Let me know if you'd be willing to read the rest. Thanks
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“This is how the deal will run. I’ll take closed bids today. If I like yours, I’ll be in touch.” Taj paused and looked at each of the three investor representatives sitting around the table. The two older men nodded, brisk but still polite. That’s how money and power did it. The third, not quite old enough to be termed a man, jutted his chin out and shook his head.
“I need to see something. Was told not to lay out a pincher without first seeing something,” the kid said.
Taj smiled at the boy, bearing all his teeth, but the kid didn’t even know enough to be afraid. That was the problem with kids, didn’t even have the brains to know when they should be scared. Taj just let the silence hang in the air a moment, the unsettling quiet caused the kid to squirm in his chair. Better, Taj thought. Couldn’t let some punk kid start pushing his buttons, didn’t care who he was or what he offered.

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