Inside Julian Voss's corner office, the air is thick with the scent of his signature cologne, something aggressively woody and expensive and the low hum of tension.
Julian stands at the window, phone pressed to his ear, pacing in slow, predatory circles. For six months, he has chased this deal like a hunter stalking the rarest prey.
He has flown to Singapore twice, hosted the prince on his yacht in Saint Tropez, promised the Qataris exclusive port rights before anyone else even knew the tenders existed. The €3.1 billion infrastructure consortium was supposed to be his coronation.
His chief financial officer, Marc Langlois, a nervous, balding man in his fifties, sits rigidly on the edge of a white leather sofa, tablet clutched like a shield. Two legal counsels hover nearby, faces pale.
