Page 70 of Below the Deck

Lucy could imagine what she was about to say:People who love you don’t hurt you like that.But it wasn’t that simple. This was a different situation, of course – Alfie nevermeantto hurt Lucy, to leave scratches and bruises on her arm. But still, Lucy knew how hard it was to let go of someone you loved, even if that person sometimes hurt you.

Eleni continued to sob quietly as she spoke. ‘I know it’s hard to understand. But by the time I saw who he really was, we were married. And he was always so horrified with himself afterwards. I kept thinking he could change – that it wasn’t who hereallywas. That deep down, he was a good person; just wounded. Broken.’

She took an uneven breath. ‘I know how naive that sounds. But I was able to manage him, most of the time. As long I did everything the way he liked, we got along fine – he smashed up the house a few times, and screamed at me pretty often, but I could handle that.’

Talia shook her head. ‘Eleni, you shouldn’t have had to handle that.’

‘Oh Eleni,’ Lucy managed finally, ‘I’m so sorry. I had no idea – I thought you two were so …perfect. But why – why did he attackTalia?’

‘Nick and I had been … we’d been involved,’ Talia said. Lucy glanced at Eleni, who shrugged, her expression vacant. ‘I wanted to end it, and I told him that tonight. It was as if a switch just flipped, and he—’

She moved her hands up to her throat. ‘It was so fast. One second he was trying to sweet-talk me into keeping things going, the next he had me by the throat.’

A door closed somewhere nearby; Talia’s expression darkened. ‘Quickly – we need to work out what to say. We can’t let you take the fall for this. You saved my life by coming in here and doing what you did, Eleni.’

Lucy thought for a second. ‘We could go and tell the captain – and the police – the truth, all three of us. We could tell them Eleni was just trying to protect you, Talia, they’ll understand. They’ll let you go, Eleni – they’ll have to!’

Eleni shook her head miserably. ‘I don’t know, Lucy. I’ve tried that before, and it … it didn’t go well for me.’

Lucy frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

Eleni sniffed. ‘He had me arrested last year.’

Talia gave a soft gasp. ‘He … what?’

‘He tried to choke me, and I retaliated – the only time I’ve ever done that. I scratched his face, properly clawed him to get him off me. But our neighbours heard the screams through the wall and called the police.’

She paused. ‘When they got there, Nick introduced himselfto the officers – he said he knew their sergeant. They looked at the bloody scratches on his face and listened to him explain how stressed and anxious I could get. He told them I didn’t mean to hurt him, but I lashed out sometimes. I just let them put me in handcuffs and take me to the police station. They only let me off with a caution after Nick insisted they didn’t press charges.’

‘So he attacked you – nearly choked you to death – and you were arrested for it?’ Lucy was aghast.

Eleni nodded. ‘And with a police record, this won’t look good for me … I might go to prison – I might never see my babies again …’ She burst into heaving sobs.

Lucy frowned. ‘Eleni … this is …’ She ran out of words.Come on, Lucy, think of something.

Footsteps sounded in the corridor. ‘Oh God – someone’s going to hear us and come in.’

‘Fuck. Please don’t let it be Sam,’ murmured Eleni.

They paused to listen, but the footsteps seemed to have moved away.

‘I think whoever it was has gone,’ Lucy said. ‘But what do you mean – why would it be Sam?’

Eleni’s face took on an expression of disgust. ‘He’s been watching us all like hawks this week, for his blackmail of Rory – he even put a camera in my cabin to spy on me.’

Lucy’s jaw dropped. ‘Blackmailing Rory?’ She looked at Talia.

‘Oh yes,’ Talia confirmed. ‘Needless to say, our marriage is over.’ She gestured at Eleni, who hurriedly related what Talia had found on Rory’s phone.

‘He’s even worse than I thought,’ Lucy said, shaking her head in revulsion.

‘Has he … has he ever behaved inappropriately towardsyou, then, Lucy?’ Talia asked.

‘Oh, no, nothing like that,’ she replied. ‘I don’t have time to tell you now, but in a nutshell, Ashworth destroyed my family.’

As Talia reached out a hand to Lucy in sympathy, a new voice piped up:

‘Can I … can I help you?’