“That would be Jacques Chance?”
“Regrettably, yes. I should mention that his actions were exacerbated by your attentions to his sister. As a result, we have severed all ties to him. He was a holdover from my brother’s regime, and even so, we regard his actions as business, not personal.”
Stone ignored the Mafia-esque reference. “Frankly, after Jacques’s sudden disappearance from public life, I was surprised to hear that he was still alive.”
“You may put that down to regime change,” Majorov said. “I hope his absence from the scene will clear the air between us and allow us to do business on a more normal basis.”
“You can hope.”
Marcel suppressed a laugh. “Perhaps, Stone, we can hear out Mr. Majorov, then discuss it between us.”
“As you wish, Marcel.”
“First of all,” Majorov said, “I am willing to put aside your involvement in the death of my brother.”
“I had no such involvement,” Stone said, “in spite of his repeated attempts on my life and that of my son and his friends.”
“I have good reason to attach the involvement of an associate of yours to my brother’s death,” Majorov said, sounding angry for the first time.
“And whom would that be?”
“A fugitive from American justice named Theodore Fay, I believe.”
“You may believe what you wish,” Stone said, “but I have good reason to believe that no such person exists.”
“Perhaps you know him under another name?”
“And what name would that be?”
Majorov reddened. “I have been unable to discover that, but I am sure that he exists and that he killed not only my brother, but at least four of his associates.”
“Are you referring to the men who were attempting to kill my son and his friends in Arizona?”
“Again, you are referring to a regime in my organization that no longer exists. May we not begin anew with a clean slate?”
“We may not,” Stone said.
“Stone,” Marcel interjected, “let’s hear what Mr. Majorov has to say.”
“If you insist, Marcel.”
“Mr. Barrington,” Majorov said, “my organization has acquired a majority position in a chain of fine hotels in Russia and Eastern Europe called the Ikon Group.”
“I know these hotels,” Marcel said. “They are fairly good hostelries, but they could use much improvement.”
“We are prepared to make that investment,” Majorov said, “and we are prepared to make an attractive offer for the Arrington Group, whose expertise would be of benefit to us in refining our hotels. Our offer would be a sum greater than the current value of your hotels.”
“By whose standards?” Marcel asked.
“By objective assessments by real estate experts in Los Angeles and Paris.”
“All right, Marcel,” Stone said, “I have heard out Mr. Majorov, and now I wish to say that I have no interest in any offer from his organization and no interest in hearing further from Mr. Majorov on the subject of our hotels—or on any other subject, for that matter.” He turned to Majorov. “Do I make myself perfectly clear?”
Majorov was redder, now, and his hands trembled slightly as he spoke. “Perfectly clear,” he said. “But I wish you to remember that I made this offer in good faith, and that you insulted me.”