Poor Raz.He had every right to fear for her safety. Being loved by him was the reason she and her friends were now in dangeragain. But it was a danger she trusted him and his team to protect her from. He just had to trust in himself the way she did. And wake up... to protect them, he needed to wake up.

"Let me help you," Monique offered, rushing to Raz's other side and placing his arm around her shoulder, just like Leo was doing.

"He's out cold, so he's dead weight. Don't hurt yourself. Raz would kill me if you got hurt," Leo told her as they started forward, heading in the direction Leo had just come from. "Careful," Leo said again.

Even at a time like this, Leo was worried about her safety because he knew Raz would be worried about it. Monique blinked back tears, almost regretting knocking Raz out. Who was she kidding? She fully regretted it.

Though he deserved it, now was not the time for it. If anything happened to him, she'd hate herself for the rest of her life. And if anything happened to her, he'd feel guilty, and the entire city would probably end up suffering.

"Is there a close exit?" Monique asked, straining under the weight of Raz.

"Yes. There's an emergency exit in the kitchen. The kitchen staff has already been ordered to leave."

"What's going on out there in the gala?"

"The old don and his men aren't allowing anyone to leave. Raz locked this place down after he saw you with Frederico. But if he hadn't, it still would've gone on lockdown. That had been the old don's plan. Both of them think alike. Luckily, I was able to get back to this section of the gala and lock the doors before a guard I thought I could trust could stab me. I have two guards that I trust guarding the doors. They'll leave with us."

"One of Raz's guards tried to stab you?" Monique asked, growing more nervous.

"Yes. He was ordered by the old don to kill me. I betrayed the old don because I believed in Raz. Now, there's a price on my head. But I'm not the main prize. The old don wants you and Raz. He's not letting the guests leave until he shows them that he's still in charge and that Raz is betraying the family by trying to steal the title."

As they turned a corner, Monique asked, "How do you know all of this? You weren't gone that long."

"When I had a guard escort Miconi to the room his daughter was supposed to be in, the guard reported back that Isla wasn't in the room. He said it looked like there had been an altercation in the room. I tried to contact the guard in charge of watching over Isla, but I couldn't reach him. At first, I thought Isla must've had a weapon on her and attacked the guard. Then, I noticed that many of our guards weren't at their posts. I tried contacting them with no response. Then I sawhimdescending the stairs."

"Who?"

"The old don. The room went quiet, and I knew the shit had hit the fan. I contacted Rome and Cas and told them to get the girls... I mean,ladies, and leave. When I reached out to them, I learned that Bryceson and Julian were having a drink with Meka, Cas, and Toya in one of the private rooms, discussing the kidnapping plan. Bryce and Julian wanted to stay and confront the old don. But I told them to leave with the others. We didn't have time to plan a proper counterattack. Confronting the old don without knowing who all was on his side would've been too risky."

"Understandable. Can you check on my friends for me using your earpiece?"

"Coms have gone silent because we don't know who could be listening in. That's why I didn't reach out to Raz to let him know which door to exit from. I didn't know who was listening in. Trust me, Cas and Rome won't let anything happen to your friends. And knowing your friend Toya, I'm sure she has a weapon on her."

If Monique wasn't so nervous, she would've laughed at that. However, she was too nervous to even smile. She looked over at Raz. He hadn't moved a muscle yet. He didn't know his dad wastrying to undermine everything he'd been working on these last few months.

When he awoke, he'd be disappointed and raging mad if his father had reclaimed the title. If he was awake right now, what would he do? Monique almost chuckled. She never thought she'd be in a situation like this, asking herself,'What would Raz do?'

Yet, here she was. So, what would Raz do? Would he run, or would he confront his father head-on? She was pretty sure he'd go the confrontation route. Leo came to an abrupt halt. Too busy staring at Raz, Monique nearly toppled over when he did so. She followed his gaze.

"What the hell is going on?" he yelled.

Two guards turned to face him.

"The fucking kitchen has been locked, and the door is blocked on the other side by some heavy shit. We can't get out this way," one of the guards told him.

"Someone on the kitchen staff must've been paid off to do this shit," the other guard said, seething mad. "I want to put a bullet in someone right now."

Damn, how many people had betrayed Raz? And why was that making her so angry? He’d left her to be the don, to protect these ungrateful people, and they’d turned on him. What the hell? Before Leo could speak up, Monique did.

"You'll get a chance to do just that soon," she said, causing the guards to look her way.

"Um, get a chance to do what?" the guard asked.

"Put a bullet in someone," she replied.

Confused, they stared from Monique to Leo. Leo wore the same expression as them when he faced Monique.

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked her. "Never mind. There's another way out. There isn't a car at that exit, but at leastwe can get the don out of the building and off the premises. I'll call for a pickup...."