My family built a Gulf Coast empire. I ran as far as I could get from it.
For six years, I chose danger over legacy. War over boardrooms. Anything that kept me moving. Now I’m back in New Orleans for my father’s memorial. I’m not staying. I never planned to.
Until I see her.
Charli was the one thing in my life that felt real. The only woman who ever asked me to stay. I told her I didn’t do marriage. Didn’t do kids. Didn’t do forever. So she built a life without me.
A life that includes a little boy with my eyes.
Now the past I walked away from is standing in front of me, asking for something I don’t know how to give. I’ve faced enemies overseas. Taken risks that would terrify most men.
But nothing scares me like the possibility of staying. Because if I claim them, I don’t get to leave again.
And loving me has never come without consequences.
