Page 64 of His Fury

I turned to look at him. “You got something to say?”

He raised both eyebrows. “You tell me.”

I walked around the desk and sat in my chair, stretching my arms overhead. “If you’re going to interrogate me about Isla, save it.”

“I’m not interrogating,” he said coolly. “I’m just noticing patterns. You’re distracted. Soft.”

“Soft?” I repeated, giving a dark laugh. “You want to test that theory?”

He didn’t flinch. “I’m not questioning what you’re capable of. I’m questioning how long you’llstaycapable if you’re not paying attention.”

“She’s not a distraction,” I said, voice low. “She’s the reason I’ve got clarity.”

He rolled his eyes at that. “She’s not part of the plan.”

“She is now.”

Rye’s jaw ticked. “That’s not how you work.”

“I know.” I stood up, slow and deliberate. “I know exactly how I work. But we’re not machines, Rye. You can build walls, but eventually, someone slips through. And when they do, you decide if they’re worth the risk.”

“And you decided she is?”

“I didn’t decide,” I said. “She just is.”

We stared each other down in silence, the tension thick between us. Then Rye glanced away, blowing out a breath, moving on. “You talk to her about the Julian thing?”

“I did.”

“And?”

“She told me first,” I said. “That’s what matters.”

“She told you because she knew if anyone else did you’d be pissed.”

“Maybe.” I sat back down, and the earlier tension disappeared. “But she still did it.”

Rye didn’t answer.

After a long beat, I looked up. “What?”

“I don’t like this,” he said. “Not because of her. But because of you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What the hell does that mean?”

He stared at me for a moment longer, then said quietly, “You’ve got something to lose now.”

I didn’t answer because he wasn’t wrong.

“I’m just saying,” Rye added, voice level, “you make different decisions when you’re protecting something. Someone.”

“Are you trying to tell me I’ve gone soft again?” I tried to lighten my tone, but it didn’t work.

“I’m saying you’re playing a different game now.”

I nodded once. “Then I’ll learn the new rules.”

Rye didn’t look happy, but he didn’t say anything more about it. He snapped the laptop shut and shot me a sideways glance. “Where’s Isla?”

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