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“I have a thick skin.”
“But I will dial it down.”
“Thank you.”
“And compliance might sound like a euphemism for waterboarding, but it must be rather lucrative.”
“I make sure our initiatives comply with the regulations in whichever nations we’re working. Very legalistic stuff. And, yes, it’s ethics, so some people find it boring. I don’t.”
“Why in God’s name are you in Las Vegas? We are the least ethical and least compliant city on the planet.”
“Not true. There are Sodoms and Gomorrahs in this world that make Las Vegas seem tame.”
The champagne was extraordinary. There was a difference between the house stuff the casino served and this bottle. I emptied my glass and was about to refill it. But, as if he could read my mind, he had the bottle by the neck and was pouring.
“So, why are you here?” I pressed.
“An international conference on management and security. Information security. Network security.”
“Here? Usually the only conferences the BP gets are Nevada dentists.”
“Yup, here. These conferences have been a lot smaller post-pandemic, and many of the organization’s members now join virtually. Not me. I still attend in person. But the organizers went with a…a lower-cost casino option. And, to be honest, a lot of us chose to stay at other resorts. I’m at the Venetian.”
“Of course you are,” I said. The Venetian had a clientele that didn’t flinch at seven- and eight-hundred-dollar suites. “Why were you at the BP so late?”
“I told you. I wanted to see your show.”
“But…why?”
“You sound incredulous.”
“I am. You don’t seem like my usual crowd.”
“The truth?”
“Please.”
“I once met Prince Harry.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am.”
“Were you with him at Eton?” I asked. Perhaps he was younger than he looked. Maybe he was late thirties, not midforties.
“Halo Trust. They clean up land mines in what once were war zones. Harry’s a benefactor. We met at a Halo event.”
“That was an issue that mattered to his mum.”
“Indeed.”
I had met people before who knew members of the royal family or their hangers-on, and it always left me feeling a tad ashamed. I was exploiting the mother of a man this fellow had met.
“How well do you and Harry know each other?”
“Not well. We’ve been in the same room together twice—and both times, it was a very big room.”
I was relieved, but didn’t say so.
