Sterling’s gaze fluttered over me as if he were trying to comprehend my words.
“What?” he asked, the scent of whiskey thick on his breath.
“Louisa’s in labor.”
He took a step back and ran his hand through his hair. “That food you said you made?”
“It’s in the kitchen.”
He looked around the office. “Shit, I’m sorry, Araneae. I thought we were here for the night.”
“Sterling, tell me what’s wrong.” I saw the empty tumbler with the scant remnants of amber liquid. From the sight of his dark eyes, I could guess it wasn’t his first glass.
His lips came to the top of my head. “Like I said, long day.” He inhaled. “And it sounds like it’s getting longer. Did you say you called Patrick?”
I nodded. “Let’s eat first. A few minutes won’t make a big difference. Besides, Marianne needs to get back to the airport, and they need to refuel the plane.” When he looked at me like I was too full of information, I laughed. “Patrick told me that. I wouldn’t have known.”
After a few deep breaths, he opened the cabinet door, revealing the small refrigerator and pulled out a water bottle. Removing the cap, he downed all of the contents, setting the empty bottle on the top of the highboy beside the empty tumbler. “Okay. First, your amazing cooking, and then we’re headed to Boulder.”
I took his arm. “The hospital is in Denver.”
“Is everything all right? There aren’t any effects from last Saturday, are there?”
I was taken aback by his tone of genuine concern, as if the whiskey had removed a layer of his natural shield, the one that hid his true emotions in most circumstances.
“As far as I know she’s fine. Her contractions are still about five minutes apart. Some are strong while others aren’t. She called me and as soon as we hung up, Winnie called.”
We’d made it to the kitchen, where Sterling went to the refrigerator and removed another bottle of water before sitting at the breakfast bar. As I sat the plates down in front of him, I asked one more time, “Is something wrong? Is there something you haven’t told me?”
His jaw clenched as he stared my way as if contemplating his response. After waiting for his answer that didn’t come, I turned and started walking back to get the food from the stove. As I did, he reached for my hand and pulled me back his direction landing me between his thighs.
“Today, in Cambridge...” His cheeks rose as a new brighter light came to his gaze.
“Yes?”
He reached for my hands. “You’re so fucking amazing.”
“Well, if that leads you to drinking—”
“No,” he interrupted. “I didn’t want to talk to that minister.”
It was my smile’s turn to bloom. “That was rather obvious, Sterling.”
His head shook. “You don’t get it.”
“What don’t I get?”
“Me.”
I intertwined our fingers. “I thought you said that I do. I get you forever. Have you changed your mind?”
“Hell no. It’s that anyone else would have known I didn’t want to go into that church and would have told her no.”
My shoulder moved up and down. “I’m working on that “Yes, Mr. Sparrow” response.”
“Don’t, sunshine. I mean it’s sexy as hell and makes me instantly hard, but I admire your tenacity. We wouldn’t have found whatever is inside that lockbox without you.”
“You wouldn’t have needed to find it without me. It seems I’ve brought all the baggage the old wives’ tale warned you about, what your mother—”
Sterling’s finger came to my lips. “I don’t believe that.” He inhaled and exhaled. “No matter what, I won’t regret finding you, Araneae. You’re the fucking best thing I’ve ever had in my life.”
Moving his finger from my lips, I brushed mine against his, our kiss soft. “I’m glad you found me. Now, let’s eat and get on the plane.”
Once we were both eating, he said, “I should take a shower.”
“Oh yeah...?” His tone was returning not only to normal, but with his more calculating, sexy tenor.
“Yeah.”
“What deal would that be?”
“Eat and we’ll get Patrick or Garrett to drive us to the plane. Then once we’re on the plane and on our way to Denver, I’ll shower with you.”
Sterling’s cheeks rose. “When I was a kid, my nannies would try to get me to eat. Never once was there a deal like that."
“Well, good,” I said with a chuckle.
Shaking his head, he continued to eat.
Although only a little over an hour had passed since the time I walked into Sterling’s office and the time Garrett drove the SUV, pulling up at the private airport—where we’d already been this morning and afternoon—the evening sky was beginning to darken. The clouds had cleared, leaving a chill in the early September air.
As the SUV came to a stop, I noticed other cars. Before asking, I looked to Sterling and Patrick. By the keen sense of their gazes, it was clear that whatever had been bothering Sterling earlier was forgotten, at least temporarily, and they had new fires at hand.
“Four Sparrows,” Patrick said.
“I don’t like them riding on the plane with us,” Sterling said, “but it makes sense. Having them with us, we’ll never be without protection.”
Before I could speak, under the lights of the airport’s parking lot, the doors of the other cars opened and four rather large men stepped out, each looking a tad scarier than the one before.
“Do these men work for you?” I asked, hoping the answer was yes.
“Have them gather over there,” Sterling said, motioning toward the rear of the plane, the part painted like a sparrow’s tail. “I’ll get Araneae up and inside to the back cabin. Then have all of them sit in front at the table with you, the partitions closed. Just because they’re protecting her, it doesn’t mean they need to be near her.”
Patrick nodded knowingly. “Give me two minutes.”
“Why don’t you want—?” I started to ask.
“These men wouldn’t be on this flight if we didn’t trust them,” Sterling said. “They’ll protect you with their lives. That doesn’t mean I want them close to you.”
I nodded, knowing I was out of my league with what was happening, totally trusting Sterling and Patrick’s decisions. “Okay.”
The group of men met with Patrick in a small circle as Sterling and I walked up the stairs to the cabin of the plane. Keaton and the new attendant named Millie met us at the door. We’d seen them both this morning.
“Mr. Sparrow,” Keaton said, nodding to Sterling. He turned to me and smiled. “Ms. McCrie.”
“Hello.” I looked to both of them. “I’m so sorry to change your plans again.”
“Not a problem,” Keaton said.
I knew it was. I also knew from Jana that no one would complain to Sterling even if they thought it was an inconvenience. It made me wonder if all these people had pasts that somehow intertwined with Sterling and his crusade to right his father’s wrongs.
“Patrick and the other associates will be and are to stay in the front of the plane,” Sterling instructed. “Help them if they need anything, but they’re not to cross the partitions.”
“Yes, sir,” Keaton answered.
Millie’s eyes were a bit wider. I wasn’t certain she was as accustomed to all of this as Jana had been. While that thought settled in my mind, I hoped that her inexperience was a good thing. A few steps behind, Millie followed us through an archway to the main cabin, stopping to close the partitions on either side.
As Sterling and I sat in the belted seats, she came closer. “Is there anything I can get you, Mr. Sparrow, Ms. McCrie?”
“We have baggage that should be taken to the bedroom. Confirm that it’s there before takeoff. Once we’re in flight, we’re not to be disturbed.”
“Yes, sir,” she said with a nod before disappearing toward the back of the plane.
I leaned closer. “So does that mean...about that shower?”
Sterling’s dark eyes burned with a smoldering light I’d missed earlier in the evening. “You made me a deal.”
“I did.”
“No one backs out of a deal with Sterling Sparrow.”
My lips curled upward. “While that hadn’t been my plan, now I’m suddenly intrigued about what the resulting consequences might entail.”
With a grin, Sterling shook his head. “Have you heard from Louisa?”
I looked down at my phone. “Not recently. The most up to date was a text from Winnie saying that she’s with Louisa’s family in the waiting room and there’s no news.”
Sterling’s hand covered mine on the armrest. “She’s going to be fine and so is the baby.”
“Kennedy.”
“Is that for sure?” he asked.
“Well, it was before she was kidnapped because of me.”
“What do you think about that?” His dark stare bore into me. “The name, not the kidnapping.”
I sighed. “I like that my name will carry on without me.”
He reached for my chin and sighed. “Once this is done, I’m certain we can petition for your identity. With your mother’s assistance and the DNA results, it may take a while, but it should be doable.”
“Can’t Reid just push some buttons?”
“He could, but if he did that, it might be more difficult to prove you really are Araneae and not just someone who changed her name.”
I turned his way. “Why would it matter? I don’t care what anyone else thinks. You believe I’m me. My mother does. I do. No one else matters.”
Sterling inhaled and exhaled.
“What?”
“Sunshine, let’s take one day at a time.”
He was right.
“There may come a day when you want the world to recognize you as Araneae McCrie. I will support whatever you decide.”
I turned my hand until our palms were touching and fingers intertwined. “You keep saying that.”
He nodded.
“It’s not that I doubt my ability to make a decision. This isn’t about which dress to produce or if we should branch out into bed linens—”
“That’s a great idea,” he interrupted with more enthusiasm than I expected.
I smirked. “I haven’t talked to Louisa about it yet, but I thought of it a few weeks ago. I mean, people spend a third of their lives in bed.”
The tips of his lips quirked upward. “I’d like to increase that percentage.”
“Anyway, as I was saying, these decisions...about what to do with the evidence, depending on what’s there and my name...I feel like they have further-reaching implications.”
“They could.”
“Then I’m asking for your advice.”
His finger touched my nose. “Your decision. I said that. I’m not going back on that no matter what we find. I gave you my word. A man’s word is either—”
“Either his most valuable tool or his most respected weapon,” I said, interrupting and repeating what he’d said numerous times. “I’m asking for your input. That won’t be breaking your word. It will be keeping it.”
“How do you figure?”
“Excuse me.”
We both looked up at Millie.
“Yes,” Sterling said.
“Your bags are in the bedroom. Once we’re in flight, I’ll bring some cheese and fruit and water bottles into the bedroom, and then you won’t need to be disturbed.”
“Thank you, Millie,” I said before Sterling could correct her for what he would consider overstepping. After all, he told her that we needed nothing. “I would love some snacks.”
Her smile beamed. “Marianne said we’re ready to take off and all the gentlemen are seated.”
Sterling nodded. Once she was gone, he turned back to me. “Explain what you just said.”
“I would love some snacks?”
He shook his head as his gaze darkened. “Araneae.”
“You promised me, Sterling Sparrow, that I wouldn’t face any of this alone. You’ve been there with Pauline, with my mother, talking to McFadden.” I took a deep breath. “You were there in Cambridge when I saw my grave. I need you...no, I want you to be with me, guiding me, helping me, and that’s what you’ve done. You may have bulldozed into my life, but you’ve supported me through this crazy maze. Please don’t stop now.”
Our lips met as the speed of the plane increased, the wheels lifting off the ground as we flew higher into the darkening sky.