He was covered in splotches of dust from head to toe. Even the collar of his shirt was torn apart. A bright red mark decorated the left side of his cheek, and deep scraps were littered across his hands.
What happened to him?
Why was he here by himself?
I quickly made my way toward the little boy, parting the crowd like the red sea with my large frame. The moment I reached him, I swiftly scooped him off the ground.
Liam reflexively swung his hand toward my face but immediately stopped mid-motion when his eyes widened in recognition. A series of emotions flashed through his eyes, from anger to shock to relief to panic.
Tears brimmed at the corner of his eyes as he incoherently sputtered, “T-that man… O-over there… he w-was… he’s t-trying to…”
I never expected to see his previously cold demeanor break down like this.
I caught his flailing hands, not wanting him accidentally hurt himself. “Liam, please try to calm down first. I can’t help you like this.”
He yanked his tiny fists out of my hand and frustratingly shouted, “But he’s hurting Ms. Jane!”
My blood ran cold at the one little sentence.
“Where, Liam?”
Between his sobs, he shakily pointed toward the southeast side of the market at a narrow alleyway between two tall buildings next to the market. I hastily pushed passed the people in my way, following his directions as I held the frantic little boy tightly in my arms.
I didn’t fully know what was happening, but all I needed to push me forward was the knowledge that Ms. Belcalis was in danger.
Right as I rounded the corner, I immediately spotted the back of some man pinning a familiar petite brunette against the wall, surrounded by a scattered array of fruits on the ground. He had a perverted grin carved into his face as he disgustingly pushed his hands underneath her shirt, taking no mind to her struggling body.
My blood boiled at the sight.
How dare he touch her like that? Completely disregarding all her feelings and treating her like a piece of meat.
Without another thought, I strode right up to him and clamped a heavy hand on his shoulder. I easily yanked him off of her in one forceful stroke, sending him tumbling to the ground with a loud crash and revealing a trembling Ms. Belcalis.
Her hair was in complete disarray, matching the state of her clothes, with an array of revolting red and purple splotches trailing down her neck and along her collarbone.
My hand clenched into a fist, trying to contain my anger.
Liam was already trembling in fear in my arms, and I didn’t want to make it worse. I needed to stay calm for both of them.
However, that thought instantly flew out of my head when the revolting imbecile shouted, “Dude, what the hell are you doing? I called dibs!”
My jaw tightened.
I bent down to put Liam down next to his mother as calmly as possible. Then, I straightened back up to my full height and turned around to face the bastard.
As he slowly pushed himself back off the ground, he started, “Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but it’s none of your business, so just get-” He cut himself off when he looked up and met my eyes for the first time. Even when he was standing, he was still a good half a foot shorter than me with a much smaller build as well.
But that wasn’t why he stopped to stare at me.
He pointed a trembling finger at me, stuttering as he tried to back away from me, “Y-you’re R-Rafael Cordova…”
I stalked toward him, and lowly replied, “What about it?”
“L-look, I wouldn’t have touched her if I knew she b-belonged to y-you.” He stumbled over a loose vegetable on the ground. “Y-you know that I-I would n-never do anything to a-anger an C-cordova.”
I roughly grabbed his trembling body by the collar and lifted him off up to my height, dangling his feet a good few inches off the ground with ease. “So it would be alright to molest any other woman?”
“I-I… I-I m-mean-”
Unable to bear it anymore, I snapped and threw him against the opposing brick wall with my full strength. He hit the wall with a sickening crack before falling down to the ground. He was wheezing on the ground, unable to catch his breath, most likely from a punctured lung as his ribs broke.
I mercilessly strode up to his crumpled-up body and lifted him up by a fistful of hair. I chuckled lowly at his battered expression, with blood dripping down the side of his temple. I leaned down and lowly whispered into his ear, “The only reason why you’re not dead now is due to the fact that they are watching, so you should be grateful that you will live to greet one more day in your worthless life.”
Then I shoved him to the ground and gave him one last kick against his abdomen, sending him flying into the brick wall once again. He landed with a repulsive sputter of blood. I folded my arms as I looked down on this worthless excuse of a man, “I suggest you get out of my sight before I change my mind.”
He hurriedly nodded his head as he scrambled to get back onto his feet, wincing at the pain of what was most likely several broken ribs and a dislocated spine. I watched as his bloody figure hastily ran away in a panic, frantically shoving passed the dense crowd of people in the market.
I wiped off my hands on my trousers before pulling out my phone. I quickly sent a message to my team of bodyguards to go after him and finish him discretely.
I had always been annoyed by the team of guards who always hovered around me within a 25-yard radius since childhood. But it was times like this when I needed to finish off some dirty business quietly where I found them to be a tad more useful than usual.
After receiving the usual “Yes, sir” from the other line and a few dark figures dashing out from the corner of my eyes, I shoved my phone back into my pocket and turned my attention back onto the two little figures huddling on the nasty floors of NYC. I carefully made my way toward them, making sure not the startle them with any hasty movements.
Ms. Belcalis was hugging her son into her chest, tucking his head into the crook of her neck to hide him from all the violence. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she hunched over her son, trying to protect him with what little she had despite her trembling body.
I slowly crouched down in front of them, making sure to leave a foot or two of space. I spoke as softly as I could, “Ms. Belcalis, you can open your eyes now.”
She whimpered as she pulled Liam even tighter against her body, still keeping her eyes tightly screwed shut.
I tried again, “Ms. Belcalis, I would never hurt you, so please don’t be afraid of me. I only want to help you.”
Her grip clenched and unclenched around Liam’s thin shoulders. A few more seconds passed before she cautiously cracked an eye open.
With a weak smile, I held my hands up in surrender. “I promise I won’t touch you unless you tell me it’s okay.”
She nodded shakily as she cracked her other eyes open and loosened her grip on Liam ever so slightly.
Taking note of her shivering figure and her disfigured clothes, I shrugged off my coat and held it out in front of me. “May I put my coat around you?”
She eyed it hesitantly but eventually nodded.
I carefully draped it over both of them, making sure that it was hooked over their thin shoulders. Sitting back on my heel, I decided to push my luck a bit further and tried, “May I pick you up?”
She instantly froze at my question, mutely tightening the coat around both of their little bodies.
“I promise I won’t try anything, but I don’t think you can stand up by yourself in your current state, and most definitely not with Liam in your arms.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line as she eyed me skeptically.
I sighed and continued, “I have never tried to hurt your before, right? I always made sure to give you space and asked for permission to touch you because I knew that you didn’t like it. I have never done anything against your wishes. So, please just trust me a little bit more this time.”
She eventually gave me a timid nod in acceptance.
I gently slipped my arms behind her and under her legs, lifting both her and Liam’s little bodies up with ease. She reflexively tensed up at first but eventually started to relax as I walked out of the dark alleyway.
Trying to distract her a bit, I asked, “Did you drive today?”
She mindlessly shook her head as she kept her eyes glued on the buttons of my shirt.
“Then, would it be alright for me to call a cab back to my apartment?”
She stiffened up at the last few words.
I explained, “I live in lower Manhattan, so we’re closer to my apartment. Plus… I don’t feel comfortable leaving the two of you alone to take care of yourselves so close to the Bronx, especially not you’re not in a stable state and Liam is completely passed out.”
She worriedly glanced down at Liam’s sleeping face, probably exhausted from the stress and panic of today’s events, before looking up at me. Her mind seemed to be churning exhaustively over the idea, but she eventually gave in with a small, “Okay.”
With her consent, I strode out toward the main street, easily maneuvering through the crowd from the farmer’s market as they fluidly parted for my towering figure. Some had even stopped to stare at us, pointing at the little bodies in my arms.
I pulled the coat over Liam’s head and plopped my hat onto Ms. Belcalis’s head, covering their faces as much as possible as I passed through. I made a mental note to myself to call Joseph later to make sure that no reporter would release a picture of them with me.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be seen with them. It more so I was worried that they would be hounded by paparazzi. I could already imagine the type of rumors they would try to spread about the two little ones in my arms just to kick up drama around me.
I easily hailed a cab and gave it directions to my apartment along with some extra money as an incentive not to breathe a single word about this to anyone.
We made it back to the top floor of my building in no time at all. Once we were inside, I gently set her down on my couch. Ms. Belcalis’s eyes darted about my apartment as if she was checking for any signs of danger before finally bringing her attention back to her child. Even though she hadn’t said a single word since I found her, I could tell that she was extremely stressed out about Liam’s well-being.
I kneeled down on the ground in front of them as I peeled back the coat to check on Liam. Although he was still passed out, it luckily seemed like he was simply tired from everything that had happened.
Gently brushing loose tufts of hair out of Liam’s face, I looked up at his mother and reassured her, “He’s going to be alright. He’s just sleeping for now.”
She nodded meekly as she kept her eyes glued to Liam’s face. Her lips pressed into a thin line when she spotted the rapidly forming bruise on his cheek and the scratches along his body, but she still remained silent.
Maybe it was a mother’s instinct or the fact that she simply didn’t trust me, but it felt like she was trying to create a barrier between me and her unconscious child. I was trying so hard to gain her trust, but it always felt like I was barely even making a dent with her every time I tried.
I sighed at the thought and stood up from my spot, leaving the two as I walked deeper into my apartment. I rummage through my closet, pulling out the smallest pair of shorts and hoodie I could find, along with a first aid kit. I hadn’t used either in ages since my younger years, but I was glad I kept them for a moment like this.
Making my way back out to the mother-son pair, I cautiously crouched down in front of them with the items in hand. “Ms. Belcalis, I can take care of Liam for now, so why don’t you take a bath in the meantime? I’m sure it’s uncomfortable staying in those clothes, and I think it might help you feel a little bit better ”
Her arms tightened around Liam as she anxiously glanced between her son and me.
“I promise I won’t enter the bathroom until you come out, and you can even lock the door if it makes you feel better.” I held the pile of clothes toward her. “I’m just going to stay out here with Liam and treat his wounds.”
She released a little sigh and nodded reluctantly as she loosened her arms around Liam. I gently coaxed his small body out of her arms and gave her a reassuring smile.
She picked up the clothes from me and glanced at Liam one last time before following my directions and walking into my bedroom. There was a soft click as she locked the door behind her before the sound of running water echoed through my apartment.
Turning my attention back onto Liam, my eyes drifted across his pale features, taking in his relaxed expressions as he continued to sleep soundly in my arms.
After seeing Ms. Belcalis get harassed twice within the last two weeks, I was becoming truly concerned about their well-being. It couldn’t have been healthy living in fear of the next time they were going to be pounced on.
I knew that Ms. Belcalis was quite beautiful, easily standing above the average person with an almost ethereal-like quality, but this was just going too far. Did men nowadays simply have no respect anymore?
If this issue really was a regular occurrence for the two of them, I could see why they always kept people at arm’s length away.
I could only hope that I would be able to provide myself trustworthy such that they wouldn’t push me out without giving me a chance first.