The car stopped with squeaks in front of the gate, the man jumped out, slamming the door, and ran into the house. Jumping through several steps at once, he swept along the corridor and opened the door of the room. But, to his disappointment, he did not see what he wanted.
The sensors were still beeping in their usual rhythm, Elena was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, and Nick was sleeping on the floor next to her.
David ran his hands over his face and sighed heavily. When he received a notification on his phone that Elena"s sensors showed increased activity, his heart skipped a beat of joy, and he immediately rushed home to check on his wife.
Apparently, this was a mistake.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" the man patted Nick on the shoulder, trying to contain a little annoyance when he noticed how the young man was tightly clutching his wife"s palm.
"Mmm, what?" Nick asked, half awake, raised his head from the bed and rubbed his eyes. David"s serious face, staring at the young man, deprived the guy of the last remnants of sleep more effectively than a cold shower. He released the woman"s hand from his palm and put on an innocent smile, as if nothing had happened, "Oh David, h.e.l.lo. What are you doing at home?"
"So what? That"s my house and I think I can be here anytime when I want, isn"t so?" the man muttered through clenched teeth, and Nick understood this as a hint and retreated away from Elena"s bed.
"Hey, I understand that you are not in the mood, but try to be more restrained, sometimes you don"t look like yourself at all," Nick said with an offence in his voice.
David went to the bed, leaned over and kissed Elena on the forehead, the tension in his body decreased as soon as he touched her skin. Only this woman could, with her presence alone, even as speechless as she is now, control his condition, mood and even life like no one else in this world.
"Sorry, I didn"t mean to be rude," David replied, his palm sliding tenderly over his wife"s head as if he was ashamed that he behaved this way in her presence, "I received a notification that the sensors detected increased activity and hoped that Elena came to her senses. But, seeing her in the same condition as in the morning, I was upset and could not hold my emotions."
"Hmm, gotcha," Nick looked away, wondering if it was worth confirming David"s words. But if he says that Elena came to consciousness, it will cause an uncomfortable wave of questions, which Nick didn"t want to hear. It was already enough for him to explain the situation to David when Elena only fell into a coma.
"Sorry, I didn"t notice anything unusual, maybe it was some kind of system glitch?"
"Maybe a glitch...," David"s attentive gaze look at all the devices, did not notice anything unusual, he turned and looked at Nick.
"Um, what?" A slight sense of worrying began to raise inside the young man, David was looking at Nick with such a keen and studying gaze, just like when Nick first appeared on the threshold of their house.
"You know, I"m not a big fan of social networks, but Elena and Corey, for example, have promoted accounts on Instagram and Facebook. How is it that a young man like you does not have a single public page? Do not you belong to the generation that lets the whole world know what they ate for breakfast or lunch? With a look like yours and different places that you visit with your parents, shouldn"t you have a million-like crowd of fans, huh?"
It was not necessary to have a special observation to understand that of the three brothers, Nick was the most attractive one. You can even say killer-attractive. No matter how much Daniel stands out for his appearance, this young man in five years will be a serious opponent even for popular models of glossy magazines.
Not surprisingly, Corey and Elena fluttered around him like hens, spoiling Nick as his beloved little brother.
Therefore, it was strange for David that such a charismatic guy led such a secretive social life. For his age, this was too unusual.
"Who said that I am not in social networks? For your information, I have several accounts, and they are very popular."
"Will you show me? I haven"t seen my uncle and an aunt for a long time. Do you have any photos with your parents there?"
Nick opened his mouth and caught himself thinking that he had not guessed to see what kind of pages his mobile a.s.sistant had created, what the contents were, and what those publications were. Moreover, where can he get photos from his parents if he has never even met these people?
The fact that this Anderson family was busy at some excavations in Africa and rarely got in touch due to their work was a great advantage for the young man, and Alice could track and block unnecessary calls.
David"s parents were accustomed to the fact that their relatives could disappear for a long time, so if they did not call up for two or three months, this was not considered as something supernatural. This period of time was enough for Nick to finish his business.
But in the cycle of recent events, he lost his vigilance and forgot that David would be most suspicious of him.
"Listen, let"s discuss that later. To be honest, I"m hungry. How about some tea? On the way home, I got some snacks at Corey"s cafe," the young man changed the subject effectively.
"From Corey, you"re saying? Hmm, then I"m afraid there"s not much left of them," David commented with a smirk, and he and Nick headed for the living room. The man did not mention the fact that his older brother arrived with him, who could feel the smell of Corey"s pastries from a mile away.
"Oh, Nicky! Did you bring this? Thank you!" Daniel was already sitting at the table with a pleased expression and was eating fresh donuts, enjoying the cooking of his beloved girlfriend.
"Hey! I bought it for myself!" Nick wanted to burst at first but looked with pity as the last donut disappeared into Daniel"s mouth without a trace.
"Oh, sorry, I didn"t know," the man answered without any regret in his voice, chewing his dessert. Daniel cast a glance at David standing behind Nick, and then turned it back to his cousin and grinned suspiciously.
"Nicky, I spoke with my mother today, she complained to me that she could not contact your mother, although they usually hang on the phone for two to three hours. You know, she"s worried if they"re okay," Daniel asked.
"Did these brothers conspire or what? At first one arranges an interrogation, then so does the second one," the young man thought to himself, according to how attentively they were waiting for his answer, it was obvious that something was wrong here.
"Umm, you can tell aunt Dina that there is no reason to worry. Before I came here, my father told me that they planned to spend two or three months in some African tribe to study their culture, so they"ll have no connection all this time," Nick laid out his legend, which he had prepared in advance in case of a similar question.
He knew that he could not avoid this situation, since by his orders Alice blocked uncle Jack"s connection, and sooner or later it would become suspicious.
"Hmm, I see. If so, then there is nothing we can do about it. I hope they are doing well. In the end, we are family, and it"s okay if relatives are worried about you, right?" Daniel smiled, and Nick already saw that it was not a simple smile, the meaning hidden in that smile reflected in the man"s eyes.
"Of course, we are a family," Nick smiled back, sat down at the table and poured himself some tea, "By the way, what"s the news in the company? I can help with some small errands, if necessary. I have nothing to do anyway."
"Don"t worry, you don"t have to think about the company," Daniel lazily stretched in his chair, "David signed the change of the company"s ownership papers that Marc Technologies offered," the man added like it were an ordinary trifle.
"David signed what?! Are you crazy?" Nick looked at his cousin as if the latter one was a strange crazy man, it was beyond his understanding.
"Well, not that we have a lot of choices. Moreover, I think that Marcus can help in the situation with Elena. We need to show that we are ready to compromise if we want to ask for his help," David explained.
"How can you even ask him for help, knowing what he is going to do?!" Nick jumped up and looked at David as the guiltiest traitor.
The latter"s face immediately became more serious, "And what is he going to do?" the man said in a low and even voice, as in interrogation.
Nick realized that in the heat of emotion he blundered too much. How could he answer this question? Even if he knew something about Marcus"s plans, how would he explain where he got this information? Any thoughtless phrase that flew off his tongue could ruin his plan like a house of cards.
"Isn"t it obvious? He wants to bankrupt your company and take it to himself!" Nick decided that the most reasonable thing would be to shift his focus on business.
"This is just a company. If he doesn"t harm the employees, I don"t see a problem in this if it will allow Elena to return to her previous state. I make money not for money, but for my family, so the question of choice between Elena and business is not even worth it," David answered.
Nick clenched his fists, his lips closed in a thin, even line, but he could not openly demonstrate his anger, "To h.e.l.l with it! Do what you want!" The young man turned around and left the living room.
"Oh, and the boy obviously isn"t telling us everything," Daniel said when Nick"s silhouette disappeared from their view, "I don"t think our little brother poses any threat, but something tells me that it"s not that simple."
"Yes, the fact that there was nothing at the first online request, and after five minutes there were a lot of active links, also makes me doubt," David agreed with his brother, "Call dad, ask him to contact uncle Jack not directly, and through the staff of their research team. I doubt that they will spend so much time in any African tribe without communication. Now is not the eighteenth century, and there are many more ways to find the right person."
"Okay, consider it done," Daniel nodded his head and looked into his gla.s.s, which was already empty, "Tell me, are you sure that the idea of entering an active game with Marcus is a reasonable solution? The risks are great."
"Even if the risk is great, this is the only thing we can do at the moment," David pulled out a phone from his pocket, found a message from Marc Technologies in his inbox, highlighted the phone number of Marcus and pressed the call b.u.t.ton.