Page 117 of Thin Lives

What would happen now?

Emma

Emma woke out of a dead sleep, and panic seized her stiff as she straightened upright in the bed, glancing from one side of her to the other in search of baby Cross. He had been having trouble getting to sleep, and so, she thought bringing him into her bed might help.

It obviously had, as they both fell asleep soon after.

But where was he now?

Emma quickly realized her son was no longer in the bed with her, and clearly he hadn’t fallen on the floor, or he would be crying. Bleary eyed, she reached for the soft blue blanket that Cross loved to be swaddled in. Even two and a half months after his birth, the boy still enjoyed being tucked safely and warmly in his blankets when he slept.

The swaddling blanket had just been tossed over the end of the bed, like someone had unwrapped the baby and then left it behind, uncaring. It was only then that she noticed her bedroom door—as she still slept in a separate room from her husband—was opened a few inches.

Emma’s mind immediately screamed Affonso.

She had been tired, sure. Cross still wasn’t sleeping through the night, and her worry for Calisto and whatever plans he had for Affonso kept her up all the time in between. When she did sleep, she slept like the fucking dead.

Emma tried not to let her simmering anxiety grow any worse as she tossed the blankets off, and reached for the silk robe she had left hanging off the bedpost. Maybe Cross had just been whining, Emma hadn’t stirred at the baby’s fussing, and Affonso decided to act like a man and care for the child.

As unlikely as that situation was, it was better than where her mind wanted to go.

Why else would Affonso sneak into her room?

Why would he take Cross and not wake her up?

Why would he do anything like that at all if he didn’t have bad intentions?

Emma shook the sinking feeling off, knowing it would do her no damn good at the moment. She noticed the cell phone blinking on her nightstand, probably with a message from Calisto. It was one of the only things keeping her sane most days lately. His sporadic, cryptic messages were like private, saving graces for Emma.

After his show at the dinner, she knew he was getting close to putting his final plan into motion where Affonso was concerned. Why else would he come out of hiding if he wasn’t ready for the consequences of doing so? He’d blatantly challenged Affonso, and his position as the boss.

That, in itself, said everything.

Calisto barely had to say a word.

So … Emma was left waiting for whenever it may be that Calisto finally acted.

Emma stuffed the cell phone in the pocket of her robe, and padded across the hallway to Affonso’s bedroom. She walked in through the opened doorway, finding the bedroom lit up and no one inside. Her gaze fell on the pulled out drawers of the dresser, and the few items that had been left scattered on top of Affonso’s nightstand.

The man was not messy.

He was clean and organized to a fault.

Emma’s panic picked up a notch.

“Affonso?” she called, taking a step further into the bedroom.

Silence answered her back.

She quickly checked Affonso’s attached master-bath, and his walk-in closet. All she found there was more stuff missing and scattered, including one of his larger pieces of luggage.

Emma’s heart practically jumped into her throat. She turned on her heel fast, running out of the bedroom and down the hall to where Cross’s nursery was situated. Like the master-bedroom, she found the door open, lights turned on, and dresser drawers empty of baby clothes. Even the stacks of diapers and the box of wipes were missing from the cheery oak changing table.

She couldn’t breathe.

Her eyes stung as tears gathered.

Emma clenched her fists so tight at her sides that her fingernails broke the sensitive skin of her palm.