The conditions Evenson proposed were far too harsh. Cassius and the others simply could not accept them.
Although the terms they had offered earlier also involved the bank's shares, it had ultimately been nothing more than a collateralized loan. Those shares would merely be held temporarily by Evenson for safekeeping, and he would not even have the right to dispose of them without authorization. Once they got through this rough patch, they could raise funds and gradually redeem the shares. The bank would still be theirs.
But according to Evenson's terms, it would be a clean sale, money and goods exchanged, with nothing left between them. From then on, those shares would have nothing to do with them. Unless Evenson wanted to sell them himself, they would not be able to buy them back even if they had the money.
What was even more infuriating was that Evenson had said he would deposit the money into this very bank. In other words, after taking their shares, the money he paid would still remain in his own account. So this bastard was trying to take everything without paying a cent!
If they could agree to terms like that, then hell had truly frozen over! Cassius therefore believed that no one would accept such conditions, so they could not be Evenson's real goal. His arrogant and forceful attitude earlier had merely been a negotiation tactic. He was asking for the moon so that Cassius could bargain him down.
Cassius nodded with certainty and looked toward Evenson, who had walked to a corner of the room and was chatting animatedly with Ronan. Perhaps they really could sell him some shares. Of course, what he was truly interested in, and where Cassius could make concessions, should be the interest rate on the loan. So...