The shower water washes over me and I can still feel her, ringing all through my body. She’s just outside of the bathroom, still in her bed, waiting for me to come back out. I have to clean up before I go to this meeting with Richard, although all I want to do is lay in bed with her and forget about everything else.

I finish showering and step out, towel around my waist. She smiles at me, wrapped in the sheets.

“Clean?” she asks.

“Clean,” I confirm.

“I didn’t know you like to shower after sex.”

“I don’t normally,” I admit. “I like still being able to feel you. Is that strange?”

She shakes her head. “No, not at all.”

“Good. But I have to go to a meeting.”

She looks disappointed. I hate disappointing her. “Really?” she asks.

“Really.” I frown and glance down at the ground. “It’s with your father.”

She goes very, very still suddenly. “Oh,” she says. “I didn’t think you were going to be involved with him.”

“We still have this business deal. I have to work something out with him.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

I shake my head. “I’ll probably offer him good terms. Hopefully he accepts.”

“What if he wants me back?”

“I won’t do that.”

“He might destroy you.”

I nod once. “Yeah, he might.”

“We need a plan. In case that happens.”

“We don’t need anything.” I walk over and kiss her gently on the lips. “I’ll take care of it.”

“You’re not alone in this, Ethan. I’m just as responsible as you are.”

“I don’t think so,” I say and walk over to my clothes. I start to get dressed as we talk.

“But I am. I’m the one he’s after. If I left and went back to him, things might be easier.”

“Maybe, or maybe not. We can’t know for sure.”

“We still need a plan.”

I sigh. “I know we do. I’m working on it.”

She pauses for a second and watches as I get dressed.

“How do you think he found out about The Syndicate?” she asks me suddenly.

I shrug. “He’s probably involved with them.”

“Okay,” she says. “But how did he figure out that I’m working for them? They don’t give out that kind of information.”

“He has spies all over the place,” I muse. “Maybe he has one in The Syndicate.”

“Maybe,” she says. “But what if it’s simpler than that?”

“Simple how?” I’m not sure where she’s going with this, but I’m fascinated. Her face gets excited suddenly as I finish putting on my shirt.

“He could be a regular there,” she says. “Maybe he asked the other girls about me. Some of them know me.”

“I thought you were new to this,” I ask her skeptically. “Can’t be that many girls.”

“The night of the auction I met maybe twenty different girls. Some of them know me. And before that, I met a few more, even made friends with one.”

I narrow my eyes, starting to see where she’s going with this. “I had to sign something when I bought you,” I say.

“Regulars do more than sign something,” she confirms.

“What are you getting at?”

“I think The Syndicate has information on him. And if we can get it, we can trade that information for what he has on you.”

“Interesting,” I say and then sit down on the side of the bed. “How do you propose we get this from The Syndicate? They’re not exactly just going to hand it over.”

“No,” she says, nodding. “They won’t. But if you give me back to them, I can steal it.”

“Absolutely not,” I say, standing up instantly. “No way am I giving you back to them.”

“Think about it, Ethan. I can do it from the inside. I have at least one friend. And if you give them money, I bet I can make some more friends.”

I frown at her. “I can’t risk this. How could you even find it?”

“I couldn’t. But I’d get help.”

“What if they just throw you into a hole and then hand you over to your father?”

“They wouldn’t do that.”

I groan, shaking my head. “No way,” I say.

“It’s a good plan, Ethan.”

“No,” I repeat. “I can’t do it.”

She stands and walks over to me. She takes my hands between hers and looks at me. She seems so small, so insecure, and yet I sense a fountain of power deep inside of her. She’s radiating confidence, and it’s hard not to look at how gorgeous she is.

“Let me,” she says softly. “I can do this. You have to trust me. You can’t just keep me locked up in here forever.”

I watch her, not sure what to say. I can’t put her in any kind of danger, but I know her idea isn’t bad. There are just too many unknowns, and I have no control over the outcome, and that terrifies me.

“Ethan,” she says softly. “Let me do this.”

I look away from her. “I can’t.”

“You can. And I’m going to. Just don’t stop me.”

I shake my head. “Please, Aria. Let me figure this out. Don’t go back to them.”

She reaches up and touches my face then kisses me softly, standing on her toes. “I won’t leave you,” she says. “I’ll come back. And when I do, we’ll fix this.”

I watch her, and I know it has to happen. Something in her face tells me that she’s determined to see this through whether I want her to or not. There’s no stopping her.

And so I nod and kiss her hard, pulling her against me. When the kiss is done, I keep her in my arms.

“Be safe,” I say.

“I will be. Don’t worry.”

I have to be willing to lose some control. I have to trust her. Whatever’s happening between us is real, very real. And I can’t pretend that I don’t know what it is anymore. It’s love, real love, the kind that comes at you from out of nowhere and is so obvious in its purity that you almost can’t see it. There’s too much brightness there, and I looked away, but not anymore. I’m going to embrace it. I’m going to trust it. I’m going to trust her to come back to me, and if she can’t, I’m going to go get her.

“I love you,” I say.

“I love you too,” she whispers.

I hold her tight while letting her go.