Cathy watched the two men. Birds of the same feather, she thought. Even though Mesut did not delve into spirituality to the extent Abubakar did, both men had similar tastes and lifestyle which most times involved violence, having both grown up from violent backgrounds. They made a funny pair, the grandson of a racist, who was also a racist, associating remarkably well with a man from a race people like Mesut and his grandfather would have referred to as inferior. Mesut had come to realize that race or creed didn’t matter in the end but it helped keep up appearance and making people think he was racist had advantages with the associations he kept.

The next person to arrive was the Chinese billionaire, Zhu Hang. Emerging from a black Range Rover Sport SUV which he had driven from the apartment he kept in New York to the hotel, the billionaire looked rather uneasy as he stood at the entrance of the hotel, taking in the faces of the people who went by.

Zhu Hang was an averagely built man in his early forties. Dressed in a white shirt which he folded the sleeves up to his elbows over a plain black trousers, he looked very casual and very unlike the usual callers to the prestigious hotel. He absently handed the doorman the key to the SUV along with some hundred Dollar bills and cautiously made his way into the hotel. The doorman stared after him as he went. Nobody seemed to understand the Chinese man who betrayed no emotions, yet looked out of place and uncomfortable whenever he came to the hotel.

Zhu Hang hadn't always been rich. Raised on the streets of Mianyang, he had lived a rather hard-knock life before he came in contact with Robert Devore. The big American had been interested in the young man who knew how to get anything for anybody at the right price. He had signed up to Robert's deal without difficulty and had been rewarded with great wealth, which had made him the owner of one of the biggest computer firms in the whole of China. He controlled stakes in many firms all over the world, and like the two big men upstairs, he also maintained ties with the underworld, in his case, the notorious and dreaded Chinese Triad, through which he maintained a strong hold in the Chinese business environment along with his numerous contacts in top positions with the Chinese government. He had been instrumental to getting the government to sell the ancient temple to the brotherhood, which now served as their own temple.

He took the stairs rather than the elevator. Zhu Hang was a man ever conscious of his security, despite the promise of invincibility to human attacks assured him when he made the deal. He had grown up being very conscious of his surrounding and that had kept him alive for so long, even before meeting Robert Devore, and such habits, despite the best promises of safety, are not easily abandoned. He always carried a handgun and rarely told anyone where he was at any time, especially when he was travelling alone like he was doing now. He never felt safe outside China and even in China he was still very careful. He was very aware that he had developed so many enemies in the course of doing business within and outside China and was always on the lookout for a hired assassin sent by any of his enemies after him.

As he reached the third floor, he was sweating a bit from climbing the stairs, something he was not accustomed to except when he came for the meetings at the hotel. He rarely attended his martial arts classes anymore even though his trainer was always paid for practically doing nothing.

He followed the same procedure as the other people had done and was soon inside the suite where he felt a bit relaxed. He knelt before Cathy and kissed the ring then, barely acknowledging the other men in the room, he went to sit at the far end of the table facing Ruud. The man's expressionless face made the movie star more and more uncomfortable.