Furniture that looks handmade from local wood.
A stone fireplace dominating one wall of the living room.
A kitchen that's functional rather than fancy, with appliances that are practical instead of high-end.
Everything is the opposite of the estate we left behind.
"I bought this place five years ago," Vaughn explains as we walk through, our footsteps echoing on the hardwood floors. "Right when I first joined the Consortium. Thought I might need a bolt-hole someday if things went wrong. Somewhere they couldn't find me if the relationship soured. Never actually thought I'd use it. Never imagined I'd be here with—" He stops.
"With someone you bought at an auction?" I finish gently.
"With someone I love. Someone who makes this place feel like home instead of just a hiding spot."
I cross to him and take his hands. "It is home. Or it will be. We'll make it home together."
He pulls me close, and we stand there in the living room of this rustic Montana house, holding each other as the last light fades outside and the first stars appear in that impossibly big sky.
"No one knows about this place except Callum," Vaughn says quietly. "It's in a trust under a different name. The deed is buried in paperwork that would take months to untangle evenif someone knew where to look. They won't find us here, Eden. We're safe."
"Are you sure?"
"As sure as I can be. The Consortium has resources but they're not omnipotent. And I made it very clear what happens if they come after us. The threat I made about exposing their secrets—that wasn't bluffing. I have documentation. Evidence. Five years' worth of insurance."
The weight of what he's done settles over me again.
Not just walking away from the showcase.
Not just choosing me over the inner circle, but actively threatening the most powerful men he knows.
Making himself their enemy to protect me.
"Did you really collect evidence on them? On all their illegal activities?"
"Yes. Started the moment I joined. Every illegal acquisition I witnessed or heard about. Every underage girl. Every woman who disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Every law they broke while hiding behind their wealth and power. I documented all of it. Stored it in multiple secure locations they can't access."
"That's—that's incredibly dangerous. If they knew?—"
"They know now. I told them. That's the only reason they're not actively hunting us. The cost of coming after us is too high. We have mutually assured destruction now. They leave us alone, I leave them alone. They come after us, I release everything and watch their world burn."
"So, we're safe because you're holding a gun to their heads."
"Essentially, yes. It's not perfect, but it's the best protection I can give us."
I think about that.
About the threat hanging over us.
About the Consortium out there somewhere, angry and humiliated but unable to retaliate directly.
It should scare me.
Should make me feel hunted.
Should make this house feel like a prison instead of a refuge.
But it doesn't. Because we're together. Because we chose this. Because even with the threat looming, we're more free than we've ever been.
The first week passes in strange suspension, like we're existing in a bubble separate from the rest of the world.
