Ashes Read online

  “Madeline, tell me what is happening. Let me speak to David.”

  “M-marion,” I stuttered. “I’ve...” The large man came closer.

  “Madeline.” Marion’s voice was raised.

  With my behind pushed against the glass case, there was no place for me to go. “Please,” I said to the man.

  “Your phone, ma’am. Give me your phone.”

  My head shook as I pulled it to my chest, muffling the sound of Marion’s voice. Suddenly phones began to ring. The shrill sound was coming from the land lines for the store as well as one from the back, probably Mr. St. Pierre’s cell phone. “Don’t answer them,” the other guard man yelled.

  None of this made sense.

  “Your phone,” he said, extending his large hand.

  “I-I need it.” Thoughts of pictures of Ruby came to mind. The expression on the man before me never wavered. Slowly, I extended my hand and relinquished the phone to his grasp.

  With a quick look down, he disconnected the call with Marion.

  “Please don’t hurt me,” I said. “You can have the ring.”

  The corner of the man’s mouth curled upward. “Ms. Miller, my name is Philip.” He extended his hand, returning the phone my way. “Please don’t call Mr. Elliott.” He tipped his chin toward David’s body. “He’ll wake and when he does, you’ll be gone.”

  “Gone?”

  The other big man appeared behind him. “Car’s here.”

  “Come with me, Ms. Miller.”

  What choice did I have?

  “I can pay you,” I offered. “Mr. Elliott can pay.”

  Philip nodded. “I’m well compensated, ma’am.” He gestured toward the back of the store.

  Tentatively, I took a step through the doorway and back into the waiting area, again peering at David’s unconscious body. “Are you sure he’s not dead?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. He’ll wake with a nice headache.”

  Prying my gaze away, I stepped through the open door into Mr. St. Pierre’s work area. “Oh,” I gasped, seeing Mr. St. Pierre in a similar pose, sprawled upon the floor, near his workbench. The ring Marion had ordered was upon the bench in a type of vise. “Not dead?”

  Philip shook his head. “Believe me, this is better for him. He can honestly tell Mr. Elliott and any authorities that he doesn’t know what happened to you.”

  I clutched my purse closer to my stomach. “What is happening to me?”

  The outside door opened inward, flooding the work area with sunlight. Within the glowing threshold were three large bodies, their faces shadowed in the shining sunshine behind them.

  “You’re coming with me,” a deep, resonating voice said.

  “Oh.” My body trembled as I ran toward the voice. Sobs bubbled within me as I flung my arms around his neck, my breasts colliding with his solid chest. “You’re here,” I managed between gasps for air.

  After pulling me toward him, Patrick lifted his hands, framing my cheeks and tilting my face, milliseconds before his lips found mine.

  For only a moment, the rest of the world disappeared. I didn’t care that David or Mr. St. Pierre was no longer conscious. I was no longer fearful of Philip or his partner or what they may do. Even the other two men behind Patrick weren’t registering as I melted against my husband and gave myself to his kiss.

  His strong hands left my cheeks, lowering over my shoulders, arms, and down to my waist. It was as if he needed the affirmation of my presence. He wasn’t alone as my touch lowered and I wrapped my arms around his toned torso.

  As if beginning where our last kiss ended, Patrick’s lips possessively sought what belonged to him. A moan escaped my throat as his hands roamed and fingers moved upward, tugging my hair as his tongue sought entry.

  All around us the fires roared, their flames capable of total decimation, and yet, as I’d said before, within the center, I found safety, security, and home.

  When we finally pulled away from one another, the men around us were moving.

  The scene would appear as if a robbery had occurred, yet nothing was taken, only rearranged.

  Patrick reached for my hand and our fingers intertwined.

  “Ruby?” I asked, staring into his blue orbs.

  “She’s safe.”

  “Back in Chicago,” another deep voice said.

  My posture straightened as my vision confirmed the other man’s identity.

  Did he know what I’d recently learned?

  “Mr. Sparrow,” I said, tightening my grasp of Patrick’s hand.

  His eyes momentarily closed and opened. “Ms. Miller, we need to talk.”

  How could he know?

  “About Ruby?” I asked.

  “No, your daughter is safe and will remain safe.”

  “Sir, if it’s about the Ivanov bratva, I will tell you all I know. I don’t know if it’s helpful, but please know my loyalty is to my daughter.” I looked up at the man beside me. “To my family.” Suddenly that was a more encompassing word. “Patrick, I swear, to my knowledge there’s nothing on me to track me, well nothing other than the necklace you gave me.”

  Patrick nodded as his gaze went to Mr. Sparrow.

  Mr. Sparrow also nodded. “We need to get to the plane. Once we do, we have a few hours to reintroduce ourselves.”

  I looked back up at Patrick. “Am I? Is this real? I’m going with you?”

  “Ms. Miller,” Mr. Sparrow said, “your travel is at your discretion. Patrick seemed to believe you wanted to meet with your daughter. If he’s wrong, we made this trip for nothing.”

  Patrick lifted my hand, bringing my knuckles to his lips. “Madeline, this is all kinds of fucked up. We have a lot to explain to one another. You’ve lived in a bratva. Coming with me won’t be much different—”

  “I believe you’re wrong, Patrick. If you’re there and Ruby is there, wherever there is will be different.”

  A smile came to his lips. “There are freedoms that can’t, for the sake of safety, exist.”

  I stared into his blue eyes. “Believe me, I want to go with you.” I turned to Mr. Sparrow. “If I may.”

  It didn’t take a genius to understand pecking order. My husband was important but not as important as Sterling Sparrow.

  Would I ever be able to tell him of the newest revelation?

  If I did, could I admit that because of our connection, I am alive and Ruby has stayed with me?

  Mr. Sparrow lifted his chin. “I’ve never had reason to doubt Patrick’s decisions. I hope, Ms. Miller, you don’t give me cause to do so now.”

  “Mrs. Kelly, but please call me Madeline, sir.”

  The grip of Patrick’s hand squeezed tighter.

  “Very well,” Mr. Sparrow said. “Our plane is waiting.”

  A few minutes later, I was seated in the back seat of a dark SUV with the man who had introduced himself as Phillip at the wheel. The other man who had been with him was driving a second SUV with Mr. Sparrow and a man introduced as Mason in his back seat.

  “How is Ruby?” I asked.

  “She knows,” Patrick replied. “She knows I’m her father.”

  I felt my spine go rigid. “I don’t know what to say. I never told her. I never thought…”

  Patrick’s finger came to my lips. “She’s everything you said and more. Our daughter is too fucking smart. She knew we ran a paternity test.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes, not for me. I knew she was my daughter. I believed you, but even if I hadn’t, when I saw her, I knew.”

  I tilted my head.

  “Sparrow wanted confirmation.”

  I inhaled. “There was never a doubt.”

  “I can’t believe I have you both back,” he said.

  Moisture came to my eyes. “Patrick, we do need to talk, but I’m afraid that when we do, you won’t want me back.”

  His head shook. “Maddie girl, that could never happen.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  The SUV turned into
a gravel lot near a private airport.

  “I just learned something, and I’m not sure how Mr. Sparrow will feel about it,” I confessed.

  The SUV came to a stop.

  “We all need to talk,” Patrick said as my door opened.

  The sky framed the hangar in a crystal blue. Sun streamed down, raising the temperature since this morning. I stepped out of the SUV. Next to us, the other SUV had also come to a stop. Standing next to it was the man I’d only last night learned was my half brother. Our father had ordered my demise, killing the people I knew as my parents. According to Andros and Marion, I was a bastard, a threat to the Sparrow empire. Allister Sparrow had intended to kill me in that car crash. He’d failed, and in the process sent my life on an out-of-control spiral.

  Would Sterling Sparrow see me the same way—as a threat?

  Would he also want what his father wanted?

  I peered toward Patrick as he extended his hand my way.

  I’d made so many bad decisions in my life.

  Was this another one?

  Was I walking to my own death?

  “Madeline,” Patrick said, flexing his fingers, “we need to hurry.”

  Patrick

  I hadn’t been able to come up with the full reason I had A-team backup until this moment. With Madeline’s hand in mine, as the two of us walked across the parking lot toward the small airport, I knew. I was escorting her to her semiprivate encounter with Sparrow. With each step the realization settled upon me in a cloud of uncertainty.

  What would he say?

  Did he plan to spring the information on her?

  The sunshine’s glare disappeared and cooler air surrounded us as we entered the private airport. Beyond the desk with the same attendant who had been present at our arrival and the empty waiting area were large tempered windows showcasing the view of the tarmac. Waiting for our return was Sparrow’s plane, the stairs already descended and crew at the ready.

  Madeline glanced up at me as we followed Sparrow with Mason. The color in her cheeks was paler than earlier, and in my grasp I detected a bit of trembling. “I’m not leaving you,” I said.

  “Tell me this isn’t a setup,” she whispered.

  “I’m taking you home.”

  “To Ruby.”

  I nodded as the glass doors before us opened, and Sparrow stepped into the warm air. Tugging Madeline’s hand, I pulled her to the side and stilled. Mason’s eyes met mine. In them I read his message. Sparrow was on a tight schedule and we needed to move. The Houston Sparrows had driven us and they had two others securing this airport, but we were at war. No place—other than our tower—was one hundred percent safe.

  “We’ll be right there,” I said to him. Holding both Madeline’s hands, I looked down into her green gaze. “I fucking wish this…” I lifted my chin toward the plane. “…would be easy. It won’t be. I won’t pretend it will. During Ruby’s paternity test, some interesting information came to light. But I won’t allow Sparrow to ambush you. I can’t do that to you. The results—”

  Madeline squeezed my hands. “Patrick, I know. I didn’t know. I swear I had no idea. Andros knew all along.” She exhaled. “So did Marion. I want nothing from him.” Her head tilted as a smile brightened her face. “That’s not true. I want you.”

  My neck straightened. “Wait. You know that you’re related?”

  “I just learned last night.”

  “Patrick,” Mason called from near the plane’s steps.

  I inhaled. “Well, fuck. Okay. Tell him whatever you would tell me. These people, Sparrow, Mason, and Reid—you’ll meet him soon enough—and their wives are my family, the only family I’ve known since you and now Ruby. I want this to work.”

  Madeline nodded as clouds floated over her expression. “My story isn’t pretty.”

  I lifted her hands again, brushing my lips over her knuckles. “You can’t scare me away.”

  “God, I hope you’re right.”

  “Patrick,” Mason’s voice boomed.

  I peered down at my wife. Her dark hair could be the same as Sparrow’s while at the same time, their eyes couldn’t be more different: hers green and his dark brown. Yet there was more, perhaps the way they carried themselves. If I tried to look for them, there may be resemblances. I didn’t try. To me, Madeline’s relationship to Sparrow wasn’t significant. She wasn’t Sparrow’s half sister. She was my sexy, stunning, and so fucking strong wife.

  Allister Sparrow had been a piece of shit.

  That wasn’t debatable.

  Nevertheless, he created strong children, children who persisted and succeeded in whatever life threw their way.

  For a moment, I took Madeline in, inch by inch, as I had when I first saw her at the jewelry store. The green dress she was wearing was the same one she’d worn the day she’d left for Elliott’s ranch. The scoop of the neckline revealed the globes of her breasts. The fitted bodice showcased her slim waist and the skirt flared just enough to accentuate the curve of her sexy ass. The hem came to just above her knees, allowing full access to her fit and attractive calves, made even shapelier with the high-heeled shoes she wore. While her body resonated calm, her beautiful green eyes swirled with a million conflicting emotions.

  “I wish we’d brought the plane with a bedroom.”

  Madeline grinned. “Do you think Mr. Sparrow would approve delaying this talk for us to make love?”

  “I don’t care.”

  “You do, Patrick. And that’s why I never stopped loving you. You care. You always have.” She inhaled, her breasts pushing against the material. “Let’s do this. I want my family, the one I was never allowed to have. Everything I never dared to dream is in sight, and I’m not stopping now for Mr. Sparrow or anyone else.”

  The warmth of her body came against me as I kissed the top of her head.

  As we crossed the tarmac to the plane, pride in my wife flowed through my veins, intensifying with each step. It wasn’t anything Madeline had said, not words. It was the way she’d voiced her determination. There were a limited number of people on this earth who would willingly face Sterling Sparrow, confront him, and stand up to him, yet that was what this woman at my side was willing to do. She wasn’t after his money or his empire but after a life we’d been denied.

  Reaching the top of the stairs, Millie greeted us, “Mr. Kelly. Welcome, Ms. Miller.”

  “Mrs. Kelly,” Madeline corrected, “but please, my name is Madeline.”

  My cheeks rose. “I love hearing you say that.”

  “I love saying it.”

  We both turned to the two sets of watching eyes.

  “It’s about time,” Sparrow said. “Tell Marianne we’re ready.”

  The table in the front cabin, where we’d sat on our way to Dallas, contained four chairs. Sparrow and Mason had left us with two beside one another. Since the chairs were attached to the plane, I couldn’t pull one out; instead, I twisted it on its swivel for her.

  Once we were seated, I began, “Madeline, I know you met my friends and colleagues at Club Regal, but let me properly introduce you.” I turned to Sparrow first. “This is Sterling Sparrow. Sparrow, my wife, Madeline Kelly.”

  Sparrow gave a quick nod, his expression unreadable. “Madeline.”

  “Mr. Sparrow.”

  I waited for only a moment for him to correct her, for him to offer her a less formal option. When he didn’t, I continued. “And this is my friend and colleague Mason Pierce.”

  “Mr. Pierce.”

  Mason’s head shook as his hand came across the table to shake hers. “Mason, ma’am. Mr. Pierce died. I only resurrect him when things get formal. I’d suspect we’re about to get the opposite of formal.”

  Madeline shook his hand as her gaze flittered toward mine.

  “I’ll explain that later,” I said with a grin.

  “All right, Mason, please call me Madeline.”

  “Marianne,” Millie said, interrupting our introductions, “is ready to take off. Pleas
e fasten your seat belts. I’ll be happy to bring you lunch after we reach cruising altitude.”

  “Thank you, Millie,” Sparrow said. “Water is fine. Then we’re not to be disturbed.”

  Madeline tensed at not only his words but I presume, also his tone.

  “Now that that’s done,” Sparrow said. “Give Mason your phone and your purse.”

  “Sparrow—”

  “No,” Madeline interrupted my defense as she lifted her purse toward Mason. “I don’t mind. Honestly, I am not the only one who has been in contact with my things. All of them, including the clothes I’m wearing, were handled by Marion’s housekeeper.” She looked down. “She cleaned this dress. I don’t know about everything, but I will do anything you deem necessary to get to Ruby.”

  “Millie,” Sparrow bellowed. As soon as she entered, he went on, “Tell Marianne we have a slight delay.”

  “What?” I asked.

  Sparrow tilted his head toward the back cabin. “There’s a change of clothes in the back. Mason will ensure the phone is secure. The rest of what she’s wearing is staying here in Dallas. No one is finding our tower.”

  While the plane had been moving toward the runway, it was now stopped.

  Unbuckling my seat belt, I offered Madeline my hand. “I’ll go with you.”

  It wasn’t until we were both squeezed into a small bathroom that she looked up at me with a grin. “Maybe another strip search?”

  I shook my head. “You have no idea how badly I want to do that.”

  “I wouldn’t stop you.”

  “Rain check,” I said.

  Piece by piece, Madeline removed her shoes, dress, bra, and panties. My nerves were stretched to their limit and my patience worn. With her proximity, her breasts brushed against me. Before she could gather the new clothes, my arms surrounded her, pulling her nude body against mine. “For the record, I’m not passing on the search, only postponing.”

  “I wish you’d do it now. I’m afraid you won’t want to do it later.”

  As she spoke the clouds I’d seen in her eyes the first night in the hotel room returned.

  I reached for her chin. “Once you tell me everything, they won’t be able to get you any longer.”

  “What? You mean who?”