Fractured by N.O Darling

Chapter 278

+26 BONUS

**Josie’s POV**

The prison has a smell I can’t pinpoint. It’s like a mix of a school and a hospital. The lights are harsh fluorescent, the kind that tries too hard to imitate natural daylight, but Instead, they give you a headache, and you can’t wait to escape. I guess it’s fitting they use them in a prison. It’s like an extra layer of punishment.

“Are you okay, Babe?” Theo asks as we wait in the family room.

“Not really, what if I don’t hate him? What if I believe his story?” I ask.

“There’s no right or wrong way to feel here. We can’t tell you what to feel or believe. In the end, the decision is yours, and we will support you no matter what you decide, Axel says, coming up behind me and running some of the tension from my shoulders.

“I’m going to try and keep this about finding Harper. I can decide the rest later, but I do need you all to help me decide if we can trust him near her. If we decide he can help us, we are going to expose our daughter to him, and that is a decision we should make together,” I say.

“Josie, you should know that I plan to compel him, even if I have to do it by force. If you don’t want to be in the room for that, then we will all understand. I’m going to ask him the harsh questions, and I’m going to go deep into what happened to your mum before I let him anywhere near our daughter,” Deacon admits, and I am not surprised. I expected as much.

I

see if he

in with you to start with, otherwise he may feel threatened and go

offers their own version of support and comfort and I want it all. I want Mason’s fury and questionable morals when it comes to my safety. I want Axe’s silent strength and barely controlled protectiveness. I want

unable

Luke in, the rest of us will be observing and will communicate with you if needed. We will be so close it will be like we are

with a shaky breath and Luke slides his hand into mine, giving it a squeeze.

unless you want me to. If at any point you want me to step in,

“They’re ready for us,” he says, and I feel as

and an armed prison guard through

says, gesturing to the door he has just o

opened.

I stop and take a breath, knowing that when I walk into this room I’m going to see a window

+25 BONUS

Chapter 278

on that, he wasn’t my biological father, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I wouldn’t have my wonderful bonds and my amazing children. I push all the anger I have for what he did to my mum down. Otherwise, I may just kill him before we have a chance to talk, and I really need him to talk, to help

blocking the doorway and giving me a

my head. “Yes,” I nod, and

the man behind the glass. I finally turn to look at him, and it’s a bit of an anticlimax. He doesn’t look like

have the same nose and maybe lips. too. As if he knows I am