Liam sat quietly in the back seat of the Rolls Royce Phantom, as it rolled down Sheikh Zayed Road, heading back toward the Burj Khalifa. The morning sun had risen fully now, flooding the highway with pale gold. Traffic was slow but steady.
But Liam wasn't looking at the view. His mind wandered back to the meeting that had ended only twenty minutes ago.
It had been almost identical to the meeting he had two days ago with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi—calm, polite and wrapped with warm courtesy—but beneath the surface, the tone was completely different.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, who was also the Minister of Defense, did not waste time with slow formalities. He was direct. His words were sharp but still respectful.
He asked without hesitation and without pause. And the two men he brought with him — an intelligence official and the kingdom's economic advisor — sat quietly but watched Liam with eyes that missed nothing.
