Page 54 of Her Ruin

But I didn’t.

Instead, I tore myself out of his grip, stepping back, my body on fire.

Zayn’s chuckle was low and dark, just like him. “I told you, Isla,” he murmured. “We aren’t finished.”

I swallowed hard, refusing to let my hands tremble as I smoothed them down the front of my dress. “You should be more careful,” I said, forcing to keep my voice cold and controlled. “You keep playing games and you might lose.”

Those steel-gray eyes flashed with amusement. “I don’t lose.”

Leaning past him, I grabbed the door handle. When I opened the door, I forced him to step back. Moving past him, I made myself walk out of the there before I did something incredibly stupid. Before I forgot why Zayn was the last man on earth I should ever want.

Before I let myself believe—even for a second—that this wasn’t just another game to him.

“You looked beautiful tonight.”

My step faltered. I turned my head to look at him, and he was leaning his shoulder against the door frame, his gaze hot and heavy as his eyes caressed my body.

“Next time you wear that dress, I promise you it’ll be on my bedroom floor.” The promise in his eyes took my breath away.

My heart was thumping. “Goodnight, Zayn.”

I walked back into the event and kept walking right out of the door and down the staircase, not caring that I hadn’t finished my job there.

Let them deal with the cleanup. It was their event, after all.

The victory felt small. Petty.

I had no illusion that I had won anything by the way I had left Zayn or the club.

There was no battle to be won here, not when he’d already won the war.

But that realization didn’t take away the small sense of victory I felt. I had walked out on my own terms. Despite everything, that small win made me smile as I hailed a cab and headed home, ready to leave this night and Zayn behind me.

CHAPTER15

ZAYN

I watched her leave.Watched the way she lifted her chin, smoothed her hands down the front of her dress, and forced herself to walk away like she wasn’t burning. Like she wasn’t rattled. Like she wasn’t seconds away from breaking.

It wasn’t personal. It had never been personal. She walked into Elixir and thought she could control it. I had simply corrected her mistake.

I turned my attention back to the room, to the people still caught up in their own worlds, unaware of the game being played around them.

Unaware Isla Wells had just learned a very important lesson.

I never gave up control.

“You put on quite the event,” Lyndsay Shaw said as she sidled up beside me. “Enjoying your success?”

I turned, finding her watching me over the rim of her champagne glass. The corner of her mouth lifted in amusement as if she knew something more than she should.

I swept my gaze over her. Her skintight dress revealed too much. It fitted her well, but it looked uncomfortable. I wondered if she had taken a full breath ever since putting it on.Trying too hard. “I always enjoy a successful night.”

Lyndsay hummed an acknowledgment, taking another sip of her drink. “You certainly pulled out all the stops.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t have to. Lyndsay was a businesswoman; she knew exactly what happened tonight.

Isla built it. I had taken it.

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