Page 32 of Pervade London
My fiancé rose to his feet. “Excuse me, James…gentlemen.”
The female maître d’ stepped up to Xander. “Sorry for the interruption.”
“Go away,” he snapped, grabbing my arm.
It was hard to know what upset me more—being dismissed by him in front of his friends or being man-handled.
“You’re hurting me,” I muttered.
“Not here.” Xander pulled me out of the room and hurried me down the green carpeted hallway. He stopped abruptly. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s Kitty’s birthday, remember?” I pointed at him. “I could ask you the same thing.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. “Your best friend is trouble.”
“What? No, she didn’t expect to see you either.”
He looked furious. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d be here?”
“Told you last night.”
“You were going to Dandelyan.”
“Well, we decided to come here, too.”Obviously.
“You’ve been drinking?”
“To celebrate her birthday.”
“You never left your drink alone, right?”
“What? No.”
“I need you to go,” he said. “Right now.”
“Kitty’s at the bar with the others—”
“I don’t care.”
The maître d’ hovered uncomfortably. “Mr. Rothschild, can I help at all?”
He glared at her. “I told you to go away. So, go away.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but then scurried off.
“Don’t speak to her like that,” I said irritably.
His left eye twitched and then he delivered a lie. “Emily, I will explain later.”
“Why are you here?”
He sighed heavily.
“I left Kitty to find the loo and saw you. Who are those men? Why didn’t you introduce me? Are you embarrassed?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Xander glanced down the hallway and cringed.
I saw why…
