Page 69 of Dalla's Royal Guards

“I never have, and I never will,” he said gently.

Behind them, Musad stepped closer, his dark eyes unreadable.

“Raja is sending an escort. They’ll be here in less than an hour. He’s arranged a helicopter to take us to Narva.”

Dalla looked between Musad and Harlem. Something passed between the two men—silent, powerful, unspoken.

She opened her mouth to question it, but stopped. She trusted them. She trusted their understanding of this world. Someday she may understand it herself, but that time was not now.

Harlem turned to her. “I’ll be in contact with you in a few days. I’ll bring you answers.”

“How?” she asked.

He smiled. “Don’t worry. I have my ways.”

He stepped toward the door, pausing as Nasser blocked the way between the living room and the bedroom.

Then, he was gone.

Dalla breathed out, staring at the now-empty doorway. Behind her, Musad placed a warm hand on her lower back.

“We need to get going,” he said softly.

She nodded, leaning slightly into him. A shiver of unease ran through her. What was on the video Harlem had told them about? Did it hold the answers to her questions?

Stella tapped her nails against the side of her espresso cup, the rhythm sharp, steady, and entirely devoid of patience.

“Any day now, genius,” she muttered, legs crossed, one blood-red, high-top tennis shoe bouncing.

Kyle hunched over his laptop, seated beside her in the open lounge area near the café. His hair was a mess, his shirt untucked, and his fingers were a blur across the keyboard as he mumbled half-formed curses at the firewall he was trying to breach.

Her gaze flicked across the mezzanine level of the Simdan Hotel. People passed by—tourists snapping photos, businessmen in tailored suits, a gaggle of children giggling as they followed their parents toward the elevators. Everything looked normal.

Except that my target is getting away because of the bumbling idiot with acne,she thought crossly.

Finally, Kyle exhaled and turned the laptop toward her. “Got it. Room 1420, in-suite. Top floor.”

Stella arched a brow. “Took you long enough.”

His face flushed with resentment. “You try doing it with a cellphone and a piece-of-shit laptop, and see how fast you can hack into a security system like this.”

“Watch your mouth, nerd. I’m surprised Detri hasn’t killed you—yet,” she responded in a flat tone.

Kyle shot her another nasty look before he reached for the phone next to him. He used it to tap into the hotel’s internal security cameras and slid the device across the table.

“There. Happy now?” he asked.

Stella picked up the phone. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the feed. The camera angled down the hotel hallway, filling the screen—muted grays, modern sconces, a potted plant at the end of the corridor.

Her eyes narrowed when the door opened and the man who had been waiting for the woman stepped out. She didn’t know who the man was, but she knew that he was dangerous. Any idiot, including the one across from her, could have sensed that. She raised an eyebrow when he paused… and looked up.

Right. At. The. Camera.

As if he knew.

As if he saw her.

Stella went still, a slow, chilly ripple climbing her spine as she stared into the man’s eyes.