Page 67 of Belgian Betrayal

Crossing the threshold, they stepped into a three-story foyer with smooth marble floors. At the far end of the space, two ornately curved staircases rose to the second level.

Another liveried servant led them past the staircases to an arched doorway leading into a massive ballroom that could easily accommodate several hundred guests. A string quartet positioned on a raised dais at one end of the room played classical music while guests moved around the room, talking in small groups or waiting in line at the two bars spaced out across the room.

The dance floor in front of the musicians remained empty as people mingled and visited each other.

Before they could join the crowd in the ballroom, they had to run the gauntlet of a reception line, including Lord Johnathon Stanhope and several people Fearghas had no idea who they were.

Hank and Sadie smiled and shook hands down the length of the line, pausing at Lord Stanhope to thank him for including them at such short notice.

As the bodyguard, Fearghas was spared the pleasantries, hanging back several feet like a stoic protector taking his job seriously.

Once past the reception line, they melted into the crowd.

Sadie immediately garnered attention, albeit of the English stand-offish style, as opposed to the gushing, over-zealous ways of the Americans.

Sadie handled all attention like the professional she was, with humble kindness.

“Chef Federov and his date have arrived,” Ace reported.

Fearghas drew in a breath and let it out slowly, easing some of the tension building between his shoulder blades.

Dmytro and Catya had arrived.

“And here comes the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs and his interpreter, the beautiful Jasmine,” Ace said, his love for the interpreter apparent in how his voice softened on her name. “The gang’s all here. Let’s do this.”

Inside the ballroom, Fearghas watched out of the corner of his eye for Dmytro and Catya’s entrance.

And then they were there, standing in the doorway, surveying the room and the beautiful people dressed to the nines.

They quickly addressed the reception line and kept moving.

As a blond, Catya was stunning beside the hulking Dmytro as they moved around the ballroom. They found a wide staircase near the entrance to the ballroom and climbed to the second level, where a walkway formed a half-circle around the floor below. Other guests had wandered up to that level to look down at others.

From where Fearghas stood, he could see that another bar had been set up on the second floor with comfortable seating and stand-up cocktail tables arranged for guests to sit or stand to enjoy their drinks.

Dmytro headed for the bar and ordered two drinks. Once he’d been served, he handed one to Catya. Together, they walked to the railing and looked down on the guests below.

Catya’s gaze panned the room until it came to rest on Fearghas. Her head dipped slightly, acknowledging that she had spotted him.

She was so beautiful that the sight made Fearghas’s chest tighten. He liked her dark hair better, but she pulled off the blond wig like it was her natural color.

As she stood talking to Dmytro, balancing her drink in one hand, she rested her other hand on the rail.

Fearghas hid a smile.

Good girl.

Catya had just placed one of the mini cameras that would give Ace and Reed a birds-eye view of the ballroom floor below.

The chef and his date strolled around the railing, stopping to point at paintings lining the walls as if they gave a damn about them. At the opposite end of the walkway, they stopped again and looked over the railing, talking and smiling as if commenting on the guests.

Dmytro stuck his camera on the railing. He turned to smile at Catya and motioned for them to descend the stairs to the ballroom floor.

“We have three cameras in place. We can see them on the monitors. The two overlooking the ballroom and one in the sitting area on the second floor,” Ace reported.

Fearghas moved around the ballroom with Hank and Sadie, all the while watching Catya out of the corners of his eyes. As a bodyguard, his duty was to protect Sadie.

Hank had told him at the outset that he would protect his wife, Sadie, with his life. If things went south at the event and Catya was in trouble, Fearghas was to go to Catya and protect her. Hank would get Sadie out.

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