Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mackenzie
My face still hurts. My skin is still burning as if fire is beneath it, but there's a fire in my heart too, one of hopefulness and faith from hearing Dimitri say he wanted to marry me.
All this time, I never considered marriage. I just thought it was never a possibility because of our circumstances.
Hearing him say those words means he chose me.
Hearing him say those words to my father means he's chosen me above everything else and what we have exists outside of the feud between our families.
Mom slips her arm around my waist, pulling me out of my thoughts and we both stare back at my father who looks so defeated.
After what happened last night, I can just imagine the worry he's been going through. It's like we've been in a situation where all our backs are against the wall and one wrong move will obliterate us.
Yet I want to know more about what Dimitri and my father were talking about. I move out of mom's grasp and walk up to my father.
"Did I hear right?" I ask. "Was Dimitri really talking about marrying me?"
Dad furrows his brows, but he doesn't look angry. He looks more perplexed than anything. "Yes, he did say that. But sweetheart, it's not an option we can consider."
Mom steps forward surprising me and shakes her head at him.
My mother is normally so placid and compliant. She goes with the flow all the time. But the face I'm looking at now doesn't look like someone who's going to be doing as they're told.
"Adrian, this is insane,” she says. “How can we do this to them? Dimitri wants to marry Mackenzie, so we have to find another way that doesn’t include her marrying someone else."
Dad frowns. "I'm stuck and I don't know what to do. I feel like a complete jerk, but I have no options left."
Mom walks up to him and takes his hands into hers. "Remember you were that boy once, Adrian. You found a way."
I look at them both as they stare at each other and I realize I don't know what they're talking about. How was my father ever like Dimitri?
"That was different," he says. "Your father wasn't in the same situation as me. It's easier to get around someone who hates you and doesn't think you're good enough. Doing so means making sure they know you're good enough. That's what I did to get you."
His words send a pang to my heart and I look from one to the other, realizing now what they're talking about. This was something about my parents I didn't know.
Mom releases his hands and gives him a optimistic look. "We have to find a way, Adrian."
The determination in her voice gives me some semblance of reassurance although I know I'm clinging to threads.
Everything is falling apart around us, there's very little to hold on to, but I have to try not to lose faith.
Dad straightens and glances back at me. "I have to go. I have a meeting with Vlad Konstantin and Alexander Ivanov. I have to explain my reasons for destroying Ryan’s hand and justify my argument for his expulsion from Raventhorn."
I walk up to Dad now and give him a hug. "Thank you for defending me," I whisper against his chest.
He taps the top of my head. "I'm sorry it happened. It's my fault. All of it is my fault. I should have known better than to approach the Konstantins."
We pull apart, but he lowers to kiss my forehead. "Hope for better."
"Yes," I nod.
"Your mother and I would like you to stay here for a few days. I hope you'll agree."
Again, I nod. "I'd like that a lot." I was actually thinking of staying. I'm not sure if I can be around anyone at the moment outside the walls of this house.
"Good, then I'll see you both later."
Mom gives Dad a quick kiss before he leaves then she turns to me with a knowing smile already seeming to guess that I'll have questions about that secret conversation they had..
"Grandpa didn't like Dad?" I ask.
She shakes her head. "No, not one bit."
"Why not? I thought your marriage was arranged. You knew each other from when you were kids."
She chuckles lightly. "We did and that's probably why my father didn't like yours. He wasn't always as put together as he is now. He loved getting himself in trouble and me too. Eventually my father stopped us from seeing each other. But by the time we got to Raventhorn, we knew we wanted to get married. Your father found a way to make your grandfather respect him when he won the media company in a card game."
I smile, fascinated. "He won it in a card game? That doesn't even sound like Dad."
" That's how the media company started. Didn't you ever think it was strange how it just flourished without the connections and roots most people have?"
"Yes, I did, but I just thought Dad was great at his job."
"He is great, but that's because he has a sort of street smart and wit about him that makes him come up with all these innovative ideas."
I appreciate the story. Most families in the Knights come from old money, but ours was new so as to speak.
Mom comes closer and touches my cheek. "Let me make you some breakfast. Then we can spend the rest of the day together doing whatever you want. Let's just forget about all the horrible things that's happening and stay positive. I'm hoping that you and Dimitri get your chance to be together."
"Thanks, mom. It means a lot to hear you say that."
"I know, sweet girl. I also know it's been hard for you over the years. Let's hope we find a way out of this mess. You deserve to be happy. I'm so sorry for what happened last night."
"That's okay. At least I don't have to marry that creep."
“No you don’t.”
At least something good came out of last night. Dimitri spoke to my father. And he was here in this house and he can come back.
We don’t have to sneak around here.
That’s something positive for today.
Monday night comes around quickly.
It's been good spending the last few days with my parents.
Today I had the place to myself because my parents had a business trip.
They'll be back on Wednesday.
Dimitri comes by to see me at eight. At the sight of him walking through the door my heart lifts.
He scoops me up into his arms the moment we close the door and when he sets me down, he looks over my face.
"How are you feeling?" He asks.
"Better. The swelling has gone down and I still have a few bruises here and there, but it's nothing like the other night.”
“Good. You still look beautiful.”
“Thank you. Thanks for coming by."
"As if I wouldn’t take the chance to see you.” He smirks.
“Is everything okay for you to be here?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about me. Where are your parents?" He looks around.
"It's just us."
His smile brightens. "Really? We have the place to ourselves?"
"We do. They'll be back Wednesday. Do you want to stay over?"
"Of course I do.”
“Can you?” I tease and he pulls me in for a slow, seductive kiss.
“Of course I can and I will.” He grins back at me. “How are you feeling otherwise. You look like you have questions, Spider.”
“I do Scorpion.” There’s a lot I wanted to talk to him about. Like this marriage thing. And my nightmares.
I’ve been contemplating about telling him about those. I booked an appointment to see the therapist Eilish recommended later in the week. Perhaps we can talk about it then. I certainly would like to talk about something happier tonight.
“I’m all ears.”
"Did you mean what you said to my father about marrying me?"
He holds my gaze and stares into my eyes lovingly. "You know I did."
My cheeks heat. "How are we going to pull that off, Dimitri?"
"I don't know yet, but it's going to happen.”
I’ve never met anyone like him. “You do realize all the odds are against us?”
“No. Last week you broke up with me and here I am talking about marrying you. Last week I could never even think of coming into this house, but here I am. Last week your father and I weren’t speaking, now we are.”
I grip on to his shirt and dare to dream. “You’re right.”
“I am right. So are you saying yes? To marrying me?”
"I am."
He leans in and kisses me again. “I’m going to ask you properly. This is just the prelude.”
I laugh. “I like it. Now I can be surprised but have something to look forward to.”
“Yes, baby. Right now, I want you. It’s been too long.”
I nod, agreeing. “I want you too.”
“Then show me what your room looks like.”
I giggle. Taking his hand I lead him upstairs.
As soon as we get in the bedroom we fall into the bed. There he consumes me until my body feels like it may float away.
It’s late when we stop and we lay in each other’s arms.
I drift into a deep sleep, praying the darkness doesn't come for me.
But it does.
As soon as I close my eyes, shadows with slithers of light assault my mind yanking me back to that place I loathe so much.
Things are more distorted this time. This time I'm held in the darkness.
Then I'm falling, smashing into the ground and as soon as I do, that face comes to me with the hollow eyes.
“I see you,” the voice says in that creepy tone . “I see you.”
My body feels broken. The face comes closer and then a light shines down on us.
"Mackenzie, come here," comes a voice I've never heard in this place before.
Suddenly I see Tommy. "Come on."
He's holding my father's knife, then he isn’t. A hand grabs the knife and rams it straight into his stomach.
Then the knife comes down again and again and again, slamming into his stomach.
I scream and scream and scream.
The face comes back and my mind fills in the rest of the body.
I see a neck, muscular arms, then back of the man with the snake tattoo. And those Latin words.
A truck pulls up and the voice shouts to someone in the truck, "Get them in."
A person jumps out of the truck and when they speak, I can't hear them.
I try to get up. Tommy comes over to me with blood pouring from his stomach.
He picks me up, but then we're falling. Falling into water and I jump out of my sleep panting and struggling to catch my breath.
The sunlight surrounding me is too bright for my eyes. It's almost blinding.
Strong arms grab my shoulders and I find myself staring into Dimitri's face.
"What happened, Mackenzie?"
I can't speak. My breath is wedged in my chest.
Seeing I’m in pain, Dmitri gets off the bed and grabs the bottle of water on the desk.
He hands it to me and I take a sip. It's room temperature, so it soothes me quicker.
I lift a weary hand to my head as my heart calms and I feel over the sweat running down the side of my face.
Dimitri comes back to me and takes my hand. "What happened? Mackenzie? You were screaming."
"I've been having nightmares," I stutter. "They're memories, I know they're memories. I saw Tommy."
Instantly, a look of panic comes into his eyes. "Did he hurt you?"
"No." I shake my head. “I saw him being stabbed.”
His eyes widen. “Do you remember who did it.”
“No, I couldn’t see their face. But I keep dreaming about a man. A man with a tattoo on his back of a snake with the words mori conatur vivere.”
The moment I say those words, Dmitri's face goes pale.
He drops my hands and stands looking like he may crumble away in the sun.
"Are you sure you saw that?" he asks.
"I'm certain. I feel like I need to speak to someone to figure out who this person is.”
Dmitri gives me a chilling look. "I know who it is, Mackenzie."
Shock grips my insides like rope. "My uncle Eric has a tattoo like that."
"What? Your uncle?"
"Yes."
Oh my God .