“Yes, I am. Now move. I need to get my son some medicine. He’s got to be in excruciating pain right now.”
“You’re not—”
“Yes, she is,” a masculine voice says. Camden’s huge-ass bodyguard, along with two other guys, just as big, step in and surround David. “Go ahead, Layla. Take your boy home.”
“Thank you,” I say, scurrying out the door with Camden and Felix.
“Are you okay?” I ask Felix once we’re in the car and Camden’s driver has taken off. “How does your ear feel?”
“It hurts,” he says softly. “Daddy yelled at me and wouldn’t fix it. I wasn’t trying to be a brat.” His eyes turn watery, and he looks down in shame.
I glance at Camden for a moment. His jaw is locked, and his fists are clenched in his lap. I want to thank him for stopping David, for not fighting back, for having his security as backup, which I had no idea about, but right now, I need to focus on Felix.
“You are not a brat,” I tell him, pulling him into my lap. “You’re in pain, and your dad should’ve given you medicine. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.” I hug him tightly. “I’m going to make you feel better.” He nods into my neck and then rests his head on my shoulder.
Since it’s Sunday, and his doctor’s office isn’t open, we go straight to the pediatric wing at the hospital. Thankfully, it’s not too busy, and they can get us in quickly. Since he’s being checked out, they have Felix change into a hospital gown, and then the nurse comes in to take his blood pressure and temperature.
When she lifts the sleeve, I notice a large purple mark on Felix’s arm. “How did you get this?” I ask. I didn’t notice it before because he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt.
“Daddy got mad at me.”
I hear Camden curse under his breath.
“Are you saying Daddy did this to you?” I confirm.
“I was crying, and he got mad.”
While the nurse finishes up, I pull my phone out and text Camden: Can you find a police officer, please? I want to file charges, and I don’t want to wait.
I’m done. I never should’ve let David get away with raping me. I tried to take the easy way out, the route that wouldn’t make waves and put Felix in the middle of a nasty custody battle. Never in a million years did I imagine he would hurt our son, but he has. And now I’m fucking done. I don’t care what it takes. He’s never taking Felix again. Not as long as I’m alive.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CAMDEN
Layla: SOS my house
It’s been years since I’ve gotten an SOS text from Layla. I’m sitting in my parents’ living room, talking to them about everything that’s happened, but the second I see it, I shoot up, telling them I have to go. Since Layla’s house is only a couple of blocks away, it doesn’t take long to get there. When I do, I find her sitting on her front steps with her head in her hands, her body shaking.
“Hey, what happened?” I ask, sitting next to her. “Where’s Felix?”
She looks up, her tear-filled eyes meeting mine. Her face is splotchy, and she has tear stains running down her cheeks. It’s only been a few hours since I last saw her, and I already miss the hell out of her.
“He’s in bed asleep. The attorney said he can file for emergency custody tomorrow morning, but he doesn’t believe I’ll get it. He said the judge usually needs more than that to take away a parent’s rights. It’s going to take time to build a case.”
“More than someone leaving bruises on his son’s body and his ex-wife’s throat?”
“Apparently so,” she chokes out. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. Something is wrong with him. He’s snapped. And I’m so afraid he’s going to take it out on Felix. He already has! The bruise on his arm. The way he emotionally fucked with him.” She looks over at me with such fear, I want to kill David with my bare hands.
“I can’t let him take him,” she says softly. “We have joint custody. He gets him every other weekend and every Wednesday. I can’t let it happen.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to run.”
“What?” I ask in shock. She can’t just leave. Where would she go? What would she do? “You can’t do that. You’d be committing a felony, and if he ever found you, he’d get Felix.”
“Then I’ll make sure he never finds me,” she says, conviction stitched into every word. Her phone that’s sitting on her lap beeps three times, but she ignores it. “I already fucked up once letting my son go with him. I should’ve run with him after David raped me. I was scared, and I fucked up, but I won’t make that mistake again. I won’t leave my son with that man ever again.”