Chapter 48: Forty-Eight

“Yes, this is her. Who’s speaking?” It was obvious the confusion in her voice.

“I’m Melina.” She replied in a whisper, remembering she had to breathe. Sweat streaked down from her temples, and she gave up on her coffee. It was only adding to her nervous state.

“Is Hank okay? Where is he?” The strain in Ella’s questions made Melina’s heart sink. She didn’t mean to get the lady worried.

“No! Nothing happened to him. He’s fine.” She quickly rambled on the phone.

“Oh… I take he doesn’t know you’re calling me, then.”

“No, he doesn’t, and I’d love to count on your discretion. But I didn’t know who else to turn to, and he talks about you with so much love and care…”

“We have a brother and sister relationship.” She reassured her.

“I know.”

“I was his brother’s fiancé. Why are you calling me? Is he giving you a hard time?”

They were talking for two minutes, and only a few words, but the way Ella was addressing her with hints of concern and soothing in her tone, she relaxed and sobs escaped her lips after Ella’s question. Melina gathered up her courage and confided in her all her worries. She let nothing out. It was imperative to have an input from someone who knew him well, so she could see some light at the end of the tunnel, not a freight train about to run over her.

“I’m so sorry to hear he’s behaving like an ape. I feel like killing him right now since he’s doing the opposite of what I told him to.” Ella huffed at the other end. “Stubborn asshole.”

The low mutterings brought a barely there smile to Melina’s lips. She wished they could be friends. Ella sounded remarkable, with a beautiful soul, and she knew they’d get along just fine. She missed having more friends to count on.

“So, what do you need from me?”

“Answers. He doesn’t talk to me. Now he’s forcing me to marry him.” She gave a long sigh. “Well, he assumes he is, but not really. The point is, he just had to ask like everybody else does. Not like a gorilla.”

“I’m sorry about that, Melina. But it’s not in my place to reveal things he doesn’t want to.”

“Please Ella, he built a wall around him impossible to break. He doesn’t talk to me, nor tell me anything about himself, so I can understand his ways. I don’t know what else to do.”

There was a long silence on the phone. The soft breathing and the background noises were coming through, baby noises and a soft male voice gave her away. Ella was still there, pondering what to say or do. It wasn’t an easy feat, and Melina knew she was stepping in on their privacy, but hope sparked in her soul.

“He got very sick with the flu a few weeks ago, and he called a lot for Tom and Claire while delirious, and believe me, it was heart wrenching to watch.” A pained and surprised gasp filled her ear, telling Melina this was news to her. “I know Claire and you are the same, he told me, but not the reason. He said one day you’ll tell me yourself… Did you know how much all this moved him? That Henry had these mixed-up feelings torturing him inside?”

“I had a clue, but not to that extent. Tom and Hank used to spare me from everything, and it seems he still thinks I’m the fragile, dimwitted from before who will break at the first problem!” Ella sighed. “Tom got killed in a hit-and-run accident, but it was my father behind it. Since Franco couldn’t touch Hank, he hurt his brother, but of course it wasn’t only that, Tom had left the business with Hank, and you don’t get to leave once you’re in.”

“Why was Henry untouchable?”

“He wasn’t untouchable. Franco tortured him a lot. He just couldn’t kill him.”

“Why?”

It was the only word that left her mouth as tears pricked her eyes. Heaviness clawed at her chest and anger rose in her soul. She couldn’t even fathom the things he went through. A desperate longing blossomed in her and the need to be with him, nurture Henry, and erase the miseries he suffered hit her with utmost urgency, putting her protective streak on alert.

The word torture echoed in her mind just like those church bells that once one ring them, the sound goes on forever. Her brain stopped functioning at the word, and it was getting hard for her to get back on track and pay attention to what Ella was saying. She felt so cold all of a sudden. Staring at the wall, her vision blurred, and Melina couldn’t hold the tears threatening to fall. She zoned out, and it was difficult to focus again.

“Melina? Are you still there?” Ella called her a few times back to the conversation.

“I’m here!” She choked, blinking several times.

“Listen, Hank saw and lived through horrors as much as I did, and everybody else involved with my father’s business. You can tell for yourself. We have deep scars in our souls, lost people we love, got hurt, tortured, you name it. If you give him the chance, underneath all that stoic façade, he is the most caring and lovable man I know, and he loves you, Melina.”

“I know, Ella. But he’s pushing me away. He wants me to hate him, because he can’t bear to see the gratitude on my face, and I don’t have a clue of what he’s talking about.”

“Melina, Hank told me everything that had happened between the two to the day you disappeared. We’ve been talking a lot since he found you again. I’m aware there were a lot of misunderstandings since day one, and because of those he thinks, you picture him as a cold-blooded monster. If you want to cross the wall he built, let him know he’s wrong.”

“Don’t you think I have tried?” The effort to hold her emotions back and not make a mess of herself sank after Ella’s words. Melina didn’t have the strength to keep her already straining emotions in check. Henry spat those words at her more than once, but she didn’t take it into consideration since they were yelled at each other in the heat of an argument. “You’re right, I didn’t try enough.” She sniffled, and suddenly an ear piercing cry broke into the background. And it was her cue to hang up.

“My boy just got fed up with his father.” Ella giggled. “I’m sorry, but I have to tend to him. A piece of advice, get closer to Darryl or Eli. They care a lot about Hank, like brothers do, and they can be a wonderful ally for you. They are all big and scary, but softies at heart.”

“Thank you very much! You helped me a lot, and sorry for bothering you.”

“I’m here if you need to talk, and please, take good care of him. Let me know how things will work out between you.”

Melina hung up with only one thing in mind. Go to him. Her heart and soul demanded she find and talk to him, but she had to bend over backwards not to give in to her wish, because one wrong move and she’d lose him for good. If he was doing everything in his power for her to hate him out of fear, if he had the slightest glimpse, she was there out of pity. There would be nothing she could do to crash the brick wall he put up around him. Maybe a bulldozer would do, but she didn’t know how to drive one.

Henry would take it as pity, even though what she felt was a tearing sorrow not only for him, but for both of them. They were both victims of a psychopath. The only difference was that she didn’t meet the monster in person, but his doings. Unfortunately, Henry was in his hands and got the blunt end of it. And to make matters worse, how many times he screamed at her he was innocent, he hadn’t done it, and she was so blinded by her own pain and selfishness that she didn’t believe him. She went beyond and accused him even more.

The most endearing laughter came through the baby monitor, taking her mind from her miseries and filling her heart with so much love she was about to burst. She wanted Henry to also have that amazing feeling. Eve was awake and having one of her conversations with the cats, and every morning she enjoyed listening to them. Melina leapt out of bed, heading to her little girl’s room. She would start her morning routine with Eve, and while at it, she’d figure out what to do.

She got so engrossed in her chores around Eve, morning flew by, and she didn’t even notice. The clock marked noon, and she had to feed her little girl. It was then an idea formed. Darryl would be hard to get a hold of, since he was always with Henry, but Eli… He was the one assigned to guard her home. Opening the fridge, a pang stung in her chest. The rice pudding was there, the only thing missing was the note.

Walking outside with a small bowl in her hands, she closed the distance between her and Eli, who stared at Melina in slits. Eli was tall and bulky, jet black locks that matched his penetrating black eyes, always watchful and missing nothing going on around him. Underneath all the army style clothes and security equipment, Melina could devise his rippling muscles every time he moved. She was an Adonis of a man, and she was sure the women would throw themselves at him.

“Hello. I hope you like rice pudding with lime zest.” She greeted him with a gorgeous smile plastered on her face. Those obsidian orbs narrowed even more at her.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence, Miss. Karagianis?” His rough voice rumbled full of suspicion, but with a hint of humor in it.

“I thought you wanted some dessert, Eve and I made yesterday.” She extended to him, but he raised an eyebrow to his hairline and crossed his arms above his chest. “Fine! A little birdie told me you care about Henry as a brother. Do you care about him enough to help me climb the great wall of China he built around himself?”