<em>Le Cercle</em>was humming with activity, and the roulette table was drawing a crowd. A chorus of cheers or groans filled the air, depending on the call of the roulette dealer, and Savannah St. James was in the thick of it. She had a fair-sized stack of chips in front of her; she was doing well tonight, and hoped to continue that luck all evening.<br/><br/>There were several men near her, all vying for her exclusive attention. It amused her to no end, watching them compete with each other to see who would win the next smile, the next laugh. Only one would end up in her bed, and he was watching her from across the roulette table.<br/><br/>“Place your bets, please,” the dealer called. Savannah placed several of her chips on 36 Red, her white satin elbow length gloves showing off the diamond bracelet wrapped around one slender wrist. Her gown was a sapphire blue, and hugged her curves to obscene perfection, outlining every inch of her body from breast to thigh. The hem fell to barely brush the floor, although the racy slit up the left side of her dress showed a great deal of shapely leg and thigh. Almost too much, really, since the slit ended just below the tops of her stockings. It was a backless number, and the smooth, creamy pale expanse of her back seemed to accentuate the deep blue of her gown to her benefit.<br/><br/>The dealer spun the roulette wheel and sent the ball in the opposite direction just as a tap on her shoulder drew her attention. Savannah turned to address the white-coated waiter, who held a small silver tray in one hand. “Yes?” she said, ignoring the cheer that went up as the ball bounced into a number.<br/><br/>“A message for you, Ms. St. James,” the man said with a slight bow, his eyes twinkling with appreciation as he covertly flicked a glance down her body. Savannah let him look.<br/><br/>Plucking the cream coloured card from the tray, she thanked the man and asked that her car be brought around before he melded back into the crowd. Savannah unfolded the message, her gray-blue eyes quickly scanning the contents. A spark of excitement ignited inside her at the message, her full lips spreading into an eager smile as she lifted her dark head. “If you will excuse me, gentlemen,” she said, turning back to the table to cash out her chips much to the groaning complaint of her partners, “it seems as though I have a prior engagement.”<br/><br/>Casting an apologetic glance to the handsome, dark-haired man across the table, Savannah smiled and turned to leave the club, her body moving with a sensual grace that was part-learned, part-natural. Gathering her wrap, she tucked it about her bare shoulders and stepped out into the night.<br/><br/>Her car, a red Toyota MR-2, was waiting for her, and she tipped the valet as she slid herself into the front seat. She felt only a little put-out at having her evening interrupted, but the anticipation of meeting with M rid her of that fairly quickly. Revving the engine, she pulled into traffic and made her way to MI6 Headquarters.<br/><br/>An hour later, she was already striding through the front doors of the MI6 office building, flashing her identification to the guards on duty and making her way to the elevator. Her heels clicked against the floor as she moved, and once the elevator doors slid open, she stepped in and hit the button for the 6th floor. It didn’t take long for her to reach it, and she took a breath, one gloved hand reaching up to pat the elegant twist her chocolate brown hair was pinned in as she stepped from the elevator.<br/><br/>She was in Miss Moneypenny’s presence just a moment or two later, and gave the woman a friendly smile as she was told to go right in. Moving around the other woman’s desk, Savannah pushed open the connecting door and stepped through, closing it behind her before taking the few short steps to the second padded door. She knocked once, briefly, and then stepped inside.<br/><br/>“You wanted to see me, M?”