Page 147 of His Fury

“How’s the view?” he murmured.

I leaned into him with a contented sigh. “Pretty perfect.”

“How are you?” he asked, kissing my shoulder. “You doing okay?”

Sadness filled me, and I fought back the tears. “He’s still refusing to answer the phone,” I admitted. “I tried to reach out to him again.” I sniffed, “I went to his apartment…” I turned my head to look up at him, his gray eyes focused on me, full of warmth and love. “Did you know he’s rented it out?”

Zayn gave a short nod. “Yeah, I found out a few days ago.”

Moving out of his hold, I turned and faced him. “You didn’t tell me.”

He didn’t flinch at the accusation in my tone. “I don’t have anything to tell you,” he said with a shrug. “Julian’s gone. I don’t know where. Trust me, I looked.”

“Because you think he’s the reason the cops turned up that night at Elixir?” I looked away from him. “Because you think he betrayed you.”

“He betrayed me the moment he handed you a flash drive with a lot of shit on it that he shouldn’t have known.” Zayn blew out a breath. “We can’t keep fighting over him, Is.”

I wrapped my arms around myself as I looked out the window one more time. “We’re not fighting,” I protested weakly. “It’s a friendly debate.”

It had been two weeks since that night in the club when I lied to the police about where Zayn and Rye had been. For two weeks, Rye had been like an angry bear, ready to rip Gracemont apart to find out who had tried to set them up. For two weeks, Zayn had been the silent, deadly promise that stalked the shadows, searching for the same thing as Rye.

For the same someoneas Rye.

Julian.

Zayn gave me a slight smile. “The debate is getting tired,” he said quietly. “The longer he’s gone?—”

“He isn’tgone,” I snapped, wincing as soon as I did it. “I’m sorry.” I took a deep inhale to soothe my rising temper. “He wouldn’t leave me.” I turned back to the window. “He wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”

I heard his sigh and felt him move away from me. “Hedoesn’t approve of you and me, Is.” I heard him sit on the bed. “I think he would go without a second thought for you or anyone else.”

“What reason has he to go?” I demanded. “His debt is cleared.” I turned to face him and saw the resignation in his eyes. “You think that’s why he’s not here. You really believe he tipped the police off and then ran for it?” I shook my head, refusing to believe it. “How would he evenknow, Zayn? How would he even know what you were doing that night?Ididn’t even know, and I live with you!”

Zayn rubbed his forehead. “Babe, I can’t keep having this conversation with you.” He stood up. “We’ve checked all the hospitals, we’ve checked his bank account…don’t ask, just know that we have,” he said when he saw my look. “He stopped using his phone, but…” He tilted his head back to the ceiling. “He knows how to disappear.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “How would he even know that?” The look I got told me enough without a word spoken. “Of course,” I acknowledged. “Of course, you would have shown him how.”

“I’m truly sorry he didn’t talk to you first, Is. I am. But you need to face facts. He left.”

I turned back to the window. “Yeah, I’m sorry too.” I heard him moving, and then his arms were around me again. This time, I held on. “Promise me you’ll tell me if you hear anything?”

“I promise.”

“Not after I find out myself.Youtell me assoonas you hear.”

“I promise.”

It was enough. We stood there like that for a while longer until the sun was no longer in the sky. The quiet solitude enveloped us.

“How was your day?” I eventually asked, breaking the silence.

“Uneventful, the way I like it,” he murmured, his lips pressing against the column of my throat.

I rolled my eyes, grinning. “You’re telling me thatyoulike boring?”

Zayn chuckled. “I said it was uneventful. I never said anything about it being boring.” He took my hand. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

I smiled as he led me from the room. “You tell me about your day, and I’ll tell you about the progress of the yurts.”

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