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"You don't know that anyone is targeting her."

"I don't know that they aren't."

"That does not give you the right to put strangers into her life."

"They're protecting her."

"From a threat she doesn't even know exists."

"Exactly."

She stares at me as though I've begun speaking another language. Then she walks to the window.

I let her.

She needs time to understand that anger doesn't change the reality. OB6 knows who she is. If they decide Elena is too difficult to reach directly, they'll look for leverage.

Her mother is leverage, and I'd do the same thing. That's precisely why the woman needs protection.

Elena turns around. "Do you know what the worst part is?"

"You're going to tell me."

"I understand every decision you made."

That isn't what I expect.

She crosses her arms. "My apartment is vulnerable. My mother could be used against me. My files contain information OB6 might want. From a security perspective, everything you've done makes sense."

"Then we agree."

"No." Her voice hardens. "That's the problem. You keep confusing being correct with having the right."

I study her.

"If I had asked, would you have agreed?"

"To some of it."

"Some isn't enough."

"To you."

"To keeping you alive."

"You don't get to make every decision because your version of safety is more absolute than mine."

"My version involves you breathing."

"And mine involves me living."

"You can live very comfortably here."

The second I say it, I know how badly I've chosen the words.

Her eyes flash.

"This isn't about your penthouse. I could live in Buckingham Palace and still be a prisoner if somebody else decides when I leave."