Draft version - Russian Roulette - Family secrets

Ch. 126: Malen'kiy drakonchik

2 days.

It had been 2 days since Gareth had disappeared.

No word, no nothing.

He was just gone.

There was a muffled sort of low buzz talking all around her. Mackenzie could not make out any actual words. People moved in slow motion and were hard to distinguish from one another because everything was blurry from the tears that seemed unendingly leaking from her eyes.

Phoenix's big arms were wrapped around her. Like they had been for most of the time since that dreadful morning where she had woken up alone in the apartment with what seemed like the hangover from hell.

At first, she had thought Gareth had been making another attempt at breakfast. He had been so passionate and caring the night before, it would have been natural for him to try again. To fix the mistake of his failed cooking venture by trying again.

Gareth did not like to fail at anything.

There had been no smell of coffee, no pots or pans stirring, no light on in the kitchen and nothing smelled burned at all.

There had just been emptiness.

It had taken her a while before she had noticed his belongings on the kitchen island. She had gone through the entire apartment looking for him before she had ended up in the kitchen again. His office had been empty and neat as always. The pool untouched, though January, it was heated, and he could have decided on a swim.

He had not been anywhere.

She had hoped he had just been called to a meeting or something, though he usually would let her know, even if it meant briefly waking her. There had been no messages on her phone from him, it was plausible he had wanted her to sleep after their night and a text would have been information enough.

But no.

The instant she had seen his things on the counter, she had known.

That stupid man had done something she was not sure she would ever be able to forgive him for.

The passion and need the night before had been a goodbye. She should have realized that.

The need for a perfect moment in time, tarnished by his actions afterwards.

It had been the weirdest feeling. Mackenzie had been in a straight-out panic, yet everything she had done had been in a sort of slowed down daze. She had called Phoenix who had alerted everybody. Their security teams, in the apartment below theirs, had come up and helped her pack some things and take her to the PamHotel where Phoenix had arranged for everybody to meet.

And by everybody, it had meant everybody.

The banquet hall, Phoenix had booked for an extended period of time, had been flooded with people when Mackenzie had arrived. They had all been hectically at work doing whatever they had been assigned, and respectfully let her through, without asking her questions or bothering her.

Only looks of concern and sympathy had followed her from she entered the floor of the banquet hall.

Cracker and Oleksander had been setting up a command central with Vadim. Jace had been on the phone and Vasili had been barking orders at everybody where Phoenix had just waited for her.

He had known she had needed somebody to cling to in her turmoil of fear and sadness.

For two days they had been joined at the hip. Phoenix holding her, comforting her with words and small kisses on her hair, just like Gareth did.