Page 78 of His Fury

Everything else could wait.

Right now, this—she—was the only thing that mattered.

CHAPTER 19

ISLA

I fought backthe yawn as I listened to Gerard discussing the landscaping requirements for building the yurts. The groundskeeper was protestingquitea bit, and I admit I sided with Gerard on this matter as I didn’t see the issue with clearing a few areas of woodland that weren’t cultivated or landscaped. The whole point of the glamping lifestyle was that the glamper—was that what they were called?—was camping with amenities on hand and facilities nearby. The Grand sat on extensive grounds, but only the immediate acreage was cultivated to showcase the beauty of the hotel. The “rough” areas were perfect for what Gerard wanted.

I couldn’t understand why the groundskeeper was protesting as if he were part of Greenpeace. However, I remained silent while they worked through it. The specifics of the yurts were outside my expertise, but organizing the events and presenting them as part of a packagewas.

Once more, I bit back a yawn. Damn Zayn. Keeping me up all night, well, in his case, early hours of the morning, when he knew I had to go to work as he lay sleeping the dayaway. This was the second day in a row, I’d crawled from bed to get ready for work as he snuggled in to the covers to sleep.

I was burning the candle at both ends right now and working my job, catching a few hours of sleep, and then being woken when he came to bed. It wasn’t all his fault.Ireached forhimmore often than not.

The need I had for him was yet to be satisfied. He satisfied me very well, not just in the primal sense but just the need to be beside him. Touch him.

I let out a frustrated sigh. Yup, I’d become a stage-three clinger.

Julian would laugh if I told him. The smile that had been threatening as I thought about my obsession with Zayn faded as I thought of my best friend.

I hadn’t seen or heard from him in a few days. Not since I told him to leave Zayn’s the other night. I had asked Zayn, but he hadn’t seen him either. I’d also asked Rye, who tended to be more brutal with his delivery of the truth, but he also hadn’t seen him.

The sense of being watched hadn’t lessened either, and I knew my overprotective boyfriend had someone from his rank of many soldiers keeping an eye on me. However, after he had remained tightlipped through my extensive questioning, I eventually gave up. I understood him better now than I ever had, but one thing hadn’t changed from high school: he was a stubborn son of a bitch.

Boyfriend.

I had called him that. He was, wasn’t he? I twirled my spoon in my coffee cup as I pretended to listen to annual wildflower patterns when, in reality, I was thinking of my relationship status.

Was I even in a relationship? We were living together. Weren’t we? Or were we coexisting in the same space?

I sipped my lukewarm black coffee, not hiding my reaction as the brew tasted more bitter as it cooled.

“Isla, would you like to walk the grounds with us?” Gerard asked as he pushed himself to his feet. “A woman’s insight may be beneficial.”

Snapping back to the present, I looked between Gerard and his groundskeeper. “Sure, though I don’t know if I will be of much help,” I told them, getting to my feet. “But it can’t hurt to look.”Again. This would be the third trip to the prospective site for the yurts.

At least the walk to the woods was pleasant. I changed my three-inch heels for rain boots, and off we traipsed. The warm summer air enveloped us, and I had a moment of panic when I couldn’t recall if I’d put my sunscreen on this morning.

It had been particularly difficult to drag myself away from Zayn today. He had gotten in late, and before I opened my eyes in the still dark room, I could feel the tension radiating from him. He had thought I was still asleep when he lay down beside me. He’d huffed in surprise as I climbed onto his lap, kissing him softly, and then I worked my way down his body to his cock in the hope of easing the tension from him.

I hadn’t gotten any sleep. I only had myself to blame. And while I lamented how sleepy I was as I dragged my feet along the grounds, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Because I’d fallen in love with him.

I didn’t even know when it happened. Was it before I was taken? Was it after? I didn’t know. And if I was honest, it scared the shit out of me. Because there were parts of him I’d never be ready for. But I knew I already loved them anyway.

I didn’t know what caused the tension in his body when he came home late or what low conversations he held on the phone as he took calls, which inevitably led him to leave theroom. I didn’t know half of what Zayn did. Hell, I didn’t even know a fraction of it, but the horrible truth I was having to face was that…I didn’t care.

Was he a bad man? I didn’t know. I didn’t think so. Not in an evil way. Not in the way that Patrick Delaney obviously was. Was he a solid, upstanding citizen of society? No. I knew that to my core. What I needed to know was how corrupt was corrupt? If it was wrong, how could he ever be my Mr. Right?

I missed my best friend. Not that Julian would have been neutral in the conversation. He would have been arguing vehemently about how bad Zayn was for me. But now I no longer knew if it was his concern formeor concern that I would find out how longhehad been lying to me as Zayn fished him out of debt again and again.

I really wanted to talk to Julian. My relationship with Zayn could wait, but Julian’s addiction to gambling couldn’t. I needed to know where he was and what he was doing.

As Gerard started discussing excavating the ground for flattening the area for the yurts, I vowed that I would make every effort tonight after work to hunt down my best friend.

The soundof the door closing woke me. I sat up, the house too quiet. The clock blinked, showing it was just before four in the morning. I waited, but I couldn’t hear Zayn in the bathroom. It wasn’t late for him to be home, but it also wasn’t early.

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