Page 110 of Protector

Dakota shook her head. “But you can sure leave your‘baby’and run off to a casino for ten years. I’m grateful that you got me out of there, but this doesn’t make up for everything you’ve missed.”

Kate intervened. “Dakota, please hear her out. I didn’t know who else to turn to when I found out you were in jail. If it weren’t for her, you’d still be there.”

I patted the couch next to me, praying that she didn’t see the way my hands had begun to shake. “Come here, it’s time you know the truth.”

Kate shook her head. “Mama, not now. She’s had too much for one day.”

I could’ve taken her advice, but I refused to wait any longer. If what I suspected was true, then someone had set my daughter up.

Dakota dropped onto the couch, suddenly interested. “No, I haven’t, especially if you’re about to come clean over where you’ve been for the last decade.”

I could do it.

They deserved to know.

“When you and Kate were little, you remember how we struggled a lot financially?” They both nodded, and I continued. “Well, I found a way to make money. Gambling. But I got in a little over my head.”

Celia, sweetheart, where’s your old man?

I looked up at the ceiling, fighting to stay in the present. My skin crawled with the memory of their hands on my body, but I pushed through it. “Sorry, it’s still hard to talk about. The men I got mixed up with threatened to hurt not just me, but both of you girls too. I was so young and scared. I went to a man that I knew could take care of the threats, but that came with a price too. His world was even darker than I could’ve imagined, and by choosing him, I opened us up to even more danger.”

I was raped and beaten.

I’d been confident that if I ever got the opportunity to sit down with my daughters, I’d tell them the truth about how they ended up with my parents.

Instead, I was repeating the same worn-out lies.

Dakota rubbed at the sides of her head with a frown. “Mama, what you’re saying sounds a lot like a movie. And not necessarily a good one.”

“I know how it sounds. When you were a little girl, you asked me if I was in love with the man that would stop by from time to time. I didn’t know how to answer in a way that would make sense to you, but you’re an adult now. I do, Dakota. I love him, but his world is so different from ours. When I chose to be with him, I was faced with an even more difficult one—walking away from both of you. I’m so sorry. Please know that I never wanted to make that decision, but I couldn’t provide for both of you and keep you safe.” A sob broke free from my chest, and I covered my face, trying to compose myself.

She took you from me.

Why couldn’t I just say it?

Reaching for Dakota, I took the coward’s way out, knowing they’d never believe the truth. “I made the decision to have you live with my parents and sent money there every month. I told your Nan to make sure you both had everything you needed.”

Kate jumped up off the couch with a yelp. “Everything we needed? First of all, we needed a mother! Secondly, we never saw a dime of that money! I’ve tried to help Dakota out as much as I can, but doing so has put me in a tight spot. You’re telling me that we were supposed to be receiving money every month from you? Yet, you never bothered to follow up with that?”

The pain in my throat intensified. “You’re telling me you never got it? There was enough to cover clothing, a car when you got older, and even college.”

Kate kicked the edge of the coffee table before exploding. “You’re telling me that I’ve been taking on double the patient load in an attempt to pay off my student loan debt and car, while Nan drives around in a shiny Cadillac? You’re telling me she and Pops stole the money?”

I should’ve been honest.

It was bad enough that she’d ripped them away and made them believe I was off gambling, but the entire time I’d been laboring under the delusion that my mother was using the money we sent her every month to give them everything they needed.

Before I could say a word, she marched over to the front door and screamed across the street. “Little Ricky—we’re gonna need another skull t-shirt. Size small!”

“You got it, boss!” he yelled back.

Initially, I’d been skeptical when Jamie told me that he’d recruited Molly’s idiot son to keep watch over Dakota, but it was a job he’d taken very seriously.

“Rick’s always been a good kid,” I said with a small smile, wondering how much I could give away.

They both turned to me in shock before Dakota managed to find her words. “You know him? How?”

“Well, he works for me… technically.”

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