My heart hurt.
Physically hurt.
Like someone reached into my chest and squeezed until I couldn't breathe.
Because I knew what it meant.
Eleanor was obsessed with him.
The same way she was obsessed with creating the perfect Savannah Ashby brand. The same way she controlled every aspect of my childhood and turned me into content.
She did something to Legion too.
I don't know what. Don't know if I want to know.
But whatever happened between them?—
God, maybe that's why I never fully committed to the idea of us.
Maybe some part of me felt like I could never measure up to her.
Eleanor with her talent, and vision, and terrifying certainty about everything she touched.
How could I compete with that?
How could I be enough for Legion when my own mother saw something in him worth documenting obsessively for twenty-five years?
Cassia stumbles slightly on loose rock.
I automatically adjust my seat, keeping her balanced.
"Easy, girl." She recovers. Keeps walking.
The stables come into view ahead. Dark shapes against darker landscape.
I take a breath. Let it out slow.
Whatever happened between Eleanor and Legion—it's none of my business. I've come to terms with that now.
Or I'm trying to.
Because the truth is… Legion Kane is the only man I want. Not Marcus with his political ambitions and cold calculation. Not some fantasy of who Legion could be if he wasn't who he is.
Just him.
The real him.
Rough, and damaged, and dangerous, and mine.
But he's not going to trust me with his secrets if I keep taking without giving.
If I keep letting him deflect and dodge and carry everything alone.
I need to change.
Need to be more present in his life.
Need to show him I'm with him—not because he's my rebellion, or my project, or my way of escaping the Ashby cage.
