Deliverance (#2) | ✓

ten: without him

I stare at my phone, back to my bedroom wall as I sit with crossed legs. Waiting for something to happen. A call, a text, a reason not to break down in tears and accept my fate.

It's been two weeks since Talia came to my door. I'd switched up my schedule every day, either taking the subway, walking, taking a cab, but never the same thing two days in a row.

I barely spent time at home, only waiting until I was absolutely certain I wasn't being followed for me to lock myself in my apartment.

I've seen Luca twice in that time, both regular Sundays where he'd avoided my gaze most of the time. We barely talked then. It made me feel worse about the entire situation but I didn't know what else to do — I still don't.

And now, my phone is silently resting on my lap as I replay Talia's most recent words to me.

She came late in the night after work two nights ago, dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants. She came with a bag full of groceries from the twenty-four hour supermarket down the street and helped me pack them away while she offered ideas.

"You need to leave New York, Remi." She'd said, "Changing your last name can only do so much to make sure he doesn't find you."

I bit my lip and didn't comment.

"You need to call Janae and get him back and get the fuck out of here." She said, packing away the eggs. "I mean it."

If this was two weeks ago, I would've already had my bags packed and hopes up to get him back and leave but the man that invaded my thoughts is the cement block holding me back.

Luca in all his broody, annoying glory is still someone I care about and I don't know how well everything would go over if I just left without warning. But I'd be doing it for his safety.

"Talia, I can't just leave."

"Yes, you can." She deadpans and closes the fridge before meeting my eye, "Remi, you need to focus on you right now. Your life and your son's life. Staying here is damning both. Start packing now."

"Even if I pack and call Janae, you know she won't give him back to me. I'm not even legally his mother anymore. Plus she hates me — there's no way she's giving up custody."

Talia sighed as she rolled her neck in thought, "Your mother is a pain in the fucking ass."

Of course the same woman that kicked me out for being pregnant with a gangster's baby is the one who took my son in as soon as said gangster was arrested.

"Look, I know it was stupid to give him to her. Especially after —"

Talia shakes her head, "Rem, don't blame yourself for wanting to keep your baby boy safe. Please."

I'd texted Janae since then. I didn't want to call her, I knew my voice would've given up on me and I wouldn't even be able to carry out the conversation.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to keep us separated so if Ghost ever got out, if he found me, he wouldn't have found our son. He'd be safe.

But if I'm leaving New York, I'm sure as hell not doing it without him.

A knock on the door, like always, snaps me from my thoughts. I lift my head from my hands and glance towards the sound.

For a moment, I allow the most negative thoughts to come to me. What if that's him? What if he's found me?

I grab the gun from under my pillow and slowly step up to the door, my feet quiet against the floor. I press the barrel of the gun to the wood and tip toe to look through the peephole.

Fuck.

Swinging the door open, I narrow my eyes in confusion at the sight of the man at the door, "What are you doing here?"

Luca is leaning against the door jamb with his typical coolness and nonchalance. But something's different — instead of the regular glimpse of sadness hiding behind those hazel eyes, he's proudly displaying determination.

"I'm helping you get your son Jori back."

y'all ain't ready for this 🥲