16. Chapter 16
Two Months Later ~ Thanksgiving
Present
Pulling the turkey out of the oven, I pray that tonight goes well. This is the first time that I’ll have seen my παππο?? και γιαγι? (grandparents) since I was kidnapped and sold. To say I’m nervous is an understatement. However, also being back home has brought its own troubles, and surprisingly, rewards for the kids and me.
Stephan has had to let up on a lot of constraints and rules now that I’m back home around family and friends that I’ve known since I was a kid. To keep me out of some social events would have made people suspicious and when I told him that, I could see the wheels turning in his mind. Knowing about that secret conversation with Diego months ago has inadvertently helped me regain some freedom and privileges.
It also helped with γιαγι? (grandma) seeing me in the grocery store last week after I had dropped Cassie off at school.
Reaching up, I grab a box of stuffing off the shelf when I hear a startled gasp behind me. Twirling around, my body freezes.
Is it really her?
“ Λουλο?δι μου (My flower),” she whispers and my eyes fill with tears.
“ Γιαγι? (Grandma).”
A strangled cry escapes her lips that she tries to muffle with her hands. Then the next thing I know, her arms are wrapped around me and her signature scent of lilies engulfs me. I’m not sure how long we stand there, wrapped in each other’s arms as we cry. When she pulls back, both of us wipe our cheeks, drying our tears.
“ Λουλο?δι μου (My flower), where—”
My eyes widen in alarm and I quickly look around before returning my focus to her. “Not here,” I hiss quietly at her. “I’m probably being watched. You can’t mention any of that or Luke.”
I pause when I spot a familiar person entering the same aisle that we’re in, and I can feel my muscles tensing in response. Γιαγι? (Grandma) must be able to tell because she gives my arm a soft squeeze.
“ Λουλο?δι μου (My flower), it is so good to see you again . We must have Thanksgiving together. After all these years, your παππο?? (grandpa) and I have missed you terribly. I won’t take no for an answer,” she tells me, and she gives me a look I know all too well.
She really won’t accept no.
“I would like that. However, you should come to our house. You can see the kids,” I tell her. Carefully glancing toward the man that’s one of Stephan’s underlings, I’m relieved when he’s still at the end of the aisle. “And to meet my husband, Stephan Hayes,” I whisper quietly to γιαγι? (grandma), knowing that she’ll tell παππο?? (grandpa) his name . With me suddenly disappearing, he’ll look into Stephan. That is, if what Luke and Alli have told me is true.
Γιαγι?? (Grandmas) eyes light up in understanding, but I also see excitement there that I’m agreeing to have dinner together and that she’ll get to meet her great-grandkids.
“ Λουλο?δι μου (My flower), that sounds perfect . Give me your new phone number and we can text as we get all the details lined up for our get together.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Stephan’s underling clenching his fists, so I’m guessing he heard her. However, since it’s in public, I can’t really deny her without making her suspicious. And I think he realizes that because he doesn’t step in like he had in the past.
Digging my phone out of my purse, I try to stop my shaky hands but a sharp glance from γιαγι? (grandma) tells me she’s noticed my nervousness. Still, we exchange numbers and after another hug, we part ways.
When I got home that day, I wasn’t surprised when I saw Stephan was waiting for me. He went into a long rant that I should have been more careful and as soon as I spotted her, I should have turned and walked away. I tried reasoning with him that if I had walked away, it would have made things worse because then she would have sought me out on her own. That we would eventually have had a surprise visit at the house at some point. I tried to butter him up by saying I suggested our house so that he could better control how things went and that he wouldn’t get that if we went to their house. It took the better part of an hour, but he finally relented and agreed that we could host Thanksgiving at our house.
Since then, Stephan has threatened me several times that if he’s going to continue to allow me to do these things and have these privileges, like being able to see my family and friends, I have to be the perfect, loving and supportive wife in public. In no way am I to tell anyone about what he does to us behind closed doors. Over the years, I’ve gotten good at acting like things were fine, but that was around strangers.
Tonight is going to be a major struggle.
I used to be extremely close to my παππο?? και γιαγι? (grandparents), even though we didn’t see each other more than five or six times a year before we moved to Forest Creek. Once we moved, I saw them multiple times a week, if not daily. I’m afraid that they’re going to see right through my lies, but I have to try. If they do realize I’m lying, I just hope that they don’t say anything around Stephan that will set him off. I have a plan to get some information to παππο?? (grandpa) tonight and I need it to go off without a hitch.
If everything goes according to plan, this will be my first step toward freedom.
As a just in case, Ash knows where all the important documents are and things we’ll need to grab if we’re in a rush. That way, we can divide and conquer. Or if need be, he can call Luke.
About a month ago, I ran into Luke at the grocery store. I was moving gingerly thanks to another beating. I was trying to reach a box of cereal on the top shelf when I felt someone step up close behind me.
A hand stretches above me and grabs the box of cereal I’d been trying to reach. Spinning around, I stare in shock at Luke standing right up in my personal space. The smell of his cologne takes me back to when we were in high school. However, now there’s the added scent of leather with a tinge of oil mixed in with it, probably from his motorcycle. The combination is heady, and I feel my knees wobble. Though, that could be in part because Luke is most definitely not dressed in scrubs with a long-sleeve undershirt this time. No, this time he’s dressed in blue jeans, boots, a leather cut, and a snug fitting t-shirt that shows off many tattoos on his arms and how muscular he is.
“Here you go, ma’am,” he says with a wink as he steps back.
“T-Thank you,” I reply, grateful that he isn’t saying anything too out of the ordinary.
“Mr. Patch!” Cassie calls out as she jumps up and down in the cart, holding her hands out like she wants a hug.
I stare at her in shock. My generally shy, introvert daughter wants a hug from a man she’s only met once.
However, what Luke does damn near has my knees buckling.
He pushes his grocery cart to the side so that he’s not blocking the aisle and steps forward, hugging my daughter. He says something quietly to her that has her giggling as she clings to him. Then Isaiah, who has stepped closer to Patch, grins and raises his fist like he’s seen people on TV do. Luke chuckles and bumps his fist. His gaze cuts to Ash, who’s standing at my side protectively, and gives him a chin lift as he ruffles his hair slightly.
Shit, I feel like my ovaries are ready to combust from the heated look he’s giving me and how he’s interacting with my kids. Holy hell, if I hadn’t been in love with Luke all these years, I think this whole scenario might have been my first turning point.
“You doing okay, Siren?” he asks quietly, pitching his voice low.
Licking my dry lips, his gaze follows the action and I have to squeeze my thighs together as his eyes turn even more heated than they were when he sees my reaction.
“I’m doing okay. Thank you for checking on me.” My brain is short circuiting, being this close to Luke again, but I still have to try and be careful about my words in case one of Stephan’s underlings is around.
He steps close to the cart, and out of the corner of my eye, I see him slip something inside the kids’ backpack. I always carry it around when we go out. It’s stocked with fresh clothes, toys, snacks, wipes to clean up said snacks, and things like that in case of emergencies. I hadn’t noticed that the bag was slightly unzipped before.
“It’s been killing me not knowing you were safe, Siren. Keep this someplace safe. I’ve got four numbers programmed in. The first is mine. The second is Thor, my President. Third is Phoenix, my VP. Last is the clubhouse main line. Just say your name and you need to talk to one of us. My brothers and sisters know not to turn a phone call from you away.”
My face flames at that as I wonder what all he told them about me. His face softens when he notices my alarm and panic.
“Don’t worry, only Thor knows what’s happened since he’s my President. To get his help, he needed to know what we’d be up against, but he would have helped you regardless because of the fact that we don’t condone what he’s been doing to you. Phoenix might know a little more than the others, but that’s only because he’s the VP. Everyone else was only told a very high overview. You call and we’ll come running. You have a whole club behind you, Siren.”
Tears prick my eyes and I blink rapidly to keep them from falling. I’m also grateful that he didn’t say Stephan’s name out loud.
Luke steps back and I hate it when the cold starts to seep in again.
“I’m glad you’re doing better.” He pauses and looks at the kids again. “What are you all going to be going as for Halloween?”
My smile falters at that, and being as attentive as he is, Luke doesn’t miss it. His face darkens, but he quickly masks it for the kids’ sake.
“We take turns handing out candy at our house. We dress up like ghosts while watching Halloween movies,” Ash tells him and a muscle ticks in Luke’s jaw as he clenches it.
“Well, I hope you all have a fun night, but don’t eat too much sugar. And don’t forget to brush your teeth after having candy. You don’t want to end up with cavities.”
Surprisingly, all three of my children nod in agreement, almost in sync.
“We will, Mr. Patch,” Cassie says and Luke grins at her, though I can tell it’s strained.
“Well, I should let you get back to your shopping.” He pauses as his gaze comes back to me. “Take care.”
Swallowing the emotion clogging my throat, I smile, though I know it’s probably weak and shaky. “I will, thank you. You, too.”
With that, he says goodbye to my kids, and turns, continuing down the aisle to finish his own shopping.
As soon as we got home, I had Ash hide the burner phone in his closet with instructions to only use it if I tell him to. Then we went on like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Even now, I’m still surprised that no beating came that night. I was sure there would be one since we had spent about five minutes talking. That one of Stephan’s underlings had seen us and ratted me out. But it never came and nothing was ever mentioned about it.
A small part of me wonders if Luke had his club watching out for Stephan’s men, but I shake that thought away. I doubt they’d do that. I mean, they don’t even know me.
Thinking about Luke sends my mind spiraling again. The things he showed me and told me back on Ash’s birthday when I was in the ER has been tumbling around my mind for the past few months.
Did he really mean everything he said? Was he really looking for me all this time?
Then there’s what he whispered to me.
Luke had apologized about bringing it up right then, but that he needed me to know the truth since he didn’t know when he’d be able to talk to me again. He told me that Alli had shared with him what she and I had talked about the last time I’d been in the ER and she was my nurse. That the pictures I showed her about him were probably all fake. Thankfully, he didn’t say the words outright, but he reiterated that what Alli told me was true. Meaning he’d only been with a handful of people all these years. He also told me that the last time anything had happened, which was just a blow job, was almost a year ago.
At the time, I had just stared at him, trying to find any clue or hint that he was lying to me, but he wasn’t. It seems that the connection we’d always had was still strong. We always knew when the other was lying or not telling the whole truth. With just a look, we always knew when something was wrong or off with each other, too.
These last few months have been strange. Now knowing that Stephan somehow has been creating these fake images has had me wondering what else he’d been lying to me about. I’d found my old phone again after moving here and had shaken my head when Stephan didn’t hide it as well as he had in years past. I’d fiddled with it and found out that he had blocked all the numbers of my friends and family. Since I didn’t remember all of them by heart, I wrote them all down and kept the list in a safe place since I couldn’t very well put them into my phone. He still sneaks my phone every now and then and looks through everything on it. He thinks I don’t notice when he takes it, but I do.
The doorbell rings, bringing me out of my thoughts, and my nerves instantly skyrocket. While I’d been able to tell γιαγι? (grandma) a few things at the grocery store, I don’t think she’ll say anything about Luke or why I haven’t been in contact over the years, but you never know.
I just pray this goes well.
I want to keep being able to see my family.