Chapter 191

Fear gripped her throat, but she forced herself to stand slowly, head down, and slip behind a big, leafy bush along the perimeter.

When the two thugs spilled out onto the patio, they split up, Victor veering left. His determined lapdog headed her way.

Laila tried not to panic. Now what?

Behind the greenery, she inched along the wall, deeper in the shadows. When Victor’s goon disappeared into an area marked Employees Only, and Victor was nowhere to be seen, Laila sent up a silent prayer, ensured her dark curls were tucked under Trees’s cap, then spotted a family heading into the attached restaurant. Trembling, she slinked from her hiding spot to merge behind the kids, trying to blend in.

A shout and the pounding of feet later told her that she’d been spotted.

Panic spiked.

With her heart racing, Laila ran blindly through the mostly empty restaurant, looking for an escape other than the empty parking lot behind the hotel. She stumbled into a hall an