Page 57 of Liam

Mitch was high up in the roof, his sights continually watching them, with Astrid watching his back. Blake, who was the most experienced with high-value targets and personal protection, was backstage ensuring nobody put anything they shouldn’t near the entrance to the stage.

“Prime Minister, it is so good to see you.”

Liam watched Taamira hold out her hand to the leader of Canada.

“Your Royal Highness, so good to see you again.” The Prime Minister, a slightly unattractive woman in her late fifties, took Taamira’s hand and shook it firmly.

The two made small talk and Liam zoned out the conversation when they started talking about economic growth. It was impressive how Taamira could handle herself in any given situation with ease and grace. However, his sole focus was her protection and he kept a calm eye on the people around them, noting movie stars, government officials, leaders of countries, royalty, and heads of industry. There were so many high-value targets in this room—it was a terrorist’s dream come true.

What stopped that was a small army of personal protection in the room, every one of these people had security with them, some had small teams of one or two, others had larger teams like they did, but all kept their focus on keeping their principle safe.

Liam sighed as he caught sight of King Saud as he entered the room with his son Prince Abdul, and a woman he presumed was the prince’s wife, their security not two steps away from them.

Lifting his arm slightly, he spoke into the mic. “Bert and Ernie are in the room.”

Resounding replies of, “Copy” came over the headset.

He had laughed when Jack decided on that moniker for the King and his son. He knew Taamira loved them both despite what they had done. Although the King had explained what he had done to Liam, it wasn’t enough.

If it had been his daughter, he would’ve been on the first flight to make sure she was okay in person and heads would have fucking rolled for a mistake like that, but what did he know, he had no children. A smile twitched his lips at the thought that maybe he could have and instead of terrifying him, it had him smiling to himself.

When he had realised what he had done, taking her like an animal in the bathroom with no thought of using protection, he’d felt like a scumbag piece of crap. Taamira’s reaction had been just what he needed. She would never know how much she enriched his life.

Taamira began to move towards the Prince of Monaco. Liam snagged a glass of fruit juice from a passing waiter and handed it to her. “Here, drink, I don’t want you getting dehydrated.”

Her eyes sparkled as she took several small sips of the juice. “I can’t drink too much, or I will need to use the ladies’ room.

“So, use it. I won’t let anyone in, and Laverne can go with you.”

“You truly think of everything, don’t you?”

Liam chuckled as he took the half-empty glass back from her and gave it to a passing waitress.

“Sister.”

Liam groaned as he heard her brother’s voice to their left. He had seen him coming but knew they couldn’t avoid him all night so had distracted her from her nerves with the juice.

He saw Taamira take a steadying breath before she turned with a graceful smile on her lips.

“Abdul, Fawzaana, Father, nice to see you again.”

Her father stepped forward and took her hands, holding them out to her sides as he looked at her. “Don’t you look like a vision.”

“Thank you,” Taamira said politely, but Liam heard the guardedness in her voice.

She was still unsure if this was going to last or if it was even real.

She looked to her brother’s wife with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Fawzaana, you look well.”

Liam watched the other woman with an eagle eye seeing the tightness of her jaw and the calculation in her cold eyes before she hid both and offered Taamira a sweet smile. “You look…” Her eyes moved over Taamira slowly, and Liam saw the woman he loved still as she waited for the verbal put down he knew was coming.

That was never happening again on his watch. “She looks breathtaking, doesn’t she?”

His words earned him the interest of both Abdul and Fawzaana, but he knew the King was watching Taamira. He didn’t like being involved in this family drama; it meant he wasn’t concentrating on any potential threat. Thank God he had his team to watch his back, while Taamira only had him at that moment.

“Yes, breathtaking,” Fawzaana said slowly before she glared at him.

He held her gaze, showing her exactly who she was dealing with at that moment, and it was only moments before she lowered hers.