“I’ve seen the change in Reid. I’ve seen a man who can work twenty-four seven suddenly care about dinner and getting back to his—not mine but his—home. I’ve listened to a man who could say ten words in a day give me an oration about what matters most. I don’t want your presence to divide us. I need those two men on my side every hour of every day. I will work diligently to make my dreams a reality, and in the process, not let either of them down while helping to fulfill their goals.
“I asked you here tonight knowing that for that goal to be achieved, we need to work as a unit. One. Not three or four entities.”
“And how can I...?”
“You were doing it, before we lost him. You were helping. I’m not asking you to work for me. You aren’t an employee, any more than Reid or Patrick. I’m asking that even though you married Reid, maybe you could do some of what you were doing before for all of us.”
“You mean like cooking and cleaning?”
“This isn’t meant as a menial request.”
“I-I—”
“It is the opposite,” Mr. Sparrow said. “I didn’t understand it before, but now I do.” He walked back to the chessboard. “I never investigated hiring someone or a service to clean the different apartments because as I said, it’s a matter of trust. I know there are others who would do it, people who would willingly do that out of a false sense of gratitude or others for the money. I don’t truly know most of those people. I don’t want a stranger in my home or yours.”
“I wasn’t sure that you wanted me up here,” I admitted.
“I do, if you are willing. Just don’t move the chess pieces.”
A smile came to my face, raising my cheeks and curling my lips. “I promise.”
“I’ll have Reid set you up with an account to buy any household necessities. There isn’t a checks and balances, Lorna. I don’t need a spreadsheet. Once my trust is given, it’s without question until the day I regret that decision. I don’t want to regret this decision.”
Suddenly, what he was asking of me seemed even more important. “You won’t, sir.”
“What I would like more than anything is to not think about it, but to know it is taken care of by someone I trust.”
“So, you’re asking me to be kind of like the house manager.”
Mr. Sparrow grinned. “You can be in charge of your title. I’m not a big fan of titles, especially amongst friends. Sterling or Sparrow works for me. No more mister or sir. Can we agree to that?”
“I think so.”
“Besides the chessboard, my only other request is that you only enter the second floor of the penthouse when I’m away.”
“I can do that.”
Sparrow let out a long breath. His grin appeared more genuine, bringing light to his dark gaze. “I bet you didn’t count on getting three men when you agreed to marry Reid.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know for sure what I anticipated. I probably didn’t count on his friends being more than his.”
“Well, you have that friendship too. I should warn you. Friendship doesn’t mean I won’t be a pain in the ass sometimes.”
“Noted,” I said with a smirk. “I heard that about you too.”
“I’m sure you did.”
“This will be new to us and you. Work it out. You’re the house manager or whatever you want to call yourself. The schedule is yours, the spending account is yours. There is only one steadfast, unbreakable rule that goes along with this arrangement.”
“What is that?” I asked.
“Believe us.”
I took a breath. “Okay.”
“Lorna, I mentioned that by staying here, you chose danger over freedom. I let your brother down because for a moment in time—one that I would fucking take back if I could—in that moment, I forgot to fully appreciate the true risk that goes with our world. One time I underestimated the consequences. He brought you here to keep you safe. Keeping you here does the opposite. You’re now the wife of a top Sparrow. You’re a target to others. If we tell you that you need to stay in the tower, believe us.
“It’s because as God is my witness, I will never underestimate that danger again. It isn’t because you’re a woman, a sister, or a wife. It’s because Patrick was right. You’re family. We protect what is ours.”
“Reid gave me a similar warning after his proposal.”
Sparrow grinned. “It’s a good thing it wasn’t before. You might have changed your answer.”
“I don’t think I would have.”
“Do we have a deal?”
“Yes.” I started to say Mr. Sparrow but stopped. “Yes, Sparrow, we do.”
He motioned between us. “This doesn’t need to be mentioned again.”
My eyes opened wide. “What doesn’t?”
He nodded. “Very good.” His smile faded. “Or him. My thoughts about him are known. I don’t need nor have time to relive them.”
It was the same warning I’d been given by Reid, not to mention Mason’s name in Mr. Sparrow’s presence. “I’m sorry that I remind you of him,” I said earnestly.
“Fuck that. Be your own person. You are now an intricate part of us because of you. Reid loves you. Patrick picked out flowers for you. I asked you to come up here. You did.” He continued to emphasize the personal pronoun. “He will always be a part, but he isn’t your part. No one is but you. Thank you for coming up and talking to me.”
Tears prickled the backs of my eyes as I grinned. “Thank you for asking me.” I turned to leave.
“Lorna?”
I spun back to him and his desk. “Yeah?”
“Your breakfasts were nice.”
My smile grew. “Tomorrow at seven.”
“This floor,” he said.
“This floor.”
Reid
Present day
The small plane approached the landing strip at the main house. Although Mason’s plane only contained the pilot and copilot seats, in the aft there was a third jump seat. While neither of us would have easily fit, Araneae did. Throughout the flight, I continued to check on her, offering her water and asking if she was all right. Since she didn’t have headphones, it was more of a labored game of charades.
Before heading away from where Araneae was discovered, Mason and I did a scan of the area, determined to not leave Lorna behind. Both of our searches came up empty. While I didn’t want to think about my wife alone on the canyon floor, I also couldn’t delay getting Araneae a.k.a. Kennedy back to the house.
As soon as we reached the plane, we radioed the house. Sparrow assured us that they’d be waiting along with medical help including the doctor who checked out Madeline and Laurel after the attack.
“No one is close,” Mason said to me after the radio conversation, speaking of the doctor.
“Sparrow will have a fucking helicopter fly the doctor to the ranch. I have no doubt.”
Mason’s green stare, the one like his sister’s came my direction. “Lorna is still alive.”
His response wasn’t in regard to what I’d said, but to what I needed to hear. I inhaled, letting his words sink in, taking them as gospel, and refusing to believe otherwise.
Once the plane came a little closer to the main house, my prediction came to fruition. A helicopter sat near the outbuildings in the area where the kidnappers had landed. The markings on the tail indicated it was from a level-three trauma center in Butte.
“You were right,” Mason said, before peering back over his shoulder and back. His green gaze questioned along with his one word. “Kennedy?”
“Yeah, it was her name...before...” I didn’t finish. It all happened before Mason’s return; however, the story wasn’t secret.
“Before Sparrow?”
“You know the story,” I said. “It’s complicated.”
“She didn’t know me, which is understandable,” Mason said softly into the headphones. “Seems like she would have known you.” When I didn’t reply, he added, “Surely, she’ll know Spa
rrow.”
“I fucking hope so.”
As we touched down Sparrow, Patrick, Madeline, and Laurel stepped out of the hangar. Sparrow barely waited for the plane to stop when he took off running toward us. As Mason turned off the controls, I unbuckled myself and opened the door to reach the jump seat.
“Are we to the hospital?” Kennedy asked.
“No.” I looked at her harness and back up to her light brown eyes. “May I help you?”
“Yes,” she answered quickly with a nod. “If we’re not at a hospital, where are we?”
Mason had taken off his earphones. “This is my ranch, mine and my wife’s. The hospital is farther away. Your husband had the trauma helicopter brought here.”
Her eyes opened wide. “My husband?”
Mason’s gaze went to mine.
Before we could comment, Sparrow was there, reaching for her hand as she began to stand. That didn’t last long before he had her in his arms. “Tell me you’re all right,” he demanded.
Araneae blinked as she took in the man holding her. New tears glistened in her eyes. “Sterling?” She laid her head against his as her body trembled with gut-wrenching sobs. “Sterling. Oh...Sterling.”
His dark gaze looked our way. There were words of gratitude he couldn’t convey. Instead, he said, “I’m taking her to the house. The doctor is waiting.”
We both nodded.
Once he was gone, I turned to Mason. “What the fuck?”
His head shook. “I don’t know.” He looked toward the others. “Hey, Doc?” He wasn’t calling to the doctor who had come at Sparrow’s bid, but to his wife, Laurel.
We began walking toward the others as they came toward us.
“How is she?” Laurel asked.
“What about Lorna?” Madeline asked.
We both shook our heads. “She wasn’t there. Araneae was alone.”
“When we found her,” Mason began, “she didn’t know us. She didn’t know her name was Araneae. She called herself Kennedy.”
“That was her name before,” Patrick said as we all began walking toward the house.
“Yeah,” Mason said. He turned to Laurel. “Can you have the doctor do a drug panel on her?”
“You think she was drugged?” Laurel asked.
“I fucking think we’re back to your formula.”
Laurel stopped walking. “What?”
“Think about it. She didn’t know us or her name, but whatever they gave her isn’t working,” Mason answered. “She recognized Sparrow.”
Laurel’s expression became puzzled and thoughtful as we all climbed the front steps. The air cooled within the entry as we paraded into the kitchen. I peered over the long table and out the kitchen windows. The house was no longer wide open. The air ducts had been scoured and the windows and doors secured.
Patrick was speaking quietly to Madeline. Her head was shaking, but she was smiling. His hand went to her enlarged midsection just before she laid her hand on top of his. These were the moments the rest of Chicago didn’t know or see. They knew Patrick as the negotiator and dealmaker he was. They knew him to be truthful, tough, and even ruthless. They knew him as a man who made difficult decisions and met the consequences with determination.
My thoughts went to Lorna. Instead of feeding my fear, I imagined the two of us back in our apartment. From the moment we met, we shared a surreal connection. We were comfortable with one another in a way I’d never imagined. There were no awkward moments, no uncertainty. Watching Patrick with Madeline made me realize how much I envied what they were about to do, to raise a child together.
The world we lived in was cruel and unforgiving. Yet, alone with our family—our tower family—we were more than a part of the Sparrow outfit. We were friends, lovers, and partners. Soon, some of us would be parents.
“Didn’t she?” Mason asked. “Reid.”
I turned to him, certain my thoughts had taken me away from part of this conversation. “I’m sorry. What?”
Laurel came forward and reached for my hand. “Sit down, Reid. Can I get you something? Maybe something to drink or eat?”
Following her lead, I sat. “I’m fine.” I looked at Mason who had taken the seat across the table. “What were you saying?”
“How much sleep have you gotten in the last...going on three days?”
“Shut the fuck up. What were you asking?”
He sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Tell Laurel about finding Araneae.”
At the mention of her name, I looked around the kitchen. “Is she upstairs?”
Patrick and Madeline came to the table. Madeline carried a pitcher of ice water and Patrick had a tray of glasses. They sat them in the middle of the table. Madeline spoke, “Yes, Sterling took her upstairs. The doctor brought an ultrasound as well as some other supplies.”
“Um,” I began, thinking back, “we were flying and I saw something flash. It was like a compact mirror used to signal a plane.”
“Araneae had her purse?” Madeline asked.
“No.” I smiled at the memory. “It turns out it was her huge fucking rock of a ring.”
Everyone grinned.
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Anyway, we landed and began walking toward where we saw the flash. As you saw, she’s sunburned, and even though she drank some water, she’s probably dehydrated.”
I reached for the pitcher and poured myself a glass.
“I wonder how long she’s been out there.” Laurel said. “Tell me about her name. I feel like I should understand.”
“She referred to herself as Kennedy,” I offered. “It was her name—before.”
“Hasn’t it been Araneae since before she and Sterling married?” Laurel asked.
We all nodded.
“Which has been nearly three years?”
“Yes,” Patrick answered.
Madeline sipped a glass of water. “Are you saying that she didn’t know her own name or either of you?”
“No, she didn’t,” Mason answered. “But, she didn’t seem frightened. She seemed confused.”
Laurel stood and began walking back and forth by the table and breakfast bar. “But she knew Sterling.”
“She did, which is odd,” I said. “Because Mason told her that her husband brought the doctor here, and she seemed...” I paused to think. “I can’t come up with a better word than confused.”
“But as soon as he reached for her and lifted her, she knew him,” Mason added.
Laurel nodded with a grin. “That’s amazing.”
“Amazing?” I questioned.
“What are you thinking?” Patrick asked.
“If she was given anything similar to my formula, its purpose is to mute traumatic memories. The problem from the beginning of my research has been the concern over erasing all memories.” Laurel stopped and turned to all of us, her blue eyes wide. “Don’t you see?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Laurel, I’m not connecting the dots.”
“Reid, think about it from a scientific viewpoint. Mason said he thinks this has to do with my research. You all,” she was talking to us, “said you were afraid the kidnappers were coming for me. I hate to admit it, but if this is connected to my formula, I agree. So for the sake of argument, let’s say all that has happened is about my research. I want to know the compound of whatever formula Araneae was given.”
“If not all memories were erased for the last three years, why didn’t she know us?” I asked.
Laurel moved her head from side to side. “You have to understand, I’m hypothesizing. I don’t have the clinical data. Considering the empirical evidence, we can assume that she’s coming out of a recent traumatic event—the kidnapping.”
I nodded.
“Whatever they gave her took her mind back to a calmer time.”
“When she was Kennedy,” Patrick said.
“Right.”
“Why then did she recognize Sparrow?” Mason asked.
/>
Laurel’s smile grew. “That’s the truly amazing part. Whatever they gave her, if they did, didn’t block him. Because no matter how others see Sterling, Araneae sees him as her husband, the man she loves. Her mind doesn’t associate anything traumatic with him. Whatever is within the formula they probably gave her, they’re on to something.”
We all turned at the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the floor above. Hurriedly, Sparrow came around the corner. His expression was a conglomeration of emotions.
Laurel spoke first, “Is she okay? What about the baby?”
Reid
As the evening sun saturated the kitchen, we all stared, waiting for Sparrow’s response.
“The baby’s heartbeat is strong and there’s movement.”
Everyone in the room let out a collective breath.
“Araneae?” Laurel asked.
Sparrow’s expression cracked. A shimmer of light gleamed in his dark eyes as his lips turned upward. “Fucking amazing. So damn strong and resilient. She’s hooked up to a saline IV and asking for food.”
“What does she remember?”
The luster disappeared as his head shook. “Nothing.” He turned to me. “I’m sorry. Right now, that includes anything in the recent past with Lorna. Her last memories are in Chicago. She’s confused about everything, even why we’re here. The last two weeks are” —he shrugged— “gone.”
Laurel looked from Sparrow to Mason and back. “There’s no way to know yet if the amnesia is permanent. We all know that the loss of memories can be temporary.”
“I don’t know what happened to my wife,” Sparrow said, the tendons in his neck tightening as the vein in his forehead pulsated with building pressure. “I know I have her back and someone is going to die for what they did.” He let out a breath. “I also wonder if it might be better for her not to remember?”
I stood. “If she knows anything that could find Lorna—”
“Yes,” he interrupted. “I get that. I just don’t want her...” His words trailed away.
Laurel lifted her hands. “It’s not our decision anyway, even yours, Sterling. It’s up to Araneae. It’s up to her mind what and when she’ll remember. I’d be glad to talk with her. I might be able to prompt the return of memories.”
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