Liam returned to the villa with a considerably better understanding of why Edrava wanted to rejoin Nuria.
He also had a headache.
The afternoon inspection had taken him through two municipal substations and a water treatment facility, where the engineers had spent forty minutes explaining why their equipment could not be replaced, despite presenting maintenance records that strongly suggested it should have been replaced fifteen years earlier.
Kamal had endured the entire excursion with remarkable patience.
Their car passed through the estate's security gates and followed the curved driveway toward the main entrance, where Liam noticed an unfamiliar vehicle parked beside the Nurian security convoy.
Then he saw Arik standing with two men near the entrance.
One was blond, wearing a dark formal coat with silver detailing, while the other had black hair, a familiar cold undertone, and silver eyes that immediately explained the resemblance.
"Oh."
Kamal glanced up from his tablet.
