Logan It took less than an hour to talk my client out of completely torching this case. He’s
desperate to get home to his family in Boston and was willing to do whatever it took to get
there. Even if that meant taking a plea that would ultimately call into question all sixty - two of
his current family’s businesses. As one of the most notorious organized crime bosses to this day,
the DA would love to take him down any way they could, even at the risk of losing the bigger
fish. Sometimes I feel slimy covering these criminal’s asses. I never r epresent a murderer or
rapist, that’s a hard line that I draw. White collar crime, though... am I an asshole if I look the
other way? Probably, but it ke eps this firm afloat and allows us to do the work that actually
matters, like pro bono cases for domestic violence victims, low - income families, and malpractice
suits that take years to go through. I contemplated stopping by the store to get Arianna some
flowers and champagne because I meant it, we’re celebrating tonight. We are both free from
her mother, free to love openly, to have any kind of future that we des ire, and I intend on
making her choice to stay worth it. Instead of stopping at the store, though, I decided to just
head home. I just want to be near her. When I get to the house, I park my car before coming up
to the front door. I punch in my code when I realize the door isn’t actually locked. Shaking my
head, I push the door open. I ke ep telling her to make sure she locks the thing after she comes
inside. Shutting the door behind me, I engage the lock before calling out for her. “Ari!”
“In here!” another voice calls out. I frown at the sound, following it to the formal living room. I
stop short, in complete disbelief of what I’m seeing. Arianna is tied to a chair, slumped forward
with blood dripping down her head and a dazed expression o n her beautiful face. “Logan,” she
slurs as Kelly stands behind her, wrapping a chunk of Arianna’s hair in her fist, yanking her head
up before pressing a kitchen knife to her neck. “Welcome home, sweetheart,” Kelly purrs. The
room reeks of alcohol, and I look down to see shattered glass and blood on the cream colored
carpet. “What are you doing, Kelly?” I ask stiffly. “Just handling a little problem,” she says as she
drags the tip of the knife down Arianna’s neck, over her chest, and down to her stomach. “ I
wasn’t expecting you home so soon. Good thing I came pr epared,” she says, st epping away from
the chair to show off her red lingerie set that she’s currently wearing. My eyes scan the room,
thinking of what exactly I can do to get Kelly away from her. “Lo ok at me!” she snarls, and I snap
my eyes to hers. She preens at the attention, pushing out her tits as she speaks. “That’s better.
Do you like what you see?” I don’t speak, gritting my jaw tightly. I notice Kelly sway slightly on
her feet and my eyes narr ow. “Are you drunk?” I ask, trying to steer the conversation in a
different direction. “Not anymore.” She shrugs. “Kinda coming down now.” “What about the
baby?” “You mean the baby you don’t want?” she asks, tears springing to her eyes out of
nowhere. My g od, she can change emotions at the drop of a hat. “I didn’t say that,” I say,
attempting to play off her mood swings. She looks at me curiously as I take a st ep towards her. I
feel Arianna’s eyes on me, but I force myself not to look at her, focusing all o f my attention
on the crazy bitch with the knife. “You wanted a paternity test!” she snaps, like she’s attempting
to ke ep her guard up.
I continue walking slowly, but Kelly is still on edge, digging the knife de eper into Arianna’s side in
a way that makes her wince. “I did. I wanted to know if this baby was mine or if we’d have to try
again,” I say as I reach out for her, resting my hand o n her stomach and rubbing it soothingly.
She seems to soften at my touch, the knife moving away from Arianna slightly, allowing me to
breathe a little easier as I continue. “You want to have a baby with me?” she asks desperately,
like she’s never wanted an ything more. “Of course, baby. You’re the love of my life. I’m just so
sorry I hurt you,” I say as I cup the back of her neck, ke eping her eyes pinned on me. “You’re
mine.” Kelly nods with a watery smile. “I know, baby. I know. Everything you’ve done, everything
you’re doing. It’s for us.” “Yes!” “I know,” I dip my chin, my thumb rubbing soft circles on the
back of her neck as I ke ep her focus on me. “I’ll get rid of t his baby, and we can start fresh,” she
says with a smile, a tear slipping down her face. My gut twists at her words, at how I never saw
the fucking crazy behind the mask. I don’t let it show, though, forcing a genuine smile to spread
across my face. “That’ s all I want, Kelly.” I glance out of the corner of my eye to see that she’s
still holding the knife, though one of her arms has wound around my neck. Fucking hell.
Sparrow, please forgive me. Slipping my free hand around her waist, I smash her mouth to mi ne.
She greets me eagerly, her tongue wrapping around mine like a fucking sea serpent as I hear the
thud of the knife hit the carpet. Kelly’s hands wrap around my neck, and I take the opportunity
to lift her into the air. Her legs wrap around my waist as I begin carrying her across the room and
into the foyer. I feel her teeth nip and pull against my lower lip, and I fake a groan as I slam her
against the wall. She moans, grinding herself against me as I rest one of my hands on the wall.
Tearing my mouth aw ay from hers, I cover her neck with kisses as I attempt to hit the
emergency alarm on the keypad inside the doorway. Everything goes well until the enter button
makes a be ep. It’s soft, almost
silent, but her ear is centimeters from it. Immediately, she freezes. Pulling away from me, her
calculated eyes narrow as she looks from me to the keypad, 911 flashing on the display. Shit.
Kelly headbutts me, catching me off guard as I drop her with a thu nk. She somehow recovers
quicker than I do as she scrambles towards the living room, bending down to grab the knife.
“NO!” I shout, moments before the most haunting,
gut - wrenching sound pierces the air. My brain struggles to process the image of my Sparrow,
wide - eyed and terrified, as she looks down at the knife sticking out of her abdomen. A horrified
gasp erupts from Arianna before she screams. That’s all it takes. I see red. Letting out a roar that
I’m fairly certain isn’t human, I rush Kelly. She still holds the knife in her hand, her crazed eyes
still on Arianna, which I use to my advantage. I tackle her to the couch, pinning her down by her
throat as her eyes bulg e in fear. Her nails begin clawing at me as her other hand attempts to
stab me with the knife. I grapple with her for several seconds before I’m able to get a hold of
her wrist, twisting it hard enough for her to let it go. Her nails dig into my face, atte mpting to
scratch my eyes out before I shove her de eper into the couch. Somehow, she’s able to get her
knee up and drives it straight into my balls. Pain radiates my entire body as I groan, falling off of
her and onto the ground. The crazy fucking bitch st ands to her feet, looking down at me with a
disgusted look before her glare returns to Arianna. Arianna looks at me, her face contorted in
pain while her eyes bulge with panic. She will not hurt her further. She will not touch her.
Reaching out for Kelly, I’m able to grip her
ankle before I pull sharply. She topples over, unsteady from her buzz or these ridiculous fucking
shoes, but not before she hits her head on the mahogany end table. Her skull makes a sickening
crack before she collapses onto the ground. Pushing myself up, I move over her limp body, not
giving a fuck whether she’s alive or dead before I drop to Arianna’s side. Her light blue shirt has
a de ep red stain that is only growing by the second. I press my
hand against it, forcing a scream to erupt from her as I attempt to stop the bleeding. “I know,
Sparrow. I know. Ke ep breathing. Help is coming.” “Log - gan,” she pants. “I’m here, Ari. I’m here.”
“I - I don’t want to di - e.” Panic fills me as I shake my head. “You won’t! You hear me! You will not
die. You and I, we have so much life to live, so many new heights to hit together. I still need to
pick out the perfect ring, plan the perfect proposal. I need to hear you say that you’ll marry me
and watch you walk do wn the aisle in a white dress. I need to have babies with you and grow
old with you. You and I? We’re just getting started, okay?” She smiles at that, her breathing
becoming choppy. “Okay.” “Okay?” I nod. “Okay, I’ll marry you. I’ll have babies with you. T h - he
works.” I feel a tear slip down my face as I let out a gasping laugh and give her a watery smile.
“Perfect, that was easy,” Arianna chokes out a laugh, wincing at the end. “Seattle PD, open up!”
a shout calls out. “In here! Hurry!” I call out. Several loud pounding noises echo through the
house before I hear the door splinter open. The security alarm goes off as heavy footst eps
sound from the front door. “Over here!” I yell again. “Hands where we can see them!” a police
officer yells. “She’s bleeding o ut! Help her! Save her!” I watch him call in the scene on his radio
as another officer comes over to us, untying Arianna before checking Kelly for a pulse. “Make
that two ambulances,” he says to his partner. “Help is here, Sparrow. You just have to hold on ,
okay? Just hold on.” She gives me a soft smile, but I see the life begin to drain out of her. “No,
no, no! Fuck! C’mon, Ari, baby. Stay with me. Don’t leave me.” One of the cops rushes inside
with a first aid kit, pulling out rolls of gauze that I quickl y put against her before applying
pressure once more.
She’s lost too much blood. She doesn’t need gauze, she needs a doctor. Thankfully, the sound of
sirens rings out before four paramedics rush inside, two coming over to Arianna and two to
Kelly. Carefully, they lift Arianna onto a stretcher, taking over hol ding her wound as they rush
her off. I try to follow her when a cop stops me with a hand on my chest. I look down at his
hand, pure fury running rampant inside me. “Get your fucking hands off me.” “We have some
questions, sir.” “Then ask them on the way to the hospital, that’s my fucking fiancée!” I don’t
care what Arianna says when she makes it out of this. She agreed to marry me, she’s locked in
now. She has to live because she promised. She has to be okay because we have a whole life to
live. The cops ag ree, thankfully. One stays behind while the other jumps into the car with me,
immediately asking questions about what happened. I give him every shred of detail I can while
my mind stays laser focused on the ambulance carrying my whole world in front of us . When we
get to the hospital, it feels like it takes forever to get to the nurse’s station. “Arianna Fulton,
where is she?” “Are you family?” she asks. “Yes,” I answer immediately. Her fingers move across
the keyboard, not fast enough if you ask me, before she looks at me. “It looks like they took her
up to surgery.” “She’s alive?” I ask, like I need to hear the words. “I can get someone to come
out with an update if you’d like.” “Please,” I rasp as I dig my hands into my hair and walk
towards the wall, slumping down to the floor. For hours I pray to God. I bargain, I threaten, I
beg. I’ve
never been a religious man, but in this moment, I’ll say as many Hail Marys, do as many good
deeds, promise anything in the whole fucking world if I can have Arianna back.