The fact that I can’t be there to protect him guts me. But this…this is what we have to do.
“Ria. Listen to me. Really listen, okay? I get it. You want Adrian protected. We all do. But Santos will stop at nothing to get to the both of us. Villegas has been setting me up to take the fall. And we have evidence that Santos wants me dead. If I take Adrian, none of us will be safe. He will find you and still go after me. But if Mina and Ben take Adrian, there is a much bigger chance of keeping Adrian safe and undiscovered––”
Ria drops to her knees, sobbing. Her cries come out low and strangled. Adrian starts fussing in her arms. I crouch down beside her, gathering my son in one arm while I cradle my wife in the other.
My shoulders shake from the intense pain crowding my chest.
I don’t even care that I’m crying in front of my colleagues.
This is my family, for fuck’s sake.
My wife.My son.
“Ria…”
“I know.”
Everything happens so fast.
Gabe gave us as much time as possible to say goodbye to Adrian, but before I could even wipe all my tears away, I was ushered upstairs by Noah.
Every minute we spend here is a minute that he––my father––gets closer to finding us here.
I get why the rush is necessary, but it didn’t make it any easier for me to handle.
Something happens to you when you’re a mother separated from your child.
Like a part of your soul gets sucked out, and you lose the best parts of yourself.
On the outside, I remain calm and portray a mask of indifference but on the inside my heart is bursting into tiny fragments that can never be put back together again.
For the first time since I had Adrian, we would be apart.
I was moving before I even had time to think things through, and I feel every painful beat of my heart.
I’m barely holding it in as I carry Adrian’s car seat to the blacked-out SUV waiting for us just outside the cabin. It takes every ounce of energy I have not to drag my feet or look over my shoulder.
“Let’s just get to the car, baby... then you can let go, okay? Just hang in there.”
Noah’s not faring any better. I can tell very little would set him off. His hold on the small of my back tightens as he leads me to the car. I can see his other hand clenching his side, like at any moment, he’ll shoot anyone who dares look at me.
I know my husband better than I know myself.
His heart is breaking.
The intensity of his pain has sharpened the angles of his face.
There’s a storm brewing behind his eyes that’s almost visceral.
Once we get to the car, Noah turns to shield me with his body as I get in the car. I’m buckling in the empty car seat while Noah shuts the door behind him.
He quickly rounds the car to the passenger seat while Gabe stands by my door, waiting for Noah to enter the car.
My husband steals a look, his face impassive like mine, but the light in his eyes from last night has diminished, replaced with rage. I try my best to give him a smile, but Gabe starts the car and my tears start flowing again.
“It’s okay, Ree… You can let go.”
I look out the window at the place I called my refuge for over a year.