22. Chapter 22
Sam holds up his phone. “I’d like to record your statement, if that’s okay?”
Chewing my lip, I look over at παππο?? (grandpa) and he gives me a small nod. “It would be best to have a recording for when this goes to court. I’m also glad that you aren’t under the influence of any painkillers right now. No one can say that they are altering your mind.”
His words bring Claudia back into my thoughts and I shiver at what she was trying to do. Swallowing thickly, I refocus back on Sam. “Yes, you can record it.”
He turns to Dixon. “You take the lead on this, Hughes. That way, no one can say there was a conflict of interest.”
Dixon tilts his head in acknowledgement. “Not a problem, Captain.”
He pulls his phone out and moves to sit in the chair next to my bed. Παππο?? (Grandpa) holds out a legal pad and pen for him, which he takes.
“Thank you, Haris.”
I look between them. “You two know each other?”
Παππο?? (Grandpa), Dixon, Sam, and Brady all chuckle.
“Yeah, we do, λουλο?δι μου (my flower). We’ve worked together on a lot of cases over the years. Same for Sam and Brady.”
Absently, I nod. Apparently, I have a lot to catch up on.
Once Dixon’s all settled in, Luke wheels the table closer to both of us and I reach for the cup, wanting to wet my throat a little before I start talking. After setting the cup back down, Luke refills it for me.
“Okay, Mary. In a moment, I’ll start the recording. Everyone else, try to stay quiet. I know you guys already know this, but I’ll repeat it anyway. Haris, Sam, Brady, if any of you need to ask for clarification or if a question arises, please identify yourself first, and then ask your question. Thor, I’m going to have to use your real name for this. Same for you, Patch. Is that alright?”
“It’s alright with me,” Thor says, his voice gruff and deep. I get the feeling he and Luke are going to be the ones to worry about when I get everything out.
“It’s alright with me, too,” Luke says.
The others nod in agreement and when everyone’s settled in a seat, Dixon starts the recording.
“It’s half-past two o’clock in the morning on Friday, November 24 th , 2023. This is Officer Hughes taking the statement of Mary Hayes. Present are Captain Morgan, Officer Morgan, Haris and Maria Catarino, Luke Morgan, also known as Patch, and Ryan Gilbert, also known as Thor. Mary, can you please tell me what happened tonight?”
Taking a deep breath, I start telling him what happened since waking up this morning, er, yesterday morning, when I started preparing the food.
“After getting myself and the kids ready, I headed to the kitchen to start preparing the food. When Stephan got up and came into the kitchen for his breakfast and coffee, he saw how much food I was preparing and what I was preparing when he spied the recipes that I had spread out on the counter. Years ago, I had tried to recall as many recipes of Grandma’s that I could since Stephan had told me he had burned or threw out everything of mine from my old house.” I pause, shaking off those memories and look down at the blanket, picking at it as I continued.
“He started muttering that all the food was a waste of money and that he never should have agreed to let my family come over. At the time, I had ignored him, which was hard, and went about preparing everything. I was too excited to finally be cooking a large Greek meal again and to see my grandparents to really care if he liked the food or not.” It’s hard since I’ve started doing it again, but I try to refrain from using the Greek words for my family members.
Internally, I sigh and my chest aches as my mind goes back to those recipes. I’m just glad I remembered the recipes correctly. However, thoughts of all of my old things and πατ?ρα? (dads) things being gone has my eyes stinging with unshed tears, but I will them not to fall. Shaking myself, I refocus back on Dixon.
“Stephan doesn’t like you cooking Greek food?” Dixon asks with a look of bewildered confusion on his face and I shake my head.
“No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t like me speaking Greek, either. Over the years, he’s tried to force me to sever any tie I might have to my life before he bought me, thinking it would help increase his control over me. However, I knew if I didn’t speak Greek when my grandparents came over, that they’d immediately know something was wrong and then things could have gotten ugly really fast. Despite knowing that I’d most likely be beaten for disobeying his rule, I was determined to speak Greek with them. I needed the day to go off without a hitch so I could give Grandpa the scan drive of information I’d collected about what Stephan has been up to.”
“Okay, we’ll come back to the ‘buying you’ part and the scan drive later. For now, keep going about yesterday.”
I fill them all in on the rest of yesterday’s events with very little interruption from anyone. Though, when I get to Stephan beating me and about how he toyed with me in the beginning, taunting me and threatening me. Then, as his rage increased, his beatings and threats became worse. At that point, my body starts shaking and my breathing becomes more erratic.
Luke scoots closer and takes my hand in his, squeezing it slightly. Instantly, my body relaxes, albeit only slightly, and I give him a silent nod of thanks as I try to block out γιαγι?? (grandmas) sniffles. If I focus too much on her right now, I’ll be crying along with her and never get my statement out.
With Luke’s support, I’m able to get through what Stephan did to me, however, I’m still an anxious wreck at having to relive those memories.
After explaining what happened here at the hospital with Claudia so that it’s on record, my hands are shaking even more, despite Luke still holding onto my good one. On top of that, I’m getting really, really tired and my pain is worsening.
“Okay, I think we’ll stop here for now. When you’re feeling a bit better and you’ve had a chance to rest some more, please call me. We can get the rest of your statement about the night you were kidnapped at that time,” he says as he pockets his phone and notes before handing παππο?? (grandpa) back his notepad and pen.
I give him a tired smile as I take his business card. Turning toward Luke, I nibble my lip. “Can… Can you hold on to this for me? I’m not exactly wearing something with pockets.”
Giving me a small smile and a tilt of his head, Luke takes the card and puts it in his wallet. “Yeah, Siren, I’ve gotcha.”
My cheeks heat at the look in his eye, and I force myself to turn toward παππο?? (grandpa) and Sam, breaking the connection. “What all do I have to do for the restraining order?”
Παππο?? (Grandpa) hands me one of the packets of papers that he’s holding. “First, give this a read. If you have any questions, let me know. If there’s nothing you want to add or have corrected, then sign next to the arrow sticky notes and I’ll get it over to Tom to process.”
Dixon says his goodbyes, but Brady hovers hesitantly as he chews nervously on his lip.
I hold out my arm, and immediately, he leans in for a hug.
“Thank you for earlier,” I whisper, and I can feel his head nod against mine.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t faster.”
Shaking my head, I hug him a bit tighter. “I’d probably be in a coma right now if it weren’t for you.” He pulls back, and I wipe my cheeks, drying the tears that had escaped. “What you said earlier? Before she came in?”
Brady’s brow furrows, but then his cheeks pinken slightly when he realizes I’m referring to him asking what he can do to make it up to me.
“I think we’re square now,” I say and reach over, squeezing his hand, which is easy because he’s still standing at the head of my bed.
He gives me a doubtful look, but I nod.
“I mean it. I’d be in a coma if it weren’t for you. God knows if she had anything else planned for after I was under.”
Shit.
That thought has me freezing and I can feel my eyes widening as my worry increases. Why hadn’t I thought of that earlier?
Brady’s body stiffens at my words and out of the corner of my eye, I notice that Luke’s body stiffens as well, even though he’s talking quietly to Thor. The look he gives me in response speaks volumes. I’m not the only one who hadn’t thought of that.
Double shit.
I’m even more thankful that they were all here now, and that I wasn’t alone.
Brady clears his throat. “I’ll see what I can do to find out what else was her plan. Try to rest, Mary. I know it’ll probably be hell getting good sleep because of the pain, but still, please try.”
Knowing he’s just worried and not trying to boss me around, I nod, but then a yawn escapes.
“I’ll get out of your hair so you can review the restraining order before you crash. Take care, Mary and I’ll be in touch,” he says before he disappears.
Thor clears his throat just as the door closes. “I’ll get out of here as well. Thank you for allowing me to stay. I meant what I said. We will protect you and your children.” He pauses and then turns toward Luke. “Keep me posted.”
Luke gives Thor some sort of a chin lift thing and then he’s gone.
Reaching over, I grab my cup off the table and take a drink as Luke settles into the recliner next to me, whereas γιαγι? (grandma), παππο?? (grandpa), and Sam bring their chairs closer to my bed.
For the next few minutes, I read over the restraining order, but then pause as I reach out for the pen.
I’m right-handed and my right arm is in a sling.
Blowing out a breath, I try to position the papers against my torso and I’m about to ask for a notebook or something hard to use as backing when a clip board is gently laid on my lap.
“Sorry, λουλο?δι μου (my flower). I should have thought of this sooner.”
Smiling, I shake my head. “No worries, παππο?? , and thank you. I’m good with everything you wrote in here,” I tell him as I clip the papers to the clipboard and start awkwardly signing my name next to the sticky arrows.
In a few minutes, I’m done and hand the clipboard back to παππο?? . A weight lifts off my shoulders as he takes it and I nibble my lip as I eye the stack of papers he put on the table next to my drink at some point.
I want to break the chains.
All the chains.
Soft chuckles break the silence, and I look up at my παππο?? και γιαγι? (grandparents) to see them smiling softly down at me. Did I say that out loud again? When γιαγι? (grandma) gives me a slight nod, I feel my cheeks heat, but thankfully, no one says anything.
“If you want to do everything now, I can tell you what I put in there and then you can just sign, rather than reading it all through, but it’s up to you, λουλο?δι μου (my flower). Even though your marriage was a complete sham and you never gave consent in the first place, in the eyes of the state, you are still married, since you have the copy of the marriage license.”
Relief fills me and I’m so glad that I had told Ash that the marriage certificate needed to be grabbed when we left Stephan.
“Can you tell me what you wrote up? I trust you completely and know you wouldn’t do anything that could potentially hurt me or the kids.”
The smiles I get in return makes my chest tighten. God, I’ve missed them over the years.
“Of course, λουλο?δι μου (my flower). I figured that you didn’t want anything except what I know the club has already taken, which is everything for the kids and your belongings. I put a clause in here that if you find something is missing, that you will be allowed into the house to retrieve said item or items. Also, should you need to go back to the house, I put in there that there will be a police officer present to ensure you’re able to retrieve the items without interference.”
Nodding, I relax even further into the bed. “You’re correct, that’s all I wanted. When we get to wherever we’re staying, I’ll look through things to make sure nothing was missed.”
“Dragon, one of my brothers and Thor’s twin, texted and said that when the club got everything out of the house, Ash went through each room, double checking that nothing was missed. I know there’s still a chance something could have been missed, but he thought he had everything on your list,” Luke says as he holds up his phone.
That has me chuckling. “I swear Ash has an eidetic memory. If he thinks he got everything, then he probably did. If anything’s missing, it’s most likely replaceable. Once I’m healed enough, I want to get a job. I need to be able to support us even though it’s going to be rough without a car. I’m sure the one I had years ago is long gone.”
Tension fills the room and my gaze bounces between all four of them nervously.
“What am I missing?”
Γιαγι? (Grandma) clears her throat and leans forward, patting my good leg. “ Λουλο?δι μου , your car is in our garage. We’ve been making sure it gets proper maintenance so it should be ready for you whenever we found you. As for money, everything you got from Nikos was put into a trust for you since you were kidnapped, otherwise it would have gone straight to you. We figured there could be a chance that the kidnappers had your banking information and we didn’t want them getting their hands on it. We wanted to make sure you would have it for when we found you. The house… well…” she pauses, looking over at Luke nervously.
I turn to him and frown at how nervous he looks. Even his cheeks and the tips of his ears are a little pink. His eyes nervously flit around, though he mostly fixates on his hands as he picks at a nail.
“I… uh… I… um… Iboughtthehouse,” he tells me, his words rushed and said so quickly that it takes a minute for me to realize what he said.
I blink at him in disbelief. “You bought my house?” The words are barely whispered, but he nods his head, the pink on his cheeks and ears darkening even further as his gaze bores into mine.
“I knew you would want your things and memorabilia. I also knew there was a chance you wouldn’t want the house after what happened,” he pauses as he licks his lips and my stomach clenches at the memory of πατ?ρα? (dad) laying on the living room floor in a pool of his own blood. “But still, I wanted you to have the chance to make that decision for yourself. Your grandparents helped, but I didn’t want them to have to pay for two mortgages, especially since we didn’t know when we would find you again. They took over the mortgage payments in the beginning until I was able to work enough to build up a good nest egg, then I took them over. Other than cleaning things up, nothing’s been changed or removed from the house. Twice a month, either γιαγι? (grandma) or I go over to clean it so it wouldn’t be a mess whenever we found you. I also check in regularly to make sure nothing needs repaired or there haven’t been any attempts at breaking in.”
Tears stream down my face at that and almost instantly, I’m wrapped in Luke’s and γιαγι?? (grandmas) arms while παππο?? and Sam squeeze my calf. Though, I know if I were upright, both of their arms would have also been around me as well.
They hold me until my tears run dry and when she pulls back, γιαγι? (grandma) hands me a tissue box which I gratefully take and blow my nose.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how much that means to me. All these years, I’d been tortured with Stephan’s words. That he’d had the entire house emptied. He told me he’d sold off what he could and trashed or burned the rest. That I would never have a reminder as to who I was before he bought me. That I was his and that I was never going to be free of him. It killed me that I’d lost everything of ours. That I’d lost anything to remember πατ?ρα? (dad) by. Thanks to all of you, I have all of that and will hopefully be free of him soon. I know he’ll fight the divorce, but I still want to file for it.”
Muscles tick in Luke’s, Sam’s, and παππο? (grandpas) jaws, but they don’t say anything about Stephan’s threats. If they’re like this after hearing just those couple of threats, I’m not sure how they’ll be once I get into more about the last nine years. I repress a shiver, not wanting to worry them any more right now.
Picking up the divorce papers, everyone takes the cue, and for the next ten minutes, παππο?? goes through them with me. I’m relieved that it’s just like he said. I’m not contesting the house or the cars. Even if I wanted to, it would be hard since none of them are in my name and I didn’t contribute to any of the payments. The only things I want are our personal belongings. I don’t even want any of his money, which thankfully, παππο?? put in there that I wasn’t asking for any. I just want us to be free of him. Besides, even if it isn’t much, whatever money I got from πατ?ρα? (dad) will hopefully tide me over until I’m able to work.
Regardless, it’s going to be a tough fight, because that’s exactly what Stephan will do.
He’ll fight.
Well, first he’ll blow a gasket and I’m sure more than one room in the house will be trashed. But for once, he’ll have to clean it up himself. Not to mention figure out how to take care of himself. The man has no cooking ability whatsoever, so I’m sure his future will include a lot of takeout and frozen meals.
Twenty minutes later, I’ve signed my name on the last line and sink back into the bed, relieved that this part is over.
“I’ll get these to Tom as soon as he’s in the office later this morning.
I try to tell him thank you, but a yawn interrupts me. One so deep my jaw pops. They all chuckle.
“ Λουλο?δι μου , we’ll let you get some rest. Later today, we’ll stop in to check on you,” γιαγι? says as she gets out of her chair and steps forward, leaning down to kiss my forehead.
“See you later, λουλο?δι μου . I’ll text Luke with updates as I have them,” παππο?? tells me before he also leans down and kisses my forehead.
“I’m glad you’re out of there and now safe. We’ll get out of your hair. Give us a call when you’re feeling more rested,” Sam says as pats my calf again.
“Good night and thank you, all of you. For everything.” They all wave me off as another yawn strikes, and then it’s just Luke and me.
“Let me get you your pain medicine. I wanted to give it to you earlier because it was obvious you were in serious pain, but I knew Haris wanted your mind clear while going over everything.” He gets up and logs into the computer before measuring out my dose.
Sleepily, I nod, too tired and in too much pain to really say anything. Now that everything’s done, I’m crashing hard and am looking forward to when the meds kick in.
Moments later, Luke gives me the pain meds and I give him a smile in thanks, my eyelids heavy with sleep.
“Sleep, Siren. I’ve gotcha.”
And for the first time in nine years, the last remaining thought that crossed my weary mind was that I was finally safe. With that, I let myself succumb to a deep sleep.