Page 73 of His Fury

Rye walked in, not surprised to see me still sitting there, going through surveillance footage of The Grand.

“Still not found anything?”

“No,” I answered without looking up. “In a way, I’m glad she told me.”

“But?”

“There’s no but.”

He made a tsk sound that made me glance up at him. “No but? You don’t say in a way without an or, and, or but.”

“All right, English professor.”

He chuckled and moved behind the desk to look over my shoulder. “You glad she told you?”

“Obviously,” I growled. I didn’t mind him looking over my shoulder like this. Two pairs of eyes were better than one.

“She could be paranoid,” he said, voicing the small whisper that floated in my own head.

“Better safe than sorry,” I told him. I leaned back in my chair, prompting Rye to move, and he walked back to the front of the desk. “She said she felt her skin prickle, like she was being watched. She could feel their eyes on her.”

Rye said nothing as he held my stare. When he saw I was going with the notion that this was an actual threat against her and not a figment of Isla’s imagination, he sighed. “Delaney?”

“Maybe.” I tipped my head backwards. “Or someone else? Someone testing the water?”

Rye’s frown deepened. “Patrick should know better than to push, but… If he told someone else, then yeah, they could see if what he claims is true.”

I nodded. “My thoughts exactly.” I pointed at the CCTV I’d gotten from The Grand. “Which is why I’m looking through all this to see who stands out.”

“Fitzsimmons know you have this?”

“Yeah, right,” I scoffed. “He handed it over with a silver bow.”

Rye chuckled. “How did Isla take it?”

“Take what?” I asked without looking up.

“Take the fact you are actively looking into the fact someone is watching her.”

“She’s fine.” I shrugged it off. The truth was, Isla was fast asleep at the house, none the wiser about where I was or what I was doing.

“Mmhmm.Fine,” Rye murmured, and I shot him a glare, causing him to grin.

“She handled it well,” I conceded, reviewing the footage in front of me. “She thought someone was watching her and she didn’t panic. She carried on about her day and remained watchful.” I looked over at him again. “She’s smarter than you give her credit for.”

“Is she?” Rye asked bluntly. “She’s not used to this. She’s not like us.” He held my look. “And you can’t keep her in a contained vacuum. Eventually, she will want to be her annoying independent self, and then she’ll see exactly what this life costs.”

I didn’t respond. Because I was already preparing for that. About how long she’d last in the world she’d always been sheltered from.

My world.

About how longI’dlast if I had to choose between that world—and her.

Instead of admitting that to anyone, not really addressing it with myself, I handed Rye a list of names. “Double who’s on her. Keep it discreet. Take off Jayden. They don’t engage with her. I want her covered between work and here and anywhere in between.”

Rye skimmed the list and sniffed. “And if she notices?”

“She freaks out.” I kept my attention on the screen. “It’s okay if it’s my guys she’s freaked out over.” I gave a half shrug. “She shouldn’t notice. They’re good.”

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