Page 59 of Mated into the Mob

He gave me a withering look. “I would have scented you when I came downstairs, and from then on, I would have made it my life’s mission to find and convince you that you were my one and only!”

My eyes flooded with tears. That man and his ability to make me cry happy tears. I leaned against him, the warmth from his body reassuring me he spoke nothing but the truth.

All Flint had been told was that the pack didn’t kill Anthony and he’d died an accidental death in a workplace accident, as Dad had said. I’d let it go, thinking I was at the end of my quest.

Hunter took Lottie from his dad and jiggled her, humming a song, and she quietened. I was ready to hold her tight but needed to find out what was in the aging envelope. It was dotted with brown splotches, reminding me of the freckles on my nose as a kid.

“When Emilio told me what you’d done, I searched the office and took the picture off the wall. That was when I found this.” Arnie explained my name was written on it in his brother’s handwriting. “Thank gods I didn’t tell him.”

Everyone was quiet at the mention of Emilio.

“But the club has been renovated twice since Grandpa died,” Ranger chimed in.

“But not Uncle’s office.” Flint shook his head. “It’s the same as it was when our grandfather was Alpha.”

“Florian gave me that picture and told me to always hang it in my office.” Arnie ran his fingers over the envelope, and I wondered if he was remembering his brother.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give it to you before now.” Arnie’s lip trembled. “I put it in a drawer, fearful of what it contained.”

He cast a glance at Rudy who added, “We both agreed to wait until you were certain about Flint. But you got pregnant, and it never seemed like the right time. Sorry, my darling.” Rudy embraced me, and I returned his hug.

“You did what you thought was right.” My fingers trembled as I held the envelope with my name written in cursive letters. I pulled out the papers, crinkled with age, the corners curling up. Flint put his arm around me.

“Did you know about this?” I wasn’t accusing him. Lottie and I were on his mind 24/7, and he protected us always. If he had, he’d have weighed up whether to give it to me.

Flint put a finger under my chin and tipped my head so I was looking into his eyes. “No. I’m guessing my grandfather expected or hoped you’d come looking for the truth one day.”

There was a sharp intake of breath—from me. Our paths to finding one another had begun when I was a baby a little older than Lottie and not the night Emilio caught me.

I caught Flint’s eye. “You said the pack didn’t kill him.”

“Yes, I’m certain of that.” But he glanced at his dad as if to confirm he was right.

“That’s what we were told by your grandfather and father.”

I convinced myself the past was another world, and I couldn’t second-guess why anyone had done what they did, but I begged the universe not to force me to do any more soul-searching. I’d had enough for one lifetime.

Now that I was about to find out, I hesitated. Maybe it would be best to burn the letter and not let its contents come between Flint and me.

“Read it, Tony. If you don’t, you’ll regret it.” Flint rested his head on mine. “Knowledge is power.”

That sounded more like something I’d say. Taking a deep breath and after checking on Lottie who was gnawing on Hunter’s fingers, I read the full-page letter from my mate’s grandfather.

I skimmed the spidery handwriting about him offering to pay my dad a lump sum for my schooling and for our living expenses. Dad had refused, so Florian had put the money into an account for me.

But that wasn’t what stood out. It was the bit mentioning Dad. Flint read over my shoulder as I scanned the paragraph.

My office overlooked the waste management plant, and I saw your omega father confronting Anthony, shouting he knew it was owned by the mafia. He was furious and scared for himself and you. When Anthony turned his back, your dad threw a metal bar at him and hit Anthony over the head. I’m guessing he wasn’t able to shift because that would have saved him. When I reached your omega father, he’d tossed Anthony’s body into the industrial shredder.

The page fell from my hands, and Flint grabbed me as I sobbed against his chest. “How could Dad do that?”

“Passion combined with rage and fear can be a deadly weapon.” My mate held me tight.

“He goes on to say he refused to put a hit out on your dad. He was thinking of you.” I turned my head, my eyes blurred with tears as Ranger read from the letter. “‘I believe this came about because I allowed Anthony to break the rules and be with a human. I blamed myself.’”

Oh gods. My father falling in love set off a chain of events that was still playing out today.

“Now what?” I couldn’t pretend I’d ever look at Dad the same way. “Is that why he and Derek left after they met you?” I dabbed my eyes with a tissue and took Lottie from Hunter. I kissed her chubby arms and inhaled her aroma, pushing away the scent of deceit and death brought about by the letter’s contents.

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