Thatch gave Sophie a warm smile. “Of course. The bunker will be fully open, including the family suites. If you speak to Ellen, she’ll assign you a two-bedroom one.”
“Thank you, Mr Spalding!” Sophie exclaimed, grabbing his arm.
“Welcome.” Thatch watched as Sophie rushed over to Ellen and turned to me. “Guess this was a surprise.”
“Mr Spalding, I don’t believe we have anything to say unless it concerns work. My private life isn’t up for discussion,” I bit out.
“Rain, we need…”
“As I said. You have no right to discuss or intrude upon my personal affairs. However, I won’t be taking you up on the offer of a suite. Strangely, I refuse to be separated from my children again. I wonder why. If you’ll excuse me, I have to be sure my team has everything they need,” I stated and moved away from Thatch.
For three years, I’d worked here and not known that Allegra’s family had employed me. I thought I’d got the job offer here because of my skills and reputation. Now I had to question Allegra’s involvement in my getting the position. No point asking Allegra, because she wouldn’t know!
A bitter smile twisted my lips, although clearly profit meant more to the Spaldings than I’d realised. Assholes had kept me working for them even though they believed I’d fucked Allegra over. Wow, money before blood. Bet their parents were proud of them.
Apart from me, only one other declined the offer to stay. The Spaldings generously sent everyone home to pack as security rolled in. I nodded to Ellen and slipped out. There was nothing left to do today.
Shotgun wouldn’t be home yet. Making a decision, I headed to the clubhouse to check on the house. Usually, unless I needed consulting, Shotgun dealt with this. Construction was not mything. I was surprised when I got a call from Allegra on my way there.
“What’s up?”
“Can you pick the twins and me up? Preferably before I kill a cousin?”
I checked the dashboard for the time. “Give me about ten minutes.”
“Okay.”
“Not asking how, on a workday, I can come so quickly?”
Allegra went quiet. “We’ll talk when you’ve got me.”
Before I could say another word, Allegra hung up. When I arrived at her grandparents’ home, I wasn’t shocked to see Gramps sitting on the steps waiting.
“Gramps.” I stopped short of him.
“Walk with me, son,” Norman ordered as he heaved himself up. A scream came from inside the house, followed by a death threat. I arched an eyebrow, and Norman smiled.
“Just like when they were kids, and I wanna strangle them just as much.”
“Wonder why,” I bitched, and Norman smirked again. Silently, I fell into step beside him as Norman headed for the gardens.
“Allegra’s never going to get her memories back.”
“You can’t say that.”
“You’d be surprised, boy. But medical opinion is that Allegra hasn’t had a single flashback or memory recall, so it’s unlikely to happen.” He paused, then added, “Allegra had no idea you worked for ENS until you told her.”
“Truthfully, I’m amazed you didn’t find some pretence to fire me on.”
“Why? You have a brilliant mind and will make many significant contributions to medical knowledge. ENS has the funding and support you need.”
“And I’ll also make ENS billions.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. It was never about the money, Rain. Decades ago, I had a sister, a twin, who died of tuberculosis. It was the nineteen sixties. The cures were available, but not like today. Julia’s death shouldn’t have happened, but it did. If my mother had believed in the injection, Julia would never have passed away. I swore then that I’d do everything possible to stop needless deaths from happening.
“I’m not a technically clever man, Rain, but I’ve business smarts. And I used them to build ENS Pharmaceuticals alongside Elise. We made ENS one of the leading drug development companies. There are more Julias, and always will be, but not as many as there could have been. We needed your brilliance and foresight to find cures for illnesses that still plague us today. It’s never easy watching a child die, and no parent should have to suffer that.”
The emotion in Norman’s voice silenced me. He believed in what he said.
