Page 247 of Ruthless Court
“Then the person with power has a responsibility to protect anyone pulled into that attention.”
His eyes hold mine.
“Yes.”
One word.
No joke beneath it.
I swallow.
“And protection begins with consent,” I say.
“It does.”
“Not assumptions.”
“Agreed.”
“Not deciding someone belongs in your world because you want them there.”
His gaze sharpens.
“What if they keep showing up?”
The room fades around us.
“What if they haven’t decided why?”
“Then you give them time.”
My breath catches.
“And if they leave?”
“You go after them.”
A girl near the windows presses her palm to her chest.
Professor Aldridge watches us over steepled fingers.
I force myself back toward the thesis.
“That sounds dangerously close to persistence.”
“It depends why they ran.”
“And who decides that?”
“The person willing to ask.”
I look at Kane.
He stands close enough that I could reach out and touch him.
I don’t.
“What if he doesn’t like the answer?”
