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

Chapter 32 - The Packages Have Arrived

Harper's POV:

I had more blood on my hands then I knew what to do with. Yet I didn't care. People who were important to me had been destroyed before my very eyes. I refused to accept the fact that they were dead. I wouldn't believe it until I saw their deceased, decaying bodies lying in front of me.

I hadn't seen their blood.

I hadn't seen their bodies.

My emotions were all over the place. And it wouldn't take much to set me off.

I'd destroyed places that Ricci valued, now came the tough part. I had to face Joanna and tell her that her husband was probably not coming home. I'd delivered bad news to families before, but none of them were remotely as close to me as Smitty was.

He wasn't just family, he was my family.

Entering my home, I yawned. It'd been a long few days. I needed a shower and I needed sleep.

My feet dragged on the carpet as I waited to be greeted by one of my house guests. I wasn't in the mood for company, but they had nowhere safer to be. Honestly, knowing they were here and safe was the best way for me to relax, if that was even the right word for sleeping with a gun under my pillow and an eye popped open all night.

"Is there any news?" Joanna's voice came from the living room couch. She stood up, taking a few steps closer to me.

Rubbing at the stress lines in my forehead, I walked into the living room. "You should maybe take a seat."

Looking behind herself, she sat on a footrest next to the couch. Watching me closely, she folded her hands around her knees. "You don't have good news, do you?"

Taking a seat across from her, I shook my head. Tears filled my eyes, but I couldn't allow them to fall. I had to be strong.

"He's not coming home. Is he?" She said slowly, her voice stronger than I thought it would be.

"We're trying to recover his body, but..." My words died away. It felt wrong to say we were looking for his body and not for him. He was irreplaceable. And I hadn't given up yet.

"And the man that you like; he is gone too?" She swallowed hard, meeting my eyes with the same tears filling her own.

My eyes held questions as I sat up more rigidly.

She searched my eyes, but her own held an understanding. "Justin told me about him."

Of course he did.

My gaze dropped, my jaw hardening in an attempt to keep my emotion under control.

Her hand on mine brought my attention back to her. She was kneeling in front of me with a strength radiating from her dark eyes. "He will not win. We will get my son back and I will help you take Ricci down."

"How?" My question may have seemed a tad harsh in how I brought it forth, but what else was I supposed to say. This woman had been hidden away for well over a decade. What could she really bring to the table?

"Like you, I have my own secrets. I love Connor, but I knew what his job entailed. I was raised in that. I had to be prepared to protect my family if something were to happen to him. The day he went missing brought me to the realization that everything I've done over the years have been for a purpose." She sat back on her heels, an expectation weighing heavily on her features.

"I don't know if I follow." I said slowly, forgetting about the men I was missing only to have it replaced with a curiosity for what was happening.

"Harper, I came from a family that protected their own, much like yours has. However, with that came responsibilities. I learned different... traits. Being a mother is a wonderful gift that I wouldn't trade for the world, but I still needed a pastime."

"What kind of a pastime?" I questioned uneasily. I didn't like where this conversation was going.

She opened her mouth to speak. My phone ringing cut her off, bringing a half smile to her face as she stepped back and gave me some space.

Snatching the phone from my pocket, I gave her an apologetic glance. "If you're calling me right now, Eoin, I take it you have something important to say."

"Tomas had a tip from a loud mouthed customer. We have those packages you wanted." He spoke boldly and to the point. I could have smiled at the lack of fear in his voice and at the efficiency my men brought to the table at the moment.

Glancing back at Joanna, I watched her while tightening my grip on the phone. "Keep them comfortable. I'll be there soon."

Hanging up the phone, I slipped it back into my pocket. "What do your traits entail?"

"What are those packages that were brought in?" She arched a brow, crossing her arms in front of her.

Narrowing my eyes, I watched her for a moment longer. "They're special packages that belong to a certain enemy of ours."

A dark shadow crossed her face with an equally dark smile. "Bring me to them and I will show you the traits that have become my pastime."

Playing with my nails, I tried to decipher her meaning. "I'm going to take a shower and try looking a little less disheveled. Be ready in an hour."

She gave me a single nod of understanding.

Looking at her all I saw was innocence, but her words and actions were speaking a different tune to me. I wondered how much of a monster was hidden beneath the beauty and innocence.

I didn't know what to expect.

I didn't know if she was a trap or a new key piece to our puzzle of problems.

All I did know was that I'd be finding out soon enough.