And she had kept that promise to herself—never to love, never to feel that deeply again. Not until Nicholas Ashcroft.
With him, it was different. She didn’t have to choose between love and legacy—because he lived in the same ruthless world she did. He understood power, danger, control. With him, she didn’t have to pretend.
But commitment? That word didn’t exist in Nicholas Ashcroft’s vocabulary. He lived by his own rules—wild, untamed, answering to no one.
That’s why she’d made the offer she did—no strings attached. It sounded bold, almost reckless. But the truth was simpler, and far sadder.
It was her armor.
Her way of protecting herself from falling again—because she knew, deep down, if she ever truly let her guard down with him… she might never recover.
She wiped her tears with th
