"You might not be done with them. They might come after you. After us."
"I know. Which is why we need to talk about what happens next. What the consequences might actually be."
My stomach tightens. "Okay."
He sits up against the headboard, pulling me with him. "The Consortium doesn't forgive rejection. Especially not public rejection at the showcase. When I stand up in front of them and say I'm choosing you over membership—there will be consequences."
"What kind of consequences?"
"Business pressure, most likely. The inner circle controls significant portions of several industries I work in. They could make things difficult. Freeze me out of deals. Pressure partners to drop contracts. Make my company's growth more challenging."
"Could they destroy you? Like those men destroyed your father?"
"No. My company is too established, too diversified. They could make things harder but they can't destroy me. Not financially."
"What else?"
"Social consequences. I'll be blacklisted from Consortium events. Any friends I've made there will have to distance themselves or risk association. It's a small world at that level of wealth—being cut off from it has ripple effects."
"Sounds like they can hurt you even if they can't destroy you."
"Yes. It won't be pleasant. But it's survivable."
"And me? What happens to me?"
His expression darkens. "They might try to reclaim you."
"What?"
"The Consortium has rules. Acquisitions belong to their purchasers, yes. But if a purchaser rejects the Consortium,they sometimes argue the acquisition should be returned to the collective. Auctioned again to a more worthy member."
Ice floods my veins. "They'd try to take me from you."
"They'd try. They won't succeed."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I won't let them. Because if anyone tries to touch you, tries to take you from me, I'll—" He stops. Takes a breath. "I'll protect you. Whatever it takes."
I'm quiet for a long moment, processing. "You're really willing to risk all of that for me."
"Yes."
"Why? I'm just—I was just some girl at an auction. You didn't even know me. How can I possibly be worth all of this?"
He cups my face with both hands. "You're not just some girl. You're the woman who survived a cult and an escape and being hunted down and weeks of intensive training without breaking. You're strong and resilient and brave even when you're terrified. You're—you're everything, Eden. Everything I didn't know I needed."
Tears burn behind my eyes. "I don't feel strong."
"You are. Stronger than you know. And I'll spend however long proving that to you."
"What if I offered to just perform? What if I made it easy for you? You could have both—me and the inner circle. I'd do it. I'd perform for them if it meant you didn't lose everything."
"No."
"Vaughn—"
"No. Absolutely not. I don't want both. I want you. Only you. And I want you free from that world, from those men who would see you as property instead of a person. I want you to choose to be with me because you want to, not because you're performing a role."
