"Points of vulnerability?"
"Working on it," Delancy said. "Alejandro has contacts who might provide additional insights."
The conversation continued around me, tactical and practical, as they discussed how to use this information.
I stood slightly apart, arms still crossed protectively over my chest, feeling both central to the discussion and completely irrelevant to it. These were Julian's people, experts in their fields, planning a complex operation to take down a dangerous predator.
And I was just... me. Connor Matthews—or Montgomery now, I supposed—a college student who'd never done anything more daring than break into a hotel room while drugged.
I drifted further from the table, the weight of those surveillance photos pressing down on me. Each of those young men had a story, a life, dreams that had been cut short by the same man who had intended to add me to his collection.
A prickling sensation at the back of my neck made me look up. Across the room, Julian was watching me with an intensity that made my pulse quicken. Despite the discussion continuing around him, his focus was entirely on me, dark eyes tracking my movements with an expression I couldn't quite decipher.
When our eyes met, he didn't look away as I expected. Instead, his gaze held mine, steady and certain. Then, without warning, his lips moved, silently forming three words that even from across the room, I could read perfectly.
I choose you.
The declaration hung between us, invisible to everyone else yet as tangible to me as if he'd shouted it. Not "I protect you" or "I'll save you," but "I choose you"—words that impliedagency, deliberation, commitment beyond our hasty marriage of convenience.
Something shifted in my chest, a warm certainty spreading through me that had nothing to do with the tracking device beneath my skin. My shoulders straightened almost of their own accord, chin lifting slightly as I held his gaze.
In that moment, I understood that whatever had started between us in that hotel room wasn't just about protection or physical chemistry. It had evolved into something neither of us had anticipated—a connection that defied the circumstances of our meeting.
Julian Montgomery, CEO and billionaire, a man who could have anyone, was choosing me. Not because I needed saving, but because he wanted me.
The moment stretched between us, weighted with promise, until I found myself mouthing back three different words.
I trust you.
His expression softened, the corner of his mouth lifting in that almost-smile I was coming to cherish. Then, as if some invisible thread connecting us had been cut, his attention snapped back to the discussion at hand, his CEO mask sliding seamlessly back into place.
I was still processing what had just happened when the penthouse elevator chimed, announcing an arrival. Kyue burst into the room, his usual composed demeanor replaced with barely contained urgency. His long black hair was coming loose from its tie, as if he'd been running his hands through it in frustration.
"Harris is making his move," he announced, holding up a tablet displaying what looked like a breaking news headline. "He's calling in favors with the board of Montgomery Industries."
The room went silent, all eyes turning to Julian, whose expression remained carefully neutral even as his knuckles whitened against the armrests of his wheelchair.
"What kind of move?" Jake demanded, stepping forward to take the tablet from Kyue.
"He's trying to force an emergency vote to remove Julian as CEO," Kyue explained, his accent becoming more pronounced in his agitation. "Claiming his disability makes him unfit to lead during this 'critical time of growth.'"
I watched the color drain from Julian's face, though his expression remained unchanged. This was more than just an attack—it was personal, aimed at the heart of what Julian had built, using his accident against him in the most vicious way possible.
"When?" Julian's voice was dangerously quiet.
"Board meeting called for tomorrow morning, 8 AM," Kyue replied. "Harris has been working the phones all day, securing proxy votes."
The atmosphere in the room shifted, tension crystallizing into something harder, more focused. I saw Jake pull out his phone, already dialing. Lucas muttered a curse that would have made my former college roommates blush. Michael moved to Julian's side, a silent pillar of support.
And Julian—Julian looked directly at me again, his dark eyes burning with quiet fury and something else, something fiercer that made my breath catch.
Whatever was happening between us, whatever had begun in that hotel room and evolved through these days of danger, it had just become entangled in a corporate war I barely understood.
Harris wasn't just coming for me anymore.
He was coming for everything Julian cared about.
Including me.
