“Oh god, oh god, oh god!” She skidded into the bedroom, her bare feet sliding from the hard floor of the hallway to the carpet in the bedroom where she tripped, righted herself, then hurtled into the bathroom. Opening drawers, she found what she was looking for and snatched it up.

Clutching her armload of makeshift weapons, she raced for the balcony doors, which were still open, staying just inside the house and peeking out. Sure enough, one of the Jeeps was headed up the long driveway toward the house. Whoever was inside was so sure they would find her, they weren’t even trying to be stealthy. They were planning on waltzing in through the front door and killing her.

“Not today, Satan,” she muttered.

Turning, she ran for the bedroom door and across the hall into another suite. It was almost a mirror image of the one she’d shared with Volkan, only it was more feminine. Defne’s bedroom, she assumed. She pushed the balcony doors open and glanced around.

Yes! It was exactly what she’d noticed when she was checking out the pool deck. A trellis built into the side of the house with flowery shrubbery winding its way up the entire length.

She looked down at the fire extinguisher and her other supplies, realizing she couldn’t possibly climb a trellis while holding onto everything.

She ran into Defne’s room and into the closet where she snatched up the first large purse she saw. It was a tan leather Fendi bag, which Yasmin would normally send a pic of to her purse-loving sister, but first had to survive the rest of the day so she could send a ‘look at my awesome life and be jealous’ text to her sister.

She shoved everything she was holding into the purse and flung the straps over her shoulder where they sat heavily against her back. As she headed back to the balcony doors, she heard something shatter on the first floor, then a shout.

She was out of time.

She glanced outside to make sure no one was on the pool deck, then she eased through the doors and onto the balcony, closing the doors as quietly as she could. The next part was going to be the worst. She’d never been good with heights.

As if agreeing, her tummy made a little somersault, reminding her she wasn’t alone. Knowing she had to protect her baby made her feel much calmer than she might otherwise be. She had to keep her wits to give her baby a chance at life.

With new determination, she squared her shoulders and swung her leg over the balcony railing, reaching for the lushly decorated trellis. She pushed her hands into the foliage, hoping like heck the trellis was made of titanium or some other extremely durable building material.