Chapter 66 The Person Behind The Mask
It hurt me to leave the warmth of her body but I needed to get ready to receive my mother. I carefully slipped out of bed, giving her one last kiss before leaving the room.
I stepped into the hallway before calling Jeffery again. He answered on the first ring.
“Speak.”
“They’re ten minutes out,” Jeffery said quietly.
“They?”
“Yes. She's coming with two guards and a driver from her home”
I rubbed a hand over my jaw.
“Have the east wing prepared.”
“It’s done, Boss.”
“And Jeffery?”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Double perimeter security. Thermal scanners, everything... I want every blind spot covered.”
Jeffery paused on the other end of the line...
“You also think something is fishy, right?”
I thought about the note.
Hello Kitten.
My jaw tightened.
“Yes. We have a mole problem, and I need to squash it quickly”
When the gates opened, I was already outside.
The car carrying my mother rolled in slowly.
It stopped right at the entrance and the driver stepped out and opened the rear door.
My mother emerged looking smaller than I remembered.
She was wrapped in a pale shawl, her hands trembling slightly as she stepped forward, but her back was straight and rigid as she walked towards me. It reminded me of her quiet strength.
“Cole,” she breathed.
I crossed the distance in seconds and pulled her into a brief embrace.
Her perfume hit me instantly... It was so familiar. She always smelled like rose flowers.
"Are you okay, Mother?"
“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “Just shaken.”
“I’ll handle it,” I replied calmly.
Her hand rested briefly against my cheek.
“Of course...You always do.”
Jeffery watched silently from a few feet away.
My mother glanced toward the mansion.
“Is she here?” she asked gently.
"Who?" I asked her tentatively.
"Son... Don't play with me... You're not as slick as you used to be with keeping secrets... Besides, I always have my ways of knowing when my son is finally seeing someone."
“Mother...” I said.
“The poor girl... Does she know that you're hiding her from your own mother? ”
“She’s inside... Waiting for you.”
“I’d like to see her,” she said softly. “If she’s well enough.”
I studied her for a second.
Then nodded.
Celene was standing at the top of the stairs when we walked in.
Her hair was loose around her shoulders, she was barefoot and wearing one of my shirts again.
The sight of her did something dangerous to my chest.
My mother’s gaze followed mine and she smiled when she saw Celene.
“Oh,” she said warmly. “You must be Celene.”
Celene hesitated for a split second before stepping down.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“No ‘ma’am,’ please,” my mother said gently, reaching out to take her hands. “After tonight, we’re practically family.”
I noticed as Celene’s fingers stiffened slightly in her grip.
But said nothing.
“My son tells me nothing, but I heard you've been through quite an ordeal,” my mother continued softly. “I’m so sorry.”
Celene swallowed.
“Thank you.”
My mother’s eyes studied her carefully...thoroughly with those wise, ever-knowing eyes.
“You’re stronger than you look,” she added with a faint smile.
Celene gave a small, uncertain smile in return.
I stepped closer to Celene without thinking.
My hand rested at the small of her back instinctively.
Yes, I was possessive and protective... But I had good reason to be.
My mother noticed... Her eyes flickered to my hand.
Just for a second.
Then back to Celene.
“Well,” she said lightly, “it seems we’ll all be under the same roof for a while.”
“Yes,” I replied, not even giving Celene a chance to speak.
My mother's smile lingered for a bit, before she responded,
“How fortunate.” and then walked away, throwing another smile behind at us.
Celene shivered beside me and I did not know what to make of that reaction either.
I needed to get this situation sorted as soon as possible. These people coming after me felt they had a covering... They were being too bold, too reckless for people who should fear my retribution and even when they saw what happened to the last person who defied me, they were still coming out of the woodwork to test my patience which made it even clearer that they had allied themselves with someone they considered untouchable...
In order to stop these brazen attacks and protect my family, I needed to touch that untouchable person... If only they would slip off and reveal themselves...
Later that night, after my mother was settled in the east wing, Jeffery approached me in my study.
“There’s something else,” he said quietly.
“What.”
“The delivery box your mother received.”
“Yes.”
“There were no external fingerprints.”
“That’s not surprising.”
Jeffery’s expression tightened which meant only one thing, the houndog had found a trail he was sniffing.
“Well, something is fishy about the courier”
“ok?” I said, edging him on to fucking tell me his discovery.
“He was redirected at the last minute. Someone called the company and changed the drop location personally.”
“From what number?”
Jeffery hesitated.
“Blocked, Boss. I tried to call or text it, even trace it,but it's all blocked.”
Silence settled between us.
My jaw flexed.
“They’re organized, almost like they know each move we're about to make before we make it,” Jeffery added.
“Well... I plan to change that...”
I stared out the window toward the dark estate grounds.
If they was three words I could categorize this new nuisance as, it would be organized, calculated, and personal.
And fucking bold enough to target both Celene and my mother in the same day.
Good.
Let them come.
Because now they weren’t just threatening someone I cared about.
They had crossed the boundary... They were inside my home.
And that meant I had full permission and freedom to destroy them in whatever way I chose.
And I'll always choose the bloodiest,dirtiest way to pass my message to everyone else.
Meanwhile…
Upstairs…
Celene lay awake... In my bed. I really hoped she was not getting bothered by the attacks. I would deal with them swiftly and quietly just so she did not have to think about these things anymore.
And down the east hallway…
My mother stood alone by her window.
Not crying anymore.
Not trembling.
Just watching... almost like she was waiting for something worse to happen...