Page 39 of Fury

“All I know is that it has something to do with my dad’s work. But that could be any number of things. Even we”—she motioned between Archie and herself—“didn’t know about everything he was in the middle of. I’ve been so busy with my AI project.” She shrugged helplessly. Once again, she should have paid attention to someone besides herself.

“What can we do, Hollyn?” Leila asked. She reached out and grasped Hollyn’s hand. “I know I’m no lab tech, but is there anything I can do to help you figure this out?” She sat up straight. Tucked her brunette hair behind her ears. “You know what? I can have Daddy’s security team station people here.”

See? Hollyn truly didn’t deserve her friends. They were so kind to her at every turn. “It’s okay, Lei. Really. Davis has things under control.” She heard Archie mumble something under his breath but didn’t catch what. “Plus, I’ve already bulked up the security protocols for the house system.”

“But you just said that the guy somehow got in here without tripping the alarm.” Leila looked horrified. “Even we don’t have access to your place,” she said, referring to herself and Archie. “That really worries me. How is it even possible to do that without fingerprint access?”

Hollyn had to admit she’d constantly been thinking the same question since that night.

Leila’s phone went off, playing “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” loudly. She slipped it from her Vuitton and rolled her eyes. “It’s my agent. I forgot about the modeling campaign I was supposed to shoot today.” A torn look marred her perfect features.

“It’s okay, Lei. You should go.”

“But you’ll be here alone. And Archie said he’s got a deadline coming up on something at work.”

“What?” Archie looked like he’d been caught daydreaming. He cleared his throat. “Oh yeah, right.” He looked to Hollyn and shrugged. “It’s the Robison. I really should get the last of the paperwork finished up.”

“Of course.” She knew the project well. It was the one she’d helped him on the other day. “I promise I’m good, you guys. Davis said he’d only be gone a couple hours.”

Leila and Archie exchanged tentative glances before Leila nodded. “Okay. But I’ll have my phone with me. If you needanything, you call me.”

“Same,” Archie echoed. He stood. Paused like he was going to say something, but didn’t.

What was going on with him lately? The animosity toward Davis. Needing help with work. It wasn’t like him. At all.

Hollyn shoved the worries aside and hugged her friends goodbye. Soon the silence in the house was nearly deafening. It caused her mind to wander, and where it landed . . . was Bongani.

It was time.

Seeing him wouldn’t be any less traumatic next week or the week after, and he was probably grieving just like she was.

Without another thought, she locked the house and trotted to the garage before she changed her mind.

Hollyn didn’t take risks. Truly. She calculated all the dangers of every situation and made plans accordingly. So how was it that she found herself parked in front of Bongani’s apartment? Alone. Knowing full well that there was a guy out there actively trying to get to her.

At least she’d made it here in one piece, though. She’d only driven herself around the city a handful of times in the last few years, and it wasn’t for the faint of heart.

“This was stupid,” she mumbled.

What was Davis going to say if he got back before she did? Nothing good, that was for sure.

She should go. Right now.

“Hollyn?” a familiar voice asked from the passenger side of the car.

Surprise threw her heart into her throat, but it was Bongani, not a random killer, who waved to her from the sidewalk. He was holding fabric grocery bags. Likely full of fresh produce from nearby Al Mina Fruit and Vegetable Souk.

“Uh, hey.” She waved back and got out of the car. Locked it as she walked to Bongani.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, confusion all over his face. His Hindi accent was instant balm to her grief. Familiar and warm.

Really should have at least called him first instead of showing up randomly.

He towered over her, and she had to crane her neck to look up at him. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to see . . . how you were doing since—” She couldn’t even say the words.

Awareness tugged up Bongani’s eyebrows and he nodded. “Please, come in.”

Hollyn followed him up the stairs and into the apartment building.

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