World travel, private jets, fast cars, yachts, big money and powerful people: a far cry from the cherry-blossom temples, the bamboo bed and the restricted pleasures of his youth. Yet whilst Tony relishes the freedom this new life has to offer, the discipline of his training keeps him focussed and in control. He soon graduates to work with a number of rich and powerful Arabian businessmen and finds himself in a shady world as a tension-filled meeting in the Middle East escalates into a serious life-threatening situation. A car chase tears through Riyadh’s narrow labyrinth streets until Tony, his colleague and their client are forced to abandon the vehicle and take off on foot through the gruelling desert with the assassins hot on their heels. A shoot-out ensues and Tony’s right-hand-man falls but the client is safe. They live to seek refuge with the Bedouin and after a series of intense covert manoeuvres eventually escape the country under false identities.

Tony accepts an appointment for a Saudi Arabian politician named Amin, heading up his close protection unit in the UK, Italy and Cyprus. Whilst in London, Tony meets and falls in love with a blind Swedish law student. Though their time together is snatched between his assignments, they begin planning a future together. Meanwhile, despite only brief periods of contact throughout his childhood, Tony tries to maintain something of a relationship with his parents. It is a tense association but Tony provides financial support for his father who is fast deteriorating through multiple sclerosis.