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Don’t you dare be dead, Ryan! Don’t you dare.

She’d never forgive the man if he was dead.

Her steps were soundless. At least, she tried to make them soundless. She hurried down the hallway, keeping her body as close to the wall as possible. Not like she wanted to present a target. She wanted to save the day. Not wind up dead.

And Ryan…

Don’t you dare be dead. Do not be.

Simone peeked around the corner. Horror filled her as she took in the scene, and, with a sharp cry on her lips, she rushed toward Ryan.

Chapter Fourteen

Three minutes before…

* * *

When Ryan glanced through the suite door’s peephole, he recognized the waiter who’d served him and Simone during dinner. Ryan frowned because he certainly hadn’t expected the same man to be bringing Simone’s dessert up to them.

The waiter glanced behind him, peering down the corridor.

Edward. That had been the man’s name. He’d introduced himself as soon as he approached their dining table.

Edward looked back at the suite’s door. He smiled, a little nervously.

Ryan flipped the lock. Opened the door.

Edward’s smile stretched a bit more. “Decided to, uh, finish that chocolate mousse, did you?”

“It’s for my girlfriend.” Flat words. “Didn’t expect you to bring it up personally.”

Edward’s hands curled around the delivery cart. A square cart covered by a white table cloth. The dishes on the cart were hidden by elaborate, silver cloches. The dome-shaped cloches completely covered the desserts that Ryan had ordered. Two chocolate mousses. And bread. Because Simone liked her bread.

A bottle of champagne chilled in an ice bucket right in the middle of the cart. Two upside down champagne flutes waited near the bucket.

“Our delivery staff was running behind, so I stepped in,” Edward told him in a warm, breezy tone. “Shall I wheel this inside for you?”

“I think I can manage to wheel it in.”

“Oh, sir.” Now Edward looked horrified. “That is not the type of service that we deliver here.”

Then why did you ask the question if you intended to wheel in the cart all along?

Edward began to push the cart forward. “I will get these items ready for you. I can even uncork the champagne, if you prefer.” The wheels of the cart squeaked.

Ryan stepped back, allowing the other man to enter. He shut the door behind Edward, automatically flipping the extra lock. He caught the faint stiffening of Edward’s shoulders, and he knew the waiter had heard that sound.

The cart’s wheels stopped rolling. Edward reached for one of the dome-shaped silver cloches that covered one of the plates. “This should be the lady’s chocolate mousse…”

It should have been the lady’s mousse, but as the silver lid rose, Ryan saw the gun that had been waiting on the previously covered plate. A gun placed right on top of the damn chocolate mousse.

Dammit, Simone is not going to get her mousse again.

Ryan didn’t yell. Didn’t bark at the bastard to drop the gun that Edward was already grabbing. Instead, Ryan attacked. He launched straight at the waiter.

Gunfire exploded when Ryan slammed Edward into the cart. A wild shot that didn’t come close to anyone but did blast toward the wall near the heavy sofa on the right. Edward tried to whirl toward him, but Ryan was not in the mood for that shit. With his left hand, he grabbed the back of Edward’s head, and he slammed the guy down, hard, right into the mousse, but that certainly hadn’t been a hard enough hit to subdue the waiter.

Another blast of gunfire sounded.