Shaking my head, I said nothing as Healer walked out of one of the back rooms. Nodding to me, I walked over to him.
“How is she?”
“She’s sleeping. Look, Player, when I did the full work up on her, I knew she had given birth, but I didn’t put two and two together. I feel as if this is all my fault. If I had looked more closely, I would have seen the signs. I could have prepared the club better. For that, I am sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t rape her and get her pregnant.”
“No, but I should have taken better care of her. She suffered a huge trauma. A woman’s body goes through a lot to give birth. Generally, all is well because the child is immediately given to the mother. But in some cases, when that doesn’t happen, the mother feels a sense of loss, a great loss. Sometimes, they never get over it.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, I saw the way she was holding Hailey. She was protecting that little girl as if she were hers. From what Ghost told me, the dates line up with her blood work. Now I don’t know if she carried that baby to term, but if she even came close, that baby should be between five to seven months old.”
“Do you know if it was a boy or girl?”
Healer shook his head. “Only your woman can tell you that. If she even knows. I know how some of these things work, Player. They kidnap a pretty young woman. Get them pregnant, and when the baby is born, they take it before the mother can even see it. Most of these women don’t even know what they have. These babies are where these fuckers make their money. They keep the women pregnant, as a literal breeding farm.”
“Fuck,” I groaned, wiping my hands down my face. “And Cat was part of that?”
“I think so.”
“She told me that Colin was taken from her a year ago come February. I think when they realized she was pregnant, they took your son as leverage so she wouldn’t do anything to terminate the pregnancy.”
“Catarina would never do such a thing. She doesn’t believe in abortion.” I said immediately, believing wholeheartedly that Cat would never hurt a child. She was too gentle and loving. She always wanted children.
“Player, she was sold, beaten, raped repeatedly, impregnated, and forced to have a baby. Can you honestly stand there and tell me she would willingly allow a child, her child, to be born into something so horrific, or would she do what she thought was best to protect that innocent life?”
Healer was right.
I just didn’t know.
I wanted to believe that my Catarina would never do such a thing, but I didn’t go through what she went through. I didn’t know her state of mind. She had to have been so scared out of her mind. Fearful of what would happen to her baby, to Colin. She would have done anything to protect them.
But doing that?
I just didn’t know.
“Can I go sit with her?”
Healer nodded and stepped to the side to let me past.
Thirteen
Reaper
Watching Player leave, I didn’t know what to say to the man. He was one of the nicest men I’d ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was always there when I needed him. He never complained. He just did what I asked, no questions asked. Yet, seeing everything this man had learned in the last few days, I was starting to worry about him.
I knew he wouldn’t do anything stupid, but I was beginning to wonder if this life was really suited for him. It seemed as if every little thing set him off lately, and when it concerned Catarina, well, the man was not himself. Not everyone could handle this life day in and day out, and before Catarina, I wouldn’t have had a second thought about Player. Now, I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Oh, he was here, but his heart wasn’t in it anymore. Too much had happened, and now with this, I just didn’t know anymore.
“I need the room. Lorenzo and Ghost stay. The rest of you, you’ve got jobs to do, so get to them.”
When the room cleared, I sat back down and sighed. The two men left with me, found seats, and said nothing as the weight of what we all just learned kicked in. After a minute or two, I said, “He can’t take much more.”
“No, he can’t,” Ghost agreed, then looked at Lorenzo, who shook his head and added, “I’m afraid if he finds out anything else, he will snap Reaper. Reggie isn’t made for this. All he wants is to love Catarina and provide for her, protect her and be a good husband. Even growing up, that’s all he would talk about. The day he got married and started his life. Even Gio knew back then that Reggie wasn’t ever going to work for the family in the traditional sense. So Gio planned to offer him a position in one of the companies. Something nine to five that way he would have plenty of time to spend with family.”
“He won’t get that here,” Ghost said, and I nodded in agreement.