Page 59 of His Fury

Maybe Zayn would go batshit because it was pretty obvious Julian had waited until he knew they both weren’t here.

Obvious now that I thought about it. My heart was hammering against my chest.

I exhaled slowly and glanced toward the clock. Hewouldn’t be back for a few hours. That left me time to think. To decide.

But deep down, I already knew.

Zayn would find out.

And when he did…it needed to befrom me. And I couldn’t afford to wait.

CHAPTER 15

ISLA

The silenceof the house was heavy. So heavy.

I’d paced myself into a tizzy and run the conversation in my head a dozen different ways, and not a single version of it ended well. But avoiding it wouldn’t make it better.

Avoiding it would only make it worse.

Zayn wasn’t a man you tried to bullshit. I’d tried that. It hadn’t worked out too well for me. No, he was a man you faced.

“And if I don’t tell him, someone else will,” I grumbled, my fingers tapping against my thigh.

Maybe I should tell Rye? Then he could tell Zayn.

Chicken.

Fine, I won’t tell Rye.

Plus, Julian could already be there, telling him everything. Shit. My mouth twisted into a sneer. No, he’d need to build his courage first.

Like I was,I snorted with disgust. Zayn wasn’t a monster. Neither was Julian. But IknewJulian, and I knew he wasn’t rushing to confess all. Which meant I still had a window. Aslim one. I grabbed my phone from the table, my fingers hovering over his name in my contacts.

Just do it.

I tapped his name and pressed the phone to my ear. It rang once. Twice. Three times.

“Isla?”

His voice was low and rough like he’d been busy or barking orders just a second before, and background noise filtered in—the distant thrum of music and the occasional clink of glasses. Elixir already sounded busy.

“Hey,” I said quietly, clutching the hem of the hoodie. “You’re busy?”

There was a pause. “Not too busy for you.”

My stomach twisted.Damn him.

“I need to talk to you,” I said. “Privately.”

Something shifted in the tone of his silence. A tension pulling taut like a wire. “Are you okay? Are you still at the house?”

“Yes, and yes.” I smiled softly as I heard his concern. “I need to speak to you where you can’t be distracted.”

He hesitated. “I’ll go to the office. Can I call you back?”

“Of course. Thank you.”

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