Page 55 of Her Ruin

Not stolen it, which was what I knew Isla would think. I had just reminded her nothing under this roof happened without my say. That every single detail, every interaction, every carefully orchestrated moment had my name on it…not hers.

Lyndsay looked around, pretending to look for Isla. “My event planner looked…displeased.”

“Really?” I turned to look at her. “I thought she looked very professional.”

Lyndsay scoffed. “She left.”

I huffed a quiet laugh. “She’ll get over it.” I glanced at the head of the Shaw Foundation. “She did a hell of a lot of work here.”

Lyndsay shrugged off the compliment I gave Isla like it didn’t concern her, more focused on the tension between Isla and me. “Will she?” She exchanged an empty flute for a fresh one. “She left,” she said again. “An event planner who doesn’t see the event through to completion doesn’t fill me with confidence.” She stepped closer to me. “Unless…of course, there’s another reason? A personal one, perhaps?”

“I’ve known Isla since we were fifteen, maybe sixteen?” I shrugged. “I suppose you could say after that length of time anything could be personal. Don’t you think so?”

I let the question settle between us. I didn’t need to fuel gossip.

Lyndsay shook her head. “You know, I’ve done business with so many men like you, Zayn.” When I didn’t speak, she carried on. “The kind of men who own the board before anyone else even realizes they’re playing.” Her look became calculated. “Taking a win is one thing. Keeping it?” Her smile became sly. “That’s another.”

That genuinely amused me. “You think I’ll lose?”

Lyndsay shrugged. “Isla is resilient. She isn’t the type to give up quietly, and that’s one of the reasons I like working with her.”

I assessed her with one glance. “But the charity gala will be held here next year, am I correct?” I knew I was; her smile confirmed it. “And all these people here.” I gestured subtly to the crowd still having a great evening. “This is where they’ll want their own events to be held because tonight, and every night, my venue delivers.”

“Probably.”

“So why care about a board?”

Lyndsay shook her head. “I do hope it wasn’t personal to Isla,” she said softly. “She’s too good for someone so brutal.”

A slow smile curled my lips. “She is.”

Lyndsay was called over to another group of people, and I considered what she had said. I knew Isla would be furious,wasfurious, and I knew this wasn’t over for her. She would not go down quietly, and that made me smile.

Because I didn’t want her to be quiet. I wanted to see what she did next. I wanted to see how she tried to fight back.

Because the truth was, I wasn’t ready for her little feud to be over. Not by a long shot.

“Where’d hell and fury go?” Rye asked, coming over with a glass of Scotch for me.

“She left.” I took a sip of my drink. “I think she’s planning fiery deaths for both of us.”

Rye grinned. “She needs to get in line.” He looked around. “She’s got great ideas,” he complimented her. “Missed a lot too,” he added.

“I knew you couldn’t possibly be complimenting her,” I drawled.

“She did well,” he conceded. “But fuck, who doesn’t insist to seeeverything?”

It had been her biggest oversight, but I also knew she was so intrigued about Elixir’s reputation that she had allowed it to distract her. Had allowedmeto distract her.

“You good here?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Rye nodded. “Already had a few bookings.” He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “One or two may have mentioned moving from the firm Isla works for to directly booking with us. You have an issue with that?”

“Fuck no,” I told him. “This is why we’re here.” After downing my drink, I handed him my glass. “I’ll be downstairs. They agreed to be out of here by eleven. Doors reopen at eleven thirty no matter what,” I reminded him. “Let’s start clearing this up and getting ready for tonight.”

“Yes, boss.” Rye stood to attention like the prick he was.

“Fuck off.” I grinned at him before I left the event on the main floor and headed to my office. I rolled my shoulders as I stepped into my office, stripping off my jacket and tossing it onto the leather chair. The screens on the wall flickered with movement—Elixir’s main floor, the entry points, and the hallways leading to the lower level.

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