Now they were getting to the real reason.
"Go on," Daniel said smoothly. "I assume you have already confirmed whatever you came here to confirm."
He leaned back in his chair, composed and unbothered, though his eyes remained sharp.
Ethan's smile faded just enough to show seriousness.
"That night at the bar," he began slowly, "you were not just scanning the room or eyeing the women like everyone assumed."
He paused deliberately.
"You were lip-reading their conversation. Am I right?"
The room fell into a heavy silence.
Ethan remembered it clearly now. Daniel had been unusually still that night. Not distracted. Not entertained. Focused. His eyes had followed specific lips, not bodies. Specific exchanges, not movements.
At the time, Ethan had brushed it off.
Now, looking back, it made sense.
Daniel did not respond immediately.
But his silence this time felt different.
"I was?"
