That checked out. “Fine.” I sighed. “I’ll tell her.”
“Then you’re free to leave.”
He went back to his computer, furiously tapping the keyboard again. Guinn gave me a once over, then went to lean on the table beside his packmate.
The longer I stayed, the more intimidating the rest of the plan would become. Brooks and Guinn could figure their ownshit out. I had to draw my bondmate into the trap we’d laid out for him.
I peeled myself away from the wall, but my legs refused to take me more than halfway across the room.
I started to tremble, goosebumps breaking out on every inch of my skin. The second I left the lounge, I would be exposed. Our plan would be in action for real, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to go through with it.
Would I freeze the second I saw Benjamin?
What if he cornered me before I got outside? We’d planned out a simple path I would take out the back door, but so many things could go wrong.
Had I made a stupid choice to be the bait?
It was too late to back out now.
With a heavy breath, I forced my legs to keep moving, taking me out of the lounge.
Chapter
Forty-Seven
TALIA
I exited the way I came in, offering the guards another smile.
All I had to do was go back down the hall to the lobby and take a right toward the bathrooms. There was a door there that should lead into a back alley, where my mates would be close at hand.
Simple.
Efficient.
If I could stop hyperventilating and rushing. Benjamin was going to guess something was off if I didn’t get myself under control. He could be watching me right now.
I slowed down, walking normally and clutching my purse. I went to turn toward the bathrooms, but a shout set my heart racing.
“You bitch!” A woman tumbled out of the ladies’ room, another woman following her out and using a purse as a weapon.
Security guards rushed past me, their radios crackling. I paused at the mouth of the hall, but another guard came to stand in front of me.
“Sorry, Miss, these bathrooms are currently closed.” He spoke calmly, as if I couldn’t see the two other guards each holding a screaming, angry woman. “Take the elevators up to the second floor, and there are bathrooms to your right.”
“Thank you,” I said instinctively.
He turned to another woman who’d come up, and I walked on, my mind reeling.
This wasn’t the plan.
I needed that hallway. Thatspecifichallway.
Did I take a walk through the hotel and circle back, hoping they’d cleared out the disruption and would let me through? We had a plan B route, but it wasn’t ideal. I would spend more time in back hallways before getting outside that way.
What if the whole commotion had been pre-planned by Benjamin to throw me off?
No, there was no way he could have known where I was going. It was purely bad luck. Plan B it was.
