Page 56 of Never the Same

I’m a mother in my dreams. Why?

“I just know you’ll find your other half, your ‘the one’ when the time is right for you,” she said with air quotes and a small smile.

“So I really don’t date, huh? My brothers said that, which was why they didn’t believe I was with a guy.” And that reminds me. “Sorry for lying about why I was in Italy. If only I told you the truth, then maybe I wouldn’t be in this position now.”

“Maybe you were there for Tristan, so it wasn’t technically a lie. It’s not like you said you were romantically involved with the guy you were going there with.”

She was too good to me, truly. “Alex tell you about Tristan, too?”

She nodded, pulling her mouth off to the side as if suppressing something.

“Another apology I owe you. For not telling you about him, especially when you discovered you also had a half brother,” I added, tipping my head toward said brother. “I suck.”

“Nope, no feeling bad, not on my watch.” She took hold of my arm again, gently tugging it in a request to look at her, so I hesitantly surrendered.

“You’re way too patient and forgiving.”

“Years of being tested by an energetic kiddo will do that,” she said with a light laugh, but something told me what she really wanted to do was cry.

“Everything okay?” Alex asked, coming to his wife’s rescue.

His timing was perfect. I had no idea how to make things right. Not even a little better. For her. Me. For anyone.

Audrey pulled her hand away and answered, “Of course.”

At the sight of Ryder and Reed heading over now, I stood and faced everyone. “Anything?”

“It’s almost like it never happened.” Ryder lifted his hand as if to say, I know it did, don’t worry. “The source code Julian created and was allegedly stolen from him . . . it’s like nothing the Department of Defense or CIA has ever seen.”

“Well, um, Julian mentioned a name yesterday.” At least my new memories were still there. “A Gwen someone? He said she might be able to help, but Gideon said my parents would reject the idea.”

“Gwen’s already been pulled in, per orders of the secretary of defense,” Ryder said flatly.

“Along with a few other teams,” Alex added while helping Audrey stand. “Falcon Falls Security, for one. Secretary Chandler’s son, Gray, co-runs Falcon.”

“Let me guess, I’ve worked with them before, too?”

Alex smirked and nodded. “Don’t suppose the name Carter Dominick rings any bells, does it? He co-runs the team with Gray.”

I shook my head. “Not a one.” The only one who managed to ring my bell was standing a few feet away, pinning me with his broody stare, and my cheeks were about to heat up as I remembered our five a.m. moment when I’d startled him awake, finding him in only boxers and stiff.

“Falcon Falls has a lot of resources even our government can’t access. Connections to other powerful people and organizations that work outside government red tape to get results,” Ryder continued, intruding on my dirty thoughts.

“What about the Costas? Did Constantine find anything?” Audrey asked, then quickly explained to me he was Callie Costa’s brother-in-law, and his family was also assisting with my case.

“The hotel manager gave him the same answers he provided Gideon. You appeared to be traveling alone. No one saw anyone with you—not at the hotel, at least.” Ryder explained what I’d expected to hear: that there’d been no hookup happening. “Constantine has contacts all over Italy. Someone had to have seen something.”

“There’s one other lead we’re following,” Alex said before I had a chance to digest the Constantine news—or, well, lack thereof. “Someone we know had her memories wiped a few years ago. Trevor’s cousin, actually.”

My stomach tightened as I rounded the couch to draw closer to them, the sweetness of the banana bread turning to lead in my stomach.

“His cousin Tessa was also taken,” Alex went on. “Woke up in a hospital with no memory of what happened to her while she’d been missing, but she remembered who she was.”

“We figured it was worth looking into.” Ryder rocked back on his heels, quietly assessing me. “Her husband’s team never figured out how it was done. They assume it was a combination of drugs and hypnosis.”

“Tell me she eventually remembered what happened to her,” I said like a plea as Ranger came over to sit next to me.

“Unfortunately not,” Ryder responded while I crouched to pet Ranger. “But Gwen’s building a program to compile and cross-reference any memory-loss-related cases. Should have the list by tomorrow at the latest.”