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“Maybe someone ought to mention that all of this is completely separate from scent matches and the like?” Onyx put in.

A faint flush reddened Gabriel’s cheeks. It was the first color I’d seen on his face since I walked into the room.

“Yes, of course it is,” he said. “I would never tie your protection and safety to... anything else that might or might not be between us.”

Curran rolled his eyes briefly ceilingward. “Please excuse his nibs. He spends way too much time staring at contracts written in High Standard Legalese. We’d protect you anyway because it’sthe right thing to do. But believe it or not, we don’t normally spend several hours curled up in a nest purring with people we’ve got on a protection detail.”

Now it was my turn to flush, heat radiating from my cheeks as I remembered the feeling of rough alpha purrs bracketing me, front and back.

“Well, I should certainly hope not,” Elijah said lightly. “Just imagine what the tabloids would say.”

Onyx snorted. “See, now, youthinkyou’re joking.”

Gabriel winced. “Let’s just say that the tabloids are... not entirely absent from my life. I’ll do my level best to keep you both out of them, however.”

Elijah perked up. “Hang on, you’re serious? Oh, my god. Don’t youdare. Do you have any idea how something like that can blow up a model’s career? We could befamous.”

I elbowed him. He rubbed his arm as though I’d mortally wounded him.

“Do we even have careers anymore?” I asked pointedly. “I certainly d-don’t. And you’ve been sold to the highest b-bidder.”

“Oh,hell, no,” Elijah said. “I’ve beenillegallysold to the highest bidder, and if I’m reading the room right, that same bidder intends to blow the whole scheme wide open.”

Gabriel looked troubled, and I wasn’t sure why.

“That was the plan, yes,” he said.

“Isn’t it still the plan?” Elijah asked cautiously.

“He left the yacht early,” Curran said in a gruff tone. “No way to gather information on where any of the other girls might’ve been sent. And no good way to track ’em now.”

A horrible, sick feeling settled over my stomach, making me regret the pastries I’d devoured an hour ago. “You mean, because he rescued us, all the other victims on that cruise c-can’t be rescued?”

Elijah’s sharp, indrawn breath echoed in my ears.

“That’s right,” Curran said. “And before you start thinking otherwise, that decision was ours to make. Not yours.”

“If the boss got his hands on a pair of signed contracts that he can use in court, it might even end up saving more people in the long run,” Onyx added.

I barely heard the words. My eyes locked with Elijah’s, and I was sure they mirrored the horror I saw in those green depths.

“We’ll help you take them down,” I said hoarsely.

He nodded agreement. “Yeah. We will. I...shit. I didn’t even think about the rest of them.”

I licked my lips to moisten them. “I’m a Huntwell.” The words burned like acid against my tongue. “I was part of that world until my father was killed. Maybe you can use that somehow.”

Gabriel looked at me, his expression set and unyielding. “Wewilltake them down,” he agreed. “But you’re not getting within a mile of Tommy or Cade Huntwell on my watch. We’ll do it another way.”

I thought of his sister... of the models on the yacht. Some of them had almost certainly received regular contracts withTSB, to maintain appearances. Others hadn’t. The knowledge that I was safe while they might be trapped in hell on Earth ate at my stomach lining like gnawing rats.

“We’ll make this right,” I whispered, knowing I wouldn’t be able to rest until the words were true.