So when it actually did vibrate against my leg, I almost brushed it off. That was, until I felt it vibrate again.
Thank god.
I excused myself from the conversation and headed in the direction of the bathroom. As soon as I was inside, I shut the door behind me and flipped the lock. I didn’t hesitate as I pulled out my phone and swiped it on.
It took me a moment to process what I was looking at.
It wasn’t a message from Sabrina.
It was a picture of Sabrina and Samuel while we sat at lunch yesterday. Just below it was a second text.
Happy? Frankie expects the money soon or people you care about will get hurt.
My entire body went numb as I stared at the picture from an unknown number. Sabrina looked exhausted but content with Samuel smiling his big, gummy smile on her lap. I couldn’t believe that Frankie had threatened my daughter and now Sabrina.
Guilt and anger rose up inside of me. How could I have been this reckless? Did I think that Sabrina wasn’t going to be affected by what was currently happening between Katie and me?
All I wanted was a simple life full of the people I cared about. I wanted to provide for and protect the people that mattered the most to me. But with every passing hour, it was becoming more and more evident that a simple life was far from my grasp.
The realization hit me like a freight train.
Sabrina. She hadn’t texted me back. The last time I was in contact with her was when I watched her walk away from me.
My heart began to race as I pressed on my contacts and scrolled until I found Sabrina’s number. I hit talk and then brought the phone up to my ear.
It was the longest five seconds of my life, listening to the dial tone. For a moment, I thought that she had picked up, but then I was just met with the standard voicemail recording.
I ended the call and shoved my phone back into my pocket before unlocking the bathroom door and barreling out. I didn’t care about the gala, and I really didn’t care that Katie and Bonnie had more people they wanted me to meet.
I was going to go check on Sabrina.
I didn’t give Bonnie or Katie a chance to try to change my mind. I told them I was leaving as I passed them. I could hear their sputtered responses, but I didn’t stop. I headed through the ballroom and out to the valet, where I jumped into the first available taxi.
The drive felt like an eternity as the cab navigated the roads. My anxiety tightened with each red light. I finally breathed a sigh of relief when we took a left and the hotel came into view.
I paid the driver and was out of the cab before he even fully stopped. He asked me if I needed a receipt, but I slammed the door before he finished. My heart pounded in my chest as I passed through the front doors and into the lobby.
Thankfully, an employee at the desk recognized me as I waited in front of the elevators and beckoned me to come with him, stating that those elevators didn’t go to the seventeenth floor. As soon as I was on the right one, he invited me to reach out to him if I needed anything but didn’t press me further as the doors slid shut in front of him.
I tapped my foot on the floor and watched the numbers tick upwards. When the number 17 finally lit up and the elevator dinged, I let out the breath I had been holding.
I didn’t wait for the doors to fully open, I was out into the hallway as soon as I could squeeze through. My strides were long as I pulled out my wallet and found my keycard. I paused at the door, pressed the key to the small circle on the left, and then slammed down on the handle as soon as the little light flashed green.
“Sabrina?” I asked into the darkness as I let the door slowly shut behind me. Just in case I was wrong and Sabrina was safe, I didn’t want to wake up Samuel, thus incurring her wrath.
When there was no answer, I called out again in a hushed whisper, this time more frantic. “Sabrina!”
Nothing.
The bedroom door was shut, so I made my way over and twisted the handle, pushing it open. I could hear some rustling, which caused my heart to start pumping. There was someone in here.
And then I heard Samuel whimper.
As I pushed further into the room, I could see that Sabrina was asleep on the bed. Her dark hair spilled around her as she lay under the comforter. Her breaths were deep and slow. She was passed out.
My body began to relax as I studied her. She looked okay. Frankie hadn’t done to her what he had his thugs did to me the first night after we arrived. She was safe and that was all that mattered.
I heard more rustling and whimpering from the bassinet next to Sabrina. I made my way over. Samuel’s bottom lip was jutted out, and he looked as if he had been crying for a while. As soon as he saw me, he let out a wail.
