The Twelve Zenati Pt. 28

"How does the game play out if I am recognised tonight?" Marcella asked wondering how much of his plans he would tell her and how much of what he was telling her was part of the game he was playing with her.

"I can almost hear that keen intelligence working inside your head, trying to see the moves I intend to make. I can assure you that taking you from that boat instead of killing you was not in my game plan and surprised me as much as it did you. Now the game is evolving into something new and far more thrilling. I hadn't planned to take such direct action where the Zenati was concerned, as I said they are not to be trifled with lightly. Still, I found you truly delightful company. I knew I would enjoy deepening my exploration of you into the physical realm. I could make you feel things you have never felt before and ruin you for any man that came after me," he said in a low sultry voice.

"That didn't answer my question," Marcella leaned back a little so she could look into his face. Despite what she knew about him, she wasn't afraid of this man; however, she was sane enough to be very wary of him and this game he was playing with other people's lives.

"Indeed, I didn't, because in this game, I made the first move by taking you instead of stealing away with my men like ghosts in the night. The Zenati men, have now made a countermove that has told them that it is most likely me who is responsible for the massacre and me who took you. If they don't have that information after today, I would be very surprised," he tilted his head as if considering the possibility. "Now, I have put one of my major pieces into play, you my lovely Mischa, but I will give you some choices about how this move may play out and allow you to make the move for me."

"Me? I am a major piece in your game, and you are going to allow me to choose the next move myself?" Marcella asked for clarity. The man was clearly insane, and she dreaded hearing what choices he would give her and wondered if she could come up with a better scenario herself that would include her freedom from everybody who sought to make her captive in this world.

"I have made the next move by choosing to take you into the heart of the Donati territory and meet with them tonight. I can only make assumptions about what you might do and give you options you not have considered for yourself as yet. How you react to the evening will denote the direction in which the game will go next," he explained.

"You seem to be making this overly complicated," Marcella chided. "Why don't you just tell me what you would like me to do and we can move on from there. I'm not exactly in a position to bargain here seeing I am a missing person and a suspect in an ongoing murder investigation. The authorities are looking for me in at least two states that I am aware of," she admitted.

"We all have our burdens to bear, and if you are truly concerned then you keep your disguise tonight as best you can and pray that no one recognises you. Then you can return with me to the sanctuary of my home, once the evening is over," he said.

Marcella narrowed her eyes as he spoke as if it didn't matter to him if she returned with him at all. Still, the glint in his eye and the way he stroked his knuckles down her cheek told her she would be agreeing to a lot more than just staying in his spare room if she did that.

"You are brave enough I believe to take the bull by its horns and hand yourself in for questioning by the local police who will then send you back to Darwin to answer any charges. Although I'm sure none will be laid at your feet," he said with a knowing smile.

"How can you know that?" Marcella asked. She'd been living the last two weeks believing she was the main suspect in the murders aboard the yacht.

"We left a man alive. A man who suits us to lead the Suebi into a new era. His version of events that night is that masked and armed raiders boarded the yacht and opened fire on the room. He admitted that he didn't see what had happened to you. He did, however, tell them that several of the girls who had arrived for the party were not amongst the dead," Konrad explained patiently. "The authorities only wish to locate you so they can also locate the armed intruders."

"So, pirates who traffic in the sex trade?" she asked unimpressed. "I guess that is the more logical assumption than what really happened. Nice to know I'm off the hook, you couldn't have told me that sooner?"

"My men and I often liberate women from such fates, so it is as plausible as any other story for why you have been missing for over two weeks. I would have liked to stretch out the time longer, but it seems Genesis Zenati is every bit as clever when faced with a puzzle as you are my dear," he chuckled.

"I see, so in theory, I could walk up to one of the Donati tell them who I am and ask them to help me get back to Darwin?" she asked.

"Or Perth where I know Oscar and Nathaniel are dying to speak with you," he chuckled again. "What I am essentially giving you is a chance to clear your name, tidy up any loose ends you left behind and farewell your friends and family before returning to me. At least for a short time until our mutual attraction runs its course, and you gain the freedom you desire with the new identity and the bank account to match your adventuring ambitions."

"In either scenario, I commit to the affair you are so eager to pursue?" she asked wondering why he hadn't given up on her after all her rebukes over the last two weeks.

"I believe that is something we are both driven to pursue even though you remain in denial at present. Perhaps you feel more for the Zenati man than you have admitted," he cocked an eyebrow at her.

Marcella snorted in derision and shook her head. She wasn't about to put Noah between this monster and something he wanted.

"Then know that if you choose to go back to your family tonight that I will come for you once you have had ample time to settle your affairs," he said. "The world can be yours Mischa; you only have to reach out and take it." His voice was low and sultry, and the backs of his knuckles stroked over her cheek again. "The choice is simple, you can stay, or you can go, and I will not stop you, but you will see me again after tonight, you can be sure of that. We have unfinished business, and that is always a dangerous thing to leave in your wake."

Marcella fell silent as her brain began to work over everything he was saying to her. He had ensured she only had the two choices. She had no money, no phone, no identification at all. Had she just wanted to disappear tonight without involving the Tables she couldn't have. She could have if she was determined enough but walking or hitchhiking from one side of the country to the other begging favours and food was too much to contemplate. She could be strong and determined when necessary, but she wasn't stupid, and despite what Noah believed she didn't take risks where she could see it ending badly.

"I have given you much to think about. I will go and visit with the pilot and allow you to think about your response to my move unimpeded by my presence," he said.

Moves and countermoves. Konrad had said he hadn't planned to take on the Zenati yet. Was this his way of returning her and avoiding a confrontation with them before he was ready? Had he shot her along with the Suebi, the battle lines would be drawn as soon as they knew who had done it. She was somewhat sure of that fact, or perhaps he believed, as many others did that she wasn't worth the Gambaro's time to investigate because she was barely a twig on their family tree. Noah though, she wasn't sure if he would grieve for her along with Vivienne and Olivia and then move on or if he would look for who had killed her.

She realised at that moment that this might be why she was still alive. She was a Gambaro woman under the protection of the Zenati's and killing her would have raised the hackles of both tables, not because of who she was but only because of her name and they pride they had at looking after their own. Konrad wanted her to leave and go and tidy up his mess for him so he could take her after she had cut all ties and he would suffer no backlash from either table. The risk he was taking was that she wouldn't cut her ties with either table and they would be seeking him, if as he said they knew he had killed the Suebi and taken her.

No matter which option she chose tonight either would result in the same thing if she played by his rules, cutting her ties with her former life and returning to him temporarily so he could display the trophy he won in this game. He didn't want her. He wanted to best the Zenati by using her, a woman they had claimed and was under their protection. She wasn't just a significant piece in this game of his, she was the game, and she needed to figure out how to come out on top and win the game all by herself. Could he possibly know he was taking her to the very people she would be least likely to approach for help or if that was a coincidence? Perhaps not the least likely, she sighed, but it was not a family she wanted to ask for anything. Guilt as not betraying Nik's plans and how the woman had almost killed Peri sat heavily on her.

Perhaps it would be better to let this little affair he was determined to have with her run its course. Then she could take the new identity he had given her as start fresh in some unknown corner of the country where no one would ever bother her again. It would hurt to lose any chance of getting to know the grown-up Olivia or seeing Jessa's children. Still, she would have her freedom and the money to live comfortably and do the things she wanted. She wouldn't ever have to worry about putting anyone else she cared for in danger. However, she wouldn't be there to help them if they needed it either.

*****

Noah seethed as Genesis completed his recap of that afternoon's events leading up to their return to the gathering to speak to the collective Tables. He stayed silent, his brain running through everything he knew and what he knew about Marcella. She wouldn't take being a captive easily again. She might pretend for a while if her life was threatened, but he couldn't see her allowing anyone else to take her without a fight.

He knew he couldn't fight the Varangian alone. He needed his family, so he sat quietly trying to temper the desperate rage that wanted to find Marcella and claim her as his once and for all and keep her safe by his side. Would there ever be a time when she wasn't in danger, where he could relax safe in the knowledge that she would stay by his side? Was he asking too much of her to choose this life, a life with him and his family? He looked around at the men all asking questions and debating next steps and wondered again how hard it would be to give up all of these people to be with her. He would do it, he had told her as much, but it would be the hardest thing he would ever have to do.

His anger simmered to a quiet boil as his thoughts drifted to the life they would have together if they both cut their ties to everything they knew. The could be happy eventually if resentments didn't grow between them for the loss of childhood dreams. Maybe once they were done travelling they could come home and start a family of their own. No matter how he thought about his future, Marcella was part of it for good or bad.

"Noah?" his name was a harsh bark from Anthony.

"Sorry, I'm listening," he immediately straightened in his chair.

"It's good that you have control of all that rage you displayed when Marcella went missing, but perhaps you have gone too far in the other direction," Anthony said eliciting chuckles from the other men.

"I'm pretty sure I can sum up what was being said in three sentences," Noah shrugged. "We know who most likely has her. We don't know where he has her. It's going to take some time to try to discover their whereabouts before we can make a move if that is decided as the best course of action," he said dryly. "I'm not a stupid man, and I have had a few hours to contemplate what all of this means. It's the Varangian Game Master's move now, and all we can do is wait and look for the pattern in his moves."

"That sums it up pretty nicely. Perhaps you should have just saved us all the trouble of the debate by opening your mouth at the beginning," Gianni chuckled.

"Because then you would have been debating my words in the context of my relationship with Marcella instead of coming to the same conclusion on your own. Besides, it has taken me all this time to get a handle on my anger about these endless debates when the answer is quite obvious. I hate it, but we wait for his move now." Noah said without emotion, just stating facts.

"We have contacts of our own, and while Kairos may have known who the leader of the Varangian Guard is, he didn't know much else. I am betting the sole survivor of the massacre knows even more about the Game Master and how to contact him. I believe there was a reason he was allowed to live," Claudio said slowly working through what they knew of the single bartender that had survived the massacre. "The sooner we can identify him and his whereabouts, the sooner we can make him sorry he thought to meddle with our family. No one has been stupid enough to take on the Zenati. It is time for us to use our training in the role we have not had to take on in several generations but are well equipped for. Marcella aside, we will make an example of this man for daring to engage in a game of who has the bigger balls with the Zenati."

"Well said brother, a little colourful but well said none-the-less," Anthony nodded hiding the small smile that tilted his lips. "This is about family pride and reputation now, and we cannot let this pass unacknowledged, whether the girl wishes to return to us or not."

"You don't think she will return?" Zanto asked looking paler than he had done since being moved to the clinic on the family property to recuperate. The two doctors immediately turned to scrutinise him. He groaned it had been difficult having not one but three doctors seeing to his care not to mention the several nurses within his family.

"Given her history and the events that have played out here since she arrived in this town, I wouldn't be surprised if that girl runs as far and as fast from any of the Tables as she can. We are the third or perhaps even fourth of the Tables to let her down and treat her unjustly. It would be difficult for any of us to convince her of our goodwill and her safety here with us if Noah has failed," Gianni said solemnly.

"He hasn't failed," Armando immediately came to his son's defence. "Circumstances drew them apart, and I have every faith that it will draw them back together. The curse works in strange ways sometimes."

"It's okay Papa, they are right," Noah sighed. "Even though she left to protect us, she still left instead of trusting me to have her back and realising she didn't have to do everything alone. If she is gone by her own choice, all I can do is let her go. I just need to know it was her choice, not his," he said sadly. That was the insight that a week being sedated and confined to a hospital bed in the clinic had given for him. He hated it, but it was all he could do now. He would ask her and abide by her answer. She would never be happy if they forced her to stay, and he had shared that insight with Zanto. The latter believed once they got her back, they could convince her to stay, but Noah knew better after their week together, and he would just have to live on those memories if that was all she would give him.

*****

"Okay," Marcella said as Konrad returned to her and took his seat. "Here is my counter-offer and the choice I will make if it is made available to me."

"Please, tell me more," Konrad chuckled at the fascinating woman beside him. He hadn't expected her to counter with a scenario of her own.

"You have not shown yourself to be the most trustworthy of allies even though you did wait until the deal was complete with the Suebi before murdering them all. So I will need some assurances. I want identification papers for this new identity, complete with both drivers licence and passport as well as a birth certificate. I want an account opened in this name and enough money to travel anywhere I wish to go and get settled until I decide what to do with my new life. I want your solemn oath that when this little fling you want is over, I will be free to do as I please without you or someone you send after me coming to kill me to silence me," she laid out her terms.

"And in return I get?" Konrad prodded.

"Full access to my mind and body for a minimum of one week but not more than two and my assurance that nothing I have learned or will learn during our time together will be divulged to another living soul," she said narrowing her eyes at him.

"Done," he said without any haggling over her terms. "I can have all of those things done and in your possession within a few hours, and we can begin our affair this evening. A first date, one of trust on both sides of the equation. If you make it through the evening without being recognised, everything will be as you wanted. I am pleased. I wasn't looking forward to having to wait for months to taste your tears while you tidied up the loose ends of your old life. Trust me. You will not regret your decision."

Marcella hoped that was true but shuddered when he said he wanted to taste her tears as if she enjoyed men making her cry. Still, she knew that to take the other choice would have put the people she cared about in danger again and she couldn't sacrifice them to a game with a madman to save herself from him. Determined to end this farce, she leaned toward him when he moved towards her and let him kiss her. His lips were soft and pliable, and there was nothing possessive about the chaste kiss. It was merely as if he wanted to test her resolve, and she would not show weakness.

"Delicious," he murmured and looked into her eyes for any sign that she might waver from her choice, but all he saw was the cool green of her eyes look a little softer as she relaxed into the agreement. They both sat back as the plane came in to land, Marcella placing a soft, small hand over his as he gripped the arms of his seat.

*****