Page 52 of His Fury

“I don’t lose.”

I saw the hint of worry in his eyes before he looked away. “Remember that,” he muttered. “Because if I go down with you, I’ll never forgive you.”

I grinned, and he shared my smile. “Asshole.”

“Speaking of?—”

I knew that look. “Don’t say it.”

“Julian?” Rye carried on, ignoring my warning. “One ofus has to mention the idiot at some point,” he added defensively when he saw the look on my face. “So what are you going to do about him?”

“Isla’s not mentioned him,” I said. “You gave him the cash to pay his debts?” I asked, and Rye nodded. “Julian’s out of the way.”

Rye let out a dry laugh. “Out of the way? He isn’t gone, and you know it.”

My eyes narrowed as I glared at him. “What? You think I should kill him?”

“Ithink,” he said evenly, “the guy’s a walking liability who knows more about you than half the people in our operation, and those people arepaidto keep their mouths shut. And unlike them, he hasyearsof access.Trust. Protection.And he has even more access to her.”

It was my turn to look away in frustration. “She thinks of him as family,” I reminded him quietly. “She trusted him.”

“Yeah, past tense,” Rye reminded me bluntly. “He betrayed that because he’s dumb, selfish, and an addict.” He didn’t falter under my sharp glare. “You need to face it.Heis the biggest threat to you and her. If you do this, if you say she’s it and you’re her one and only, and you both shut him out? You think he goes away quietly?”

I considered him. Considered his argument. “I haven’t spoken to him since I got Isla back.” I sucked my teeth as I thought about it. “He’d never turn.”

Rye didn’t answer right away. Then he let out a sigh, his head drooping, and his shoulders slumped. “I think…people do stupid things, really fucked-up stupid things when they’re desperate,” he said softly. When he looked at me, his face portrayed the bitterness of his own past. “Julian Turner looks pretty damn desperate to me.”

I knew he wasn’t wrong. It didn’t make it any easier to accept.

Julian had made himself small since Isla’s abduction—radio silent, avoiding me, avoiding Rye, and, most of all, avoidingher. But silence didn’t mean safety. It meant he was thinking. Plotting. Maybe even spiraling.

“He still owes money,” Rye reminded me. “If they want paid, they’ll come to you. And now, they know to grab Isla. Or…they’ll bleed him out and leave him on her front step with a smiley face carved into his chest.”

I exhaled slowly. “You think he’ll sell us out?”

Rye snorted. “He already has. He’s just too fucking dense to know he was doing it.”

That truth landed harder.

Because that’s what made Julian dangerous— not malice but stupidity.Blindness. He’d seen the risk, and he’d walked straight into it. And that kind of man? He could burn everything down without striking a single match.

And what was worse…I already knew this.

I shared a look with Rye, who knew me too well. I rubbed a hand across the back of my neck, tension sinking into my spine. “She would never forgive me if I touched him.”

Rye wasn’t impressed. “If it happens again?”

I looked up at him, the hard truth setting in between us like a weight. “We keep him close,” I said finally. “Eyes on him at all times. No more free passes. No more loyalty tax.”

Rye arched a brow. “You’re sure?”

“No,” I admitted. “But if I disappear him now, she’ll never believe I didn’t do it for revenge. And I’m not losing her overhim.”

Rye gave a slow nod. “So we keep the leash short. Watch for any cracks.”

I nodded. “And if he slips…”

“I won’t hesitate,” he said.

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