The second I stared into those baby blues, I saw our son and was glad Sam was the spitting image of him. The years had clearly been kind to Elon as he’d only grown into more of a stud.
And for one moment, I had a patter of hope for the impossible. However, I shook off the fantasy that he was here because he loved me.
No one ever had, except Sam, and that was fine. When Elon had dumped me, I’d deserved it. One day, even my son would understand the truth. I was entirely unlovable.
The heat of the night hardly changed during the days. It was never cool. I snuck into the arcade where I’d left Sam for ten minutes and found him finishing off a slice of pizza left over from some kid’s birthday party. My shoulders slumped as we’d not had enough money for food today.
I sat beside him at the small table and placed my hands on my lap. “Sam, it’s time to get going.”
He found a napkin and cleaned himself off—he was a great kid—and then asked, “What’s going on?”
The rent at my apartment had been paid, though my heart whispered it was part of Hunter's trap to get me to go back there. So I wasn’t sure whether we should sleep there or not.
My head pounded from having to make all these decisions. I took a deep breath. “It wasn’t Hunter who came to the apartment last week.”
He smiled bright. “Good.”
I lowered my head. One of the reasons I’d never sought out Elon to tell him the truth was that I feared the moment Sam knew about his father, he'd entirely forget me.
But now that Elon was close, it was time to tell Sam the truth. “It was your father.”
His eyes widened. “Wait. What?”
Fair. I’d shocked him, though he was bright for an eight-year-old—smarter than most kids his age. He'd also got his intelligence from Elon.
I stood and offered my hand. “We have to go.”
Sam stood, clasped his palm to mine, and asked, “Was my father bad like Hunter?”
My head pounded at the reminder of another of my mistakes. I’d never thought the man I'd let into my life might hurt Sam. I cupped his face. “No.”
We walked out of the arcade and onto the pavilion. Sam stalled. “Then why are we running?”
Elon wasn’t going to hurt me physically. He’d always been sweet and kind to me. He’d be able to offer everything to the only person in the world who mattered to me. I stooped down to Sam's height, uncaring that tourists flocked around us. “Because I need to protect you.”
His eyes widened. “Protect me from my father? Who is he?”
I stood. The hair on my arms stood at attention as though something was about to happen.
Staying here was a bad idea. I now had ownership of the car. If it got Sam and me a hundred miles from here, we’d be safer.
I kept my son close. “It’s not only him. If he finds me, then my parents are next, and you don’t want to face their disappointment.”
As we headed to the exit, I saw Hunter in the crowd.
If he saw me too… a shiver rushed through me as I hurried with Sam through the crowd. My heart raced. There was another exit. We swerved around a group of tourists following a man holding a purple flag, and I walked right into a wall of muscle.
My body craved the impossible as I gazed up into Elon’s eyes.
“I can help you both,” he said.
“Elon.” My breath caught in my throat.
Sam stared at me quizzically, but I held him tight to my side. Hunter was still close by, and who knew what he’d do to my son.
Elon rocked back on his black loafers. “If you're worried about your parents, we don't have to tell them I found you. We can stay at my place.”
I was one step closer to losing the only thing that mattered, so the answer was a given. Sam and I needed to disappear fast. I’d never let Sam be hurt again. I shook my head. “No, thanks.”
