Page 56 of His Fury

His voice cracked like we hadn’t spoken in years.

“Not here,” I said coldly, stepping aside. “Inside. Now.”

He blinked, surprised, but obeyed without a word. As soon as I shut the door behind him, the air changed. He turned to speak, but I cut him off with one raised hand.

“Don’t,” I said, walking back to the living room, knowing he was following me. “Sit down. You’re going to listen to me before you say a single word.”

His lips parted, but he nodded.

I felt the anger rising in my throat like smoke, and thistime, I wasn’t going to swallow it. The anger I thought had faded surged back in a wave that crashed over me without warning.

Julien sat stiffly on the edge of the couch, his knees close together, his hands clasped between them. He looked like a boy who’d been called into the principal’s office.

But this wasn’t school.

And I wasn’t a teacher.

I was the collateral damage.

He looked like he didn’t know how to be in his own skin anymore.

Good.

I didn’t know how to be in mine either.

I didn’t sit. I stood across from him, my arms folded tightly, like it was the only thing keeping me together.

“I used to think,” I said, “that if the world fell apart you’d be the one person who’d still be standing beside me. That no matter what happened, I had you.”

“Isla—”

“Quiet.” I inhaled deeply. “You’re my best friend. I’ve told you things I never told anyone else. You know everything about me.” My voice cracked. “You were my constant, Julian. And now I look at you, and I don’t even know who I’m looking at.”

His lips parted like he wanted to speak. I shook my head sharply.

“I need you tolistenfirst.”

He looked down at his hands. “Okay.”

I took a breath, but it didn’t help. My chest still ached. “You know what the worst part was?” I asked, my voice low. “It wasn’t the fear. Not really. It wasn’t the car or the hands or the threats.”

His head snapped up. “Isla?—”

“No.” I cut him off sharply. “You don’t get to speak yet.”

His jaw snapped shut.

“It was knowing someone I trusted put me in that position. Someone I’ve known since I was old enough to spell my own name. That the one person who always told me I was safe…lied.”

His shoulders hunched, and his face filled with shame.

“You didn’t tell me about the debt. You didn’t ask for help. You just…spiraled. And then they came for me.Me, Julian. Not you. Not your car. Not your money.Me.” My breath was shaky. “You lost money,” I said. “Fine. People make mistakes. But you didn’t stop. You borrowed. You bet again. You lost control. And when it got bad, you came tome.Touseme to go to Zayn.”

“I didn’t know they’d touch you, Isla. I swear to God, I didn’t think?—”

“No, youdidn’tthink,” I snapped. “That’s the point. You didn’t fucking think. You gambled withyour life, but it turns out it wasn’t just your life, was it? You dragged me into it. You mademethe one who had to get dragged into a strangers car.”

Tears stung behind my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall.

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