“Ooh! Ilir and Dritan? Billionaires. Worth the risk.”
“Tell me about it.” The faucet turns on. “The guards said no. A private meeting, apparently.”
The Berishas.
The haze in my mind vanishes. My pulse spikes.
More noises reach my ears—the towel dispenser, heels clacking on the concrete floor. Then the door swings open, and silence returns.
I step out and wash my hands, catching my reflection—flushed cheeks and wild hair.
From the crude diagram of The Association in Elias’s office, the Berishas are up there in the org chart.
And they need something from me, which means, in a twisted way, I’msaferight now.
Tristan’s words at the café hammer into my mind. I can’t get out of this alone. My brothers, as rich and powerful as they are, can only do so much.
John is out front, the girls still partying it up.
I can go back and play it safe.
Or I can take a risk and find out what the Berishas are meeting about.
I scan the bathroom, noticing a small service door, the same design our family clubs use for staff exits.
Decision made, I slip out the small exit, then loop around to the dance floor.
The girls spot me, and I pull them aside.
“Need your help. And no questions. You in?”
Aria blinks. Scarlett nods. “I meant what I said. We’re here for you, Lana.”
“Let’s uncomplicate my complicated situation.”
Heat flares in my chest. I gather them closer and tell them my plan.
Minutes later, the three of us walk toward the guarded staircase.
Aria giggles, her flushed face and glazed eyes totally selling her drunk act as she sways into Scarlett, who looks like she’s having a hard time managing the five-foot tall bombshell.
The guards frown, their gazes fixed on the duo. I slip to the perimeter, keeping to the shadows.
“Handsome, you look like you’re very good with a gun,” Aria purrs, walking her fingers up the first guard’s chest. “I love men withbigguns. Do you have a big gun?”
I bite my lip to keep from snorting.
She sways, and a dramatic drop follows.
Scarlett, equally bad—or good—at acting, gasps. “Oh, shit.”
Her drink tumbles out of her grip and splashes over the second guard’s suit.
Curses fly. The men step back and pull the girls aside.
There’s my window.
I dart to the staircase, catching Aria’s wink as I dash upstairs, my heart pounding.
