“Yes,” Ryder answers.
“When?”
“Soon,” he says. “Before he decides to escalate further.”
Finn pushes off the bar and begins pacing once, the restless energy in him barely contained. “You think he’ll agree to that?”
Ryder’s expression doesn’t change. “He will. Men like Cole don’t turn down the opportunity to measure someone up close.”
“And you want to measure him back,” I add.
Ryder’s jaw tightens slightly. “Exactly.”
Aurora inhales slowly, then says, “I’m coming.”
The statement lands between us as another spark.
“No,” Finn says immediately, turning toward her. “That’s not happening.”
“I agree,” I add, because the thought of her standing in front of Cole makes the protectiveness settle in my chest.
Ryder doesn’t speak at first, but his expression sharpens.
Aurora lifts her chin, stubbornness flaring in her eyes. “You don’t get to decide that for me.”
“This isn’t a town hall discussion,” Finn snarls. “It’s a meeting with someone who just set a fire under where you sleep.”
“Exactly,” she shoots back. “And if I’m part of the equation, I deserve to know how.”
“You’re not part of the equation,” Finn insists.
Her gaze doesn’t waver. “Then why does it feel like I am?”
Silence falls, because the fire had been beneath the office window, yes, but it had also been beneath the apartment. Beneath her.
I exhale slowly, choosing my words carefully.
“Cole uses pressure points,” I say. “He pushes on whatever makes the most impact.”
“And what if that’s me?” she asks.
Finn’s jaw flexes. “It isn’t.”
“You don’t know that,” she counters. “And I’m not walking around pretending I’m not a variable. What if you guys go? Leave me? And he comes for me? Wouldn’t I be safer with you?”
Ryder studies her in that intense way of his, weighing more than just her words.
“This is dangerous,” he says at last.
“So’s ignorance,” she replies without hesitation.
Ryder finally nods once, slowly. “If you come, you stay between us. You do not wander. You do not provoke.”
Her brows lift. “You don’t get to muzzle me.”
“I’m not muzzling you,” he says. “I’m setting terms.”
She holds his gaze for a long second before giving a single, reluctant nod. “Fine.”
