I begrudgingly comply, stepping over the threshold and into the room, hearing the rest of the group file in behind me. I immediately begin looking around, to—
Whoa…
The room’s fucking huge! It must take up the entire side of this floor, easily. It looks like… Christ, I don’t know what it looks like! It’s like a ballroom or something. Maybe a palace. It’s very bright, on account of the far wall being nothing but floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Abu Dhabi. The midday sun is shining in, and it feels as if I’m level with it as I gaze out, squinting at its glare.
The room stretches away to my left, probably all the way back to the elevators. I was thinking there were a few different rooms that were just pretty big, but it turns out the entire floor is one massive suite!
There’s a wide ledge running around the perimeter, with steps leading down to the middle every few hundred yards. There’s a piano in the far corner, multiple tables and sofas, at least ten doors in total…
I genuinely forget myself for a moment. “Holy shit…”
“Impressive, isn’t it?”
Huh?
I look to my right and see a man approaching. He’s wearing a light-gray suit that’s probably so expensive, my bottomless credit card couldn’t afford it. He has dark, smooth skin and jet black hair, which, like his beard, is groomed and styled to perfection. He’s wearing gold-rimmed sunglasses, and I can see a watch on his left wrist that’s likely worth more than a small nation’s GDP. Two men with submachine guns over their shoulders, hanging loose by the strap flank him. Both are smartly dressed and look like professionals.
I raise an eyebrow at him as he smiles a polished, politician’s smile.
“The room… it’s beautiful, no?”
I shrug. “Yeah, it’s not bad.”
I’m surprised — his English is impeccable. He sounds normal… Nothing like I would have imagined. I know there are all sorts of customs and traditions usually observed by Saudi princes and their staff, but this guy is acting… dare I say it — American.
He gestures to the rest of the room with his hand. “All the money in the world, yet places like this never fail to take my breath away. You see, I never take anything for granted, my friend. I appreciate every luxury I have. My wealth may have been inherited, but I’ve worked hard to grow it to what it is today. And I like to think I’ve put it to good use.”
“Yeah… congratulations on being so loaded.”
“I consider myself an honest man, my friend.” He gestures to me. “A trait I believe we share.”
I shrug again, but say nothing. I’m aware of the close proximity of his armed guards — and I doubt these guys are all he has. I have no move. I just hope this works…
“My staff tells me you freely admitted being sent to kill me. Is that right?”
I nod. “Yeah. Sorry.”
He holds his hands up and smiles. “No need to apologize. You are simply doing a job. I assume there is no personal animosity here. But what I don’t understand is why you would tell me…? Why endanger yourself like this? And, make no mistake, my friend — you are in significant personal danger right now.”
I flick my gaze around. “Yeah, I see that. Truth is the people I work for aren’t crazy about giving out explanations. Me? I have no issue killing someone, but I have to believe they deserve it. They didn’t tell me why they want you dead, which didn’t sit right with me. And when I did a bit of research on you, it seemed to me that you’re a pretty decent guy.”
He shrugs modestly. “Thank you.”
Every good lie is ninety-five percent truth. I can understand why someone would want to kill him. But given I’m not one of the rich people losing money because of him, I can also acknowledge the good he’s doing. If I wasn’t in The Order, and someone approached me to do this job, I’d decline it based on what I know right now.
But… that’s not an option. Bottom line, I am in The Order, and he needs to go whether I agree with it or not, because Lily’s already said he’s been taken care of. If Horizon finds out he’s still alive, it’s her ass in the crosshairs.
I nod at him. “No problem. Anyway, I told them to shove the job up their ass, which they didn’t take too well. So now, they’ve put a contract out on me as well. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”
He’s stopped a few feet away from me, and his bodyguards have fanned to the sides, covering me from a wider angle. He appears to be thinking about what I’m saying, nodding thoughtfully to himself and staring into space.
“Well, I appreciate you telling me, of course. But you must have known the risk in doing so. Which makes me think maybe there’s something you want from me? Something you want to get from this? Money?”
I shake my head. “I don’t want anything from you. I just want to screw over the people trying to kill me, that’s all. You surviving long enough to get out of the city would definitely do that, which is fine by me. I don’t need your money.”
He smiles, but it’s not through humor. It’s more apologetic. “My friend, I think you have underestimated my position. It’s not an issue of me surviving, as you put it. Take a look around. I’m surrounded by some of the best personal protection in the world. We’re sixty-five floors up. No one can get to me here.”
I shrug. “I did.”
“True, but you’re not here to kill me. I assume…?”
I shake my head. “No, I’m not.”
“So I’ll be fine. I’m thankful for your concern, but it was unnecessary. Now, all that remains is to decide what to do with you.”
“Oh, that’s easy. I’ll just walk out the front door and you’ll never see me again.”
He laughs. “My friend, I admire your confidence, but I’m afraid it’s not that simple. Tell me why I should just… let you go. You were hired to murder me, after all.”
Wait a minute…
I’ve just noticed something. bin Mawal has a very diverse security detail. Lots of different ethnicities. They’re also very well organized. Clearly, the prince has spared no expense on his protection.
Why is that standing out to me?
I think back to my therapy sessions with Kaitlyn, how she goes on about conscious and subconscious… I subconsciously picked up on this, like an instinct. And I trust my instincts, which means it’s an important fact.
Oh, no…
I turn to the guy standing on my left, who accompanied bin Mawal a few moments ago. “Hey, buddy, who do you work for?”
He frowns, glances at the prince, and then shrugs. “Him.”
“Yeah, I know that. But you’re a contractor, right? You work for a company he’s hired… who?”
He stands tall, pushing his shoulders back. His chest swells with pride. “GlobaTech Industries.”
I smile. Then I laugh. And I can’t stop laughing. That is just… brilliant!
13
Okay, so, here’s my dilemma. I’m not allowed to let Josh find out I’m still alive. If I do, The Order kills me. Probably Josh, too. And here I am, standing in a room full of GlobaTech employees.
Do you see how that screws me on so many levels?
There I was, thinking I was being real clever, coming up with a plan B… Never thought about needing a plan C!
Ah, I’m new to the whole planning ahead thing, I’ll forgive myself.
Still need to figure a way out of this though.
…
…
…
Shit.
I’m an idiot.
I just assumed bin Mawal would use his own people for his security, not someone else’s. I genuinely had no intention of killing him when I came in here. I was just scoping the place out, planning how I would take him out later. But now, if I leave just one of the men in this room alive, I risk word of Brad Foley having been here getting back to GlobaTech HQ… and, therefore, back to Josh. With all the goddamn security cameras around here, it would take him all of ten seconds to hack the footage, see me, and then all hell would break loose.