White Tower's lobby had been transformed.
Emma stood behind a velvet rope, watching the chaos unfold. Reporters filled every available space… cameras on shoulders, phones in hands, voices overlapping in a cacophony of questions.
"Where is Mr. White?"
"Is it true you bought her from her father?"
"Emma! Emma, look over here!"
She wore a black dress that Sloane had chosen… elegant, understated, expensive. Her hair was down, her makeup minimal. She looked like a woman who belonged in Nicholas White's world, even though she felt like an imposter.
Nicholas appeared beside her, his hand finding the small of her back.
"Ready?" he murmured.
"No."
"Good." He guided her forward. "Fear keeps you sharp."
They walked to the podium together. Flash exploded. Voices rose. Nicholas raised his hand, and the room went silent.
"Thank you for coming," he said. "I have an announcement."
He paused… for effect, Emma realized. He was playing the crowd like an instrument.
"I'm engaged to be married."
The room erupted. Nicholas waited, his face calm, his hand still on Emma's back.
"Her name is Emma Rhodes," he continued when the noise died down. "She's intelligent, beautiful, and she has no idea what she's getting into."
A ripple of laughter. Emma forced herself to smile.
"We'll be married in a private ceremony next month. No press. No photographers. Just family and close friends." His voice hardened. "Anyone who violates our privacy will be sued into bankruptcy. Anyone who harasses my fiancée will answer to me personally."
A reporter raised her hand. "Mr. White, is it true that you purchased Miss Rhodes from her father to settle a debt?"
The room went silent.
Nicholas's smile didn't waver, but Emma felt his hand tighten on her back.
"My relationship with Emma is no one's business but ours," he said. "But I will say this: Emma's father is a man who made poor decisions. I'm not marrying her to settle a debt. I'm marrying her because I choose to."
He looked at Emma…really looked at her and something shifted in his expression. Something soft. Something real.
"She's not a consolation prize," he said. "She's the only woman in this city who's ever looked at me like I'm human."
Emma's heart stopped… She smiled.
The cameras flashed. The reporters shouted. But Emma didn't hear any of it. She was too busy staring at Nicholas, at the man who had just claimed her in front of the entire world.
He's good, she thought. He's very good.
But as he guided her away from the podium, his hand still on her back, she wondered if maybe, just maybe, he had been telling the truth.