Cocky Secrets (Cocker Brothers #29)

157. Sean

ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-SEVEN

Sean

L ove and regret crash onto Celia’s face then disappear, coldness replacing them. “Who’s my real father? Why have you lied to me my whole life?!”

Weary and backed into a corner with nowhere to hide, Carmen walks to a velvet chair and sits down, holding her head. Tonk goes to her, but the man isn’t great at words. He keeps trying to say something to help them both, and can’t.

“Tell me everything! I deserve to know.”

But Luna shakes her head. “Give your mother a second! Can’t you see how hard this is for her?”

“For her? For her? She lied to me?—”

“I had to!”

“Why did you have to?”

“Because I did!” Carmen moans.

Sofia and I exchange a look as Celia grits her teeth in pain. “Mom!”

“I was a girl when they came for me,” Carmen whispers, stricken. “My parents were poor. They sold me to the men who would take me to America. They did it for money. I was driven to a house in California where it was so pretty on the outside. I got so excited, until I realized one day that I would never see the outside again.” She presses her fingers into her eyelids and shudders at having to say this aloud. “It was a baby-making factory. We were made to live in a room with rows of beds and one bathroom. They brought us food. Only took us out to have sex with us. Impregnate us so they could sell the babies to couples who applied for adoption.”

Celia gasps, hand going clammy. I put my arm around her and hold her up as she leans into me, staring at her mother.

“Then one day Tonk burst into the room, with Jett, Honey Badger, and Scratch. I clung to Tonk, trusted him immediately. He held me as I cried and begged for what they promised to be true. For us to be saved. For it to be over.”

“Mom,” Celia breathes, breaking free to go kneel before her mother. “Oh my God, Mom!”

Reaching for her hand, tears slide down Carmen’s face. “Tonk took me in, and even though I was covered in shame and fear, he loved me. He vowed to be your dad, Celia. His name is on your birth certificate! He’s raised you as his own, and he didn’t have to. He loves you! He loves me! That means something!”

Celia wilts, “It means everything,” reaching for Tonk to come to them.

He takes her hand and kneels down, too. “Can’t you let me be your dad, still?” he croaks. She launches herself into his arms and sobs. His big arms wrap around her, rocking them both as he repeats over and over, “I love you so much! I love you! I love you so much!”

With emotion stopping him up, Jett clears his throat, “Luna and I were there when you were born.”

Honey Badger adds, “I’d driven back to the plantation by then, but I was right here when you showed up. Been here ever since.”

“I wasn’t born here?”

Jett quietly explains, “You were born in a hospital on the way home. Your mom was six months pregnant when we found her. Eighteen and terrified. We stayed in California for a little while my wife was…sick. Tonk and Carmen took that time to get to know each other, to ease Carmen into a life out of that room—the only place she’d known after coming to America. But he patiently earned her trust. When my wife got well enough to travel, we did.” Luna is watching Jett with a sharp eye like he’s leaving out a lot, and I have a feeling it’s their story he’s omitting.

Tonk takes over, pulling my focus. “We wanted you born here at our home, Celia. But you decided to be born on the road.”

Carmen whispers, “Like a prophecy.”

He pauses, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Everyone’s quiet until Sofia Sol inhales sharply, “Wow.”