The drive back to the Ashcroft estate dragged on longer than usual this time around. Zion figured it was the evening rush— that chaotic stretch when schools let out and parents scrambled everywhere: zipping to pick up their kids, dropping them off at home, or gunning it back to the office before the boss noticed they were late.
It pulled him into a quick detour down memory lane, back to when he was a kid, piling into his father's sleek car for the school run. Heads would turn, eyes locking on him and his brothers like they were celebrities rolling up. The Ashcroft boys had been every girl's crush and every boy's rival—untouchable, envied, the works.
Even now, grown into men with their own lives and shadows, not a whole lot had shifted. The spotlight still followed them, whether they wanted it or not.
The massive metal gates guarding the entrance to Oregon's biggest estate—the Ashcroft stronghold—swung open with a low hum, parting just enough to let their car glide through.
