Page 69 of His Fury

Would I tell her? Would I keep her in the loop now that she was inside my world—even if it meant showing her exactly how far my reach went?

“She’s under watch,” I said finally. “But she doesn’t need to know about this. Not yet.”

Rye gave a slight nod, and I took it for the agreement it was.

But we both knew the truth. If Delaney’s crew was watching me, they were watching her, too.

And that? That was a fucking problem.

CHAPTER 17

ISLA

The ballroomat The Grand was one of my favorite spaces in the hotel. Hell, in Gracemont, if I were honest.

I loved the work that we had done here in the renovations. The historic crown molding curved along the ceiling in elegant waves, and the crystal chandeliers glinted in the soft late afternoon light. The art deco wall we’d adapted for the renovation looked stunning in this light. Gold-rimmed glasses were lined up in formation, and the scent of fresh greenery from the centerpieces grounded the opulent space into something attainable.

Everything was perfect.

Everything looked ready to host any event. The crisp white tablecloths and chair bows demonstrated one look, and interspersed throughout were the uncovered tables and conference chairs should an event be more corporate in nature.

Whichever someone’s event was, the ballroom catered to it all.

I embraced the warm feeling of satisfaction I got whenever I walked through these doors. I felt at peace here. I’dbeen feeling quite good all day, and I knew who I had to thank for that. Who knew that Zayn would be the one to give me Zen?

Or maybe I was just worn out from all the sex… I giggled and looked around guiltily, despite knowing I was alone, in case anyone heard me. For someone who had been in such a shitty situation only a few days ago, I felt great.

Which, of course, meant something was about to go wrong.

It always did. But I forced myself to ignore my inner cynic and just embrace the day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I had a good job, lots of events to plan, and a man who was waiting for me when I got home from work.

Home. A small kernel of sadness nestled into my cloud of happiness. I hadn’t been back to my apartment since I had been physically carried away from it. Rye, or whoever they sent, had been to my place and got the list of the things I had asked for. But I hadn’t gone home.

I didn’t feel safe there. I hadn’t gone home to test the theory, but at the same time, I had suffered a crippling sense of dread at the idea of leaving the sanctuary of Zayn’s house. It was weird since I had been alone in the house, but I had the added safety of knowing it wasZayn’shouse, and everything there was monitored.Controlled.

I hadn’t been ready to come to work today, and I was surprised I’d convinced Zayn to let me come.Let me? I had no intention of asking Zayn for permission to do anything, but I knew after the weekend I’d had, I wouldn’t have fought that hard if he’d said no. I also knew I had to come to work today, or I might never leave the isolated comfort his home offered. I should’ve known he wouldn’t send me alone. He was an obnoxious, possessive asshole, true, but I also took comfort in the fact that someone was here.

Just in case.

In case of what I didn’t know. But I was grateful to know if I screamed, this time, someone would be here to help.

Focusing back on my tablet, I checked my to-do list. I walked through the ballroom, enjoying the soft click of my heels against the polished floors.

“Isla.”

I turned to see Russ, the hotel manager, coming through the doors. “The lighting crew for Saturday’s event has arrived. They said something about finalizing spotlight angles?” He looked at me expectantly. “They’ve also come with the AV guys. Apparently, they want to do a sound check?”

I glanced at my tablet. “All good. They’re early, but they can do it now.”

We cut through the ballroom’s side corridor, taking the shortcut that passed by the staff elevator. This part of the hotel was always quiet during event setups—not eerie, exactly, but just quiet enough that footsteps echoed a little too loudly.

Russ was a nice guy. From what I had observed of him, he kept a tight ship, which, considering who the owner was, was impressive. Russ also didn’t interfere with the events. He had input. I wasn’t a solo enterprise, and it needed a team to make some things work. But he wasn’t one of those people who wanted to take over. He didn’t feel slighted that I had taken this job; in fact, I think he welcomed it. We were still getting to know one another, but so far, we had been working well together.

I spotted the contractors loitering near the doorway and went over to speak to them. The lighting guys had equipment with them, and I needed to know their setup because I hadtwo events before Saturday, one of which was in the ballroom.

“Hey,” I greeted them as I reached them. “I wasn’t expecting extra?” I gestured to the boxes.

“Yeah, we looked at the configuration from the plans one more time and realized there was a shortage of front spots, so we want to set this up and see how it looks. That okay?”

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