The Twelve Zenati

Authors note: Hello everyone. I apologise for my long absence, but it was necessary. Unfortunately, in my absence, my beautiful, kind and wonderful editor David passed away. I hope those of you who enjoy this series continue to do so despite the loss of David who loved the world of the twelve as much as I did. ~ellie.

Part 21

*****

It was crowded in the Athenaeum, with both the older and the new table men crammed into the spaces around the long table. It could have easily held two Tables if there hadn't been understudies on the new Table, which almost doubled the number again.

"I wish Noah was here," Genesis murmured to Gideon, as they went to take their seats.

"You and me both, brother. You and me both," Gideon said sadly and shook his head, still feeling guilty about his last heated conversation with Noah.

"Alright," Anthony said, barely raising his voice to gain the attention of the table, which immediately quietened. "Armando has come to us with some interesting information that I believe we all need to hear and be aware of. If you would be so good as to go through it one more time for those assembled?"

Armando stood and, once again, went through his story of being approached anonymously to broker a deal to arrest some of the remaining Suebi power players, and what they wanted in exchange for the details of the secret meeting and the location of Hermione's.

"The club, Hermione's, is an integral piece of information to prove Olivia's version of events, which is being thrown into doubt at present, because none of the men she mentioned has been arrested or even located, for that matter." Armando finished his explanation.

The group sat thoughtfully for a few seconds to digest the information, as was their custom. Still, before any valid questions could be asked and answered, the older men stared in shock, as the youngest of Anthony and Gianni's sons stood angrily and began to rant at them all.

"For fuck's sake, when are we all going to start being honest with each other? It doesn't take a genius to work out that you have been Olivia's counsel for half a minute and never in public, so this deal came through Noah and, probably, Marcella, who has conveniently disappeared, at the same time as this miraculous deal fell into your lap. Just like the miraculous discovery of Olivia's boat occurred when Marcella was supposedly missing!" He drew breath but went on before anyone could interrupt his tirade. "If we don't all start getting on the same page, we will be putting both Noah and Marcella in danger, because we all want what's best. Sneaking around and hacking into her devices and having secret meetings and calls with Noah isn't helping any of us to help them." He was practically shouting at the men of his family.

"Told you," Gianni chuckled and shrugged at Armando. "I thought it would be Dom who called bullshit, but Zanto's always been more sensitive to others than we gave him credit for."

"Sit down, Zanto," Anthony said, to his still-angry son. He was pleased to see the courage and strength needed to face down the collective Table and felt pride that his youngest son was finally coming into his own. "You're right. Together we are strong. But, even with our combined power and intelligence, we didn't find Olivia's boat. Nor did we believe that we'd left any Suebi power-players on the field to restart the game. Marcella did it all, and largely on her own, because every time she turned around, someone in our family was holding her back for her own good. I believed the phrase that she used when she spoke with Armando yesterday was 'imprisoned her against her will'."

"Our combined force almost broke that girl and, for that reason, she doesn't trust us." Gianni took over where his brother left off. "She doesn't trust any of us, including Noah, who is with her only because he blackmailed her. If you push her or him, we lose not only the chance at arresting these power-players who have hidden so well, but we risk losing her, Olivia's best chance at freedom and possibly Noah, in the process. So, if you have hacked into her personal accounts, now is the time to come clean, because I guarantee that something like that will only feed into her fears and distrust of our family."

"It's okay, Zan man." Genesis stood up and addressed the Table. "I asked him to do it. There is something that doesn't sit right about Apollo. Both Olivia and Marcie claim that he would never hurt them, but why go to Perth before coming here? Surely, he knew she was here? I mean, Olivia coming back from the dead was a big deal. He could have called any number of people to find out why she wasn't answering her phone. Instead, he shows up here only after spending a few days in Perth first? Who was he there for if not Marcella?"

"There are some very threatening sounding voice mail messages by a man that is not her father, but seems to have the authority to demand that she return home to her family," Zanto said, adding to Genesis's reasons for why they had hacked into her devices.

"We've been working with Nathanael Gambaro to discover who is threatening her, and if there is a link to Apollo Martino," Xavier said.

"As Armando and Noah usually fill the devil's advocate role and obviously can't, at this time, Nunzio? Gideon? Your thoughts?" Anthony asked.

"She's a Gambaro, not a Zenati. Same with Olivia. Why are we putting so many resources on the line for them?" Nunzio began. "Their own family doesn't seem concerned that they are in any danger here." He gave a soft smile, as he heard Genesis growl softly in response. "In fact, I believe Olivia's parents refuse to accept the fact that she is alive and have had a memorial for her."

"They are curse breakers and that, in itself, is reason enough for us to do everything that we can to help them but, as yet, neither has made a commitment to our family and Marcella, particularly, is not likely to stay, if everything Armando says is true. For all we know, the alliance between Apollo and the men of her direct family could be enforceable under Table law, as the Battaglia stated," Gideon mused thoughtfully, not looking at his brother. "Maybe it's better to cut her loose now, rather than allow Noah to get too much closer to her."

"As far as we know, she has done nothing wrong and broken no laws, since arriving in our city at our invitation," Armando said, defending the girl he knew and liked. "She is strong-willed, stubborn, courageous yet protective, and self-sacrificing for those she loves and cares for. I'd like to think that is something we value in the Zenati women," Armando said in rebuttal. "When Marcella called me yesterday and asked me to meet her, it was to ask for my help to get Noah to return home, because she didn't want him in the danger that she was so willing to put herself in, to prove her sister's version of events during her time with Royce."

"Heh, and did he listen?" Gianni asked as a few of the men snickered at the proposition that Marcella had put to Armando.

"My son has always had a little trouble heeding my warnings when he was determined to do something," Armando admitted, eliciting a few more chuckles from the men around the table. "Even as a young boy, he marched to his own set of rules. I didn't even try to do as she asked but told her that he was not a child that could be told to do anything, especially leaving her to face the risks she was taking, alone."

Despite all of that," Claudio spoke up. "The fact that there are still Suebi power-players hidden amongst us, and hidden within the AFP if Marcella is correct, is something we can't ignore. I don't imagine Olivia would have wanted to revisit the Royce mansion, nor does she need the money from its sale, so it is no big thing to go along with the wants of the woman who offered the information that we require." He looked directly at Genesis. "This is the opportunity to clear Olivia's name once and for all if it is all true. Is that a chance you are willing to pass up?"

"No, of course not, and I agree with following the plan. I am sure that once it is explained to Olivia, she will sign the necessary paperwork," Genesis waved away the debate. "My concern is Marcella and this strange relationship with Apollo Martino. That's why I asked Zan to hack her phone. That's why I am trying to sort fact from fiction. Fairy stories that Marcella told Olivia when they were younger are becoming more like reality, as we discover more information about their childhood. I don't think the woman trusts anyone completely, including Olivia or Vivienne, let alone us trying to win her trust back. I doubt that we ever had it in the first place."

"In the beginning, she trusted Noah," Gideon said sadly, realising that he knew the exact evening that trust had been lost, and why. "Is he really blackmailing her?"

"According to Marcella," Armando nodded. "I think there is more to it than that, but I think it's best to let them work that out by themselves. It seems that our attempts to help her are the very things that caused her to leave the hospital and disappear, with a hefty concussion."

The conversation turned to what would happen next. The younger men were all warned that, if they saw Noah and Marcella, they weren't to engage them in conversation. At this point, they would, for all outward signs, pretend that the offer had come through Armando.

*****

Marcella stood at the top of a waterfall that seemed far too high to jump from, despite what Noah had told her and shown her. He had photos of himself and his brothers jumping from the falls when they were younger, and it was true. Taken from the shore of the lagoon that it fed, the falls didn't look very big but, from her vantage point, the rippling water looked a long, long way down. She looked back over her shoulder at Noah, who had stripped down to his underwear, and gasped, quickly averting her eyes again, and then getting mad at herself for her reaction to his near-naked perfection. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen it before.

"Your jeans will weigh you down when you hit the water, and it's pretty deep near the falls. Better to leave them here," Noah said, stifling his grin as he folded up his own jeans and placed them in one of the Quad's storage bins. He turned to her, wearing only his boxer briefs. "Having second thoughts about the adrenaline junkie life that Stevie was so keen to get started on?" he asked.

"No," she snapped back, waspishly. "Haven't I already told you to give me some warning before letting all that ab flab loose on the world? I mean, do us all a favour and eat a salad now and then."

"Sure," he chuckled. "I was just trying to save you from having to give me mouth-to-mouth when I drowned with all that denim on. You know you don't need to find excuses to kiss me. All you have to do is ask," he said, moving closer to her.

"Oh, get over yourself," Marcella huffed and, closing her eyes, she tried to channel her alter ego Stevie. She pushed past Noah, moving to the quad bikes. If he could do this, then she could do this. She wasn't going to give him another reason to think that she was a weak and fragile woman. Anything that he could do she could do better, including peeing standing up, if not with the same precise aim. Huffing a second time, she began to strip off her shirt and jeans, regretting the scanty lace underwear that she had chosen to wear this morning. She could do this. She had to do this to prove that she wasn't all talk. He was giving her a day of exactly what she had said she wanted, adrenaline-fuelled fun. She couldn't baulk now, could she?

"You can just..." Noah said, from just behind where Marcella stood in her underwear, making her squeal in fright. "Put your things with mine, in here," he said softly, reaching past her to pull the storage bin from the bike.

"Don't do that!" Marcella raged at him, before turning her back to him again. She folded and placed her clothes with his. "Do we have to climb back up to get dressed again?" she asked, not liking that idea at all.

"Nope, this is coming with us," he grinned, and sealed the watertight bin shut, before removing the holding buckles and picking it up. He held out his free hand to her. "Ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I am ever going to be," she said, as she ignored the hand Noah held out to her, and walked back towards the cliff beside the waterfall, and peered down into the swirling water that flowed out into ripples across the lagoon. She could hear Noah walking up on the loose gravel toward her, so she took a deep shuddering breath and then leapt out, in the direction that Noah had shown was the best place to jump, when they had first arrived at the clifftop.

Noah saw her disappear and called out, rushing forward as he heard her scream on the way down. He halted on the edge of the rock platform forcibly stopping himself from following her over. What was she thinking, just jumping like that, without the last-minute reminders of how and where to jump, for the safest plunge into the water?

Marcella fell and, to her surprise, kept falling. She quickly tried to suck in more air just as her feet touched the water and, not having enough time, sucked in water as well, choking her! She scrambled to the surface, feeling her lungs exploding with the need to cough and expel the water. She broke the surface coughing and spluttering, not thinking that Noah would be jumping directly behind her, and started to panic.

Noah saw her surface, spluttering and choking, and launched himself off the edge, still holding the storage bin. The cold water shocked his system, but he moved quickly to the surface right beside Marcella and drew her to him with one hand while kicking out to get them to the shore as quickly as possible.

"Cough it all up," Noah said softly, pulling her over his legs and cradling her close, as he rubbed her back vigorously, trying to ease the discomfort he knew that she felt. He had swallowed water after the long drop on more than one occasion himself when he was younger.

Marcella said nothing as she struggled to get her ragged breathing under control. If there were ever a time for Noah to lecture her about leaping before she looked, now would literally be that time. She groaned, as she continued to lapse into small coughs, as her lungs struggled to get enough air back into her body.

"Foul ball?" Noah asked tentatively, still holding her close, as they sat in the sun recovering from the jump. He had thought that it would be an easy jump. He thought that they would jump together, preferably holding hands. Instead, he hadn't given her enough of an explanation of what to expect, and she hadn't held her breath when hitting the water. Still, she had jumped into the deeper part of the lagoon, and that was the best outcome.

"No, but I reserve the right to change my mind if you plan on making me climb back up that fucking waterfall to get out of this place," she sighed, realising that to give it a foul ball would be to say that her missed breath during her jump was all Noah's fault.

"No climbing necessary. Our ride out of here will be here in an hour or so." He chuckled and inspected his watch, making sure of the time. He had scheduled a lot into today, and he was glad that she hadn't just used her power of veto to cancel the rest of the day that he had planned.

"Well, that's a relief," Marcella said, untangling herself from his arms and putting a little distance between them. "No second base for you though. I'm not entirely sure that you aren't trying to kill me today. It's not like you to encourage any reckless behaviour, yet you haven't lectured me once, even though I took off on the bike before you were ready, and I leapt off the cliff without you. The Noah I know would have pounced on those moments of recklessness and given me his most condescending I-told-you-so. Then followed it with a lecture of safety."

"I've organised this day, with your permission, but you're still in control, Marcella. You have the power to veto this day at any time. Do that, and it ends, and we go back to StarCity. I gave you my word, signed your contract and, while I won't let you push me personally, as you did the other night with all that teasing, I will follow your lead, just as I agreed to do. Part of that is not lecturing you when you take risks, but rather being there with you, to help you through them," Noah said, his voice holding as much sincerity as he could muster.

Marcella eyed him carefully and moved further away, coming to her feet and feeling the soft damp earth beneath her. She looked up at the waterfall, looking for the flat rock ledge she had just jumped from. It didn't look that high from down here, and she wondered why she had tried to take a second breath. The water looked clear and inviting as she stared at the pretty granite boulders and large rocks, that made small pools around the edges of the small creek which ran toward the coastline. Or, at least, she assumed that was where it led.

The bin that they had put their clothes in was resting nearby, and she walked towards it, feeling awkward in only the skimpy underwear. Not that it was much skimpier than her bikini but... her thoughts were interrupted by Noah, as she considered why she was suddenly feeling so exposed in front of him. She'd slept beside him last night, for goodness sakes. She knew that she was safe with him, or at least from him, as long as she wasn't pushing him into a corner, where he had no choice but to come out fighting.

"Want to see something amazing?" Noah asked, getting to his feet with her.

"I guess, but it needs to be more amazing than jumping off a friggin' waterfall," Marcella teased, with a smirk.

"A different sort of amazing. Not so much adrenaline, more awed reverence," he explained and held out his hand to her.

"Awed reverence, huh? Lead on. I can't wait," she laughed as if he was joking. She followed him back into the water before a thought occurred to her. "Aren't you worried about crocodiles here?"

"Nah, the salties don't usually get this far inland, and it's patrolled to make sure that they don't nest here, if a stray one does wander up the creek," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Patrolled by who?" Marcela frowned. She had thought that they were alone in the middle of nowhere.

"Wildlife rangers and the jackaroos that work the property. The boundary is fenced, so relax. I've been coming here since I was a kid." He turned and grinned at her. "It's perfectly safe. I guarantee you. I manage the risks, remember?"

"What you mean is, I am a risk, and you are trying to manage me," she huffed and withdrew her hand from his, to dive into the water.

"You realise that I haven't told you where we are going yet?" he laughed as she surfaced.

"Ah, but you underestimate my great powers of deduction," she said and shook her head. "People always underestimate me. You want to show me something amazing, I am assuming more amazing than the waterfall right in front of us, yet you waded into the water, so I am guessing there is a cave, or at least a ledge, behind the waterfall," she said, floating back toward the falls.

"You would be right, but you should be careful about how you get there. Head to the left of the fall itself, and you'll find a ledge that you can pull yourself up onto." He chuckled again. He didn't think he could ever underestimate this woman anymore. Keeping her busy today had the added benefit of not having to worry about what harebrained scheme she would think up next, to risk her life over. Noah dove into the water and swam at a steady pace, catching up to Marcella in time to help her up onto the ledge. His large hands caught her waist, and it felt even smaller as he held her steady while she climbed up. He admired the rounded firmness of her ass and the way that the lace of her panties only served to highlight its curves. He swallowed hard, willing his body to stop reacting as if he was an undisciplined teenager.