Unforgivable Secrets | One Mistake Away Series Bk 1 [Mob Romance]

Chapter 9 - Raw Truths

Mason's POV:

"Garcia!" My voice rumbled through the warehouse. My jaw was tight and my fists clenched. Crewmembers scattered out of my way, refusing to look me in the eye. I didn't get angry often, but when I did people stayed out of my way.

At least they some show me some respect. And then there was ---

"You're back early, boss." Fletcher came around a corner, clipboard in hand.

Trying to keep my face stoic, I walked passed him. "My office. Now."

It took him a moment for his feet to move, but the clatter of his footsteps on the concrete floor reassured me he was doing exactly that. I'd made sure my office was soundproof when I'd had it remodeled. It'd been a good business decision with some of the customers I'd had that needed to keep our conversations private. Between that and the window shades, I had every intention of finding out the truth from my employee.

"What's up, boss?" Fletcher watched me shut the shades as he closed the door. "Is something wrong?"

"Where's Lauren?" I stared daggers into him; waiting for lies and excuses to start flowing from his lips.

The young man fidgeted. I watched his throat move to swallow as he concocted something for me to believe. "What do you know about Lauren?"

"She's my damn secretary, that's what I know about her." I growled, my fuse shortening quickly.

What more am I supposed to know about her, Fletch?

"Then why are you questioning me about her?" Fletcher was buying time, he did the same thing when an order was going out late or happened to be misplaced.

My jaw hurt from how hard I had it clenched. I didn't know if I wanted to play all of my cards. I'd always been honest with this man, but now I questioned how honest he'd been with me over the years. He was young. Foolish. "Why is Audrielle Durand calling me in the middle of the night to tell me my secretary is dead? Why is she making you sound like the reason why?"

"It's not what you think." Fletcher set his clipboard down on my desk and held up his hands to calm me down. His wide, dark eyes reminded me that the innocence that radiated from them might very well be a lie.

Damn it!

"Nothing had better have happened to Lauren, Fletch." I growled, crossing my arms in front of my chest to keep from grabbing him.

"You should probably have a seat, Mason." I didn't like the desperate undertones flitting around in Fletcher's voice.

"I'm perfectly fine standing." And I don't take my orders from you, boy. My stubbornness persisted. I could be back at my parents with Harper, not back at my warehouse confronting a situation I could only pray wasn't happening. "Tell me you're not back in the cartel. I specifically told you..."

"Good grief, Mason. I'm not in the cartel. I had said when you hired me that I had had connections ---"

"Strong connections." I quickly corrected.

Letting out a frustrated breath, Fletcher stared at me. "The point is I'm not in the cartel. The only criminal ties I have is working with you."

Turning, I walked around to other side of the desk. I didn't know what was truly going through my mind. Fletcher had evaded my questions like a pro, keeping the focus on me more than what I had wanted. Twisting around, I slammed my fist against the table. "Where is Lauren?"

"In a bucket of acid!" Fletch yelled back at me. He raked a hand through his unruly hair. I watched his hands brace against the desk as he lowered his head between them, taking in oxygen in an attempt to calm himself down. "I didn't do it. I found her by the vans yesterday morning and asked a friend to help me get rid of her body."

"Damn it, Fletch!" I stood up, streaking both hands through my hair.

"I was waiting to tell you until you came back. I didn't want you to have to deal with it right away."

I stared at him in amazement. "Fletch, I'm the boss. You tell me when something happens. You don't sugar-coat it or hold off."

Rubbing the back of his neck, he sighed. "You're right. I apologize."

"We're way beyond apologies. Now how the hell did you manage to get your hands on a bucket of acid? And how the fuck did Audrielle find out?" My brows furrowed together as I tried to keep the ticking in my jaw from spiking my less than needed fury.

"My friend has connections to the French mob I guess." He fought to bring his eyes up to my level, a submissiveness that I hadn't seen in his normally cocky attitude.

I snorted, shaking my head. "Of course you have a friend with connections."

"Hey, it's no different than you working with all of these..." He shook his head, searching for the right words. "Associations."

I stopped pacing and faced him. "Like hell it is! I keep my associates as just that! They are associates! Not friends!"

His frustrated breath made me roll my eyes. He didn't understand what the risks being friends with these people led to.

"Why is Lauren dead, Fletch?" I fought an overwhelming emotion fluttering around my innerness. I was growing impatient.

He shrugged, barely looking up at me. "She got messed up with the wrong people I guess."

"You guess?" My brows rose, an anger growing within me. How was it Fletcher Garcia knew about this mishap and I knew nothing? Lauren and I weren't super close, but she still trusted me when she needed help. Or at least I thought she had. How had I overlooked her being in trouble?

"She didn't want to cause you any trouble." He slowly explained, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "You always watch out for us. She didn't want to put you in danger."

"She could have come to me for anything. What the hell are you talking about?" I stared daggers into him. I just wanted to hear it. I didn't want him to keep coming up with short statements that meant nearly nothing to me. "Why are the Italians involved?"

"Lauren was trying to buy her sister from Ricci. She'd been snatched in one of his grabs nearly a year ago." Fletch numbly felt for a chair, pulling himself into it.

"Fuck..." My words died away as I found myself stumbling into my own chair. Staring at my unusually clean desk, I tried to find the right words.

"She'd saved up the money she needed, but Ricci refused to sell the girl to Lauren." Letting out a heavy breath, Fletcher shook his head. "She did everything she could to get her back."

I quietly listened. My gaze slowly found Fletch as I waited for him to say more.

"Lauren's body wasn't the only one I found, boss."

I found myself gripping the sides of the chair. I was pretty sure I knew what his answer would be, but I braced myself just in case.

"Her sister had been killed too. I'm guessing they killed the girl in front of Lauren before executing her." A tear slipped down Fletch's face as he quickly swiped it away. "I think he thinks you had something to do with it."

"Why..." I paused, pondering my past dealings with the Canadian-Italian boss.

"I'm sure me messing up on his last shipment has him thinking we're out to get him." He ran a hand through his hair, visible stress lines teasing his forehead. He was too young to have stress lines.

Reaching for my phone, I stared Fletcher down. "Is there anything else that I need to know before I make this phone call?"

Fletcher shook his head, rubbing his shoulder as he awaited my answer.

Sighing, I began searching my contacts. "This better not bite me in the ass, Fletch."

"What are you going to do?" He nervously watched me.

"I'm defusing this." I began tapping the numbers into the phone before bringing it up to my ear. We needed this issue resolved.