Nothing is mine. It is all owned by the lovely JE!

Chapter 12

Carlos' POV

All I could do was sit and stare at two of the most important women in my life. I had no words to say or had any idea what to do. I wasn't the one to deal with emotions like this. Anger I can handle but tears, that's pushing it. I watched as Steph whispered in Julie's ear and got her to stand up.

"We are going to talk in the bedroom and be back out in a few." I nodded and watched them slowly leave. Julie was holding onto Steph like she was her life line.

I sat on the couch with my head leaned back and just tried to get a grip with everything that has happened in the last few days. I am engaged to a beautiful woman that my family approves of and my baby girl has a secret that Steph will hopefully get to the bottom of. I was just about to doze off when I hear sniffling and whimpers. My eyes fly open and Stephanie is wide eyes and crying.

This is the time when my ESP would come in handy. I stand up and pull my babe close to me and she melts into my embrace. I can feel the dampness coming through my shirt. I pull her away and look into her eyes. "What did you find out?" I couldn't hide my concern any longer. Babe doesn't cry over nothing.

Instead of saying anything she takes my hand and leads me to our bedroom. I can see Julie lying down in our bed totally relaxed. She had changed into some of Steph's pajamas which were a pair of shorts and a tank top. "Can you see what I see?" Steph asks in a low voice. I had no idea what she was talking about so I flipped on the lamp on my night stand and gasped at what I saw.

There were hand prints all over my daughter's body. Some were yellowing and fading while others looked fresh. The darker ones were further down her body and I started to realize where they left a trail to. God forbid that son of a bitch touched my daughter.

I looked into Stephanie's eyes for an answer to my unspoken question and she nodded. That's when everything blacked out.

Stephanie's POV

When Julie came running into my arms I knew something was up and that we needed to have a woman to woman talk. I excused ourselves from the room and told Carlos my plan to talk to Julie by myself. Once I got Julie into the bedroom I went into the closet and got a clean pair of shorts and a tank top for her to wear to bed. Once she removed her sweat shirt and shirt that's when I saw the massive yellowing bruises going down her body. They looked to be old but I still gasped.

"Julie what are those bruises from?!" I had no idea what to do. I was starting to get very concerned for her safety. What was going on in that house!

"There's more." Was all Julie said before unbuckling her pants and revealing more and more bruises, but these ones were a horrible purple and black color. I could make out hand prints and saw that they made a trail to somewhere that had me even more concerned. I had to ask even though I was pretty certain I knew the answer.

I looked at Julie who was crying silently. "Baby, did Ron do this to you?" She nodded. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Did he at all, in anyway, touch you inappropriately?" That's when she fell to her knees and it all came out.

"Whenever my mom would be out with friends and I did something I wasn't supposed to I would get hit. That began to escalate more and more. After the hitting came the touching until tonight when I told him I came to see you guys on my way home from a friend's house. My mom is away on a business trip and my little siblings were at a birthday party so it was just Ron and I at the house when I got home. When I told him he forced himself on me and he was so strong I couldn't do anything." She was crying hysterically. I pulled her into my lap as I sat on the floor with her, my tears streaming down my face. "When it was over I packed my bags and drove to Rangeman in Miami. The guys there got ahold of a plane ticket for me to get home since you and the family took the private jet home a few hours earlier. I don't see why it's so bad that I want to get to know my daddy. I know he wasn't there for me when I needed him most but now I need him just as much and I know he can protect me." I kissed this little girls head and helped her get changed.

"Your daddy and I will always protect you Julie. Never ever forget that." She smirked and I watched as she laid down on top of the covers. I couldn't keep myself together in front of Carlos.

He knew something was terribly wrong as soon as I walked into the room. When he asked what I found out I had no words to describe what was revealed to me. I took his hand and led him into the bedroom for him to see for himself. I asked if he could see what I saw but knew he probably could in the terrible lighting. When he flipped on the lamp and realized what he was looking at I knew exactly what he was asking me with his piercing black eyes. All I could do was nod. Carlos flew out of the room and I heard screaming in Spanish and things smashing. Carlos was not one to lose his temper, ever. His problems were always solved in gym sparring with the guys. God have mercy on Ron soul if Carlos gets ahold of him.

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