Page 169 of Pervade London
Akmal entered the room immediately and strode over to our table. “Yes, sir?”
Still using the napkin, James slid the invitation back into the envelope and handed it to him. He obviously didn’t want his prints getting on it—or perhaps he didn’t want to smudge the ones already there.
“Usual protocol, sir?” asked Akmal.
James nodded.
I shot to my feet. “Where are you taking it?” Panic had my stomach tied in knots. “I need it to get into the embassy tomorrow night.”
Akmal walked off with it.
“Sit down, please.” The order came swiftly from Ballad.
Plopping down with a huff, I said, “If I don’t go it’ll look strange. Penn-Rhodes will be there. He has contacts at the orchestra. He can put in a good word for me.”
“That location is out of bounds, Em.” James shook his head. “What part of ‘thousand-foot high wave’ don’t you understand?”
“No one there will know about us.”
James’ gaze snapped to the door. “Xavier, great timing.”
Xavier strode in confidently with fresh-faced brightness. His sexy ripped jeans and blue jumper giving him a friendlier, more causal air than Mr. Serious, here.
Xavier greeted me by kissing my cheek and then moved over to pat James on the back.
“I got invited to the Russian Embassy,” I bit out. “I have to go.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” said James.
“This is my career.”
“Let me look into it.” Xavier stood next to me and consulted his phone. “Hmm… interesting.”
We both studied him, intrigued.
Xavier glanced at James. “Peramivir is an hour away from arriving at Heathrow.”
Slowly, Ballad pushed to his feet. “His embassy didn’t notify us of an official visit.”
Xavier nodded. “He’ll regret that when the home office doesn’t provide the level of security he needs.”
“Well, he has his beloved KGB with him, right?” But what the hell did I know about such things…
Both Xavier and Ballad turned to stare at me as though I’d misspoken—as though those very words had set off a landmine. Then Ballad began to pace the room.
“Is Ivor Mikhail with him?” he asked.
Xavier frowned. “I’ll see if he’s on the same flight.”
The expression on Ballad’s face worried me.
“Who’s Ivor Mikhail?” I asked, pushing to my feet.
Xavier approached James and grabbed his shoulders. “It’s not happening. Let’s go see Em’s surprise and grab a pizza. Then we can go home and sit this one out.”
My stare bounced from one man to the other. “I can get you in.”
I was sure the embassy would allow for an escort. Or maybe I could have James double as a tutor.
