Fractured (Josie) novel Chapter 282

Chapter 282 

**Josie’s POV** 

We all freeze, waiting for some reaction from my mum, who looks at me in confusion before rushing to me and pulling me in for a hug. 

“I’m sorry, Josie Bean, I know you told us to stay home, but I couldn’t sit there any longer. Frank is there and will call if Harper turns up,” my mum says. 

“And I have a camera set up with motion detection. If she turns up at my place, I’ll get a notification on my phone, and we can be back there in seconds,” Freya explains 

I cast a quick glance behind me and see that my guys have formed a shield in front of Robert, blocking him from 

my mum’s sight. 

“Thank you for coming, but I’m not sure if there is anything you can do. We know now Harper isn’t just missing, she has been taken by rogues,” I explain. 

“Oh, Harper,” my mum begins to sob, and I wrap an arm around her. 

“Those fuckers are back? I thought you got 

them all last time?” Freya asks, her fury clear on her fac 

“Let’s go to the kitchen and make some tea, and I’ll catch you both up,” I say, leading my mum away from Robert. 

“Is she going to lose her mind again if she sees him?” I ask Deacon through the mind link. 

the compulsion holds, she shouldn’t react negatively to him. I removed what I thought was the trauma surrounding him from her memory. She may recognise him as your biological father, but I made him a man she had a one–night stand with and never saw again,” Deacon responds, and I relax a little. 

I do wonder what it was that caused her to break all those years ago. I had always blamed Robert, but now I know the truth about his story with her, I can’t blame him. There must have been something else that caused it. Something that I need to look into because she might be at risk of it happening again. 

My mum sits at the kitchen table and I hand her a box of tissues before moving to fill up the kettle. 

“What’s going on? Why did your men hide that guy back there?” Freya whispers, coming up behind me. 

I glance nervously over at my mum, who is wiping her face with the tissues and not paying us any attention. 

“That was my biological father,” I whisper. 

Freya’s eyes fill with murderous rage as she looks back in the direction of where we just left Robert and her fists clench. I place a hand on her arm and shake my head. 

It didn’t happen how we thought. He didn’t hurt her, he loved her,” I try to calm her. 

“And you believe him?” She hisses. 

“Yes, D had him under compulsion. It’s quite a sad story, and I’m still trying to process it. I’ll tell you everything later, but he’s not the man we thought he was,” I explain. 

“Oh so now you just let him walk into your life? Fair enough, he might not have forced himself on your mum, but he still abandoned you.” Freya snaps, her voice rising a little and causing my mum to look over at us. 

“Give me a break, Freya, I literally just found all this out an hour ago. He is here to help find Harper. She is all that matters right now. If you can’t handle that and be civil towards him, then just leave because I have enough to deal 

Chapter 287 

with right now,” I snap. 

“Shit, Jo, I’m sorry. I can be civil, it was just a shock is all,” Freya says, and I can hear the remorse in her voice. 

“I know,” I sigh, “This whole thing is taking its toll… I just reel to useless. My daughter is out there, and I have no idea what is happening to her, and I’m just here, making fucking tea,” I shout, my voice rising with every word as the weight of everything finally gets to me. I launch the empty cup in my hand across the room, the porcelain shattering as it hits the wall. 

I say to the floor, screaming into my hands as I break down, hear my mum fussing and Freya trying to calm me, but I don’t register their words as I scream out all my pain and frustration. Strong arms scoop me up and hold me close. I know it’s Axel without looking. I sense my guys closing in around us, lending me their strength and reassuring me. 

“Josie, I know it’s hard, but you need to calm down,” Deacon’s steady voice floats into my mind. 

“Breath, Baby,” Theo says. 

“We’ve got you,” Luke soothes. 

If y 

you want to destroy things, there are some obnoxiously happy statues outside that look much better without heads, just try not to bring this house down around us or Dwill have a fit,” Mason says, his words grabbing my attention. 

I suck in calming breaths, trying to regulate myself before anyone gets hurt. I lost control, not only of my emotions, but my power, and the last time that happened, I nearly destroyed half the academy. There are two humans in this house who I care about greatly. They would not survive the house collapsing on them.