Page 7 of His Fury

I unscrewed the cap. “Well, your guys knew where to pick me up from, so I’m guessing you already know.”

He grinned. Definitely genuine this time. I could see the amusement dancing in his eyes. He stood smoothly. “Nice that you’re calmer now.”

I almost protested, but I realized I was. He’d asked me generic questions, questions I had answered a hundred times before. What’s your job? How long have you been doing it? What’s the difference between a party planner and an event planner? Questions I could answer in my sleep.

His grin deepened when he saw I’d figured it out.

“So,” he began. “Your lover”—he saw my look—”boyfriend? I don’t know or care what you call yourselves. He owes me a lot of money.”

So thiswasabout money.“Julian?”

For the first time since I’d been here,helooked surprised. “How many boyfriends have you got?” He looked over my head as he spoke, and I heard the two behind me chuckle.

It was on the tip of my tongue to saynone, but I caught myself in time. He thought I wasJulian’sgirlfriend. Maybe he didn’t know as much about me as I thought. I could use that. And for the first time tonight, I felt a spark of confidence returning.

“Shouldn’t you be talking to him about this?” I asked, careful to keep my tone polite. If he didn’t know about Zayn, was that to my advantage?

His jovial tone was gone, and the dead eyes were back. “He’s avoiding my calls. He’s avoiding the places I know he likes to go. He’s avoidingme.”

“I can’t help you with that,” I told him, fear tingling over my spine again as I watched his whole personality change in front of me.

The shark smile was flashed at me. “But you can. I figured—why not bring the mountain to Muhammed?” He looked me over. “You know the saying, right? A clever girl like you?”

“I do.” I took a sip of water, and it was all I could do not to down the entire bottle in one go. “I don’t think taking me will help you,” I said, my voice quiet. “I don’t have any money.” My breath hitched, and my nails bit into my palms.

“I don’t wantyourmoney, Isla. You work hard. You seem to have a sensible head on your shoulders. I wantmymoney. Your boyfriend has it, and I want it back.”

“Is it a lot?” Julian hadn’t actually told me. He just said it was a lot more than the two hundred and fifty thousand.

There were the teeth again. “Yeah. It is.”

I drank more water, stalling for time, and by the look in his eye, he knew exactly what I was doing. “That might take some time to get together.”

He smirked, his eyes dark and glittering. “We’ve got time. And your boyfriend has friends in high places.”

Shit, he does know Zayn.

He snapped his fingers, and the two guards stepped forward. They gripped my arms, jerking me off the wooden box I’d been sitting on with brute force, and I dropped the bottle of water.

“Don’t fight it, Isla,” Suit scolded me as I struggled. “I just need you closer.”

He looked me over as he plucked a phone out of his pants pocket.Myphone. “Let’s see if your boyfriend picks up this time.”

“He’s not?—”

“Shh, Isla,” he said, not even looking at me. “If he cares, he’ll find a way, and then he’ll come runningwithmy money. If not—” He shrugged. “Well, let’s not focus on that problem yet.”

My chest heaved, my eyes stinging with tears.

He looked up and smiled with malicious delight. “Be a good girl,” he crooned, handing me the phone. “Call him.”

My heart stopped, and my blood turned to ice.

His smile widened, teeth white and sharp. “Or don’t. Your choice. But if you want to see tomorrow—” He tapped the phone meaningfully. “Dial.”

I almost dropped the phone my hand was shaking so badly. “And say what?”

“Get him on the phone. I’ll do the rest.”

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