Page 141 of His Fury

The third officer, who had never spoken, stepped forward. “We have reliable information that you’ve been the only person walking the floor tonight. McCabe and Nowak haven’t been seenexceptat a crime scene.”

“Who’s your reliable information?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. “The four officers earlier who were here for what?” I turned to Mikhail. “Thirty minutes? Forty?”

“Thirty,” he said with a shrug. He looked at the three officers. “Boss has been here all night.”

Detective Hill sighed loudly. “Well, you can give your statements at the station, but right now, they’re coming with us.”

“Then we’re coming with you, too,” I said with determination. “Do you have room for the whole staff?” I looked between them, seeing their confusion. “What, you think we’re the only ones who saw them? We’ve had two events here today, and you think the owner or the club manager weren’ton-site?” I asked incredulously.

“Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“I’m here because I’m an eventplanner,” I told him, my voice steely. “Not event manager.”

“Isla helped us out,” Rye spoke for the first time. “This isher first time helping out, do you think she’d run Elixir by herself? On herfirstnight?”

They didn’t reply. Just turned and looked at each other. Detective Hill leaned over and spoke to the others. He turned back and looked at Zayn, who was texting on his phone, and I saw the sign of defeat.

“Are you coming?” he asked Zayn, resigned to the fact that he probably wasn’t.

“Do I need to? I think my girl might bust my balls if I go…when I really don’t need to…” He grinned at them. “And my lawyer’s on her way, and she said don’t move.” Zayn looked at them thoughtfully. “Between my fiancée and my mom, you guys do seem the quieter option, false allegations aside.”

Rye snickered. The detective rolled his eyes. “We’ll wait here.”

Fiancée?

I pushed that away as I looked between the three officers. “Do you want that coffee now?”

CHAPTER 33

ISLA

It wasn’tuntil we got back to the house that the silence started to feel like a reprieve instead of a threat. Zayn unlocked the door and let me step inside first. I waited for the lock to click behind us, that low mechanical hum that had once made me uneasy but now…grounded me.

Safe.

Still not simple.

I kicked off my shoes, my ankles aching from the heels I’d refused to ditch even after hours on my feet and almost being interrogated by Gracemont PD.

Zayn didn’t speak. Just toed off his own shoes, rolled his sleeves up past his forearms, and moved to the kitchen like he wasn’t full of bottled adrenaline and concealed fury. I followed him. Not because I had to—but because I didn’t want to be alone in a room tonight.

He handed me a glass of water. No words. Just his fingers brushing mine, and then he leaned back against the counter like it hadn’t been me who stepped between him and the officers tonight. Like I hadn’t stood in front of a wall of badges and dared them to call me a liar.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he said finally, his eyes focused on the tile somewhere to my left.

“I know.”

His gaze flicked to me. Steady. Assessing. “You knew what that would make you look like?”

“Yes.”

“And you did it anyway.”

I took a sip of water. “You’re not the only one allowed to be reckless, Zayn.”

A slow exhale escaped him, part laugh, part disbelief. “You’re not reckless,” he muttered.

“Maybe not,” I said, stepping closer. “But Iamyours.”

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