Chapter 3

The bedroom door cracked open. Matt stood in the doorway rubbing his eyes, looking annoyed.

"Mom, Dad, what are you fighting about... I'm so tired."

My voice softened. I turned to him. "Sweetie, go back to your room."

Matt pouted. "Mom, can you stop making trouble? I heard everything. Mama Sofia has a huge house with good food and fun stuff. Why won't you let me have her as my mom?"

Every drop of blood in my body froze. I couldn't speak.

William frowned and coaxed Matt back to his room.

He came back with a sigh. "He's just a kid. He doesn't understand. Just... think about it."

I didn't answer. I grabbed my suitcase from the entryway.

"If that's how it is, there's no point in me staying. I'll send you the divorce papers."

William didn't come after me. The door closed behind me.

I stood in the hallway, took a deep breath, and forced the tears back. I pressed the elevator button.

On the way down, my phone buzzed.

An unknown number. A video. I tapped it and froze.

Matt was tied to a chair, a dark cloth stuffed in his mouth. Tears ran down his cheeks and soaked into his collar. His whole face was flushed and straining.

The video was fifteen seconds long. Then a message: "Want to save your son? Come to the old dock. Alone. Call the police or tell anyone, and you'll never see him again."

I stood in the elevator. The doors opened and closed, opened and closed.

Finally, I shoved my suitcase against the wall and ran outside to flag down a cab.

Forty minutes in the car and I couldn't think straight. All I could see was the cloth stuffed in Matt's mouth. It was the scarf I'd bought him last week. He said he loved the little dinosaurs on it.

I reached the warehouse. Empty. The moment I stepped inside, the iron door slammed shut behind me.

The lights on the second floor flicked on. Sofia leaned against the railing, four men in black standing behind her.

"Sofia, what the hell do you want!"

"Relax. I'd never touch Matt. I just wanted to talk, but you'd never come if I asked you straight, right?" She turned and pressed a button. A projection screen lowered from the side wall, and the image started to play.

White sheets. The Manhattan skyline outside the window. William, shirtless, leaning against the headboard. Sofia draped across his chest, the blanket pulled to their waists.

The date stamp in the corner: June fifteenth, five years ago. The day I fell while pregnant.

William had said a client's car broke down. I spent the night alone in the hospital, curled up in bed through contractions.

I stared at the screen. My hands and feet went numb.

Sofia came down the stairs slowly, her voice light as air. "Know why William didn't come to the hospital that night? He was going to leave. I was the one who stopped him. See how well he listens?"

She stopped two steps in front of me, tilting her head. "See? William doesn't love you. Just give me Matt, and I'll leave you alone."

"You can adopt."

"An adopted child wouldn't look enough like him." She glanced down at her nails. "Your son has William's eyes, the way he looked when he was young. I like that."

"If you touch a single hair on his head—"

"That's why I haven't touched him. I'm touching you." She pulled a small spray bottle from her pocket. I stepped back instinctively.

"Relax. It won't kill you. Just a little burn, that's all. Get on your knees and apologize, or I'll spray both your hands."

I clenched my jaw and stared at her hand. I could have grabbed for it, but the four men pinned me in place. "Why should I apologize to you!"

"Because you owe me. You don't deserve William. You stole him from me for five years." Sofia smiled, soft and sweet. "Are you going to kneel?"

I stared into her eyes. Matt's face flashed through my mind, and the image of his bright-red, tear-streaked face from that video.

I bent my knees and dropped to the concrete floor. "...I'm sorry. I don't deserve William. I got what I deserved." Every word was forced through my teeth.

Sofia scoffed and crouched down close to me. "That was pathetic." Then she pressed the nozzle.

My right hand erupted in agony. I screamed and crumpled to the ground, shaking all over.