Marcella sat before the mirror looking at a woman she barely recognised. The woman in the mirror had perfectly styled, honey blonde hair that hung in straight lengths over her shoulders. Her heavy makeup hid her face behind the mask of the passive woman who went through the motions of living day to day with a remorseless killer for the last two weeks. Even the name was wrong, and she sighed, Michelle Barrow. This was what she had wanted, or at least said she wanted. A new life and new start except she still didn’t have the freedom she craved or the joy of sharing it with someone she knew would at least be her partner in crime.
The man she was bound to now was not that man and not for the first time she considered the day she had spent with Noah doing everything she had said she wanted. She had resented him for his family and their values, not the man himself. She had held him at arm’s length because of a slight she now knew wasn’t there and had forced him to the blackmail she had accused him of. She would never have let him stay with her if he had given her any other choice. Looking back now, she could see that he probably wouldn’t have had her dragged back to the family but instead followed her himself to ensure her safety. For every incident where she had raged at him, she could see her own fault in the experience.
Her mind went to the man who now held her leash in a very similar blackmail scenario. Even though he had never voiced any threat toward her and had been nothing but a gentleman in his interactions with her, she knew quite clearly what her alternatives were if she spurned his kindness and the advances that he constantly pushed on her.
Konrad had assured her that he was a patient man. He had not forced himself on her even if his displays of affection and desire were becoming heavier in tone as time wore on. His only demand was in limiting her movements from his home for her safety. She had been allowed to watch television freely. The early news reports had listed her as wanted as a person of interest in a murder case. Then she had been labelled as a missing person with a sizeable reward put up for any news of her whereabouts.
The truth was, however, that even if she wanted to return to the Zenati’s or her family in Perth, Konrad could not let her go and chance that she would go to the authorities after witnessing the massacre he and his men had carried out. Even if her memory of that night was more than a little hazy thanks to the relaxants she had been fed in her drinks, she knew enough to report her version of events. Not that she had seen Konrad shoot anyone, but she had seen his right-hand man do it and understood that all of his friends were responsible for the dead that surrounded them once the bullets had stopped flying.
Her door clicked open, and she knew without looking who had entered her personal space. Anyone else in this house would have knocked first. She picked up a diamond-studded hoop earing and threaded it through her ear, locking it in place before reaching for the other one.
“You look beautiful, Mischa,” Konrad used his pet name for her as he smiled as he came to stand behind her. “The news reports are becoming infrequent now, particularly in this part of the country, so I thought we might go out tonight.”
“Out?” she turned her head to look up at him.
“Dinner and a walk through an art gallery that is opening a new collection tonight,” Konrad offered. “You have seemed more sombre than usual today. I thought perhaps you required a change of scenery.”
“Yes, please!” Marcella smiled genuinely. She had training in how to be the perfect companion for a man like this, and she used every ounce of that training to stop him from turning his homicidal tendencies on her. She could be grateful for her life and what he was offering in this sanctuary while still maintaining a small semblance of independence.
“Good,” Konrad chuckled. “Shall we go?” He held out a crooked elbow for her to take.
“Of course,” Marcella stood and took his arm slipping her lipstick into her cleavage. She had nothing else to warrant a clutch or purse. She had no keys or phone or money of her own at this point which made her feel her captivity even if her host did not overtly treat her as a prisoner. He gave her everything she needed, designer clothes, gourmet meals prepared by attentive staff and a suite of rooms that she could if she had a mind, decorate to her own tastes. As far as prisons went, she knew this was more than she ever could have hoped for from other men in her past who claimed to care for her. She knew that keeping the man beside her happy was the key to still being alive. She also knew without a doubt that she was a liability to him and his men because of what she had seen and heard on that fateful night.
“We are a bit remote here to go to a gallery, aren’t we?” she asked as they walked down the stairs together to meet the men who would accompany them tonight.
“We will need to travel a little to get there, but I have to admit I have been tempted by a personal invitation from one of my favoured art dealers, Dante Donati. We will be able to see how well your disguise holds up when meeting with people from the Tables. Inevitably it will be unavoidable as I do business with several of the tables,” Konrad informed her. “Fortunately for you, the Zenati and Gambaro tables are not among my business associates. The uncultured Battaglia doesn’t even register on my business radar so you will not have to meet with them either in the circles I move in.”
“You have friends amongst the tables, yet you worked with the Siebi?” Marcella asked curiously as he led her out onto the lawn to a small golf cart surprising her again
“I assisted in helping them to bring down the remnants of their own organisation. I was not happy with the last attack they made on people I considered friends amongst the tables and have been assisting with the decimation of the drug-addled insanity of the Suebi in my own way. Having said that I have no allegiance to the Tables, the Suebi or even the Tatar one way or the other and I am open to any proposal sent to me requesting our assistance. It just so happened that Madonna’s proposal aligned with mine when her original plan went awry.”
Marcella said nothing as they drove the small distance to a helipad, so Konrad filled the silence.
“My allegiance is to myself and my brotherhood. The Suebi engaged us to help them with an internal war, which we did and were paid handsomely for our assistance. You cannot think Mad Madonna came up with that plan on her own?” he asked incredulously. “Once our bargain was fulfilled, I was free to rectify the mistake of my own making. Had I realised earlier just how far from sanity Madonna had grown, I never would have taken the role of advisor and strategist.”
“So, you’re a troubleshooter? An assassin? A mercenary for hire? When did you become involved with the Suebi in Darwin? Were you responsible for the death of Remington Royce as well?” Marcella asked her quick mind trying to work through what he was telling her.
“The brotherhood has been known as an elite special force of men for hire throughout history. When the ancient European world was falling to the Italics who birthed the legend of the twelve tables, our ancestors would not bow to them or anyone. They served kings and queens as long as it served their needs, fame and fortune, not out of duty or allegiance. The term mercenary does not cover what we can do for the right price,” Konrad said conversationally. “We are the best of the modern-day special ops just as our ancestors were the best of their time and we hold allegiance to no faction other than our own and that, as I said, is for sale temporarily for the right price.”
“I see,” Marcella said with a frown not quite understanding how this man and his men fit into the bigger picture of hostilities between the different sects that had battled since ancient times. “You’re not concerned that even with the changes to my appearance that I might be recognised, particularly by people of the Tables?”
“It is all part of the game, my dear Mischa,” he grinned at her using the shortening of her new name that he preferred. He did not doubt that he would conquer her in time. But she would come to him willingly, wanting him as much if not more so than he wanted her in his bed or not at all. A beautiful woman was only made more so when she had a backbone and the intelligence to understand the people in her world were not always what they seemed.”
“Ah, it’s a dangerous game you play. What if they do recognise me and want to return me to my family?” she asked as they pulled up in front of a jet. She expected it was the one she arrived on but had been too deep in shock and whatever drug he had given her to appreciate it.
“I guess that would depend on you, my dear,” Konrad said quickly as they climbed the stairs then he made sure she was settled in a seat beside him with her seatbelt in place. “The flight usually takes an hour and a half, but we should do it in an hour tonight,” he commented as if taking a jet rather than a car for an evening out was an everyday occurrence.
“Why would your decision to return me to my family depend on me?” she asked.
“The games I like to play of course,” he chuckled. “Relax while we take off. I’m not too fond of takeoffs or landings, but they are a necessary evil to do the flying part. I’d rather leave by parachute rather than get decapitated in a crash if that is an option.”
“That’s a little extreme, isn’t it?” she asked with wide eyes.
“We all have our little foibles,” he chuckled again, but Marcella could see him grip the arms of his seat as the engines whirred to a stronger thrum and the jet taxied toward the end of the runway. Feeling for the big man who had been nothing but courteous and indulgent of her since taking her from the Suebi yacht, she covered his hand with hers and squeezed slightly.
“I have the utmost faith that you have the best pilots working for you,” she grinned. “I can’t imagine you would settle for anything less.”
“That is true,” he agreed. “Every person that I surround myself with is the best at the job I require them to do. Including you, my dear.”
“Job me?” she tilted her head questioningly.
“You are an intelligent woman Mischa, do not play the fool for me now. I have made my interest in you very clear. While I will not force you or rape you under the guise of punishment or training as others in your past have, I do intend to worship that delicious body of yours as soon as you realise the inevitability of our affair. Regardless of how brief it may be.”
Marcella just looked at him made speechless at his words. He had flirted and let her know where his interest lay, he had never voiced it quite so bluntly before, and she was taken aback. He wasn’t offering a relationship, he was offering a fling, a sharing of pleasure for pleasure’s sake and she had to admit she was tempted until the images of the massacre reared up to remind her that this man was a cold-blooded killer. A man who had no remorse for his deeds or the betrayal of those he had aligned himself with only moments before.
The plane sped up to take off, and they both sat back pushed into their seats by the velocity. Marcella was grateful for the extra few minutes of silence where Konrad was concentrating on something other than her for a few minutes as the jet climbed into the late afternoon sky.
*****
Noah drew a breath and closed his eyes. He’d arrived back in town that morning from chasing a sighting of Marcella which turn out to be yet another dead end. Marcella’s last words rang through his mind, and he slammed his fist down on the steering wheel. He should never have let her go alone. He’d known how much danger she was in and he hadn’t protected her, now she was gone. Not a trace of her remained on the yacht amongst the massacred victims of a deal gone wrong. It was as if she had never been there and if she hadn’t called Gideon and had his brother not let him speak to Marcella, he would have doubted she had even boarded the massive yacht with the victims.
Gripping the steering wheel tightly, he fought to regain control of his emotions again. He knew he was now the most significant cause for concern amongst his family. His rage had overtaken him for several days after her disappearance. He hadn’t heeded the doctor’s warnings about his injury. Then after three days fighting the world, he found himself sedated and placed in a bed beside his recovering cousin, Zanto, in the small clinic on the family property where the gathering was being held. The fact that his cousin always wanted to discuss Marcella’s disappearance only exacerbated his anger at the world for keeping the woman he loved from him.
Vivienne and Olivia seemed to believe she would have left the boat after getting what she needed and disappeared rather than be trapped into staying with either the Suebi or the Zenati after the pressure Olivia had put on her to stay. Noah didn’t believe that. He knew she would have come back to make sure that her sister was in the clear before she left if that was what she wanted to do. No matter what conjecture met his ears, he couldn’t believe she left of her own volition. Or that the Suebi would have harmed her in any way given what they wanted from Olivia. No, she had been taken, the question was, who would have taken her and why? They still held her Uncle in custody, and the Gambaro’s had taken her father into custody. He was sure if either of them knew what happened to her, they would have spilt that information by now.
He saw Genesis’s car pull up behind his, and he took another moment to get himself under control before pushing out of his car. He’d handed Olivia’s case over to his father and Isaac so he hadn’t understood why his brother had insisted he be here today and why they wouldn’t have come together. Still, he had reluctantly agreed to meet him here because of the slim hope that Genesis had discovered something no one else had.
“Noah,” Genesis smiled and turned to where a second man got out of his car. A priest. Noah frowned even more confused by what his brother wanted from him. Had one of the suspects died or been attacked so severely he had called for a priest to confess before he died?
“Gen,” Noah nodded. “Who’s your friend?”
“Noah, this is Father Rosie,” Genesis introduced the two men who nodded at each other warily.
“Bob,” the priest said. “Father Bob or just plain Bob is fine.”
“Well Bob, got any idea why we are here? Or has my brother kept you in the dark as well?” Noah asked.
“Time will tell I expect,” Bob said without any conviction.
“Bob was the priest who came to me and told me a Gambaro girl was hiding in our hospital under a different name all those months ago,” Genesis explained. “I trust him and think that his source from that time is asking to speak to him again for a reason, and I also believe that source just lost his lawyer and will need a new one. Me I’m just along for the ride because I am not bound by any oaths to keep secrets.” He grinned. “Of course, I always protect my sources when they have information worth my time.”
“You think this man has information on what happened to Bea and her cronies?” Noah asked purposely leaving Marcella from his question. He was walking a tight rope with his family, and that included his brothers who seemed to be waiting for him to breakdown and lose his shit again, starting another rampage of rage through their ranks. For now, he was in control, but he wasn’t sure this was the best place for him if he wanted to maintain that control.
“Let’s go,” Genesis said after checking his watch. He knew both men with him would be reluctant to go along with his plan, which was why he hadn’t told either of them what he was doing. He may have been sidelined and preoccupied with nursing Olivia back to health, but she had come a long way in the months they had been together. Now it was time for him to remind his family of why he was the best investigative journalist in the country. He knew with the right prompting he could get everything he needed from the man he was here to see. Entering the correctional facility, Genesis purposely strode toward the reception desk.
“I booked a visitation for Kairos Keppel,” he said confidently indicating the men behind him. “His priest Bob Rosie and his lawyer, Noah Zenati. I am sure he agreed to see us today when he learned of our request.”
The guard nodded and checked his computer a second time printing out visitor passes and handing them to the three men to sign.
“Follow the yellow line down to the green door and wait there until it is opened for you,” he grunted and went back to his perch in front of his computer ending any further interactions they may have wanted with the guard. Genesis looked down at a multitude of lines on the floor, and as he was told, he followed the yellow line down a long corridor. They went through three different security points where they emptied their pockets and walked through detectors.
Aside from their own movement through the unadorned corridors, the whole facility seemed strangely silent, and that was off-putting to Genesis who had been in correctional facilities before. This one seemed wrong, somehow. When he got to it, Genesis knocked on the green door even though he had been told to wait, it was a door after all, and in his mind, he needed to let the occupants know he was there.
“Genesis Zenati?” The voice of the guard said as a question as he opened the door for them.
“Yes, and Bob Rosie and Noah Zenati,” Genesis explained as the man stood back and allowed them entrance.
Once inside, he looked around, taking in every detail. He took one of the chairs dragging it to a corner and standing on it to reach a camera.
“I asked for a room without surveillance, you can guard the doors we are hardly going far in this place,” he huffed and pulled out some wires.
“I assure you that wouldn’t have been used during your interview,” the guard said taken aback by Genesis’s actions.
“I assure you that I believe you believe that, but that doesn’t mean I trust everyone in this facility not to sneak a peek at a private conversation between a man, his lawyer and his priest. The sanctity of those conversations are all covered by judicial conduct,” Genesis said, stepping down and returning the chair to the table. “I trust our man is on his way?”
“Yes,” the guard said tersely and leaned against the wall his arms crossed as they waited.
Each man took a seat and said nothing as the minutes ticked by. When the door finally opened, a man who looked like he had been in this place for years rather than months entered the room.
“Kairos!” Bob got to his feet first. “What has happened to you?”
“That answers any lingering questions I had about who had saved Olivia, not once but twice,” Genesis whispered to Noah. “If you will excuse us, gentlemen,” Genesis said to the guards narrowing his eyes at them as if daring them to argue with him about leaving them to their business.
“I look like any man who has lost everyone he cared for in the world,” Kairos brushed off the priest and took a seat. “I read between the lines of your message Genesis Zenati. “You’re offering me something I want for information, yes?”
“In a manner of speaking, one more minute if you would?” Genesis held a finger up to the man signalling silence as the door finally closed behind the slow-moving guards.
Then he stood and moved around the room with his phone searching for any other devices that might have been left behind after he was distracted by the large camera he had disabled. Finding two more devices possibly for audio, he crushed them uncaring if those that had placed them knew. They would hardly reveal that they were the perpetrators of illegal happenings within a government correctional facility.
“Now we can talk,” he said quickly returning to the table. “I’ll start if you like and you can fill in the gaps or tell me if my assumptions have no basis.”
“Okay,” Kairos said warily. “Shoot.”
“Over the last two weeks or so since the demise of the last of the known Suebi, I have been at a retreat on my family’s property. We celebrate Halloween in a big way as I am sure you know. This year, we had other things to celebrate, including the exoneration of Olivia from any wrongdoing freeing her to pursue a future free from accusations.” Genesis began. “Now that I can relax and she can plan our wedding, I started thinking about how this all began. Particularly my meeting Olivia who has become the love of my life and how that first meeting occurred. She believes it was you who saved her from the chapel and got her to the hospital during the massacre. I believe it was you who then when to the priest and asked him to find me and seek help for Olivia. My brother,” he indicated Noah, “also believes it was you who filed the fake wedding certificate with the Births, Deaths, and Marriages department to make the failed marriage attempt legal to the eyes of everyone who didn’t witness the event. How am I doing so far?”
“Your assumptions are remarkably close to the events as they occurred,” Kairos conceded. He had nothing left to lose by talking to these people, knowing or at least hoping they would offer him vengeance against those that had betrayed him and his family.
“So, I began thinking about why? Why not let her die at Remington’s side? Why go to the trouble of rescuing her and then sending the priest to me? More importantly, how did you do it? How did you make it through a hail of bullets to get to Olivia without being gunned down yourself? How did you manage to get her out? To the hospital? How did you get the information to Bob here? You want to know what I have come up with?” Genesis asked.
“Sure, dazzle me,” Kairos shrugged and sat back in his chair, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes at the insightful young man before him.
“I believe you saved her, gave her to us and sent in that marriage certificate as part of the renegade factions plan to overthrow Remington. In fact, if you were not the leader of the plan, I would say you were close to those who were the leaders of the plan. I believe that as a model, helpful prisoner you expected the grateful Zenati and Gambaro families to assist you in regaining your freedom as a way of thanking you for what you did for Olivia,” he said testing the waters. “What I can’t work out with the early part of this plan, is why Father Bob was involved? You could have gotten that information to me in several ways.”
“You probably would have passed it off to someone else in your family to investigate, if not for the priest asking you for help personally,” Kairos shrugged. “As you said, she is the love of your life. I hardly think you can find fault with my methods.” He grumbled.
“Not at all I am just tidying up loose ends before we get to the part of the story involving the love of his life,” he pointed at Noah who turned in surprise at his brother’s words and looked between the two men. “You see once you had Olivia all squared away and the Zenati’s involved you just had to bide your time until the remnants of Remington’s men got comfortable enough to start to gather and plan their next move against us, or more specifically Olivia so they could claim the legitimate empire since the AFP had taken all of the illegal holdings into evidence. Then your people made their move through Bea which culminated in the big raid two weeks ago and also the massacre of your own people by an unknown person or group of people. So, the big question that I can’t seem to puzzle out is, who would have betrayed Queen Bea and her daughter? And what happened to Olivia’s sister Marcella that night.”
“We hadn’t planned on the sister; we had thought it would be you who worked through the clues to get to Bea and the information she had to give you. Marcella was a resourceful girl. I will admit that she impressed us with her doggedness and how far she went to get what she needed from us,” Kairos admitted. He sat silent for a moment as if collecting his thoughts. “Let’s cut to the chase, I know who the ghosts were who betrayed my friends and my nephew although I am unsure if he is in fact dead. I imagine the sister was taken because her intelligence alone would have made her an attractive prize to her captor. If she were not left behind with the dead, he would not have harmed her. If anything, he would be trying to seduce her into his bed.”
“What do you know? Now is not the time for games old man!” A loud growl left Noah as he stood and leaned over the table, grabbing Kairos by the shirt collar and hoisting him forward from his chair.
It took both Genesis and Bob to pull the two men apart and calm Noah to a state where he could sit and not pace the room angrily pulling at his hair.
“I know that he would know already that you are here and the game he started by stealing your queen has begun by you taking his bishop,” he looked meaningfully at Father Bob. “I know that while his interest in the girl may have saved her from dying with the others aboard the yacht, she is merely a piece in one of his bizarre games. I have no doubt she was and remains as disposable as the Suebi he betrayed once his deal with them was concluded,” Kairos said casually.
“Ghosts? The Game Master?” Genesis asked as pieces clicked into place in his mind. “The Varangian Brotherhood wouldn’t dare meddle in our territory,” Genesis said quietly squeezing the steading hand he still held on his brother’s shoulder. “Let alone with one of our women.”
“You haven’t met Konrad, have you?” Kairos smirked. “He is not like his predecessors. Money and fame amongst his brothers are not enough for him. He is a game master and that girl, Marcella, has just become a major piece of whatever game he is playing now. It could be with the Gambaro’s, but I would bet he has decided to be the first of his kind in over a century to take on the darkness of the Zenati. And now that you have come to me with the priest seeking answers, the game will have begun in earnest. It’s his move gentlemen, and this Varangian Brother is impossible to predict. If he were, I would have protected those I loved more diligently.”
*****
Gideon strolled out of the hastily gathered meeting feeling better than he had in weeks. The sky even seemed brighter, and he wanted nothing more than to see his wife and tell her that they were sure Marcella was still alive and that they had a solid lead on her whereabouts. He checked his watch. When Genesis and Noah arrived, there would be a full meeting of the Table. Still, he had enough time to enjoy the beautiful woman who had become the centre of his world one more time before he and his brothers would swing into action to retrieve Marcella.
He found Vivienne in a small cottage with several other women, including Olivia talking about the project they were working on. He smiled at how amazed both women had been at the acceptance of their places within the larger family and that his mother was doing her best to make amends with his wife and find out about the project they were working on. He knew his mother had no intention of being shut out of any more of her son’s weddings, let alone the birth of her first grandchild.
Noah’s rage and subsequent sedation had shocked their mother, who had railed against the curse her whole life. Only now seeing how it affected her sons did she consider its validity. Gideon chuckled; he would have thought his father’s constant forgiveness for all her misdeeds would have been the most significant clue. Still, she had been determined to disprove the curse despite the love she shared with Armando.
“Excuse me ladies, my wife and I have a lunch date that I must insist she attend,” he grinned walking into the room and bending down to kiss her. As he helped her from her chair, he turned to Olivia. “Genesis is returning with Noah this afternoon.”
“That’s great, thank you,” Olivia beamed at him. Even with Vivienne and Gideon here, she was lost without Genesis close by like a safety net.
“My always starving husband,” Vivienne giggled at the ladies. “Maybe we could meet again tomorrow? If Genesis is coming back, I imagine Olivia will have a full afternoon as well,” she blushed realising the implications of what she had said as snorts and laughter from the other ladies filled her ears. “That’s not what I meant,” she groaned.
“Hey, I’m all for a bit of afternoon delight,” Shari winked at her and continued laughing at Vivienne’s blush.
“That’s exactly what I had in mind,” Gideon chuckled and pulled Vivienne from the room so he could enjoy that delectable blush all the sooner. When they got close to the cabin they had claimed for the gathering, he picked her up in his arms, carried her into their house and sat on the couch with her in his lap holding her tightly in his arms and kissing her.
“Marcella is alive, and we believe she is being held by a man named Konrad Van Kempen. I will need to be with my brothers over the coming days,” Gideon he explained softly as if he needed a reason for his desire to be with his wife right then. Since finding out she was pregnant, he had become insatiable taking any, and every opportunity to ravish her and gaze at her body looking for even the tiniest changes that he logically knew wouldn’t be there yet but wanting them all the same.
“Alive and being held by someone?” Vivienne gasped. “She didn’t just leave us? She didn’t run away with this man?” Olivia had been so sure that was the apparent scenario as she had given too little too late to keep her sister here with her that Vivienne had believed her.
Vivienne had so many emotions running through her. She didn’t know what to think or feel about Gideon’s news. Still, she knew she loved how Gideon’s arms felt around her and the warmth of his love enveloping her. She wished with all her might that Marcella would one day let herself feel this type of deep almost obsessive love for another person. She kissed him deeply then, not even realising he was laying her back on the couch they sat on until her back hit the cushions.
“Bed?” she asked breathlessly.
“Gideon stood with her still in his arms and walked to the bed, laying her down and looking at her beautiful face for a moment before he leaned over and kissed her again. He removed their clothes with some help from Vivienne barely breaking his kiss. He was starving, but it was not for food any longer, all he wanted was her, over and over and over again.
Gideon ran his hands over the soft skin of her belly, and she moaned softly and sensuously. He pulled back to look at her face again. He marvelled at the wonder of finding her and the over the top feelings of possessiveness that drove him to her every spare moment of the day. He had never believed love like this was possible before breaking his curse, and he felt for Noah and his unfulfilled love of Marcella. Looking into Vivienne’s face he couldn’t doubt that she felt the same depth of emotion for him, her mouth was open in a pant, and her tongue snaked out to her lips, her rapid breath caused the rising and falling of her chest where he could see that her nipples were hard and pointed to the ceiling.
As Gideon’s hand caressed across her belly, moving towards her breasts, she arched her back and thrust her breasts upwards in a silent plea for more. He moved his hand up and caressed one breast and then the other. With a lust-filled moan, her back arched even further thrusting her breasts into his hands. Gideon leaned over and took one of her nipples into his mouth and began to caress it with his tongue. Vivienne took a deep gasping breath and then let the air out with a shuddering moan that sounded like the sweetest music to Gideon’s ears.
He ran his hand down her quivering belly and slid a finger through her pussy lips and found her hot and wet. He switched to her other nipple and began to lovingly lash it with his tongue as he slid two fingers into her soft, wet pussy. Her hips tilted upwards begging without words for his fingers to go deeper and Gideon accommodated thrusting his fingers deep into her, making sure to rub her g-spot with each thrust and caress her clit with his thumb.
Vivienne’s breathing was ragged, gasping as her whole body began to rise in an arch off of the bed. Gideon felt her quivering, reaching and climbing towards him as he continued to suckle her nipples and finger her hot, wet pussy. Suddenly she stopped breathing as her whole body tightened and bowed in a muscle clenching orgasm. Gideon tried to keep fingering her pussy, but she had clamped his fingers in place. He manoeuvred, so he was still able to thumb her clit as he extended one of the most hard-hitting orgasms, he’d ever seen his wife have. Pregnancy definitely agreed with her he grinned to himself.
Her body stayed in her gravity-defying arch as her orgasm overwhelmed her for what seemed an age, and then her body fell back to the bed. Gideon lifted his head from the nipple he had been nibbling on and looked into her now open eyes filled with love, and he had to kiss her. He moved up and began to gently and softly kiss her lips. It took only moments for her to respond and turn the tender touch of his lips into a more demanding kiss. As he pulled back from the kiss, he looked into her eyes and saw the need that mirrored his own.
Gideon wasted no time and kissed down her belly, spending an extra few moments there knowing his son slept and grew within this wonderful woman. He could smell her arousal, and moving lower kissed her thighs as he opened them wider. The moment he started to lick and savour her, her hips came back off the bed, pressing her pussy against his waiting mouth. Gideon grabbed her ass in both hands and began to give her pussy full tongue thrusting licks with flicks of her clit at the end of each lick. Her panting breaths and mewls of pleasure spurred him on, and he could feel her belly quivering again as he pushed her to yet another climax. When she was almost there, Gideon sucked her clit into his mouth and began to lash it with his tongue, and she shattered for him, screaming out his name.
“Gideon!” she cried in a breathless half screech as her body convulsed.
As her hips fell back to the bed, Gideon kissed up to her breasts and began to push his rock hard cock into her tight and still quivering pussy. Vivienne moaned and continued to tremble as Gideon started to thrust hard and deep into her pussy. She was still on edge and building towards another climax as Gideon rode her determined to finish with her this time.
However, with his stunning wife writhing in pleasure beneath him, it was difficult for Gideon to keep from losing his battle and empty himself into her sinfully delicious body before she was ready. He added to her torment by reaching a hand between them to rub her clit and very quickly she climbed her peak and met him at the top as they both tumbled into ecstasy together. Vivienne’s pussy clamped down hard on Gideon’s cock as he lost control and buried himself deep into his wife’s body.
Each time Gideon made love to his wife, he fell in love with her all over again, and he sighed in sated bliss as he pulled out of her and lay down next to Vivienne. Before he could pull her into his arms, she rolled over and laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him and in a quivering voice said.
“I love you, husband, so much. Thank you for loving me the way you do and for making everything better,” Vivienne said sincerely.
“What needed to be made better?” Gideon asked with a frown as she lay on his chest, he wrapped his arms protectively around her still trembling body. He kissed her head and felt an ache in his heart with the love he had for this stunningly beautiful and incredible woman.
“I hadn’t wanted to believe she would leave us without even saying goodbye,” she said quietly. “I was blaming myself for her, not bothering to do that because thinking about the alternative was far worse. I couldn’t bear the thought that she was dead. Someone took her, and that means there is a chance we can get her back. If she wants to come back, that is, but you make me believe that miracles can happen,” she placed a hand over her belly. “If someone had told me before I came to Darwin that I would be married and expecting a baby, I would have had them committed to an asylum. Now I have almost everything I could ever have dreamed of, because of you. You saw me. In a crowd of beautiful people, you saw the plain, frumpy, nerdy Vivienne, and you made me feel worthy of you.”
Vivienne had tried to hide her body away all her life and had denied her body’s needs and wants. She had always felt like her body was a problem and something to be hidden, not exalted. Throughout their rapid courtship, Gideon had striven to make her see how beautiful and sensual she could be, and she was starting to believe him.
“You could never have escaped my notice no matter how hard you tried,” Gideon squeezed her against him. Even in the beginning, he could see her stunningly beautiful face as she tried to hide it with her hair. Still, he never saw her stunning figure until their wedding night. The first weeks of their courtship were the most frustrating of his life, being unable to make love to this dazzling woman had been maddening, and he had tried everything to get her to open up.
Since their wedding, however, she had finally begun to realise how right his words had been and, she had finally let him show her how much he loved her. He was determined to make up for lost years of her life where she hid behind books and white lab coats and show her all the love and passion she had been missing. Not that he was complaining that his wife was a virgin on their wedding day. He loved that he was the only man ever to have her in this way.
“Do you think Noah can convince her to come back?” Vivienne asked softly.
“I know he will try,” Gideon said. “Marcella isn’t the most predictable of girls, and she has issues with control,” he pointed out.
“I guess but wouldn’t it be nice if she could settle and know she was safe here with us even if she can’t accept Noah for who he is to her at first?” Vivienne pressed. “She has been a prisoner of her family for her whole life. I understand why she craves the freedom to do as she pleases so much.”
Gideon had known that, but the simple explanation from his intelligent wife made him consider Marcella and Noah’s volatile relationship in a different light. Maybe there was a way for Noah to get to her if he would take the advice of his older brother for once.
*****
“The cursed ones are a dark force that nobody meddles with lightly. It is how they have survived and prospered as well as they have over the centuries. Of all of the table’s dark histories, theirs is the darkest, and over time they have embraced that and the legend their forefathers garnered for their deeds,” Konrad explained. “In this modern age, they are constrained by the agreements with each of the tables, but I believe they are close to breaking point.”
“So, this game you are playing is to push the Zenati to do something that would separate them from the other tables? Isn’t that a risky move that could backfire on you and have all twelve turn on you?” Marcella asked.
“The greater the risk, the greater the reward,” he grinned with childish delight. “The Tables have been fractured in the past, not badly enough to last over time but there are cracks and wariness in each of the Table’s dealings with the others. Given the last attempt to destabilise the tables following closely after the Pellegrini fiasco with the Donati Table, that time is now,” he said consideringly. “The time is ripe to sew discord but don’t look so concerned my dear, Mischa. It is only a game, and at its end, there will be no hard feelings, there never are in games between gentlemen,” Konrad reassured her.
“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.
*****