The Twelve Zenati Pt. 19

Authors note: Hello everyone. Please be aware that this is the third series in the world of the Twelve Tables. It is heavily set in the BDSM lifestyle of Dominant men and submissive women although that can, and does, vary from time to time, the concept is constant.

I am, as always, grateful to David and Kate for being my second sets of eyes. I hope those of you who enjoy this series continue to do so. ~ellie.

*****

"The agreement states clearly that I will follow your lead and do whatever you ask, as long as we stay together," Noah said calmly, even though a small tic in his jaw showed his irritation at the argument he had to have with Marcella.

"My contact won't meet with me if you are hanging around. I need to go on my own. You can wait nearby, but you can't come with me!" Marcella said in slow, angry, measured words, as if talking to an imbecile.

"If I don't go with you to meet your contact, then you wear a tracker," Noah said, nearing the end of his patience with her.

"I will not!" she gasped, colour creeping up her neck with her anger.

"You will, or you can pack your bags and get ready to go back to the safety of being surrounded by all the people who care about you and are worried sick about where you are and what you're doing," Noah ground out through clenched teeth.

"If I'm wearing a tracker, then you are wearing a tracker!" Marcella snarled defiantly, not believing for one moment that he would agree to such a thing himself.

"Fine with me," he shrugged. "Unlike you, I've got nothing to hide," he challenged her. "We can both wear one for the remainder of the agreement."

"So, you don't trust me at all, then?" Marcella glared at him. She'd already told him what she was doing and hoping for from this contact. What more did he expect from her? Yet she couldn't fault him for his honesty with her questions when they made their agreement.

"I trust you about the same amount as you trust me," Noah said, unfazed by her outburst, and pulled a small leather satchel from his belongings then began rifling through the contents. "How squeamish are you?" he asked, so casually that Marcella frowned at the change of topic.

"Not at all," she said, as if dismissing the comment.

"Good. Because subdermal trackers are better. I'll do you, then you can do me. Then I'll help you download the app to track me," he said, standing up with two small blue capsules in his hand, a small scalpel blade sealed in a sterile packet, a few swabs and some small flesh coloured bandages.

"Subdermal?" Marcella's eyes widened as they went from the items in his hands to his face. "You're not slicing me open!"

"It's a nick, Stevie, and the only way that you are going to that meeting tomorrow without me by your side. Well, me or a couple of watchmen ready to take you back to the hospital to be checked over after your accident," he said, trying to hold back a smirk.

"What if I am squeamish about being sliced and diced?" she questioned, not wanting to admit that she was baulking at this.

"You said you weren't. 'Not at all' were your words," Noah said and raised an eyebrow.

"That was before I knew that you planned to give me a new scar!" she said, incredulously.

"Well, this is the best and most foolproof way, but if you want to be a girl about it," he turned back to his satchel, hiding his smirk as he reached for the alternative trackers. He knew that he could halve the fighting time by offering the worst scenario, and then giving her a softer alternative. He turned and showed her a small gold slave bracelet in its box with the small tool to fix it onto her arm and ensure it couldn't be removed unless he removed from her. There was a similar platinum one that could sit beside his watch, unobtrusively, that she could put on him.

"You may not have noticed, but I happen to be a girl. It's not a sign of weakness to not want someone slicing my skin open, like foreplay from a serial killer." She rolled her eyes. "I'll take the bracelet," she sighed, trying not to shudder as she forced away the horrific memories, while she looked at the scalpel blade still lying on the table like a snake ready to strike.

"Alright," Noah nodded, seeing the look on her face and putting the other items out of sight. He was relieved as she visibly relaxed once he had returned the offending items to the satchel. The idea that her doctor uncle may have harmed her in some way with a similar blade made him feel ill and an uneasy silence developed between them as he calmed his own angry, stomach-twisting nausea so that he didn't say something he would regret.

"I wish that you would just trust me," Marcella sighed as she sank into the chair at the small dining table he indicated.

"Would you believe that I do trust you? It's these contacts of yours that I have concerns about," he said in a serious, quiet voice, as he picked up her hand and placed the two halves of the bracelet around her wrist, before proceeding to tighten the specialised screws in place. He felt as if an electrical charge skittered and crackled in the air around them as he held her hand, but if she felt anything at all besides frustration with his lack of trust, she didn't show it. Once it was done, he placed the tool back into the box and slid the second box, holding his bracelet, across the table and held out his wrist to her.

"You're squeamish?" she asked acerbically, picking up the box and looking at the plain platinum band. It wasn't that she wanted to use the scalpel blade on Noah but more that she wanted him to admit that he wasn't happy about being cut either.

"This agreement of ours is all about being fair and staying together. What's good enough for you is good enough for me, and I will do what you want within those parameters. Why? Do you want to practise some serial killer foreplay on me?" he asked with a smirk, using her own words back at her.

"No!" she snapped, a little too quickly, and pulled the two halves of the bracelet from the box and proceeded to fumble through the procedure of trying to hold the halves together as she used the tool to tighten the screws, making the bracelet whole.

Noah didn't offer to help or hold the bracelet together for her, allowing her to do it alone unless she asked for his assistance, which he knew that she wouldn't. After yesterday and last night, he knew that he still had a long way to go to win this woman over and see him as more than a thorn in her side, born of miscommunications and friendly rivalries.

It took a few minutes to download the app to her phone and punch in the numbers that would allow her to see not only his tracker but her own. The fit of the bracelet was firm, and to get it off, she would have to cut her hand off or use bolt cutters or a similar tool, and he smiled. This was always his preferred method of tracking. The subdermal ones were not as reliable and were surprisingly easy to remove, if the subject wasn't squeamish.

"I need to get ready. He won't be expecting me to look like this and I'd like to keep my secret identity secret for a little while longer. At least from my contact," Marcella said and stood to move to the bathroom. "It will take a while to straighten my hair. If you want to go and swim or whatever," she shrugged.

"Yeah, alright. I might do that. You want me to trust you, after all, so I know you won't leave without me," Noah said, giving Marcella a pointed look and watching the colour rise in her neck, as it did so often when he challenged her.

"I'll be at least an hour," she sighed, realising that leaving without him would be useless anyway, with the tracker on her wrist now. "Go do whatever it is that you're doing when you're not stalking me like a serial killer."

"Well, I'm not talking to my family at the moment, so stalking you has become my full-time gig. I'm sure that I can find something to do. This place has a gym, after all, and you did disparage my flab and ask me to do a sit-up now and then," he chuckled, remembering her acerbic comment as he undressed in front of her.

"True, you're disgusting. A little time in a gym wouldn't hurt you at all." Marcella rolled her eyes at him and moved toward the bathroom. "Try and work out more than just your eyes while you're there, this time," she sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he said, as he frowned at her.

"Half of the reason that men join gyms is to ogle the pretty girls and women as they bounce and gyrate all over the place. Don't act so innocent, Noah. You know you do it. All men do. It's like programmed into your DNA, to appreciate every woman with a half-decent figure," she said flippantly, as if it didn't bother her at all. She walked into the bathroom and closed the door before he could say anything to confirm or deny that he ogled the gym bunnies, just like every other guy.

Noah stared at the closed door and chuckled. Since he had accepted who she was and that he could love her if only she would let him, the idea of ogling other women didn't appeal to him at all. Still, he could use a swim, and he had to at least try to show her that he trusted her. So, he changed, grabbed a towel and headed down to the pool. While he was there, he could call Xavier and check on Dom without her listening in, which he didn't mind for the short general conversations, but he wanted a fuller update on the happenings of the family, particularly his brothers.

*****

"I think I've worked out why Apollo didn't let Marcella know that he was coming, either to Perth or following her up here," Zanto said as he sat once again in the hospital staff break room that they had taken over for table business. He looked at his brothers and cousins who had gathered to hear what he had to say or explain. His report had been accurate but factual, rather than detailed, and a meeting had been called.

"Go on," Dominic encouraged.

"I believe that she has another phone account that she uses for work and when she is at home in Perth. There may well be two accounts, from the amount of time that she spends calling the message bank to retrieve messages. I could dig a bit harder and find out for sure, but she hasn't agreed to this invasion of privacy, and so far, she has done nothing to any of us, except try to help her sister. We can't treat her like a criminal who waved his rights the moment he committed a crime against us," Zanto said, feeling bad for invading her life as much as he had already.

"That's easily discovered," Xavier said, pulling out his phone and googling her profile in the company that she worked for and comparing the numbers with her current ones.

"I already did that, but as I said, I don't know if she is accessing one or two accounts because she doesn't have the passwords saved on her phone and, as much as I could hack them, is that really a line you want to cross for a second time?" Zanto asked.

"We, or more importantly you, have already crossed the line. May as well keep going. Besides, you already know what the codes are or you wouldn't have mentioned a second account," Dominic said, trying not to use an accusatory tone.

"Fine. I have the codes, but I haven't gone into it, yet. It feels wrong," Zanto said, again. "We aren't the Suebi. We don't just ignore the laws. Fuck, we add to the law, if anything. Noah would say the same. You know that he wouldn't like this," Zanto said, staring his older brothers down and trying to win an argument with them for the first time in his life.

"He's right," Gideon agreed. "Noah wouldn't agree to this, but he isn't here. So let me call Papa and fill him in. He and Noah think with the same mind more often than not when it comes to legal issues. We have to tell the old men, anyway. Like you said, when was the last time we could ever keep a secret from them?"

"I can work with that," Zanto said, grateful that Gideon had taken his side in the battle of wills.

"Let's say that's Plan B and see if we can't get it from the horse's mouth first," Xavier said, tapping on his phone as he talked. "Give him time to answer if he can. What else do we know?"

"I'm guessing that you heard about the bet Emma made with Olivia?" Genesis asked. When Xavier raised a questioning eyebrow, he filled him in on the bet where Olivia had revealed about why Marcella had left the safety of the hospital and their family.

"So, she doesn't trust any of us now," Dominic said sadly.

"Add to that invading her privacy by hacking into her personal accounts," Zanto said meaningfully, glad that he hadn't delved any further than he had so far.

"I think our baby brother might be right, X," Dominic said. "Noah has got a hard enough battle to win her over without us putting more roadblocks in his way."

"I don't know about that. I still think that there is more to what is going on with Apollo and her family than meets the eye. The sisters were both so sure that he wouldn't hurt her, but the fact is that he did and in front of witnesses," Genesis reminded them all. "We're not just doing this to be nosey. It's to keep her safe and, in turn, Noah safe. This isn't as black and white as Zanto is making it out to be. We have reason to be concerned about their welfare, particularly hers, and her sister's by association. Apollo probably tried to call and left messages on one of those message bank accounts, and it might just explain why he did what he did to her."

"He's got a point," Xavier said as he considered all points of view. He listened to the men discuss the pros and cons of invading Marcella's privacy for her own sake, rather than the fact that they were just snooping on her, for a further ten minutes before his phone buzzed in his hand and he smiled seeing Noah's name.

"Hey," Xavier greeted his cousin.

"Hey, what's up? I was planning on calling in this morning, anyway." Noah returned the greeting.

"It was her, I take it," Xavier stated rather than asked.

"You knew it was," Noah said guardedly, not liking the strange tone to his cousin's voice.

"Then why not bring her back?" Xavier asked. "Your brothers think it's because the Battaglia were here and she thought they came for her. You could tell her otherwise and smooth this shit out back here, with us to back you up."

"Because there is more going on than we know, and I think she has a key to discovering it. She says that she has something to do here which is why she didn't leave the city. Trust me, I'll bring her back soon," Noah said, sounding sure of himself despite being uncertain about if he could ever make her stop taking risks and endangering herself.

"Gen thinks the same thing. He wants to..." Xavier began to explain their current dilemma.

"Don't tell me. I need deniability if it's one of Gen's ideas. I trust his instincts. If he thinks there is something to be found by doing whatever you called to ask me about, then chances are there is. If Gen can convince Dom that it's the right thing to do, then I'll agree, no matter the fallout. Good enough?" Noah asked.

"Good enough," Xavier replied. "Stay safe. We'll catch you up on everything soon."

"Thanks," Noah chuckled dryly and hung up.

"Well," Xavier said to Dominic, over the click sounding from the speaker of his phone, when he raised his head to face the small group gathered before him.

"He trusts Gen's instincts so maybe we should too, in this case," Dominic shrugged and looked at Zanto who sighed and nodded. They all understood the undercurrent of Noah's words about Marcella being the key to something bigger. Something that could put their own family at risk as it played out in their city.

"If you don't want to do it, I can take it from here," Orlando said gently, hearing his younger brother sigh heavily.

"We can do it here," Zanto said, picking up the backpack he had dropped to the floor when he arrived and dumping the contents onto the desk. Once he set up his equipment, he used the same pathways to get into the service provider's message banks and access the first of Marcella's accounts.

The first message bank had several messages from her colleagues and assistant at the law firm in which she worked which dealt with the company business. There were several cordial and polite messages from an aunt, asking her to return the call and, strangely, her mother who didn't seem to hold any affection for Marcella, using a strained and polite tone to leave a message, asking her to call her father immediately.

The second message bank, however, held what they had suspected. Calls from Apollo telling her of his planned visit, which became increasingly angry as she didn't return his calls. There were two other messages from a man who didn't identify himself. It could have been her father, but Genesis was sceptical about that, as her mother had used the other number. The two other messages were possessive and threatening, rather than affectionate, reminding her that he could ruin her life if she did not return to Perth immediately.

"It's as if they expect her to obey their orders," Gideon said. "Marcella doesn't obey anyone's orders." He shook his head.

"Maybe they were holding something over her, to coerce into doing what they wanted?" Genesis said thoughtfully. "Threatening her mother, perhaps?"

"There was no love in the mother's message, no affection or terms of endearment, considering it had been months since she left Perth. She didn't ask about Marcella's welfare or how her sister was recovering from her ordeal," Xavier added. "We could try to match the voice. Gen called him when he first discovered Olivia."

"We could," Gen nodded, "but I have a feeling that it's not him. I think it's more likely to be her abuser, the doctor figure. It felt like a lot was going on in those messages, and none of it good."

"I'll touch base with Nathanael and Massimo and see if they discovered anything. We can meet back later this afternoon," Xavier said, thinking it was time that he caught up with his friends.

"Yeah, alright. I have a few avenues that I'd like to investigate as well," Genesis said, scratching at his cheek. "I can stick around here if you want updates," he offered, when, in fact, he was the one who wanted updates from his cousins' friends.

"I'll stay, too," Gideon said. "You have the hotline to Noah, and if anything goes down, I want to be in the loop as soon as possible."

Xavier nodded but said nothing, as the men in the room all decided to stay and work at unravelling the mystery surrounding Marcella Gambaro. They could piece together why she had left the safety of the hospital and their family now. What they didn't know was why she had stayed in town and why Noah was indulging her plans, rather than bringing her home.

*****

Noah had walked back into the suite to find Marcella leaning over the bathroom vanity putting the finishing touches to her make up. That, in itself, would have been fine, except that she had only been half dressed. The sight of her leaning forward, her firm round ass high and begging to be spanked, clad only in a black lace thong, was enough to scramble his brain, but she also had a suspender belt of the same colour and sheer stockings, sans shoes. Her shapely legs looked even more so as she stood on tip-toe, the stockings moulding to the contours of her muscles. The matching bra pushed her perky breasts up, and despite himself, he let out a low groan as his cock hardened at the sight of her.

Marcella heard the groan and stifled the smile that threatened to break free. He wasn't as immune to her charms as he made out, and she did another little victory dance inside her head. She turned her head to look at him and raised an eyebrow.

The raised eyebrow and barely-hidden smile, reeking of smugness, brought him back to reality. Walking further into the bathroom, he pulled off his shirt and turned to stand directly behind her. His hand smacked her ass lightly, and then caressed the cheek slowly, as he watched her eyes grow wider in the mirror.