A hand touches my back and I flinch. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
I purge again, the nausea in my belly growing stronger.
“My—my uncle.”
“What about him? Was he here?” Justin asks, looking around.
I shake my head, unable to catch my breath.
Justin guides me inside, sitting me down on the sofa. “Stay here.”
He rushes off and I try to get a hold of my emotions. I can’t believe what I just read, and trying to digest it is like trying to swallow a thousand swords.
Justin returns, setting down a glass of water in front of me. He lifts my chin and wipes my face with a cold cloth before setting it aside and handing me the glass of water. “Here, drink this slowly.”
I take a sip from the glass, the cool water soothing my raw throat.
“Now tell me what happened.”
“I was reading my mother’s journal and…” My lip trembles, the weight of the knowledge nearly too heavy to bear. “Cesar isn’t my father. Carlito is.”
As she tells me everything, I can only see red. Blinded with rage over what these men did to her mother. The pain they’ve inflicted on her.
Cradling her soft face in my hands, I hold her eyes. “I swear to you, I will not rest until your mother’s death has been avenged and you are completely safe.”
She nods, and I pull her into my chest.
“He’s a monster. How could he do that to her?”
Anger nips at my gut, pulse pounding with fury.
“I want to see Teddy,” she weeps, lifting her head.
I glance at my watch, noting the time. “It’s a little late, are you sure you don’t want to wait until morning?”
“Please, I need to see him.”
After giving Pop a call to make sure Teddy is awake, we make our way up to the main house. I need to put a call in to Morales to let him know what we have discovered but that will have to wait until I get Selena settled.
By the time we arrive at the main house, it’s pouring outside. Thunder booms followed up by spider webs of lightning flashing across the sky.
“Jesus, where did this storm come from?” I ask, walking into the house. Pop and Teddy are sitting at the kitchen table, each with a cup of coffee.
“It was supposed to stay farther to the north but looks like we’re gonna get pummeled instead,” Pop replies, casually taking a sip from his mug.
Selena walks over to the kitchen table, taking a seat next to Teddy. He senses her right away, his hand reaching out to find hers. “What is it, my dear?”
“I—I’ve been reading Mama’s journals.”
Lifting his jaw, I can see the bob of his throat as he attempts to hold back his emotion.
Her eyes fill with tears and her bottom lip quivers. “Did you know? Did you know she was ra—raped?”
She can barely say the fucking word, each letter coated in her agony.
“I had suspected but she never told me what happened.”
“Carlito is my father.”
