Eve hadn’t expected home to feel so heavy.
When the car rolled to a stop in the driveway, the familiar outline of the Ashbrook mansion rose before her like a memory she’d spent a lifetime running from. She stared at it through the windshield, the wide marble steps, the tall glass windows, the manicured lawn too perfect to be real, and the dread settled in her chest like a stone plunging into deep water.
Ryan noticed.
He always noticed.
His hand brushed hers before he killed the engine. “I’ll drop you inside first, okay?”
She nodded even though her throat was tight. The Rodrigos’ warmth still clung to her like a comfort she wasn’t ready to let go of. Bexlin’s cold reality came creeping the moment the car turned into the gates. Returning here felt like walking barefoot into a battlefiel
