Chapter 462 - Las Vegas (6)

Aiden and Sarah reached a grand villa on the outskirts of Las Vegas with a cab.

The maid let them inside and guided them to the living room. "Master and Mistress will be here in a minute."

The Patels joined them not long after.

"As you could see on my card, I'm Saurabh Patel, and this is my wife, Sudarsini Patel.", Mr. Patel introduced them when they entered living room.

"Beautiful", Sarah said with a smile as she shook Sudarsini's hand.

"Oh, you speak our language, Mrs. Black?" Mr. Patel was surprised.

"A little bit.", Sarah responded with modesty.

They had a pleasant talk before lunch.

Sarah observed Mr. Patel. Just by his posture and facial expressions you can see that he is a confident, powerful man. It's definitely an aura of someone who is in charge.

Mrs. Patel is a very beautiful woman, quiet, maybe even a bit timid. She obviously loves golden accessories. Sarah took a note of this, in case they end up socializing with them, she knows what to get Sudarsini as a present.

Lunch was served on the outside terrace, which was next to the swimming pool.

During lunch, Mr. Patel's phone rang, and he took the call taking only few steps away, not enough to be out of the earshot. It seems that he forgot that Sarah can speak Hindi, or he didn't care. Sarah overheard parts of conversation and understood that the call was related to the security conference which starts tomorrow.

Sarah would usually just keep quiet and pretend that she didn't understand, but this time it was different. Her curiosity was too strong to hold back. "Problems with the conference?"

Mr. Patel slightly frowned. It was a call from his assistant, and they spoke in Hindi. He was not pleased that she heard and understood.

Sarah smiled and waved her hands defensively. "Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I just thought that we might help. Maybe."

Mr. Patel shook his head lightly and smiled. "Thank you for your concern. I don't think you can help."

"You don't know until you try." Sarah was persistent.

At this point even Aiden was interested in what is going on. Why is Sarah intruding? It's not like her to poke nose into someone else's business.

Mr. Patel decided to say few general points. He didn't want to appear rude in front of the guests. "I got tasked to fill up number of VIP spots, and I'm two participants short. They tell me to pick randomly, but I'm afraid to give those spots to someone who is not worthy."

Sarah's eyes lit up. "How are VIP spots different from regular ones?"

He didn't like that Sarah is probing further, but she didn't ask for anything that he can't answer. "More comfortable accommodation, and a chance to participate in an event after the conference."

"How do you decide if someone's worthy?" Sarah asked another question, realizing that Mr. Patel is close to crossing his line of comfort. But she couldn't hold back.

Just as she suspected, Mr. Patel raised his defenses and refused to say more. "Sorry Mrs. Black. I already said more than necessary. I hope you will understand. Topic of this conference is sensitive, and outsiders should not know about it."

"What if we are not outsiders?"

He was surprised by that question. "I'm not sure I follow, Mrs. Black."

"Is there a way for us to show you that we are not outsiders?" Sarah wanted those VIP spots. For her, there is nothing better than winning, being on the top. VIP treatment is for people on the top. Even if she needs to fight for it, it's worth it.

He thought for some time while scrutinizing Sarah and Aiden. Then decided to speak. "Invitations are sent to a specific email address. If you can send me something from that address, then I can confirm your identity."

Sarah glanced at Aiden and gave him a slight nod. He understood and pulled their two laptops from the backpack.

They opened their laptops and started getting into Mr. Patel's wireless network without asking him for password, but it's not like they need his help anyway. "Where do we send?" Sarah showed a mischievous smile.

Both Sarah and Aiden shared an understanding. Mr. Patel is organizer of the conference they will attend. If he wants to look them up, he can. There is no point in hiding their hacker identities in front of this man.

Mr. Patel was surprised by two emails that he received. His eyes darted from Sarah to Aiden for some time before he spoke. "30 and 31... Nice to meet you… I assume you want those VIP spots."

Sarah's smile gave him a confirmation, but she still clarified, "It would be nice to know what the after-conference event is… but even without that, yes. We want those spots."

Sarah saw that he is reluctant, so she added. "If you want us to prove that we are worthy of them, we will be happy to take on the challenge."

"No need." Mr. Patel shook his head. His displeasure was now obvious.

"What seems to be the problem? Please speak freely." Sarah was not sure why Mr. Patel's mood dropped and hoped to fix it.

"Did you accept lunch invitation because of these VIP seats?"

Sarah understood. He thought that they are here just to take advantage of him. Well, honesty is the best policy, at least in this case. "We just found out about them now, after you took that phone call."

He thought for some time before speaking again. "Did you accept lunch invitation because I'm one of the organizers for the event?" Mr. Patel's stern gaze was on Sarah.

Aiden was upset that Mr. Patel is looking at them with distrust. Well, he didn't care much about himself, but he does not want to allow Sarah to go through this. She accepted to come here only because he insisted. Aiden stood up and spoke to Mr. Patel, not able to hide his frustration: "I admit that we looked you up before coming. Your background is one of the main reasons we decided to come here… without it we would not come. If that bothers you, or you think that we have some other agenda, let us know. We will leave." He was packing their laptops in the backpack, obviously ready to leave.

"Sorry, sorry…" Mr. Patel was trying to defuse the situation. "It's just that many people try to get close to me because of my status. I hope you understand. I apologize for jumping to conclusions."

Aiden was still standing. He looked at Sarah, waiting to see what she wants to do. She gave him a small nod. He relaxed and sat back in the chair, but he didn't look at the food anymore. Aiden's hand was protectively resting on Sarah's shoulder and he didn't even try to ease up his frown while facing Mr. Patel. He will not allow anyone to bully Sarah, not even a big shot like Mr. Patel.

"Based on your identities, can I assume that Mr. and Mrs. Black are just one of your aliases?" Mr. Patel was facing Sarah; she had a friendlier appearance than Aiden.

She only smiled in response.

Mr. Patel bobbed his head a bit before asking, "Let me not ask if you are married… will you need one room or two?" He was not sure if they are really together as lovers or just acting. Many hackers would take different identities while traveling in order to hide their traces. Some would even get married.

"One." Sarah replied.

There was a flash of surprise on Mr. Patel's face before he nodded and stepped away to make a phone call. This time he went inside, so they were not able to overhear his conversation.

He returned with a smile. "You got VIP spots and everything that comes with it. There will be something in your room, as a token of my apology. I hope you will not refuse it."

Sarah and Aiden glanced at each other before thanking him.

They didn't stay long after that.

Aiden was not able to get over Mr. Patel's offence, and Sarah was not completely relaxed either. It's not easy to forgive the fact that someone is incorrectly accusing you of wrongdoings.

On the way back to the hotel they tried guessing what that will be 'something in their room'. Sarah wanted them to place a bet for their guesses, but Aiden refused. "Seeing how you are winning, I will be crazy to bet against you.", he laughed. "But remember that I am on your team. For whatever you need."

Sarah felt that her heart was melting. "Thank you. It means a lot… however, you are not on my team… we ARE a team." Sarah wanted him to know that they are equal. That is how she treats him, and that is how she expects to be treated in return.

Aiden understood, and he was happy to receive her assurance. He embraced her as she leaned onto him in the back seat of the cab.