Page 100 of His Fury

“Pretty late to be careful, your fucking business is on that.”

The words jarred, maybe because they were true, maybe because I didn’t want them to be. “You think I don’t know that?”

“This is a fucking problem.” He paused, his jaw tight. “Julian?”

I moved away from him, needing distance, needing something to do with my hands. I opened the fridge, grabbed a water bottle, and didn’t drink it.

“Yeah,” I said finally. “Julian gave her this, gaveherto fucking Delaney, and let them drag her into the deep end, and now I’ve got the sharks circling.”

“And you’re bleeding,” Rye muttered.

I glanced up. “You think I don’t know that?”

“No, I think you’veacceptedit.” He pushed off the counter. “I think you’re ready to drown for her, but you’re not fucking fighting. Why is this asshole still walking?”

I stepped forward. Just once. Enough to close the space. “I will deal with Julian when the time comes.”

He didn’t flinch. “The time has come,” he said, quiet now. “You’re holding back because of Isla.”

We stared at each other for a long moment. “Maybe,” I said finally. “But trust me, I will handle this shit. I don’t need lectures.”

“How will you handle it?” he demanded.

My look was hard, and final. “My way.”

Rye’s eyes narrowed. “Then you better be ready to break the whole fucking chessboard. Because they already know what she means to you, add in this crap and you’re a sitting fucking duck.”

I waited until he was finished and then I waited a little longer. My head cocked to the side and as I watched him, and Rye ran his hands through his hair. “You done?”

He shook his head as he looked away. “Yeah, I’m done.”

“You sure?” I moved closer. “You still look like you want to bitch some more.”

“I’m done.” He shot me a dirty look and I grinned.

“Do you trust me, Rye?”

“With my life, motherfucker, you know that.”

“Thentrustme, Rye.” I held his gaze. “I’ve got this.” I saw his shoulders slump as he relaxed, taking in how confident I was, how sure I was. This shit was nothing I couldn’t handle. He knew that; he just needed to remember it.

“All right.” Rye took the bottle of beer I offered him and twisted off the cap. “Tell me what you need.”

The atmosphere in the kitchen changed from charged to comfortable. We both knew—the war wasn’t coming.

It had already started.

CHAPTER 24

ZAYN

After the twoof us had looked through more of the folder, Rye left with the flash drive to do more digging. We’d said what we needed to say, and I already knew my next move.

I wanted to go upstairs and check on Isla, but I couldn’t, not yet.

Instead, I walked into the small office tucked into the corner of the house—the one without an internet connection and no digital footprint. The one with a box of burner phones and a separate black notebook locked in the drawer beneath it.

I flipped to a page marked with only a symbol. A triangle inside a circle.

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