Page 8 of The Secrets We Share

“I’m a match, Harkin. If I can help, I need to do it,” she says with all the sincerity in the world.

“I know, sweetness.” Dropping a gentle kiss on her hair, I draw her in closer to me. The rawness of the conversation drives away the earlier lust. “I can set you up with an encrypted email. That way, you can reach out to her. Domenico might find out, but that doesn’t mean he needs to know where you are. When the time comes for the procedure, we’ll figure it out.”

“There’s something else,” James says, sitting forward on the couch. “I’ve done more digging into your dad’s connection with Domenico. After everything that happened, Domenico reached out to him, trying to shake him down for information.” Pausing, his eyes train on mine. “He’s missing, and your mom’s gone off the deep end.”

“What!” I jolt forward, almost sending Keira to the floor. She adjusts and lets me stand before she returns to the leather chair.

I pace back and forth between everyone, where a coffee table should be. I haven’t spoken to my parents in months with everything going on. I didn’t think to check in on them. It would have taken two seconds to log into their security system, but Keira was more important.

“When?” My tone runs cold, and James hesitates to answer. Certainly not out of fear, but he knows he fucked up. “When, James?”

“About a month ago.”

A small ceramic sculpture sits on the side table next to Keira. Before I can think, my hand grips around it, and it hurtles across the room, crashing into the wall. Keira and Stacey jump in their seats, but James just stares at me.

“I’m handling it,” he finally adds.

“I don’t fucking care. You should have told me the moment it happened. Where’s my mom?”

“She’s cooped up at home these days. There was an incident at the club, and she was asked not to return until they could speak with your father.”

“So, everyone knows?” But that can’t be the case because if my father had been reported missing, it would have made it online somewhere. And while I wasn’t checking in on the cameras, one of my systems would have alerted me to that news. “No, that’s not it.”

“You’re right, no one knows. Your mom hasn’t reported anything, and I’m not even sure she understands the full scope of the situation.”

“Harkin, you need to call her. Get a burner or whatever, but call her,” Keira says, leaning forward in her chair to wrap her delicate fingers around my wrist.

Her touch soothes my racing heart, allowing my thoughts an anchor to steady the raging sea of emotions vying for my attention. Logic starts to settle into place. I draw in a breath, placing my hand on her shoulder and giving her a thankful squeeze.

“Why don’t you guys figure out what takeout they have around here,” I suggest as Keira looks up at me. I’m not tryingto dismiss her from the conversation, but I need to have some words with James after this huge revelation.

The quick bite at the tip of her tongue to say something mouthy back sits unsaid between us. I drop my mask for her, staring deep into her narrowed gaze. She closes her eyes with a lengthy sigh before unfolding her legs and standing.

Her soft lips press to my cheek, and then the girls head to the kitchen. I tilt my head to the side, motioning for James to follow me. There’s an office at the back of the modest home with double doors that lead out to the wrap-around porch.

The late afternoon air is crisp when I push the doors open and sit in one of the wooden deck chairs. James drops down next to me, and I take in the scenery. Time passes as I sort all the shit that’s been laid on the table before turning his way.

“Well, you’re handling it, so what do you know?”

“I think Keira’s right. You should talk to your mom. I called and tried to get information out of her, but she was tight-lipped, even under the influence of whatever was running through her bloodstream.”

“Jesus.” I rub my forehead and drag my hand down my face.

“You think it was Domenico?”

“I’d bet my life savings on it. Your dad tried to warn you. For all Domenico knows, he’s the one who tipped you off to Keira’s possible location. Do I think he’s dead? Not likely, but I think Domenico will try to use him to bait you out of hiding.”

I let that sink in. It was my first thought, too. “Then he’s a fool.” I bite out. “I’d never put Keira in danger, not even for my father.”

“I suspected as much. Does she know?” James asks.

“Know what?”

“How much you love her.”

He says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. But those three little words have yet to be uttered by either of us. Ofcourse, I love her. I’ve loved her from the moment she stormed into my life and became the only thing my mind would think about. But it’s different for her, and I don’t want to push her into saying something she’s not ready for.

“That’s not important right now,” I tell him.

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