“Thank goodness,” Immy said from the left of me. I turned my head to see my parents on the other side of me.
Mom looked tired, her eyes streaked with mascara.
“Oh, my girl.” She fell on the bed, hugging me. “I couldn’t bear it if anything ever happened to you. Thank goodness you’re okay.”
Dad gave me a warm smile. “Just a small concussion, sweetie. You’re going to be fine.”
“Lily . . . Liam. I need to go to them.” I moved to sit up. My children are alone.
“They’re at my house with Shay. They’re safe.” Immy placed her hand on my arm.
My hand without the IV touched my forehead. “Just a few stitches.” She exhaled and took a seat by my bed. “Hayes was here all night with you. I just forced him to go home to change and shower about half an hour ago. He smelled like a swamp and was covered in mud.” Her nose scrunched up. “I’m so grateful he was there for you.” She hiccuped, trying to control tears.
“We are so grateful Shay’s cousin found you,” Mom repeated, holding her hand over her heart.
My head was filled with fog, little snippets of my memory replaying in my mind. “Mark took me.”
“Yes.” Mom nodded. I hadn’t realized I said it out loud.
Tears blurred my vision as I remembered how he held me at gunpoint. My eyes squeezed shut, willing the memory to disappear, only it wouldn’t. It stuck in my mind like crazy glue.
“Hush. You’re okay. You’re safe. Kids are safe,” Immy assured me. She knew me well. I needed to know my kids were okay.
“Mark,” I said, my eyes looking all around the room. Shame filled me like venom.
Immy gritted her jaw. “There’s no way you could’ve seen this coming. He had us all duped, Natalia. Don’t go inside your head and blame yourself for any of this.” She took hold of my hand and looked into my eyes when she spoke, but how could I believe that?
“I’m a fool. A stupid fool.” I shook my head, causing more pain.
“No,” she said vehemently. “Not this time. You don’t get to blame yourself or take responsibility for anything he’s done. He’s a professional criminal. There was absolutely no way you could have known.”
“Lia, seriously. There is no way you could have known that man was a drug dealer. I thought he was a loser yes, but I didn’t have him pegged as part of an international crime ring.” Mom huffed out the words. Something about her admission made me feel like less of an idiot.
“Where is he?” I asked, flipping the hospital blanket off my legs to see cuts and bruises down my thighs and calves.
“He got away.” Immy winced. “He has ties to one of the biggest drug cartels in Mexico. They got him out of the country.”
“The kids and I will never be safe as long as he’s out there.”
“FBI thinks he fled to Mexico,” Dad said. “It’s too risky for him to be on US soil. They don’t believe he’s a threat but they have people in Mexico who are working on finding him,” he explained.
There was a small knock on the hospital room door and Hayes peeked his head in. Seeing him made me feel even more stupid.
“Hi. Can I come in?”
I nodded.
He walked over to my bed and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“I’ll go grab a coffee,” Immy said. “Would you like some?” She looked between my parents, and I could tell she was hinting that everyone should want coffee now. Meaning leave the two lovebirds alone.
“I think I’ll join you,” Dad said, and then looked to my mother. It was funny how those two were never in sync.
Mom cleared her throat. “Yes, me too.”
“How are you?” Hayes took my hand and sat on the edge of my bed. He had a few cuts on his face.
“I could be better.” I forced a laugh. “I . . .” I paused, choking up. “I want to thank you for everything.”
He gazed at me thoughtfully. “Sweetheart, you have nothing to thank me for.” The way he called me sweetheart warmed my chest.
“You saved my life. I don’t know how I didn’t see who Mark was. I’m so stupid,” I spluttered.
“Hey, no name calling, please. You’ve been through a trauma. You were used and scammed. It’s normal to feel bad about it. Anyone would, even though none of it was your fault. Mark was a professional con man, a criminal,” he said.
“You saw through him,” I reminded him.
“Not exactly. I thought the guy was off. That was all. I did not expect him to be a high-profile drug dealer. I allowed my own anxieties about life to interfere. That is why I called my friend in MI5. My reaction wasn’t normal. It all happened by fluke. I’m just as stunned by all of this.” He took my hand. “I’m here for you. I know you need time to heal, but I want you to share your feelings with me. We’ve always been open with each other, and I don’t want that to stop.” His blue eyes blazed with conviction and warmth.
“I’m questioning everything,” I admitted.
“That’s what happens when you’ve been through something traumatic,” he answered in doctor mode. Still, I appreciated his medical opinion. I wanted to ask how I could trust myself ever again. I didn’t say those words because he saved my life. He’d proven over and over that he could be trusted. I just felt so broken.
“I want to go home,” I said. A nurse knocked on the door and entered the room.
“We saw the monitor spike a little. Figured it might be a bad dream. Is it okay if we check your vitals?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Hayes took a step back but didn’t leave. He watched me the way he always did with that camera-lens stare.
The nurse took my blood pressure and checked my IV drip. “How’s the headache?” she asked.
“Not too bad,” I answered.
“Meds are doing their job then. If you feel pain, let me know.” She smiled.
“Thank you. When can I go home?” The minute those words left my mouth, I knew I never wanted to go back to the place I lived with Mark. It wasn’t a home. We weren’t happy there, and now I knew our life was based on a lie. Where would we go?
“If your vitals remain stable, I’m pretty sure Dr. Patterson will let you leave tomorrow,” the nurse said, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You should get as much rest as possible,” she said before turning to leave.
Hayes fell back into the chair by my bed. “The police have a car watching Immy’s house. They don’t expect Mark to try anything; it’s just a precaution, and I thought it would make you feel better.”
I exhaled. “It does.”
“Get some rest, Natalia. I’m here with you.” His lips turned up slightly like he wanted to smile but felt sad.
“Okay,” I agreed because my body felt so tired.
One month later
Dad had given me some time off work. The kids and I moved into his house, and we placed all of my and Mark’s things in storage. With the kids off to school, I was home alone with Anna, Dad’s wife. She’d been really good about hosting the kids and me.
The doorbell rang. “That must be Rosie.” Anna smiled and made a run for the door. I mostly felt okay. I attributed my lethargic mood to my minds attempt to absorb everything I’d been through.
Rosabell walked into the kitchen with a crooked smile that told me she felt bad for me. Everyone felt bad for me, and I hated every moment of being the victim. “Hey.” She gave me a hug.
“Thanks for making a house call.” I forced a smile, my lip quirked on one side.
“You know I’m here for you night and day,” she said sadly. Unfortunately, my story made the six o’clock national news because of Mark’s connection to the cartel, my kidnapping and his mysterious escape. Now all my friends knew what happened, and who Mark truly was.
“Coffee or tea, ladies?” Anna asked from the kitchen.
“None for me thanks.” I grinned to her.
“Coffee for me, Maw,” Rosabell answered.
“You drink too much coffee,” Anna chided.<
br />
“Not now, Maw,” she said and looked back to me with a loving eye roll. “What’s going on?” she asked thoughtfully, and I hated to say it, but I saw the pity in her eyes linger, reminding me what a fool I’d been.
“I want to divorce Mark. I can’t imagine being married to him for a minute longer than I have to. I realize being MIA is a problem, but I’m hoping you can help.” My brows furrowed, and I held my breath.
“From what I understand you won’t be able to serve Mark with divorce papers.” She winced a little.
“The FBI thinks he fled to Mexico,” I explained.
“Okay, normally a judge expects a diligent search for a missing person. In your case we could probably get one of the officers assigned to Mark’s case to confirm he is probably not in the United States. You will need to sign an Affidavit of Diligent Search, and we will file it together with the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.” She paused.
“Feel free to ask me whatever you need.”
She nodded and took a deep breath. “I need to know about your assets. Any debts you and Mark may have,” she sighed.
“The house is almost fully mortgaged,” I explained. I realized once everything was sold, I’d be left with nothing significant.
“Any money that was due to the proceeds of crime will be confiscated by the parties involved in his arrest,” she explained.
“I’ve spoken with the FBI. It seems the one thing I can be thankful for is that Mark didn’t use any of his money to pay for the house. Hence our debt. He had to put up a front of being poor so he would remain under the radar. In the meantime I worked my ass off to keep us afloat while he had boatloads of money sent to LA to his family there.”
“Holy fuck. That is insane,” she hissed.
My hand went up to my forehead. “Tell me about it. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around everything.”
“I want to be up front with you. It can take up to a year for the divorce to be processed. Given the special circumstances, I can try to push the judge to process it faster, but I can’t promise,” she said apologetically.
“Okay. I just want to separate my life from his. I want nothing to do with him.” I shook my head vehemently.
“How are the kids holding up?” she asked, her lips turned down. I’d somehow become charity-case Natalia. All I saw was how much everyone felt sorry for me. I hated it here. I felt like escaping too.
“Not great. Their friends know their dad is a criminal. Kids have been making comments to them, and they have a lot of questions I don’t know how to answer. I’m honestly just waiting to get the hell away from Florida.”
“Going back to school is going to be good for you,” she said.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to leave Florida,” I admitted, knowing my new life awaited me in a new place. Starting fresh was scary, but it was the only relief I had right now.
“Well, don’t worry about this legal stuff. I’ll keep you posted.” She smiled and leaned in for a hug.
“Thanks, Rosabell.” I wrapped my arms around her.
“Just take care of you and the kids,” she whispered softly.
“That’s exactly what I plan to do.”
Chapter Forty-One
Four months later
Natalia
As the wheels of the plane touched down on the runway, I inhaled a deep breath. This was it. My kids cheered beside me, enjoying their first plane ride.
“Mommy, that was so much fun can we do it again?” Liam asked.
“We’re going to be living here for a while,” I said.
I had applied to veterinary school at Cornell because I needed a fresh start. Miami held too many bad memories and reminded me of my numerous mistakes over the years. Hayes had come back to visit for Easter and again the past weekend for Memorial Day. It was hard not being able to see him all the time, but he had his dissertation to defend, and I had to find my own footing without a man in my life. I had gone straight from college to living with Mark, and I needed this time to learn about myself and my needs.
The plane came to a stop, and the race to exit the plane began. Both of my kids had a backpack and I had one too as we exited the plane. We moved to New York State, Ithaca to be exact, with our clothes and that was it. We arrived at the carousel to pick up our luggage. My stomach was already doing handsprings, knowing Hayes was waiting for us on the other side of the doors. He helped me find a two-bedroom apartment to rent in Ithaca since I wasn’t ready to move in with him. I bought a bunch of furniture at IKEA online and had them deliver it to the apartment. Hayes said he’d already put everything together. We were pretty much set.
With a trolley covered in suitcases as tall as me, my kids and I walked through the doors leading to the pick-up area. My eyes scanned the waiting crowd. I remembered the last time I flew into New York. I had been a mess, drowning in a marriage I thought I could save. And there he was with cerulean eyes zoomed in on me like a camera, like I was his sole focus in this world. He made my anxiety about moving melt away.
“Hi.” He smiled at me and leaned in for a kiss on the cheek.
“Hi.” I grinned widely back.
The children knew Hayes as Shay’s cousin. Their father had basically left them. The first couple months they cried and missed him like crazy. They knew from the kids at school that Mark had done something illegal with drugs, but they were too little to understand what that meant. I told them daddy had to go away for a while because he made some mistakes.
“I’m parked underground. Let me get those.” Hayes took the trolley from me and the kids and I followed.
“This place looks really big,” Liam said, his head moving in all directions. He looked overwhelmed. Lily walked beside me holding my hand and not saying much. She had been quiet in general these past few months.
“It’s a fun city. We are going to have lots of fun this summer. Ithaca is beautiful,wait until you see the falls,” Hayes said to the kids. I loved that he seemed so enthusiastic.
“Is there a beach? Can we go every weekend?” Lily asked. My sunshine girl was definitely a beach girl like me.
“There’s a beautiful lake at Stewart Park,” Hayes explained.
“What’s a lake?” Liam asked.
“It’s a body of water with no sharks,” Lily answered.
“Good, Mommy won’t freak if we go in deeper,” Liam replied and we all broke into laughter.
The kids would be attending a private school as per my mother’s request. She and my dad insisted on paying the kids’ and my tuition for the next four years. My father was ecstatic I was attending Cornell, even though I told him I couldn’t promise to come back. Being in Florida had become too painful.
We reached Hayes’s jeep and the kids got in. He had a booster seat for Liam waiting. “Thank you, I totally forgot we needed one.” I rubbed his arm.
“That’s what I’m here for.” He looked straight in my eyes when he said those words. Over the years of my marriage, I learned to be alone. I learned to depend only on myself, and while this thoughtful act was endearing, I felt out of my element.
Still I wanted to kiss him. I wanted him to kiss the air out of me.
“Mom, are we going?” Lily asked anxiously beside me.
I blinked. “Sorry, yes.” I cleared my throat.
“Let’s hit the road,” Hayes chimed. He was really trying with the kids.
“Mom said you’ll be living nearby. Are you going to teach me to play guitar?” Liam asked.
“Liam,” I chided, “Hayes is busy. I don’t know if he’ll have time.” I wanted to give Hayes an out.
“That’s fine,” Liam said sadly.
Hayes looked at me, tilting his head to the side and grinning. “I’d be glad to teach you, mate. You too, Lily, if you’re interested.” I turned my head to see the first smile spread across her lips in a long time.
I cranked up the music on the radio, and Hayes drove us to our new home.
Chapter Forty-Two
Seven m
onths later
Hayes
“I have some homework to finish up,” Natalia said, picking up the dirty plates from the table.
“Go ahead. I’ll finish cleaning up,” I offered, standing from the table and collecting the dirty dishes.
“Thank you,” she gave me one of those smiles that caused her eyes to wrinkle in the corners. My heart beat for this woman.
Liam ran off to the telly.
“Mommy, I have math homework. You said you’d help me after dinner.” Lily looked to her mom with disappointment. Natalia’s program was competitive; she had a lot of tests and assignments she dealt with, on top of taking care of the children, and being the attentive mother she was, she wore herself thin.
“Sorry. Yeah, show me your homework.” I saw the dark circles under her eyes and guilt clawed at me for taking time from her sleep time last night.
“Why don’t I help you?” I cut in, looking at Lily.
“Are you sure?” She gave me a scrutinizing stare that made me laugh inside.
“I love math.” I grinned. “Do you want to remind me how you did on your spelling test last week.” I cocked a brow because I pretty much tested her on her words every week. I think it had more to do with her missing Natalia than anything else.
“I got perfect.” She pouted.
I chuckled. “Don’t look so sad about getting perfect.”
Natalia seemed to have caught on to the fact that Lily was missing her. “Thanks, but I should help Lily with her homework,” she said, looking at me and placing her hand on my shoulder. “I miss my little sweetie.” She smiled at Lily. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately.” She lifted her up. “Goodness you’re getting big.” She took a seat on a chair, holding her in her lap. “It’s the end of the school year and Mommy needs to have all her work done and study for exams which are kind of like big tests. I need to do well so I pass and can move on next year. The good news is I will be off for vacation, and we will have lots of time to spend together,” she explained, and Lily leaned her head against her mom’s shoulder.
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