Gods, I want to believe her.
But Greer Mackenzie doesn't hand out approval like party favors.
She's built an empire on impossible standards, and I've watched her reduce designers with twice my experience to tears with a single raised eyebrow.
Tomorrow, I'm showing her my personal collection.
Not work I've done for the brand.
Not safe interpretations of her vision.
Mine.
Pieces I've been sketching in the margins of my notebooks for years, designs that feel like they're made of my own bones and blood.
If she hates them, I don't know what I'll do.
If she loves them...
I don't know what I'll do then either.
The Mackenzie estate unfolds like something out of a film.
We turn off the main road onto a private drive, and suddenly there are stone walls draped in ivy, rolling green fields dotted with horses, and barns that look like they cost more than most people's houses.
Everything is manicured but not fussy.
Elegant but lived-in.
The kind of wealth that doesn't need to announce itself because it's so deeply, obviouslythere.
"The horses are rescues," Doran says, following my gaze out the window. "My uncle, aunts, grandfather, and mother's project. They find them at auctions, usually days away from—" He stops, clears his throat. "They give them a second chance."
There's something in his voice.
Something soft that doesn't match the sharp lines of his jaw, the cold authority he wears like armor.
I file it away, another piece of the puzzle that is my brother-in-law.
A chestnut mare lifts her head as we pass, watching the SUV with liquid dark eyes.
Her coat gleams copper in the afternoon light.
Beside her, a gray gelding grazes peacefully, his tail flicking at flies that probably don't even exist in this cool Irish air.
"How many?" I ask.
"Seventeen, last I counted. Mum has a whole staff dedicated to their care. Veterinarians, trainers, stable hands." Doran's mouth curves slightly. "She says they understand loyalty better than people."
"Smart woman."
"The smartest I know."
The house itself sits at the end of the drive, and I have to bite my lip to keep from gasping.
It's newer construction—I can tell by the clean lines, the precision of the stonework—but it's been designed to feel timeless.
Pale limestone walls.
