The Protégé

Having survived his rise to Chairman of Everest Capital, the world's largest private equity firm, and the ferocious attempts on his life that ensued, Christian Gillette finally seems safely perched atop the financial industry.

He's just accepted Everest's largest private investment, he's poised to takeover his ex-rival's sinking firm, and he's just embarked on his firm's most exciting venture to date, buying the NFL's newest team -- the Las Vegas Twenty-Ones. Plus, one of his young employees -- an ambitious deal maker named David Wright -- has caught his eye. Wright reminds Gillette of himself just a few years back, and he's drawn to the thought of teaching the wunderkind everything the ups and downs of the industry. But everything comes to a screeching halt when a shadowy man calls him to a meeting, requesting a favor and offering in return new information about Gillette's father and his still mysterious death.

Christian Gillette can't stand to be controlled, but he also can't afford to lose a chance at finally learning something substantive about his father's death. And as he becames more entangled with the strange deal, and the frantic pace of business continues without his full attention, he feels his grip on Everest weakening -- and soon realizes his life is once more in desperate jeopardy. When all signs begin to point to David Wright, Gillette realizes that his toughest decision as Chairman lies directly ahead...