For the first time since his birth, Jia saw her son clearly for who he was. He had changed since she’d met him at her father’s funeral. He was poised on the steps of manhood. The family business and the fallout from Akbar Khan’s death had consumed her. She had compartmentalised the things she dealt with in depth and the things she dealt with superficially. She had been skating the surface of her relationship with Ahad but he had taken a pickaxe to the pond and doused her in icy water. She could see him now, clear as day, and sharply focused. He was the best of the Khans, and the worst, and despite all her efforts, she loved him.

The old feelings took her by surprise, and she pushed them down. The fear that had arrived with his birth was alive and well. And this time there was no stopping it.

CHAPTER 36

Idris left Jia at Barbican and walked down Silk Street, past the offices of the Magic Circle law firm where he’d started out. He was on his way to a friend’s law offices. The day had been productive, but being patronised by rich men who liked to shoot their mouths off exhausted him. He knew that the most powerful people spoke the least.

The legal side of the family business had been growing steadily, and Jia had decided it was time to consolidate the bedrock on which it was built – the drugs. Sales of illicit substances gave them more than a steady income stream; it also gave them a network that penetrated the highest echelons of society. It was essential to their long-term plans.

Edward Mason was an old friend from university, and he ran one of the world’s most successful boutique law firms. He and Idris had shared an apartment until Idris left to join Akbar Khan’s business. Edward went on to take over his father’s prestigious law firm. His client portfolio read like a who’s who of the Sunday Times Rich List, and while Idris’s did too, it was for very different reasons.

Their meeting was scheduled for the end of the day. As Idris walked through the quiet, suited-and-booted snobbery of St Paul’s he was glad he no longer worked in this area. There was a lot to be said for being around people who looked like him.

He arrived at the office on time and took a seat in the lobby, remembering how intimidated he had felt the first time he’d been here.