The Twelve Zenati Pt. 10

"Fuck! I'll still check out the marinas. You never know." Gideon rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, feeling a little stress creep up on him. He smiled as he felt Vivienne's hand come to rest lightly on his thigh and rub gently as she moved closer into his side. He let out a breath of pure happiness. She was the most amazingly intuitive woman where he was concerned. He had known that they would have an awesome connection; cursed couples always did, but she was beyond anything he had dreamed possible, and his heart overflowed with love for her every time he looked at her.

Noah suddenly stood and walked across the room, taking the phone casually from Marcella's hand, and spoke in a calm, moderated tone.

"My apologies for my colleague. She is personally invested in this case... yes, I understand how you feel. However, I have a power of attorney signed by Olivia Gambaro, and I am authorised to act in her stead. Perhaps I could come down there in say the next half hour with the documentation, and you can show me the certificate in question, just so we can authenticate it for our records... Yes, a copy will be needed if it is authentic... Thank you, Curtis. I look forward to meeting with you at two thirty." Noah hung up the phone and handed it to Marcella with a perfectly straight face. Then he fished his keys from his pocket. "You coming?"

"Fucking arrogant prick," Marcella grumbled, with every intention that he would hear her. She then caught sight of Vivienne, having forgotten about the other people in the room. "Oh God Viv, I'm sorry. Will you be here long? Can we catch up when I get back? Do you want to have dinner tonight?" She rushed her apologies in her haste to not let Noah leave without her.

"Go find out what you need to know and call me when you're done. I'm sure my husband and I have time to squeeze in dinner sometime tonight," she laughed.

"I'll book Peewees again. We had fun there last time," Gideon suggested. "We won't say anything about your call until you have confirmed the information," he said, more for Noah's sake than Marcella's.

"Alright. I'll talk to you when we're done with this meeting," Noah nodded and left the room.

Marcella followed. She hated Noah's all-seeing, all-knowing, arrogant persona. It rankled her no end, so she sat silently and stewed as he drove them back into the city to find out the information she needed before she could make her next move.

An hour later, the information was confirmed. According to the Northern Territory authorities, Olivia was indeed married to Remington Royce, and no will had been lodged with the department, although that wasn't unusual for someone like him. Now she just had to find out who the lawyer was that handled his private affairs, and if he had been picked up in the raids. She needed to contact Rockford or Hopkins again and make sure that they were putting her in touch with the right man for the job. Searching in her bag for her phone, she was glad that she had placed the card in the small cardholder built into its case. She would call him once she wasn't sitting right beside the cool, calm and arrogant man next her. He had every reason to be arrogant, she admitted. He was good at his job and handled others remarkably well. He could read them almost, and knew the exact right thing to say and how to handle them to get what he wanted from the conversation. If Marcella was honest, she was a little bit in awe of him as a lawyer.

Now she just had to deal with telling Genesis and Olivia, which Noah couldn't be dissuaded from doing now that Gideon and Vivienne knew because of her big mouth. She breathed deeply, building herself up for another emotional breakdown from Olivia.

*****

Genesis watched his brothers and the two women leave for their dinner reservations. He felt like someone had just struck a blow to his chest. It made no difference if they were married, of course. The man was dead and had no hold on her, but somehow it had affected him deeply, though he did his best not to show it.

"I honestly didn't even know he intended to marry me until the day of the ceremony." Olivia seemed to be pleading for him to believe her. "I didn't sign those documents, I'm sure I didn't." She shook her head, wondering if the drugs she had been on, though a lighter dosage at the end of her time with him, could mess with her memories so badly.

"I don't think it matters one way or the other now. I believe you, but according to the authorities, you were married, and I guess now we have to deal with what that means," Genesis said, his mind clouding with the quiet conversation he and Noah had before breaking the news to Olivia.

"You believe me?" Olivia asked incredulously.

"Since taking your name back and becoming mine, have you lied to me or given me any reason to doubt you in some way?" he asked, knowing that she had been honest with him, brutally so at times, since they had come together and he had claimed her as his own.

"No, I would never!" she blurted.

"Then I believe you. You don't have to convince me. I will always believe in you. We do need to talk about what this information the authorities have means, though," Genesis said, pulling her close as they sat on the couch.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Why would it matter?"

"Remington Royce was a very wealthy and powerful man, both in his legal business dealings and in the criminal world. As his widow, that wealth, if not that power, is yours by right, unless we can find a will that says otherwise, which the AFP has not discovered yet," Genesis explained gently.

"So, I'm rich?" she asked, with a frown.

"Very much so, except that all that wealth has been frozen temporarily, while the investigation into the criminal dealings of Royce are looked into. Once that is concluded, those assets, those deemed to be legal and above board, will be released back to you, including his home where you lived and your personal effects from when you lived there. Marcella is trying to negotiate a time for you to access your personal belongings before the assets are released to you," he continued.

"If a will is found, it will go to whoever is named in it though, won't it?" she asked.

"Yes. Which is why I believe Marcella wants you to have access to your personal property before that happens," he reassured her.

"None of that stuff is mine. It's Serena's. She lived with Remy and married him, not me. I was a prisoner in here, like she is now," Olivia admitted, tapping her temple to show that Serena lurked in a cage within her mind.

"There might be some things there that you brought with you from the boat, that were yours before he made you into Serena," Genesis reasoned. It wasn't the first time he had heard her compartmentalise Serena as a distinctly different personality, quite separate from herself, as if she didn't want to take any responsibility for any of the other woman's wrongdoings. Serena, he knew, was the young woman so in love with Remington that she wouldn't do any anything without permission, including eating or talking to anyone in the hospital. She was the woman who had loved Remington and mourned his death, while Olivia was the frightened but cheeky girl that he had seen flashes of in the beginning. The woman he now loved, having coaxed her out of the cage she had been held in by Remington and Serena. He would need to talk to Vivienne about the phenomenon in more depth, once they had time, wondering if the damage Remington had done to her had resulted in a split personality.

"Regardless of that, the marriage puts you in even more danger than we thought," Genesis admitted, finally putting the finger on why he felt like he had been sucker-punched by this information. "If one of the Suebi were to take you and claim you once the dust of all the arrests settles, they would stand to control all that wealth as well as Remington's power, through you. You would be little more than a puppet to them and would be treated the way Serena always had been, as a toy to teach new tricks and show off to their friends," he said harshly.

"Why would I leave you? I wouldn't!" She shook her head vehemently, looking worried that he would let her go after all they had spoken about in the last few weeks.

"And I would never willingly let you go, but," he paused, trying to work out the best way to say what needed to be said. "The remaining Suebi allies might target you to claim that wealth and power. They may make kidnap attempts or even try to kill you, if you don't go with them willingly, so that his wealth and power would be redistributed amongst the survivors, or even given to one who had proven himself the new leader already. I need to keep you safe. I need you to understand how dangerous it is for you outside this building right now, and that you can't go anywhere without my brothers or me, no matter who else asks."

"Not even Vivienne? She said she wanted to take me to meet someone called Madrina, who has a teapot tree in her front garden," Olivia giggled, despite the seriousness of their conversation.

"I'd be happy for you to meet my Madrina, but you cannot go without my brothers or me, and even then, I think we will have to get you some private security for the time being," he explained

"Like bodyguards?" Olivia asked, wide-eyed.

"This is serious Olivia, so yes. I will get people I know and trust to look after you like I would," he said in a tone that he hoped she wouldn't argue with. "I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you. I can't imagine my world without you in it now," he said softly and kissed her tenderly. "I love you," he whispered, testing out the words on her with a smile.

"I love you too," she whispered back. "So if it's important to you, it will be important to me," she agreed. Serena had been dealing with bodyguards for almost the whole time she was with Remy. This wouldn't be any different. They would be just like the invisible people that Remy had to watch her. Except for Leila, who wasn't always invisible and seemed to genuinely like her and worry for her when she was injured or hurt by Remy.

"That's it, no argument?" he asked. He hadn't been sure what to expect when he brought up the idea of bodyguards, but this calm and easy acceptance from her surprised him. In fact, she often surprised him by her quiet acquiescence since he had claimed her as Olivia and rid himself of the construct Remington had created, Serena Seabrook. Olivia was cheeky and fun and pushed him a little at times, but in general, she was particularly obedient, and it was obvious that she had been raised by a strong hand who expected that obedience and respect. He also knew that he needed to talk to Marcella a little more about her father before broaching the subject again with Olivia, and the to-do list in his head got bigger again.

"Would it make a difference?" She gave a half smile. "You've made it very clear what my choices are. I can accept what you ask of me, or we can argue about it and you can give me an ultimatum that I will agree to in the end, rather than upset you or risk losing you and everything you have offered me. I'm just cutting out the middle part of the process because you weren't going to back down, were you?"

"No," he chuckled. Then he pulled her close. "So, you'll agree to anything I ask without argument?" His voice lowered perceptibly, and he murmured in her ear, his breath fanning across her neck.

"I don't think your powers of persuasion are that good," she teased lightly. "I'm sure there will be plenty of things to argue about, but this isn't one of them. I understand why you want this. As long as you can explain why you want the things you want so that I can understand, then I won't argue very often."

"That's good to know," Genesis murmured softly, tightening his arms around her. There was something special about just holding her. Life for him had changed so dramatically since Father Bob had convinced him to help the girl he believed was in dire need of saving. Olivia seemed even more beautiful now than when he first met her. Her face was softer, more feminine, more open and giving than she used to be. The hard lines of anxiety around her mouth and eyes were gone, and she looked almost doll-like in her sweetness. It was as if the worries of her world had disappeared from her face, and her body relaxed in trusting contentment that was far removed from the fear she had lived with for so long when she had belonged to Royce.

He stroked her hair back from her face and kissed her forehead with a casual loving gesture. Olivia responded by sighing and snuggling tighter in his arms. Their bodies fit perfectly together, and his arms tightened, trying to hold her as close as he could as she closed her eyes. They sat there in silence for long minutes, and he watched her as he watched her sleep so often. She would twitch in her sleep sometimes, as if having a bad dream, then murmur his name as she snuggled tighter into his arms. One particular night, she had a particularly violent shudder in her sleep and had whimpered, "Stay, Genesis, don't go, please." The memory alone filled him with a warmth that suffused his whole being and made him feel even more protective, if that was possible. She belonged to him and him alone now, even in her sleep.

"The choices you have are different now, sweetheart," he told her softly, stopping himself from using one of Royce's trigger words for her. "I couldn't let you go now even if I wanted to. You are mine, and even though I intend to win any and all of our future arguments, it doesn't mean I won't listen to your concerns." Genesis continued to absent-mindedly stroke her hair. She had very quickly captured his heart utterly and totally. Whether it was the curse or not he couldn't say but, looking at her, he felt possessive and growled, "You're mine to love, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you are safe and happy."

The smile on her face broadened until her whole face glowed with dreamy happiness. She had morphed into the perfect woman since the first time he had seen her looking so lost and terrified in the hospital. She was so in-tune with him now that he had to remind himself of the beaten and brainwashed girl that he had first met. She had come so far in such a short amount of time, and his smile tightened, because possessing her the way he did came with the responsibility of caring for her, knowing that she might never recover fully from the abuse inflicted on her by Royce.

She had been broken, fractured in spirit and mind, by a monster, and he had worked hard to capture her heart, so it was his responsibility to keep it safe. There had been a beautiful, strong woman hidden inside the façade of Serena Seabrook, and he had forced her to reveal it. Only a strong woman could survive what she had endured and come back from that edge. It was his duty now to make sure that she felt happy and secure with him, from this point on. He didn't want her to feel like he held the threat of him leaving her over her head, as he had on the night he had given her his ultimatum. He needed to reassure her that he would not let her go willingly ever again.

He had always revelled in his freedom, choosing a career that enabled him to travel the country and the world without ever having to put down permanent roots anywhere. He had decided to never put his heart on the line or give in to any family myth about curses, but the futility of that now lay in his arms, snuggled against him in the most delicious of ways. He looked down at Olivia's serene face and bent down to kiss her lips. He let his tongue trace her lips until her mouth opened in a plea for more.

"Come on, little one. Let's see what we have for dinner or would you like to order in tonight?" Genesis said softly against her lips.

Olivia's eyes opened with a soft but heated look. She studied his face almost as if she was seeing it for the first time. It never ceased to amaze her that he was still here and still holding her no matter what he found out about her before she became his. He was still here, holding her, with his eyes telling her that he loved her as much as she loved him. She had been thinking of the way he made love to her, possessing her totally, and she wasn't ready to give up that daydream to think about dinner. She pouted and closed her eyes again, with her lips curling her pout into a small smile as she snuggled into him again.

Genesis knew how she felt as he watched her eyes close contentedly again. He wasn't ready for her to be out of his arms either, but they would need sustenance for what he had planned for them tonight, after that heated look she had given him. Genesis wove his fingers into her hair, making a fist and pulled her face away from his chest. Her eyes were open now, looking at him intensely, and he could see her craving for more.

"Little girls who pout could get spankings!" Genesis murmured the threat huskily.

"Is that a promise?" Olivia's whole face lit up with an impish grin.

"Absolutely, my cheeky girl!" Genesis said with a laugh and flipped her over on his lap and gave her a quick smack on the irresistible, firm, rounded curve of her ass. She moaned and wiggled her ass under his hand, and he knew that if he didn't force himself to leave the couch right now, he in all likelihood wouldn't. Genesis laughed as he flipped her back over in his lap. He loved her playful manner, and he almost felt beyond happy at moments like this, when nothing seemed to be weighing them down. "You are far too tempting, little one, but there is a time and place for everything, and right now we need to eat or you won't survive another night with me," he chuckled.

Her gaze was hypnotic, filled with heat and desire and, if he allowed himself to admit it, love. They had professed their love for each other but to see it clearly on her face, mixed with the heat and desire she felt for him, almost unmanned him and it took all of his willpower to untangle himself from her and stand from the couch. All the wealth a man could ever want was hidden in her eyes. The greenest depth of the sea shining in her eyes were promises just for him. It was the kind of promise every man dreamed of from the woman he was devoted to. With her he felt strong, powerful and invincible. He would battle giants for her to keep her safe and at his side, because he knew he would never want to walk this world alone ever again.

Genesis grabbed Olivia's small hand in his, and their fingers wove together, perfectly pulling her up from the couch to stand beside him. Olivia lifted his hand and held it lovingly against her cheek. Neither one of them wanted to break the spell, but Olivia sensuously kissed the back of his hand.

For Olivia, there was something about tactile contact with Genesis. She could be content with his warmth or in his scent, but she really needed to feel him touching her skin. Whenever she felt him touching her, she felt beautiful, she felt safe but, most importantly, she felt loved, desired and wanted. After the last few weeks, all she could think of was Genesis, holding her and making love to her. Nothing else in her life seemed to matter anymore.

She looked up at Genesis, and her heart ached in her chest. He was looking at her with committed and hungry love. The look in his eyes told her that he would do anything to keep her from harm, even from himself. His look was so loving and so intense that she felt her eyes start to fill up with tears. He gently caressed her face and reverently whispered, "Don't look at me like that. You need to eat, and I only have so much willpower where you are concerned."

Genesis pulled her with him to the kitchen and gave her a small glass of orange juice. He leaned over, kissed her, and, as he was turning away to get something from the refrigerator, Olivia cleared her throat quietly, making him turn back to meet her gaze.