Page 127 of One Secret

And I hang up on him.

I turn to find Darcy already behind me, her lithe figure bent and her hands cupped into a foothold. She's eyeing the balcony up and to the right of ours.

'Well, we can't go down,' she remarks pointedly.

The hotel might only be a two storey building but, on this side of the property, the hill it stands on cleaves off sharply beneath us. The rocky, vertical drop evolves into a rugged cliffside that veers abruptly down into the roaring black waters below. Ocean views for guests. Fatal drop for escapees.

'We'll have to go up and over. Come on,' she prompts. 'I'll give you a boost.'

I recognize Rocco's voice on the other side of the bedroom door:

'You got the key?'

'Right here, boss.'

I glance at the balcony above us.

'There's no way in hell I'm leaving you here to—'

'Oh, don't be a moron!' she bites back. 'You go. Then lift me. You're too heavy for me to pull. Now, come on!'

I don't argue again.

I throw a boot into her surprisingly sturdy hold and jump for the next railing up. Darcy throws her weight behind my leg and I almost overshoot the damn thing. I haul myself over the rail, then brace my feet into the curlicue iron on the other side. I lean back up and over the railing, reaching for Darcy...

...just in time to hear the bleeping of a disengaged lock and the bedroom door shudder on its hinges as a half dozen men burst through and flood the room with muscle, cologne and a fuck ton of fire power.

16

Quick as a flash, Darcy presses herself against the wall and freezes in place. With nowhere to go, she's barely hidden by the doorframe and fluttering edge of the curtain.

'Where are they?' someone snarls, frustration carrying their voice out onto the evening breeze.

'Lana said they'd be in their suite.'

'Does it look like they're fucking here, genius?' growls another unfamiliar voice.

'Search the room. Bathroom too.'

This last voice is Rocco. His voice has Darcy turning to stone and my heart stopping in my chest. His words are so clear that he has to be standing right by the balcony doors.

If he takes one step back...

Holding my breath, I lean further towards Darcy. I inch slowly, fearing the slightest sound of my clothes on the railing. I wave my fingers at her silently.

She looks up at me, then at the glass doors, just a hair's breadth from her arm, like she's calculating risk.

You can't stay there, I try to tell her with my eyes alone. You've got to move, baby.

New noises are coming from the room. The thump of heavy footsteps, the stripping of bedsheets. The on-off clicking of the bathroom light switch...

Swallowing, Darcy reaches for me, stretching as thin as she can go, before taking a firm hold on my wrists.

I dig my grip in tight, brace my legs and my back, and then heave upwards. Keeping tight to the wall, Darcy uses the softer, quieter side of her boot against the stone to propel her ascent. Her lips are pressed together, her nostrils flaring. Neither of us is daring to breathe.

'Perhaps they already went out to the party. They could be at the pool already,' someone suggests. 'You should call Felix and give him a heads up.'

Considering the suggestion, Rocco shifts his weight and steps backward. The curtain flares and molds to the shape of his shoulder. Then starts to slip away to one side...

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