Erin slapped him across the shoulder. “You are not the boss of me. And I wasn’t drooling.”
They continued bickering, but Kamdar turned back to his team. He waved his hand. “You may go. Chapal, please stay so we may talk to our friends. The rest of you, find your rooms and try to stay out of trouble.” He pointed to the three women who sullenly got up. “Except for you three. I expect much trouble from you. Go out and flirt and bring me back information I can use. A new wardrobe to the girl who brings me the best dirt.”
That seemed to make them move a little faster. Their stilettos picked up and clattered as they moved across the marbled floors. Finally, the doors closed.
Kamdar frowned. “Are we being listened to?”
Ten shook his head. “Theo did an early walk-through. We’re clean for now, but we’ll do a check twice a day from here on out.”
Kamdar stepped up and held out a massive hand toward Jesse. “You, my friend, are a very brave man. It is my honor to aid you in this operation.”
Jesse nodded and shook the royal’s hand. “I thank you for making this possible. It would have been hard for us to get into this place without an insider taking us with him. I know this was supposed to be a security detail. We’ll make sure you’re protected, but I appreciate the chance to get this job done.”
“The United States government thanks you as well,” Ten said.
Kamdar bowed his head as humbly as a man who owned a country could. “Excellent. I put through the changes as you requested. No one will question my detail. Your security badges and conference packages are in your bedrooms. I decided to bring Mr. Murdoch and Ms. Grant in as my marketing and finance leads. I fear if I left them on the security team, they would be on the sidelines for many of these meetings.”
“We thought it was a perfect idea,” Simon replied. “Ms. Grant has a business degree and Jesse and I have gone over enough that he should be able to make it work. He’s going to be the shy, quiet type.”
“Damn straight,” Jesse added. He groaned a little. “Wait. Does this mean I have to wear a suit?”
Simon slapped him on the shoulders. “I picked it out myself.”
“Damn it.”
“My cousin has some questions. His name is Chapal Kamdar.” Kamdar gestured the thin young man with the laptop forward. “He is the suspicious type. Always questioning things. I would fire him, but his mother and my mother talk, and dear god, the hell I would get if he has to work for a living.”
Dark eyes rolled. “As if you could go two days without my help, you overgrown bag of hormones. Who managed to get your last sex tape off the Internet?”
Kamdar shrugged. “I performed beautifully on that tape and with three women. All of them were well serviced. I didn’t see the issue.”
“One of them was married to a member of a European royal family, you walking penis. You could have started a war.”
“She was a lovely girl and so very polite.” Kamdar sighed. “Anyway, apparently there is a Washington politician who is a last-minute entry to our little conference.”
Little conference? It was only a place where the world’s wealthiest men met to collude and set the prices of the energy the rest of the world ran on. Just a little conference, though.
“Who is it?” Ten asked with a frown. “I should have been apprised of any VIPs going to this thing. The Agency likes to know where our country’s politicians are.”
“He’s not on the list. I wouldn’t have known about him attending if I hadn’t picked up some chatter about the conference. I like to keep my ear to the ground, so to speak,” Chapal explained. “He is a senator from Texas. Hank McDonald.”
“The head of the subcommittee on Energy. I guess that makes sense, though if he were here in an official capacity I would think I should have been informed.” Ten pulled out his cell. “I’ll make some calls, but he really is in charge of a committee that oversees energy and new forms of energy in the US.”
“He also travels to the Middle East often,” Chapal said.
“Again, he would likely do so for his job, but I’ll put my people on it,” Ten promised.
Chapal shrugged. “I will continue to look into it myself. I have a radar for these things. Something is off about this. If I find anything, I will share with you.”
“I appreciate that.” Ten started for the door. “I’m going to find my room and make some calls. We have the opening dinner tonight. Everyone get some rest so we’ll be ready this evening.”
Kamdar pointed around the room. “There are three suites off this living area. I have the whole floor, but this is your wing. If you go to the suite down the hall, I have a bar staff on call twenty-four hours a day.”