, and the retention package for key personnel. He listened. His CFO took notes. His lawyer read ahead.

"The earn-out," Caine said. He tapped the page. "Three years is too long. My team will lose motivation if they're waiting three years for the upside."

"Two years with a performance accelerator," I said. "If the streaming platform hits a million subscribers in eighteen months, the earn-out triggers early."

Caine looked at his CFO. The CFO nodded.

"And the board seats?" Caine asked.

"Two. You and your choice of a second. Advisory capacity, not operational. You built this, Caine. I'm not going to pretend I know how to run a media company, but the acquisition is ours to execute."

He leaned back. His fingers drummed the table. The silver ring on his right hand caught the light. "My name stays on the building."

"For two years. After that, it transitions to the Vanguard brand. But the Caine name stays on the foundation — the one Evelyn runs. That's permanent."

He grinned. "You're a smart young man, Declan."

"I learned from the best, Caine. We’ll make adjustments to the contract, and we can meet again for signing.”

Caine stood and extended his hand. "Welcome to the media business, gentlemen."

"Welcome to the Vanguard, Caine."

Caine left with his people. The door closed. The conference room was quiet for three seconds.

Julian leaned back in his chair and grinned. "About time."

Nolan huffed. “It’s not over until we sign. Let’s keep our eyes down still.”

Julian was already on his feet. "Relax, man. We need a drink. Immediately. Graham, is there anything in the bar?"

Graham adjusted his glasses. "Several things."

Julian found a Macallan that had been sitting in the Vanguard's bar for occasions exactly like this. He poured three glasses. We stood in the conference room with the city spread behind the glass and raised our drinks.

"To Caine Media," Julian said.

"To the Vanguard," I said.

Nolan raised his glass. He drank wordlessly.

Julian set his glass down and loosened his tie. "All right. I have a pressing matter to discuss. I haven't met your daughter, which is completely unacceptable. I plan to rectify that tonight." He turned to my left. "Nolan, you're coming too."

Nolan looked at Julian. "No."

"Yes. It would be rude not to meet her in person. She's a Vanguard baby. She deserves to meet all three partners."

"She's an infant. She doesn't know what a partner is."