Page 117 of His Wild Attraction

I squinted my eyes.

Could that be? Oh my God!

It was Gary. But not the Gary I knew.

“Do as he says,” I told Eduardo, stepping in front of him with my hands raised.

“Ma-am,” Eduardo began, but I shook my head.

“Nothing matters except Sammy, understand,” I said through my clenched jaw.

“Mommy,” Sammy whimpered, and he had tears in his little eyes.

It had started as a nice day, but suddenly the sky was gray and overcast. There was a bite in the air. A frigidity I equated with fear.

My entire body trembled with rage, but I stepped forward, my gaze never wavering from my tiny, trusting son.

“It’s okay, Sweetie. Mommy’s here.”

“Mommy, he said he has Rocky and that he’s sick,” Sammy whined.

“It’ll be okay, Baby. Rocky is just fine,” I told my boy, angry at Gary, furious that he somehow found out about my son’s pet.

“Just give Sammy to me,” I said the last to Gary.

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go,” my ex tried to speak, but it was difficult to understand him.

Dark dribble leaked from the corner of his mouth. His face was distorted, badly bruised, and swollen from where Andres had beaten him.

He looked terrible. But it wasn’t enough.

I wished he’d killed him. This version of Gary was completely unrecognizable from the man I knew. But maybe it was more like him than his regular appearance let on.

It was good he looked like a stranger. Maybe Sammy didn’t recognize him either with that crooked, swollen nose, two blackened eyes, and his broken jaw.

“Get over here! You’re coming with me. Do it, and I’ll let this little bastard go,” Gary said, his eyes crazed.

I nodded, eager to get my son to safety and more than willing to trade places with him.

“Mrs. Ramirez, I can’t let you—” Eduardo started, but I shook my head, warning him to be silent.

“It’s fine. It’s okay. I’ll go with you, just let him go. Let Sammy go.”

“Mommy? I want Rocky. I want Dad,” Sammy cried, and my heart broke for my son.

“You’re okay, Baby. Rocky is okay, too,” I told him.

“Dad?” scoffed Gary, but I ignored him.

“Dad is going to come get you and bring you home. Mommy will be okay,” I spoke directly to Sammy, knowingly lying to him for the first time since I left Gary.

I took one step, then another. Moving closer to Gary in an effort to keep his attention on me.

Sammy was full-on wailing. I thought it would bring some attention to us, but I should have known better.

We were in Central Park. The largest recreation center on the whole island of Manhattan. Arguably the most famous park on the East Coast.

There were thousands of visitors daily. More than that. But no one heard his cries. Or if they did, they thought nothing of it.

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