Page 134 of Protecting You
Though he was pretty sure thatwasMozart playing on hidden speakers, so he hadn’t been completely wrong.
A door on the right led to the pro shop and, beyond that, a restaurant in the circular room he’d seen on the ride in. A door on the left led to a hallway lined with more doors.
“There he is!”
Peri’s voice drew his attention toward the other side of the obtrusive flower arrangement, where his daughter stood with Alyssa and Brooklynn.
“She insisted we wait for you,” Alyssa said.
He plastered on a smile as he approached. “Great. Lead the way.”
They walked down a hall to a glass doorway that led out the back. He got a glimpse of the gathering, but not much more than that before Brooklynn pushed through the door, Peri following.
Alyssa gave him a slightly panicked look, and he slipped his hand into hers, giving it a littlewe’ve got thissqueeze.
They’d better have it. They had no choice.
She took a breath, and they stepped into the party.
* * *
If Callan had been impressedwith the building, now he felt blown away.
The patio extended out from the back of the building, giving patrons a view of the golf course on the sides, the rocky shoreline straight ahead.
White tablecloths covered round tables, each adorned with fresh tulips and hyacinths, which added sweetness to the briny scent of the ocean carried on the breeze.
Around the perimeter, long rectangular tables held appetizers, salads, desserts. There was even a carving station, where a white-apron-clad waiter stood at the ready.
Probably not Ghazi’s man. He looked a good fifty pounds overweight with graying hair sticking out from beneath his chef’s hat.
There had to be a hundred people, the vast majority of them invited guests. But a few men hovered around the edges, and these had the look of guards.
But could they be Ghazi’s men?
Callan didn’t know Gavin Wright at all, but surely the man was smart enough not to allow random thugs into his party. No, these guys had to be his security. Why, though? Did the Wright patriarch expect trouble, or did he always travel with them?
Probably the second. He had amassed considerable wealth, and he had a whole lot of secrets in his brain.
Where were Ghazi’s people? Robert, the unlikely valet, wasn’t out here.
Servers mingled, offering appetizers. Mostly young and attractive women.
The bartender looked like he could handle himself, barely smiling as he prepared and poured drinks. When he looked up to give them to the waiting guest, his gaze roamed the space, then stopped briefly on Callan, who quickly averted his eyes, hoping the man hadn’t noticed him watching.
So, maybe the bartender. Or maybe the guy was an ex-cop or ex-military, the kind of guy who’d been trained to expect trouble.
More scanning. Lots of employees, all clad in black pants and white button-downs. Any of them could be with Ghazi, either his people or people he paid for information.
How could Callan do this? How could he let this group of people know that he was Peri’s father?
He needed to be very, very careful.
He hadn’t expected so many guests, all standing in clusters, sipping cocktails and nibbling appetizers.
He’d known Alyssa had a big family, between her four sisters and her six cousins, most of whom were married or paired up, at least. But this was…this was more people than he even knew, much less knew well enough to invite to a party.
“Oh, there’s my family.” Alyssa tugged him through the throng, greeting guests along the way to a cluster of people standing together, chatting comfortably.
