The Twelve Zenati Pt. 29

"I can sense your hesitation, so I will give you the evening to contemplate your next move. As I said, I am not a rapist, nor am I a prison warden. I have offered you sanctuary and protection here in my home. I can give you the means of escape not just from me, but everything Table related if that is what you want," he tapped the folder meaningfully, then drew it back across his desk to slide it into a drawer.

"An evening to consider all I have learned from you today would be good thank you," she replied as equally formal as he was being.

"I will, however, offer you two incentives to honour the choice you have made, and prove I am not the monster you think me to be. Give me what you promised for our time together, and I will take you to see Jessa. She is in the hospital clinging to life after her husband tried to force her to take her own life to protect his secret deal with your father. I will also allow you to watch the funeral of the Aunt you lived with from a distance, and pay your respects at her graveside," he said, observing her with knowing eyes. He was pleased she had reacted to the two incidents he discovered; he was concerned that she would shut down and internalise the information she clearly hadn't known about. It seems your Uncle and Father have been tying up loose ends of their own recently.

Marcella swiped the tear that rolled down her cheek at the news of Jessa. She had always seemed so happy and in a hurry to be with her children whenever Marcella had called her. She had no idea Jessa was in trouble, or that she had married a monster like her Uncle and Father. She had believed Jessa had escaped to the safety of the Farnese Table, and she had let herself believe the excuses of her sister when she refused to facetime chat with her. Her Aunt was old and had lived a quiet, solitary life. Perhaps her death was a kindness for the older woman who had been ill for some time. It was Jessa that made her heart constrict. She had been off trying to save one sister while the other had almost died at the hands of someone who should have loved her.

"We will talk again in the morning about the choices you have made," Konrad said softly helping her from the chair and walking with her to her room. "I am sure you are tired and upset by the news of your sister and Aunt. If you need anything during the night come to me, my door will always be open to you, Mischa." He said as he stroked her cheek with the back of his knuckles. He left her in the doorway of the suite of rooms she occupied and walked away.

Marcella looked down as she closed the door and leaned back against it. Now she had to create a strategy of her own to survive this fucked up game of Konrad's. Still, the rebukes he had given her in the most gentlemanly of ways continued to sting at her mind. She hadn't spurned the Zenati, had she? She had walked away from Noah and all he had done for her despite continually trying to push him away. The look on his face as he asked her to stay as he declared his love for her froze in her mind. Had she spurned him and his family when she had walked away tonight? It shook her to the core that she might not ever be able to return now, even to see Vivienne and Olivia and the families of their own they were creating because of the choices she had made.

It was true that she had been living on their credit for months now, travelling and investigating using their resources. All she did was argue and run from the very people she was reliant upon. She couldn't have done any of what she had accomplished without their backing, or at least their cars and money. She thought about the huge hole she had made in her modest nest egg by running away from the hospital before Noah found her and took over the financial burden. She knew that if not for the generosity of the Zenati, she wouldn't have been able to afford to stay and help Olivia.

Marcella admitted that she did owe them some sort of thanks for taking her in and allowing her to stay when her father had ordered her home. She sighed and thought about everything Noah had told her about his family. They didn't send their girls for training with the Battaglia, the women all had careers if they wanted them as well as families and charity work outside the home. They had shown her time and again that they were a different type of table to the rest and although all arrogant and controlling in their own way, particularly when it came to keeping their loved ones safe, she could admit this now that she was doing exactly the same thing.

Marcella had decided without any consultation that her way was the best way to get what they needed and left Noah behind to keep him safe. She had almost been killed along with the others if Konrad hadn't decided to try and seduce her into his bed. She thought about Jessa all alone and critically ill in hospital; Olivia, when she had asked her to stay; and of Vivienne who had been there for her as only a best friend could. She sighed. She hadn't even called Vivienne back as she had promised she would. She lay down and let her thoughts swirl in her head, sinking lower and lower into a funk created from all the mistakes she had made recently. Would the biggest one be trying to beat the Game Master at his own game? What was two weeks in the grand scheme of things? She'd done worse to protect the ones she loved.

*****

Noah woke with a start. There was movement in his cabin and the smell of coffee brewing. He looked at the time and cursed. Who the fuck would be in his place at four a.m. It was the first night in the last two weeks he had slept here, in the big bed he had thought to be sharing with his kitten making her purr just for him. He pushed those thoughts from his mind and slid quietly from the bed, padding silently out into the main open-plan room.

"Morning," Xavier said casually from the kitchen bench where he had set up cups of sugar and milk as well as a plate of breakfast pastries.

"Why the fuck are you here at this time of the morning?" Noah grumbled, sinking heavily onto a stool beside the kitchen bench.

"Because I need to tell you a few of my secrets, and I don't want interruptions or prying eyes," he continued to sound casual. Still, Noah sat up straighter, dread coiling in his belly at the words.

"Dom?" Noah asked.

"He already knows all my secrets," Xavier chuckled, but Noah got the feeling there was more about Dom than Xavier was letting on. "He has recovered well, and plans to live for a while" Xavier smiled then poured two cups of coffee. The expression on his face told Noah that whatever Xavier had come for was important. "Let's sit in the comfortable chairs, shall we?" He handed Noah a cup, and led the way over to the small sitting area and soft cushioned sofas.

"Alright," Noah said warily and followed sitting adjacent to the man with the pastries and coffee between them on the low table.

"Can I invoke client-attorney privilege?" Xavier asked, then gave a crooked smile and a half chuckle.

"You didn't have to ask, but sure let's make it clear that nothing said here goes beyond us for now," Noah nodded.

"It will go beyond us to a select few, but you will know who you can and can't share with by the end of it," Xavier stated and sat back gathering his thoughts. He was still deciding where to start when the door opened quietly and was shut by the man who came in.

"I told you to wake me up arsehole," Dom grumbled. "There better be coffee ready."

"I'll get you a cup," Noah said and stood heading for the kitchen as Dom glared at Xavier and slumped into an armchair.

"What have you told him so far?" Dom asked.

"Nothing just that I want to share a few secrets with him," Xavier shrugged.

"Good, then you can't fuck it up like you did when you told me. It's important, now more so than ever," Dom harrumphed. "So, Noah here's a brief history of the tables which you already know but bear with us for this. Wealth, money, power, some have it, some don't, the history is pretty checked. The Savoys will have you believe they have it and deserve it because of their links to the royal family, but they have very little of either except the name which is why the Martino family rule over the Savoy on the same table. The Donati and Vitali and to some degree the Farnese family have it all in spades which is why they are allies and equals in each other's eyes. The Pellegrini were like that once, but have had several falls from grace internationally in recent times, and their reputation is gone. With me so far?"

"Six of the others have one or two of the three elements, but not all and therefore tend to band together for strength in numbers when opposing the more substantial tables. Still, those alliances can grow and change depending on the issue at hand. Then there is the last two. The Battaglia, who remain partisan so they can provide unbiased warriors to those that require them and contracted workers without prior allegiance. That leaves us. We have never offered an alliance to anyone, not a single table or a group. We make our own decisions and fight our own battles. We have wealth, power and reputation, but it is tainted and, in some cases, feared, because of our curse. This is why we have never stood on the same level as those at the top of the table, so to speak. We have been known as the Black Coats, the Blade Masters and the Cursed Ones at different times in history. None of this is news to you, I am sure," Dom finished.

"I'll agree, and add that in medieval times we were probably on top of all the tables in reputation, power and money. It is the more peaceful current times that allow us to fade from the spotlight and people like the Varangian feel they can challenge us," Noah added and found both his companions nodding in agreement.

"When they came to this country our great grandfathers formed tentative alliances with those closest to them in distance around this country, and the east coast quickly controlled the thirteen with both the Battaglia and Zenati abstaining from many issues. The next generation fought to find better alliances with like-minded families, traditionalists versus new ways of thinking. That type of thing. Just as our fathers were coming into power, there was an uprising from the Suebi threat across Europe, and the celts began pushing back against the tables in the Americas. There were random attacks here, mostly on the Donati's and Vitali's. There was some concern that the hostilities would grow so to strengthen ties between all the tables they came up with a plan," Dom continued. "That plan involves Xavier and his secrets." He grabbed a pastry and his coffee and sat back as if finished talking.

"Oh, so I can talk now?" Xavier huffed. "Haven't been able to shut him up since he got the ability back after his surgery."

Noah chuckled and said nothing he had no idea where this impromptu history lesson was taking him.

"Let's cut to the chase, you know we got an early warning about the attack on Mama when it happened," Xavier said.

"Yeah, we caught a lucky break that time, it wasn't expected at all," Noah agreed. "We could have lost Emma as well if the alarm hadn't been raised."

"Any idea where the alarm came from?" Xavier asked.

"I guessed the watchmen, I never questioned it," Noah shrugged. "Before now," he frowned.

"I hit the alarm," Xavier said quietly. "I got the information from a group text from Ricco Vitali as did every other table who was able to prepare for the attack, some with minutes only to spare, and minimise the casualties."

"How did Ricco Vitali know the Suebi would attack Junie?" Noah's frown deepened. "Or the other mothers in a coordinated attack?"

"The Vitali had been under siege from elements in the Martino family who had links to the Suebi, just as the Donati had been meddled with by the Suebi through the Pellegrini family. It seems there has been a wider picture to drive wedges between the tables leaving the Martino, Pellegrini and Battaglia with their reputations in tatters, and the strongest of the families picking up the pieces of ruined lives. Through it all, there has been one constant thing," Xavier said pausing to take a breath. "A secret called the circle."

"Ricco is part of this secret circle?" Noah said, reading between the lines.

"No, but his brother Matteo is," Xavier said. "I flew to Hong Kong to meet with him for a bachelor party of sorts with the other ten men who remain in our circle. We are rarely seen all in one place, unless representing our families at the wedding of a future chair or an important funeral. Even then, not all will attend. Having the opportunity to meet outside of the country was one we all took, and we were able to discuss the turmoil plaguing the Vitali, Donati and several other tables at the time. Matteo gave Ricco, his oracle our numbers for emergencies, and that is how every table knew of the attack minutes before it came."

"Okay and you are telling me this secret because?" Noah asked.

"Because, Nathanael Gambaro, Marcus Battaglia, Tony Martino and now Dante Donati are involved, and I might as well include Massimo Farnese in that group. That's already over half including me, and if I don't invite them into the fray they may just come anyway and make matters worse," Xavier sighed.

"Okay I get the Gambaro's and Farnese, Even the Battaglia and Martino table after Apollo's visit, but why is a Donati involved?" Noah furrowed his eyebrows, making it seem like a permanent state this morning.

"Because Marcella showed up in his gallery last night, disguised and hard to recognise, but it was her. She was with a client of his called Konrad Van Kemp," Xavier said. "D. called me as soon as they left, he had people trying to track them. Still, she went Konrad willingly Noah. D. thinks it was because she was protecting someone or something, but she asked them not to interfere."

Noah didn't say another word. He stood and went to his room to pack, wondering if Gideon would fly him to Brisbane, or if taking one of his companies planes and pilots would be worth the loss of income. Either way, he had to leave now while the trail was fresh.

"Noah, stop. They flew out of Brisbane right after leaving the gallery. They didn't log a flight plan, but Dante is trying to get details for us. There is nothing to be done in Brisbane except ruffle feathers. That's why I am telling you this. I have people in every major city and rural area if you will trust my friends and me, all of whom are either chairs or oracles of the new tables," Xavier said.

"Why didn't you start with that? They could be anywhere now, and I am a whole day behind the sighting," he growled, throwing the duffle he had been packing onto the bed.

"Because there is more and I need you calm to hear it, so punch Dom if you need to hit someone and let's go back to the sofa," Xavier said mildly with a half-smile as Dom protested his brother's offer.

"I have been wanting to punch Dom for a while," Noah mused, trying to tamp down all the rage he had been burying since being released from the clinic.

"Trust me, you aren't the only one," Xavier chuckled. "It's the fact that he's always right. You think he could fail just once in a while to make the rest of us feel better about fucking up on the regular."

"Speak for yourself," Noah lifted an eyebrow. "I am practically perfect in every way."

The three men chuckled and went back to the sitting area. Then they speculated on how to use the circle to cover all the bases and narrow down the movements of Marcella and the Varangian instead of charging around blindly.

The older sister in the hospital and the funeral of the Aunt were likely places she may pop up if at all after being recognised last night. However, suppose it was Konrad who had been sowing the seeds of discord amongst the tables in the previous few years. In that case, he may go after one of the Tables who notoriously sat on the fence on all decisions in deciding whether to take action against another.

It was time to take Dante's advice and call a meeting of the circle, Xavier admitted. His heart ached for his first love who was no longer among that group of men. While he was happy in his marriage, Lio Donati had been his first love, and they had secretly met to spend stolen moments together right up until his death. Just the memory of that made him sad and made it almost impossible to deal with Dante in person. Still, he had to swallow down that heartache and do what needed to be done. If he and Dom were right about the bigger picture, the Tables needed to stand together and show a united front while the Zenati did what they do best.

"I'm going to head down to the forge this morning while you talk to your fathers. I won't be able to hide my fury as the older men bicker. Everything you said sounds more than plausible and should give them pause to consider their vendetta in a different light. Maybe even consider involving the others who are affected, so relationships don't become even more strained than they already are. If turning the tables against each other has been his plan all along he's winning right now," Noah said as he shrugged on a heavy fire-retardant shirt and some long pants.

"We'll let you know. I want you in the circle meeting even if it's off-screen," Xavier said.

"You got it, boss," Noah saluted and left the cottage feeling better than he had the day before. They had a solid plan with solid leads, allies they knew were loyal to Xavier and the circle if nothing else. Now he just had to pray that Marcella wanted to come back to what they had begun to feel for each other.

*****