12 Zenati 34
Authors note: Hello everyone. I am sorry for my delay with this chapter. I have been busy returning to work and visiting therapists, which leaves me exhausted, so my writing continues to be considerably slower, for which I apologise. Again, I am grateful to MsSensualiT for her continued help to be my second set of eyes. I hope those of you who enjoy this series continue to do so. ~ellie.
12 Zenati Pt 34.
It was six O'clock when Noah and Marcella took their uneasy truce to meet with the other members of their family, and those of the Gambaro family investigating the package delivery before their early flight home. Marcella was not surprised by the open package put before her. She could logically understand why it had been opened, given her condition when she returned to the hotel and the recent history with a man who had told her that he would come for her at some time.
She could see the looks of trepidation Noah's brothers were giving her, and she considered how much of a harridan she had been not only to Noah, but to all of them since arriving in Darwin to protect her sister. She knew she hadn't made it easy for anyone to like her, especially Noah, after he turned away her advances. Still, surely Vivienne and Olivia knew her well enough to know she could be reasonable about things like this when it was explained to her properly instead of being arbitrarily taken out of her hands. For the first time, she considered that her warrior self might have alienated the people she cared about more than she realised, especially because she had been so horrible to Noah, who had not let her alienate him.
Gideon sat with a man named Lewis, both using android tablets to try and discover if any planes without flight plans were seen in the skies around Perth in the last week. This was how Konrad had travelled in Queensland when Marcella was with him to disguise his movements. It was reasonable, she agreed, for them to assume Konrad would continue to try and fly under the radar. Still, she felt he was more intelligent than to just fly and probably often changed how he travelled, particularly as he hated flying.
"I hate to interrupt," Marcella said mildly, surprising everyone. "Until we work out where he is and what he wants, we can't move forward, so all the talk this morning isn't telling us anything we don't already know. So if it's all the same to you, I will leave you men to do the men's work and go to visit my mother before we leave or she leaves for Adelaide. Thank you all for letting me listen in but seeing as you haven't told me anything, I didn't already know I'd just as soon be somewhere else."
"And there is the Marcie we know," Genesis chuckled and rolled his eyes at Noah good-naturedly.
"She's got a point," Gideon said with a shrug. "We haven't turned up anything out of the ordinary in flights around Perth. Of course, he could have driven here in the time since he was last seen in Adelaide, but would he have taken the gamble we would stop here on our way home?"
"He would have had people in place for several scenarios. He may not be here himself, but could have had several of his men both here and in Darwin depending on which decision we made," Marcella answered Gideon's question. "From the information we have about the package delivery, we can't even be sure he was here himself."
"She's got a point," Lewis said, tossing his tablet onto the table. "Sitting here isn't getting us any closer to Varangian."
"Come on," Noah said to Genesis. "Let's take the girls to see their Mama. Gideon and X can handle this search for us."
"Sounds good," Genesis held his hand out to Olivia, and the four left the room. Half of their security team, including a few of the Gambaro watchers Oscar wouldn't remove; claiming the girls were still Gambaro's and deserved his protection no matter where they were, followed them.
Marcella had never found Genesis so agreeable, and she frowned, wondering why he had ceased his antagonism toward her.
"I think we'll go with them," Gideon said after a quick look at his wife and her disappointed expression.
"Go," Xavier said. "I wouldn't mind checking on Nathanael before we leave. "Let me know when you're close to being done so, we can have Val ready the plane."
*****
Benita Gambaro was being cared for in a quaint little private hospital to Marcella's relief. She had imagined an asylum with nurses and orderlies all dressed in white who had calming injections at the ready like some horror movie. Marcella took a deep breath and shuddered. She wasn't sure her mother would welcome a visit from either herself or Olivia.
"You don't have to do this, Marcie," the calm, quiet voice in her mind spoke for the first time since she had woken.
"You can't think I am going to let you take over again," the harsher of her inner voices hissed. "She needs to be strong and help her mother make the decision to go and help Jessa grow up and take responsibility for herself and those boys."
"I'm the one who needs to take responsibility for the things I do instead of letting you take over," Marcie thought loudly at the two voices.
"You're not strong enough, alone," Marcella hissed.
"She is stronger and more resilient than you will ever be with all your bravado. You don't play well with others, and we don't want to be alone and lonely for the rest of our lives," Chella responded.
"You mean this controlling asshole? We'd be better off alone if you ask me," Marcella said derisively, indicating Noah, who sat beside her.
"You will be fine, Marcie," Noah said as if reading the turmoil in her mind, and he squeezed her hand. "Just remember she has been through a lot and might not be the woman you remember. I won't leave your side unless you ask. I'm pretty sure Genesis feels the same way." He looked at his brother for confirmation.
"Both of you are our priority. Whatever you need to get through this, we will do," Genesis said, making Marcella frowned again at his easy support of her in addition to Olivia.
"What's changed, Genesis?" Marcella pushed forward, ready for an argument. "Why are you suddenly acting like we are friends?"
"Because we are friends, and very soon we will be family as well, Marcella," Genesis said from the front seat. "This isn't a sudden thing. Once you stopped trying to force Olivia to leave and return to Perth, there was no problem between us. So I'm not going to argue with you and cause a rift between us if that's what you're looking for." His words and demeanour were casual, but Marcella narrowed her eyes, hearing a slight edge to his tone.
