a stood alone beneath the massive chandelier, its crystals dulled by years of dust. A storm whispered beyond the tall windows, rain speckling the pane

a half-empty decanter of brandy casting amber light beside him. His once-commanding fram

his, are you?" he rasped, voice gra

jargon, conditions. Terms that stripped away romance and made her heart a line it

e's drowning in debt. The vineyards are failing. There are li

t blink. "Let

thing Grandfather bu

Clay will save i

gray ashes and the memory of warmth. Her reflection shimmered faintly i

hing. The debts. The estate

ost?" Malc

of a name-only marriage. He walks away,

belong

a breath. "I'll belong to mys

y the claws of power, now standing on the edge of a battlefield she didn't choose. But Geor

en from the dr

picked up

physical relationship without consent. He doesn't control me. Not in public,

and steel slicing through the clouds. Georgia stepped into the marble lobby, the click o

mility. The man himself stood by the glass, dark navy suit tailored to perfection, hands in his pockets, hair combed back with a prec

turn as sh

e you've

pped it on his desk. "I also assum

n unreadable. That was West

y... assert

ed in playing a s

ser, voice low. "I d

his cologne bergamot and cedar curling aroun

e said. "You may be saving my f

ee," he s

es nar

You signed it to stop yourself from drowning. Pr

his desk. She pressed the tip to her palm, le

only thing that reminds

hand. Then, slowly, he took a linen handkerchief

Georgia," he murmured.

, Georgia walked barefoot across heated marble floors, her belongings untouched in their Louis Vuitton s

ing like fireflies below. Her phone buzzed relentlessly on the granite countertop

es Legacy fo

Love? Georgia Vance and We

hone. Silence was

that. She hesitated, robe clutched at her coll

lver lid gleaming. Beside it roses. Dozens of them. Deep red, the

esitated befo

as thick. H

devours ou

n the hallway.

e suite, locking the door, b

on the table lik

ng against her ribs. Somewhere in the city, som

new what

ar hadn't