The secretary opened the office door, and Rick went inside. None of the men greeted each other. Rick silently walked forward, put a folder of doc.u.ments on David"s desk and sat on the second chair opposite Daniel.
"You don"t look very good, did something happen?" Rick looked at David with a grin, the latter"s face was expressing annoyance at the unexpected appearance of an old acquaintance.
"Why did you come?" David sharply asked, he did not see the point in observing the ephemeral courtesies.
"If you don"t mind, I would rather discuss it without strangers," Rick said and cast a provocative look on Daniel, "I do not like his company, I never liked it."
"Ha, you might think someone cares about your opinion," Daniel hissed, but David raised his hand to stop his further attack. His head was already torn from lack of sleep, he now wanted the least to listen to the ha.s.sle of two adult men.
"Daniel, at least you don"t start, please. And you, Mr. Stein, I will ask you to observe the rules of decency. Do not forget that you are in the Lenali Enterprise building without an invitation," the man drew a clear line, separating Rick as an outsider.
The guest shrugged, expressing indifference to David"s comment, "As you say, honestly, I don"t really care. Anyway, this building will soon become the property of Marc Technologies."
"And on what ground will that happen?" David asked.
Rick slid the folder he had previously placed on the table to David, "On this one."
In the folder was a stack of doc.u.ments, and on the top page, it was indicated [Marc Technologies and Lenali Enterprise. Takeover Agreement.]
David flipped through the papers, his expression became sullen and thoughtful, "Daniel, go contact the owner of the building, please," he asked his older brother, and Daniel went out with little enthusiasm, leaving Rick alone with David.
The building that housed the Lenali Enterprise office was considered one of the best business buildings, its owner signed a long-term lease agreement with David for twenty years, after which the building was to be transferred to the ownership of Lenali Enterprise with a small surcharge.
This was an advantageous offer and David did not expect that Marcus would go so far as to decide to take possession of the building, violating all legal norms.
"Is this some kind of a joke?" The man threw the folder with the contract in the direction of Rick, he hasn"t read a more absurd doc.u.ment than this.
"Why would that be a joke? Everything is more than serious. You know how this procedure works. Isn"t it the same way you swallowed up the Berne Group in due time?"
"Don"t you dare compare these two situations! If you behaved like a normal person then, and were not a two-faced b.a.s.t.a.r.d, then nothing would have happened!" David exploded,
"What do you want, what are you trying to do, Rick? First, you secretly sent me the doc.u.ments on Marc Technologies, now you come and declare the takeover of my company? Which side are you on?"
From the very first moment, when David learned that Rick was alive, he was tormented by conflicting feelings. Of course, he was glad that the man got a second chance to see this light, but what was the price for it and which way he would choose was another question.
Rick smiled slightly, seeing the annoyed face of his old friend, "Oh, I"m flattered. I did not expect you to guess."
"It was hard not to guess, considering what obvious clues you left," David commented.
Stein leaned back in his chair, his appearance was relaxed and calm, "I know what this offer can mean to you, but I recommend not provoking Marcus. If you continue to resist him, then in less than a month from now there will be no trace of Lenali Enterprise."
"Is that a threat?"
"No, David, this is a friendly warning. I have spent the last six years with this man, and I know what kind of monster he really is."
"I can somehow understand the goals of Marcus, but what are you trying to achieve? Are you sure you want your daughter to live in the world that this person creates?"
At the mention of Ashley, Rick warmed up in his soul, he was ready to kill himself for the words that he said at the banquet.
The man had great difficulty putting the vigilance of Marcus down and making him believe that in front of him was Richard Steiner, a cynical and ambitious officer of the n.a.z.i troops.
"The chips that Marc Enterprise implements are different from each other, but their common feature is that they subordinate the will of the person to the one who controls the chip.
For the past six years, by orders from Marcus, I have been engaged in introducing these things not only to politicians and businessmen but also to the heads of the illegal world. Those who refused to cooperate were destroyed on the spot.
More than eighty percent of the arms and drug market is managed by the people of Marcus. David, you have no idea how far this man has gone."
"Do you want to scare me with the omnipotence of my opponent? You came to show me that it doesn"t make sense to me even to fight him?" David asked mockingly, "Then you don"t know me. Such things have never stopped me, neither in a past life nor in this one. And you, like no one else, know about it."
David got up from the table and sat in a chair opposite Rick, "But you did not answer my question. What is your purpose?"
Rick leaned forward, elbows on his knees, "You know, there is such a saying - keep your friend close, and the enemy even closer," he answered David"s question.
David thought for a moment, then grinned and leaned forward, "I heard you."
"I didn"t even doubt it," Rick answered with a sly smile, "Well, then I will tell Marcus that you were unhappy, but promised to think."
"By the way, one more thing," Rick recalled one important detail, "Marcus asked how Elena is doing. Does she have trouble sleeping, do nightmares torment her? I don"t know why he was asking this, the train of thought of this man is unknown to me. But he asked to be reminded that he was waiting for your call at any moment."
David remembered that Marcus mentioned at the banquet that David would turn to him for help. Did he mean the condition of Elena then? Does this mean that Marcus knows what is happening to the woman and can help her?
"I get it, thanks for the info," David got up from his chair and held out his hand to Rick. The man looked at his outstretched hand and, after some deliberation, shook David"s hand in response.
In this life, they spent enough time together to know each other"s ways of thoughts.
"I suppose this conversation will remain between us?" Rick specified, he risked a lot, revealing everything to David, but Anderson was the only person whom Rick could trust something.
David did not answer, but in his eyes, Rick realized that the man would keep his promise.
"Oh yes, I advise you to take a closer look at your young relative, Nick Anderson. I"m afraid he"s not the person he seems to be," Rick added before leaving David"s office.
A couple of minutes later, Daniel returned to his brother"s office and was glad that he did not have to witness Stein"s face the second time.
"Well, and how did the conversation of former best friends go?" he asked David.
David mysteriously squinted his eyes, "This guy is still the same - arrogant and two-faced," he said with a smile. Only this time, Rick was playing by his side.