Page 34 of Legions

She took a drink from her glass. “He’s detached. He always has been. Even as a child, he lacked emotion. It surprises me that he’s let someone so close to him.”

I licked my lips and took a calming breath. Snapping at Thatcher’s mom was a bad idea. “He has emotion. It’s not something he displays for others to see, but it’s powerful if you’re lucky enough to experience it. I imagine that, as a child, he only needed someone to let him feel safe and give him the opportunity to display it.”

Her eyes widened slightly as if she wasn’t sure that was a comment directed at her. News flash, Mandilyn, it absolutely was.

“And how do you suggest that one does that? To a child that doesn’t even cry. Shows no remorse. Feels no guilt or pain?”

“Love. When Thatcher knows someone loves him. When he doesn’t have to question it or seek it out, he is anything but unattached. He just requires the security that he will still be accepted when he shows vulnerability. Wanted. Unconditional love.”

She stared at me, saying nothing. Her gaze, however, told meso many things. Most of all, I suddenly realized that she’d missed that—failed to give him what he required.

“Sorry, I got lost,” Royal said as she entered the room.

Mandilyn stared at me for a moment more before recovering. When Royal passed me, she turned her head and winked at me with a small smile before sitting beside me.Had she left us alone on purpose?I dropped my gaze to my hands, which were clasped in my lap, and smirked.

Mandilyn continued the conversation, but every time her eye met mine, I saw the uncertainty and the worry that I was right. It was her fault that she lacked a relationship with her oldest son.

• Nineteen •

I’d break into Heaven and take you back if I had to.

Capri

Miller talked about the turn and how he wanted me to take it when I hit full speed. I listened as I snapped my helmet. He was more serious about this than he normally was when I took Bloodline out. Were they planning on him racing soon, and if so, did I get to ride him?

“Here he is,” Miller said, looking over my shoulder.

Turning, I frowned as Zephyr, led by Jim, walked toward us. I thought I was going out first. I glanced around for Carmen or Rog but saw neither of them. I turned back to Miller, who was looking at me but didn’t say anything or explain. I opened my mouth to ask him where Bloodline was, but another voice stopped me.

“What are you waiting on, little doll? It’s your chance to show me just how fast you can ride my horse at the Derby.”

I spun back around to see Thatcher walking this way with awicked smirk on his face. His eyes watching me closely. He was serious. Thatcher was… he had brought out Zephyr for me. To ride in the Kentucky Derby. I glanced at Miller, who had broken into a grin. This was real.

I broke into a run straight for Thatcher. Joy burst inside my chest as my vision blurred from the tears that were filling them. When I reached him, I let out a squeal and jumped, throwing my arms around his neck. He caught me as my legs locked around him. I grab his face, slamming my mouth down on his. My tears making it salty as his hands tighten their grip on me, his tongue plunging into my mouth as if the taste of me was all he needed to survive.

I pull back, looking down at him, and let out a laugh. Then wipe at my tears and laughed some more. “You mean this. Right? You aren’t gonna change your mind?” I needed reassurance.

“You have to promise me you’ll be careful. Don’t do anything that could put you in harm’s way. Lose a fucking race if that’s the answer. Nothing can happen to you. I can’t lose you,” he said fiercely. “I won’t lose you. I’d break into Heaven and take you back if I had to.”

I smiled, my eyes still leaking, and I nodded. “I promise.”

He pressed a kiss to my lips one more time, then lowered me to the ground. I started to turn and sprint back to Zephyr when strong fingers wrapped around my wrist, stopping me.

I glanced down at his tanned hand and then up at him.

“One more thing,” he said, lowering himself until he was on one knee.

The universe went silent around me. I stared down at him. It felt as if everything had gone into slow motion. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver box. With his eyes never leaving my face, he flipped it open. Inside the black satin sat a vivid blue teardrop stone that wasn’t the blue sapphire on my necklace but something much more unique.Was theresuch a thing as blue diamonds? Whatever it was, the stone was breathtaking. But my favorite part was that it sat inside a diamond horseshoe.

I lifted my eyes up to meet Thatcher’s. The raw vulnerability broke me and put me back together again, all at the same time.How could anyone believe this man was without emotion?This power of his surrounded the space around us.

“Little doll,” he began, but I blurted out

“Yes!” before he could say anymore.

“I’d prepared sweet shit to say,” he told me with a slight tug on his lips.

I nodded. “Okay, say it, but just know my answer is yes.”

He pressed a kiss to my ring finger while his eyes held mine. “I can’t promise you I won’t do things you don’t like. But I can swear to you that I will worship you in this life and follow your sweet ass into the next.” He slid the ring onto my finger and then stood up, pulling me into his arms.

“It’s forever, little doll. Me, my legions, and black soul all belong to you.”