Leah
I could see the nanny trying desperately to hide her panic as she went over each child again and again, cross-checking their tags with trembling hands. The other women joined too but it was as if Jason had never set foot in the room.
My heart started pounding dangerously against my ribcage, so hard I could hear it in my ears.
He must have wandered off. Yes. That’s all.
I didn’t dare think of anything worse. Jason hated loud noises, always had. Maybe he couldn’t bear the chaos anymore and went looking for somewhere quiet.
Without waiting for confirmation of what I already knew, I bolted from the room, yelling my son’s name at the top of my lungs.
“JASON! JASON!”
The loud music still thumping from the main hall didn’t help. My voice felt swallowed by the noise.
Should I check the hotel wing? It was farther from the event hall, but would Jason have gone that far on his own?
I ran like a woman possessed, throwing open doors, checking rooms, balconies, restrooms, everywhere. I asked every staff member and guest I passed if they’d seen a little boy with blonde hair wearing a blue shirt, but no one had.
I burst into the main hall and found Rachel. Her eyes went wide the second she saw my face.
“Jason’s missing,” I gasped out.
She didn’t hesitate. She abandoned her post immediately and ran with me. We found Luke, one of the security supervisors, and he assigned two guards to help search.
After what felt like hours but was probably only fifteen minutes, I collapsed against a wall in an empty corridor, panting heavily.
I’d checked every calm, quiet place I could think of in this wing of the building. Rachel and the security team had spread out toward the hotel rooms.
Where is he? Where is my baby?
“Ma’am? Excuse me, ma’am?”
I looked up to see one of the waiters approaching, pushing a trolley loaded with used plates and glasses.
“Someone said you’re looking for a kid?”
I nodded frantically. “Yes! My son, Jason. He’s five, blonde hair, blue shirt…”
“I think I saw him,” the waiter interrupted. “I needed to use the restroom earlier, and I saw a little boy holding a toy, walking down the hallway.” He pointed behind him. “Before I finished my business, I lost sight of him. Sorry I can’t be more specific.”
I thanked him and took off in the direction he’d indicated, my heart hammering with renewed hope.
This hallway was much quieter than the rest of the building. The sounds from the event were muffled here. At the end of the corridor, I spotted two security guards standing at attention in front of a balcony entrance, its glass doors covered by long, dark drapes.
One of the men stepped forward and held up his hand to stop me as I approached.
“My son,” I gasped out, tears filling my eyes. “I’m looking for my son, Jason.”
The guard looked taken aback by my distressed state but still didn’t move aside. I tried to step around him, but he blocked me again.
And that’s when I heard it.
Tiny giggles seeping through the slightly open door.
A huge wave of relief crashed over me so powerfully my knees almost gave out.
*That’s Jason’s laugh. That’s my baby.*
“That little boy is yours?” the security guard asked.
I nodded vigorously, moving as close as his outstretched hand would allow.
Then I heard it again, another giggle, louder this time, followed by a deep, masculine chuckle.
My entire body went rigid.
Who is my son with?
As if reading my expression, the guard said, “Mr. Thorne.”
My heart did a sickening flip in my chest.
Things just kept getting more complicated. Damien Thorne was the last person I wanted anywhere near my son.
I heard Jason say something I couldn’t quite make out, then more bright, carefree laughter.
Slowly, I felt the security guard remove his hand, allowing me to move closer.
I took a step forward, reached out and parted the heavy drapes.
The balcony was dimly lit. Damien Thorne stood leaning against the railing with one elbow propped on it, looking more relaxed than I’d ever seen him. Jason sat on a cushioned bench a short distance away, swinging his little legs.
They were having a conversation, one that made them both laugh easily.
Despite my dread, despite everything happening with Damien, I couldn’t stop the ache that tightened painfully in my chest.
I did this to my son.
I’d deprived him of a father’s love. My mistakes, my desperate, stupid mistakes, had cost Jason a healthy father-son relationship from the very beginning.
When Jason threw his head back and laughed at something Damien said, my eyes filled with tears and my throat constricted so tightly I could barely breathe.
He made gestures with his tiny hands as he described something animatedly, completely at ease, and the tears started dropping down my face.
I hurt my son. I robbed him of this.
I turned away from the scene and leaned heavily against the wall, letting the tears fall freely.
After a few moments, I pulled out my phone and texted Rachel about finding him.
I leaned back against the wall, just listening to the muffled sounds of their conversation, a sad smile on my face the entire time. Hearing Jason so happy, so comfortable with this man who was essentially a stranger to him, broke something inside me.
Sudden movement snapped me out of my thoughts.
A man I’d seen frequently with Damien walked up to the balcony entrance, throwing me an inquisitive look.
“Her son is with Mr. Thorne,” the security guard explained.
The assistant nodded at me, then slid the glass door open and stepped inside.
I watched through the gap in the drapes as he approached Damien and said something in a low voice. Damien nodded.
He then said some else. Somehow I knew it was about me and just like I thought , Damien immediately looked toward the entrance. He had a small formal smile on his face. He was probably expecting someone else, but once he saw me, the smile varnished.
The assistant turned and gestured for me to enter.
I inhaled deeply and stepped onto the balcony.