What was that saying? Hurt people hurt people.
And I’d never met someone who hurt as bad as Cecilia and managed to hide it so well.
She hadn’t gone into the guestroom. Instead, she was sitting in the center of my bed.
“You here to give me shit?” she asked, looking up from where she’d set the baby between her knees.
“You’re in my room,” I pointed out, closing the door behind me. “And I figured I’d put a shirt on before I started frying bacon.”
Cecilia sighed. “I’m sorry,” she said, watching me cross the room. “I swear to God, they turn me into someone even I can’t stand.”
“You let them get to you,” I said, pulling on a t-shirt. “And I’ve never understood why, because in the end, you do whatever the fuck you want anyway.”
“Because they’re my parents,” she said, staring at the baby. “And I still want their approval.”
“Not sure you’re gonna get it this time.”
“When have I ever?” she said, chuckling humorlessly. “Same shit, different day.”
“Cec.” I sat on the edge of the bed. “She’s not yours.”
“You know,” she snapped, looking up to meet my eyes, “I’m so fucking tired of everyone always assuming that I’m doing the wrong thing.”
“This seems pretty cut and dry to me.”
“Well, you have no fucking clue,” she said. “None.”
“Then why don’t you tell me?” I said softly.
“It won’t even matter.”
“Try me.”
“When I say Liv was scared of Cane’s son, I mean scared,” she said after a long pause. “She called me to pick her up once from their house. It was before they were married. When I got there, she was shaking. Cane had left for some work thing and his son had shown up. He told her that she’d never marry his dad. That he’d gut her first.”
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered.
“Yeah. And that wasn’t the only time. The guy’s a fucking nut job. It got to the point that he wasn’t allowed at the house.”
When someone knocked on the door, her mouth snapped shut.
“Come on in,” I called.
“Hiding out in here isn’t going to solve anything,” Farrah said tiredly as she swung open the door.
Cecilia stayed stubbornly silent.
“You can’t just keep a baby that isn’t yours.”
“Sit down,” I replied, pointing to the open space next to Cecilia. “I’m guessin’ you’ll want to hear this.”
“Mark,” Cecilia said in warning.
I glanced at her and then back at Farrah. “Let her talk.”
Farrah nodded and strode into the room. She sat down next to Cecilia and waited.
“After Cane found out that his son, Drake, had been threatening Liv, Cane banned him from the house. He wasn’t even allowed on the property. They maintained a relationship as far as I know, but Cane kept things separate. Liv was fucking terrified. She was always on guard. Eventually, after they were married, things settled down and she seemed like she wasn’t as worried anymore.” I frowned. “If she was, she didn’t say anything to me about it.”
“He kept seein’ his son?” I asked in disbelief.
Cecilia shrugged. “It was his kid.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Casper said from the doorway. “Any man that threatened your mother would answer to me.”
Cecilia nodded once at her dad. “When they asked me to be a surrogate, they were concerned. Liv wanted a baby more than anything, but they didn’t want Drake to find out and cause problems.”
“Fuck,” Casper spat.
“So we didn’t go through an agency,” Cecilia said. “Cane had the money and the connections to do it privately.” She met her dad’s eyes. “It was all legal and aboveboard. They just didn’t want to advertise it.”
“They threw you in a lion’s den and crossed their fingers that he wouldn’t fuckin’ notice you,” I said, anger burning in my chest. “Jesus Christ, Cecilia.”
“She was my best friend,” Cecilia replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “And I was in a position to help.”
I wanted to believe that was her reasoning, that she’d gone into the thing because of love for her friend and nothing else, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that her motivation wasn’t quite so clear cut. I searched her eyes for clues and she looked away.
“It all went fine,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “My pregnancy went off without a hitch.”
“Yeah, until you had the baby and your friends were shot dead in their house,” her dad said, smacking his hand against the doorjamb.
“He couldn’t have known,” Cecilia said, her eyes widening as she shook her head in denial. “They were waiting to tell anyone. They didn’t even come see me at the hospital.”
“Timing’s a little too coincidental,” I told her softly, reaching out to put my hand on her thigh.
“There’s no fuckin’ thing as coincidence,” Casper said. “That shit doesn’t exist.”
“They had the baby’s room all set up,” I reminded Cecilia, my gut twisting as she closed her eyes in sad realization. “What’s this guy look like?”
I had a pretty good feeling that I could describe him to her, but I waited to say anything until I was sure.
“Dark hair and eyes,” she said, her hand lifting to her lips before she deliberately dropped it again. “Mid-twenties. Less than six feet tall, but not super short. He wears his hair brushed back from his face like some old-time gangster and he looks like an idiot. Walks around like he owns the world. Saunters.” She scoffed.
“Baby,” I said, my tone telling her everything she didn’t want to hear. I’d seen that man. He was the douchebag we’d watched leave her friend’s house with a box full of shit. No wonder he hadn’t robbed the place. As soon as someone found the bodies, it would all go to him anyway.
“Fuck,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “Goddamn it.”
Farrah reached out to rub her back. “We have to assume he knows about the baby,” she murmured.
“But he has no proof,” Cecilia countered, sniffling. “She’s still legally mine, and I don’t think he even knows my name.”
“What do you mean?” Casper asked.
“I gave birth to her, so she was legally considered mine. Her birth certificate has my name on it.” Cecilia reached out to smooth her hand over the sleeping baby’s head. “They could’ve done a thing called a pre-birth parentage order, but they decided not to. Liv and Cane were going to legally adopt her, instead. I guess they just really didn’t want anyone to know until they actually had the baby.”
“They never filed any paperwork?” Farrah asked dubiously.
“No,” Cecilia replied. “I haven’t even sent in the birth certificate yet. Liv hadn’t decided on a name, and I didn’t want it to be something different than what she chose. We were supposed to sign everything this morning. Cane’s attorney was going to come to the house—that’s why I was staying the night there.”