The Twelve Zenati Pt. 21

Marcella moved along the ledge, eager to see this fantastic thing that Noah had promised. She imagined a small cave that young boys probably made into a secret clubhouse or some such. She turned her head back over her shoulder to watch Noah haul himself from the water and quickly turned away again. No man should look that good just climbing out of the water. She took a few quick steps forward and almost slid on the wet rock surface, but righted herself just in time. She had just regained her balance when she felt Noah's hand come to rest on her hip, helping to steady her.

"Careful, it can get slippery along here," he warned, albeit too late.

"No shit, Sherlock," Marcella huffed again. The man drove her crazy with his fucking risk management. If she had been game enough to stomp along the ledge, she would have, but instead, she stepped carefully, unable to move far enough ahead to stop Noah's hand reaching out to steady her, even after shaking it off twice.

"Just around this edge..." Noah cut off as Marcella got her first look at the Cave of Wonders, as he and his family called it.

"Holy shit!" Marcella gasped, as she turned into the cave. This was not what she had been expecting at all. She was still standing on a narrow ledge inside the cave itself, looking at a small pool of water that delved back deeper into the cave. Mirrors fixed to the sidewalls and roof, near the entrance, reflected light into the cave, and it seemed like a series of the small hand mirrors were positioned to reflect the incoming light deeper, and make the space much lighter, than it would have been without them. The walls themselves seemed to have been muraled with bright light scenes of mermaids and mermen, and the bottom of the pool, and the edges of the cave, were strewn with dried flowers and seashells.

"When you were little, you wanted to grow up to be a merman?" Marcella asked in a teasing tone, flicking her eyes to his, and resisting the urge to let them stray down his body again.

"Not just any Merman. I wanted to be Aqua man!" Noah said indignantly.

"Oh well, that's much different," she said, stifling her laughter.

"Mock all you like, but Aqua man is very cool, I'll have you know," he said, indignantly.

"So very cool," she giggled, before stifling it again. She didn't giggle. It sounded odd, even to her own ears, and she frowned. She wasn't some giggling schoolgirl flirting with a boy. Walking deeper into the cave, and bending down as the roof clearance got lower, to inspect where the mural stopped and what looked like childish graffiti started. She ran her hands over the graffitied stones, trying to discern names she might know, when Noah came to her side, hunched over nearly in half in the cramped space.

"Here's mine," he said and pointed to a large N that had been almost covered over by other names.

"You vandalised this place?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"We all do. It's sort of a right of passage for us Zenati's," he chuckled.

"Well then, I feel privileged being here then." She looked up at him, letting her smile show that she was still teasing him.

"So, you should. This is an amazing cave of wonders, and it holds many of my best childhood memories. All you have to do to be on the wall of honour is jump from the top of the waterfall and swim into the cave. You, unfortunately, went the wrong way so you'd have to jump again to make it onto the wall of honour," he said, seriously.

"You expect me to climb that waterfall in my underwear? Without any shoes or safety equipment? Who are you and what have you done with Noah safety-first-control-freak Zenati?" Marcella shook her head and began to move back through the cave, to where she could stand upright again.

"I think it was you who said that survivors learn from their mistakes," Noah reminded her quietly, trying to keep his voice as normal as possible, despite the heat pumping through his body as he watched her. "You also know that I have the scars to prove that I've survived being a dumbass, on more than one occasion. It's about limiting the risks, not stopping you from doing anything!" He was losing his grip on his temper, or maybe his grip on his libido, but he saw her freeze at the mention of scars and regretted his words immediately.

"Even when they fade, they still remind you of the lesson, huh?" Marcella said, her voice heavy with sarcasm. She realised that she had been pushing all his alpha-male buttons this morning and he was starting to lose his famous control. "It's a shame you never grew out of that dumbass phase. Show me which scar you got jumping off that cliff I just leapt off!" She smirked to disguise the anger she felt. Her scars were not from doing fun or risky activities. It wasn't fair of him to compare them.

"You're right. That scar faded long ago, and I still make sure to jump in just the right spot to this day," he admitted. He could hear the change of tone in her voice and see the tension in her body, and he knew that his analogy had been the wrong thing to say, but it was too late now. "Some scars never go away, I guess. The ones that haunt our memories and colour the way we live our lives. My mistakes make me manage the risks these days. I have a friend who knows no fear and spends more time in a hospital gown than out of it. He has started getting tattoos to cover up the deepest of his scars."

"Tattoos? Like biker skulls and crosses? Something meaningful to how he got the scar? Or more like body art?" Marcella asked, genuinely curious, as she followed him back to the part of the cave they could stand in.

"I don't know why you would permanently mark your body with a tattoo if it weren't meaningful to you in some way. I have thought about getting one more than once," he admitted.

"Scared of the pain?" she teased.

"Scared of waking up a year later and regretting it," he amended. "It's the laser removal treatment that hurts, or so I've heard," he chuckled. "If I told you that I would take you to a tattoo shop today and you could choose any tattoo, would you know definitively what you would want?" Noah asked.

"Yep, definitively," she said earnestly, noting the surprise on Noah's face.

"And where would you put this definitive tattoo?" Noah asked, curious about the resolve in her voice as she answered him.

"Right here." She poked a finger into the soft flesh of the upper portion of her left breast.

"Wow, you've really given this some thought, haven't you?" he asked, in wonder.

"There's nothing wrong with knowing what you want," she shrugged, moving to sit at the end of the pool and looking down at the bottom covered in smooth shells and stones.

"I guess that depends on what you want. Some things are harder to obtain than others," Noah moved to sit beside Marcella, feeling the tension drain from the air again. "Let's go swim and dry off in the sun. Our lift out of here will arrive in less than an hour."

*****

Gideon sat quietly with Genesis, considering all that they now knew. By true Table law, they, and their fathers, could not refuse the Gambaro Family request for Marcella to return to her home. She was not engaged to Noah, nor had she given any indication that she had more than a passing care for anyone here, aside from her sister and Vivienne. In fact, she had taken great pains to isolate herself from the family, for the most part. Still, the demand hadn't been made to them. The command to return home had been left in the messages on her phone.

"We need to get Oscar and Nathanael onside. Nathanael, at least, knows the background information now. Oscar could countermand the command if it ever came officially," Genesis said, his investigator's mind still working over the details. The gut feeling he had that there was more going on beneath the surface than anyone knew about when it came to why, out of the three sisters, only Marcella seemed to have been mistreated. "Did anyone talk to the older sister yet?" he asked Gideon. His gut told him that the older men of the Gambaro Table had tried to cover up the fact that one of their own had mistreated his daughter so badly.

"Xavier was going to talk to Massimo about it, I think." Gideon frowned as he tried to remember the conversation. "I know that Vivienne was trying to get hold of her at one stage, but backed off when Xavier was making inquiries through the Chairs."

"I want to talk to Noah," Genesis sighed.

"I guess we could talk to Papa," Gideon echoed his sigh. They both knew it wasn't the same. Noah was the balance between them, understanding that Genesis rushed headlong into situations, while Gideon sat back and considered all angles before moving. Noah had always straddled the difference between their approaches to situations effortlessly, without forcing his own agenda on either of them, but always somehow making them see other points of view more clearly.

"And say what?" Genesis asked. "That we want a meeting with Apollo? That we want a meeting with the sister? That we want to go to Perth and talk to the people who knew her well. The Aunt perhaps, or her work colleagues?"

"Yes, all of that," Gideon said as if that was the most logical thing to do at this point.

"We've been told to drop it. You truly think that Papa will side with us, and help us to keep investigating this line of thought, before the raid on Hermione's is complete?" Genesis rolled his eyes.

"It's a week. He would understand us wanting to make plans for what happens after the raid is complete, especially if Noah and Marcella don't return to attend the family gathering. You may get a special pass for Olivia to be there, but I'm not so sure that Marcella would be welcome at the gathering unless she is with Noah, as a couple, not being forced or blackmailed by him to attend," Gideon reasoned.

"You think he would try and bring her to the gathering?" Gideon asked, with wide eyes.

"Sure, to an outsider it would seem like any other family reunion," Genesis said. "From what Olivia says, she and Marcella never attended any of the gatherings of the Gambaro family. So they wouldn't understand the intent behind it. At least I don't think so."

"Maybe that's the starting point to talk to Papa. If he confirms that she will be coming to the gathering, then we know that Noah managed to get closer to Marcella and got her to come back," Gideon reasoned. "The truth is that she is the only one who can truly answer the questions we have. Why do all that digging, when you can just go straight to the source?"

"That's just my point. I don't think that she or Olivia have any idea what Apollo's real plan was in coming up here and announcing that they were engaged. I mean, why engaged? Unless he was trying to break up any relationship that she had with a Zenati man." Genesis tried to explain the unanswered questions still swirling around in his brain.

"I guess that we all saw how Noah reacted to the news. Not that they had a relationship at the time, but it was still a decent blow-out, leading to a public argument, according to Vivienne," Gideon agreed.

"I think that we have to do this ourselves," Genesis said softly, knowing that his eldest brother would baulk at going against the directives of the Family.

"We've been told to back off, Gen. Let's at least wait until after the raid and see what happens. We could just make things worse for Noah. They are together. We have to believe that he has the answers to your questions, and they will be back, I'm sure of it," he said, trying to sound as certain as the words were meant to convey.

"Fine. The raid is only a few days away, but if they aren't back with answers, I will go looking for those answers myself," Genesis vowed.

"Why, Gen? Olivia hasn't wanted Marcella to be here, right from the beginning. It isn't like she is a threat to you or her, nor is Apollo. Why are you pushing this so much?" Gideon frowned at his brother.

"Because, despite everything done to her by her family, including Olivia, she came when we asked. She gave up the independent life that she had forged for herself in Perth and came to protect her sister. Yes, we've argued, and not always seen each other's points of view, but it's obvious now that she took a big risk coming here, and using her family name to protect Olivia from the Suebi and us. I can see why she disapproved of our relationship now. Why she wouldn't want a Table man for Olivia or even Vivienne," Genesis grimaced. "She wasn't happy when she heard the news of the surprise wedding and was quite outspoken about her feelings during the flight to the Kimberlies."

"She was?" Gideon's eyebrows rose. "I never knew."

"Noah handled it, and Vivienne spoke to her privately. She accepted that Vivienne truly loved you and wanted the marriage, in the end," Genesis reassured his brother. "The two of you are made for each other. Blind Freddy could see that," he chuckled.

"Curse or not, we've both come out of this whole Suebi attack with the perfect partners," Gideon agreed. "Let's hope it works out for Noah the way it has for us." He fell silent for a moment, then looked up at his brother. "Let's take these next couple of days that we've been asked to stand down as a gift. It's not often that we have uninterrupted days to spend with our loves. I'm thinking of a few interesting scenarios I'd like to indulge in with Vivienne," he grinned. "It wouldn't hurt you to take Olivia away for a day or two either. She loves sailing, right?"

"Alright," Genesis chuckled. "I hear you but, after the raid, if we don't get answers, I'm going to look into it further myself."

*****

Marcella heard the rhythmic thumping and sat up from where she was lying comfortably in the dappled sun, drying off. The noise was getting louder, and she turned to look at Noah, with a frown.

"That's our ride out of here," he smirked. "And, as much as I wish that you would stay like that all day, you might want to put some more clothes on. I'm not sure my Aunt would be as appreciative of your underwear as I am," he chuckled and moved to the storage bin that he had brought down the falls with them.

"Your Aunt is picking us up?" Marcella asked, blinking her eyes widely.

"Yeah, you can see her." He pointed above the waterfall to a small, rounded helicopter. "She's a better pilot than most of my uncles or cousins. Except maybe Gideon, but he was born to fly."

"I thought you liked to fly?" Marcella questioned while stepping into her jeans and pulling them up quickly, worried about the view his Aunt was getting.

"I prefer flying with no engines. I like parachutes, gliders, that sort of thing. Gideon is the one who flies the mechanical beasts of the air," he explained. "Most of us have a pilot's licence though because the family station is pretty remote and it's the easiest way to get to and from it, especially in the wet season."

Marcella sat on a rock to put her shoes back on, lacing them tightly. She'd never been in a helicopter before, and she was excited at the thought. When she looked up again, Noah was fully dressed, and although she could never tell him, she felt as disappointed as he had said that he was with the additional clothes.

Noah approached her as the wind picked up and the noise became deafening, and pulled her up into his arms, shielding her face against his chest as he stood with his back toward the landing site. She felt so good pressed against his body like this that he had to scold his newly-reformed teenage libido, for trying to embarrass him again and concentrate on keeping it under control. Only once the rotor blade had slowed enough to become a heavy thump did he loosen his grip on her, and take her hand, leading her toward the landing circle.

Marcella followed him, her heart racing, as the small helicopter came into view. Two people could sit in the front, and there was a small area behind the front seats that could fit two more people. She suddenly felt a wave of panic. It was smaller than she had imagined, and it seemed to have no doors at all to hold them inside. She tried to pull her hand from Noah's, but he gripped her firmly, tugging her along.

Noah felt her begin to battle with the nerves she felt and smiled. When they reached the door of the helicopter, he turned to her and raised an eyebrow, a small teasing smile on his lips. "Ready?" he mouthed at her as if daring her to back down now. He saw her draw a deep breath and nod, then, without warning, he picked her up and deposited her into the front passenger seat and watched as his Aunt gave her earphones. He helped her with the harness seatbelt, before moving to the back and climbing inside, spreading his long legs out across the bench seat. As soon as they were secure, the rotor blades began to spin faster.

It felt like they had sat in the same place for the longest time before the helicopter began to lift from the ground in a slightly unsteady, swaying lift. Marcella's adrenaline spiked, and she gripped the sides of her seat so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She swallowed hard and looked down as she felt the touch of a hand over hers, and she looked back to see Noah's concerned expression. She loosened her hold on the seat and allowed him to wrap his hand around hers and give it a comforting squeeze.

Eventually, she got used to the strange sensation of hovering in the sky, being propelled forward by some unknown force, because both Noah and his Aunt, who introduced herself as Shari, spoke about their day so far and what she was up to on the station. It took Marcella a moment to realise she had been asked a question.

"Will you be coming to the Halloween festival?" Shari asked.

"I didn't know there was a Halloween festival coming up. I'm sorry. I've been so busy with work. Today is the first time I haven't thought about it at all until now," she laughed. "Noah is good at distracting me from my goals."

"Even God rested one day out of seven. So, you can come to the festival, and work the other days. I insist. I will even organise your costume for you," Shari offered. "It's my favourite time of the year."

"Costume?" Marcella gasped.

"Madrina probably has her measurements, as well as Olivia's and Vivienne's," Noah offered helpfully, with a chuckle. This conversation was helping his plans along extraordinarily well. It would be hard for her to turn down the offer now.

"I don't think..." Marcella began.

"Nonsense, lovely. It's no trouble at all to alter one of the many costumes we already have, for you, unless you have something particular in mind. You're so petite that you could be a fairy princess," she suggested. Unable to help himself, Noah burst out in full-bodied laughter.

"She is not exactly the fairy princess type," Noah chuckled, trying to rein in his laughter as Marcella turned her scowl on him.

"Oh, and what type is she?" Shari asked, amused by the interaction of the young couple.

"Yes, Noah, do tell. What type am I?" Marcella hissed at him.

"Lucretia Borgia, maybe. She's strong, intelligent and knows her own mind. She is someone who knows the social etiquette and rules so well that she can appear to be following them while doing exactly as she likes," Noah said. "She's fierce and protective of those she cares about, and will break every rule there is to keep them safe, including risking her own well-being."

"I'm not that bad, but I will admit that I am more of a warrior than a damsel, if that helps," she admitted, sullenly. She couldn't argue anything that he had said about her. In fact, she was surprised by his words. The fact that he saw her as strong and intelligent, and not a weak, fragile woman shocked her more than a little bit. Maybe he was just being sarcastic or facetious, but it hadn't sounded that way when he spoke. She couldn't put her finger on what it was in his voice that made him sound sincere, but there was something there that made her less argumentative than if he had been teasing her.