I was barely breathing as I passed next to the guard, and he eyed me carefully, paying more attention to me than to other people as I got inside. I pushed through the crowd toward the back exit.

It was hard to keep my eyes from flitting from one person to another, especially since someone in here might be an assassin or another Desalti spy, but the club was big and they couldn’t keep an eye on everyone. I was standing in a dark corner, as close as possible to the exit. My gun was hidden just under my jacket, and I was glad no one here bothered with checking anyone for weapons or installing metal detectors. This was, after all, in the area that had belonged to the Ezzatis, and their men had never wanted to part with their weapons for any reason.

The gaze of the woman across from me lingered on me a bit too long, so I pulled out my phone and leaned against the wall, pretending to check my texts while keeping my eyes on her. What if she was one of the assassins? But wouldn’t she make a move then rather than stare at me like that? Besides, Romeo definitely wouldn’t let some assassin—even the one he hired—steal his glory if he was sure he wasn’t risking his life so he could be my executioner. The woman turned to her boyfriend, and I figured she wasn’t a threat.

Minutes trickled by, and I was tapping my foot against the floor and wondering what was going on. But if I texted James and asked, I might distract him from his task, and I knew it wasn’t an easy one. I chewed on my lower lip, tasting blood, but I couldn’t help myself.

Why hadn’t James texted me? Did that mean Romeo wasn’t coming, or had something happened to James? I took a shuddery breath. No. James would be fine. I had to believe that.

When my phone vibrated, I nearly had a heart attack. He’s here. I stared at the text for a few seconds, then strode for the back exit. Pushing the door open, I reached for my gun and pulled it out, ready to fire at whoever was outside.

No one was in the alley where I emerged, so I looked up at the windows and the buildings around me. When I was sure no one was watching me and nothing moved in the semi-darkness, I ran down the alley. A nondescript black car was supposed to be waiting for me just a block away. Meg had set this up so that no one would find out about it.