Page 131 of His Fury

“Should be.” He met my gaze. “But keep your head on.”

I swallowed hard. “Zayn said we were to expect no unexpected visitors.”

Mikhail didn’t blink. “Zayn doesn’t always tell anyone everything.” He gave me a tight smile. “Best stay on the main floor, ma’am.”

And then he walked past me like the conversation hadnever happened. I stood there for a moment before I moved to follow him.

Something was shifting. Quietly. Purposefully.

And for the first time tonight, I wondered if I’d made a mistake asking Zayn to trust me with tonight. I stepped behind the bar and tapped James’s shoulder, motioning for him to lean in, off comms.

“There’s four guys, gray suits, moving like a pack,” I murmured. “See them? South booths?”

“Yeah.”

“You serve them?”

He nodded subtly. “Only ordered once. One of them asked who was running the floor tonight. I didn’t answer.”

I forced a smile for a passing customer and turned slightly. “Let me know if they ask again.”

James handed off a drink to another server, then looked back at me. “You want me to call Jayden? Or Rye?”

“No.” I hated how quickly the word left my mouth. “Neither. Not yet. I don’t want to make this into something it’s not.”

“But if itissomething?—”

“Then I’ll handle it. Until I can’t.”

He didn’t argue. Just gave me a tight nod and got back to work.

I moved back to the VIP booths. After checking in on the birthday girl, I turned to my tablet and opened the link Zayn had walked me through a dozen times yesterday. He showed me where the cameras were, where they weren’t, which doors locked automatically, and which doors didn’t. He’d been making sure I knew the escape route while I pretended he was only showing me club security.

I flipped through the channels until I pulled up the CCTVfor the corner booths on the main floor. I scanned through the angles until I found the one where the gray suits were.

They looked too polished. Too still.

And when one of them shifted just enough to show the line of something dark beneath his jacket—something that looked suspiciously like a shoulder holster—I felt my pulse leap in my throat. When he moved his jacket, I froze.

“Shit.” I changed the earpiece to only Jayden. “I need you up here,now.”

I grabbed my phone and punched out a text to Rye.

We might have a problem. Not urgent yet. A check-in would be good.

Three dots appeared almost instantly. Then stopped. Then nothing.

I stared at the screen for a long moment. No reply. No call.

He didn’t tell Zayn because there was no soothing voice in my ear telling me it was all under control. I looked back down at the screen, and I no longer felt like I was running the floor.

I felt like I was holding the front line.

CHAPTER 31

ZAYN

It wasthe kind of place that never received a name, just a location—coordinates passed quietly between men who didn’t draw attention to themselves.

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