Chapter 10

" Gather the rose of love whilst yet is time. - Edmund Spenser A car pulled to a sudden halt as a man jumped out to stop a woman from entering a cab. His movements were frantic as he shouted waving his hands if only to catch the woman's attention. Eyes turned, lips whispered but there were not that many people around at that hour, otherwise his actions would have caused such a stir and a scene, something that he had not taken time to consider when he stepped out of the car. "What now Ryan?" the woman said as she cast an irritated look at the man who was still approaching as any hope that she had had of slinking away quietly crashed with every step that he took closer to her. "Let me take you to wherever you are going..." he said as he came to a stop beside the cab and her. "And where is that?" "I have no idea but wherever it is, I will take you..." he said his gaze slowly following hers to the black car that was parked at the end of that block. "I promise, I am not here to stop you." he reassured her, all the while worrying, wondering what that car meant to her. 'You are not?" she gave him a meaningful look. " No." he assured her once again. " Fine, let's go and you are carrying that." She said pointing to a suitcase that was yet to be lugged into the cab's trunk. "If they are going to spy on me, I might as well give them something to report back." Ryan gave another puzzled look at the black car trying to figure out what the connection to Katrina was, but he still could not think of anything. In the end, he just picked up her luggage and followed her to his waiting car. " So, where are we going? " he asked and she handed him a piece of paper. "the church?" "I do not know what you are talking about but that is the address of my violin instructor." she answered back her voice still aloof as she continued to scan her surroundings. Every once in a while she would stare into the rearview mirrors and at one point, she went as far as turning her back to look back at where they had just come from. "Not to pry but, what are you looking for?" "Just a few gentlemen that my father sent over to spy on me. I thought they would be more subtle but I guess, there is a very huge difference between a bodyguard and a spy." "wow... And you are cool about that?" Ryan marveled. "No. But there is really nothing I can do about it. On the plus side, they haven't stopped me yet so... Why worry?" she laughed sarcastically and Ryan could only shoot her a worried look as he marveled at the bravery of this woman that he called his wife. She was not Malisha, but he was starting to appreciate that she was more than the Katrina that he had always thought her to be. Or maybe she still was but he had not taken the time to know her well, to truly appreciate it for the person she was. He had looked over a lot of things and in his anger and selfishness he had ended up hurting a lot of people. Many of those were innocent, but anger and rage had a way of boiling over and blinding one to the good that was around them, wreaking a wave of destruction that took down not just the foes but the friends alike. And Katrina had been a friend. Wasn't she the one who had introduced him to Malisha? She had even encouraged him. Were those the acts of a malicious fiend out to get him, to break him by destroying his life? No, he finally came to a conclusive answer. He had solely wronged her and now owed it to her to make it up to her for the crimes he had committed against her. "I am sorry." he sighed as he finally found himself saying. For a moment, Katrina stilled shocked at the words that had come out of her husband's mouth. Finally, she gathered her wits about her and turned her head to address him. "For which of your many crimes Ryan?" "For not believing you..." he replied softly and even that surprised her greatly. "... for being so stuck up that I could not see that we had somehow been placed in the same boat. I judged you so harshly and for that I am sorry." "Well... That's a first. What happened to you?" "It is more like, what is happening to me?" he said as his thoughts went back to that group discussion that they had a few days earlier. "I met this lady and she changed my life." "Lady?" Katrina raised an eyebrow causing Ryan to stumble as he attempted to explain himself. "No, no! Not in the way you imagine. It is not how you perceive it. You see, she's older?" "Older?" "No, not that way. She works at the church and runs this youth group..." he trailed off as he took in the smile that had now graced Katrina's face as she reveled in his awkwardness. "I believe I have never seen you care much about what I think of your escapades before... It's kinda cute though, seeing you all so frazzled and on the defensive." she remarked. Despite himself, Ryan found himself grinning. It was the first laugh they had had in years and he surely hoped that it would not be the last. Even as they pulled up in front of the church and Katrina pulled out her phone to dial-up a number, Ryan's heart filled with hope that he would finally get a chance and if not to win her back, then to play the role of the father that he had failed to be before. Mr. Dominic Maracheli paced the room wearing out the beige carpet that covered the entirety of the room, muffling the sound of the very steps that he took as he pondered hard, chewing harder on a new piece of news that he had just received. He was worried and as much as he tried to deny it or behave otherwise, he worried for her even though he had promised his mother that he would no longer interfere. It was no easy feat. To lay back, to do nothing as his only child run free and unprotected in a world that was full of predators and worse still with that man still hot on her heels. No, he had promised his mother that he would not interfere but that did not mean that he would not take the necessary measures to make sure that his daughter was safe. The bodyguards would assure that. Even from a safe distance, he would make sure that his only heir continued to remain safe and sound. Even as he thought so, his new wife Alice walked in. She must have known what he was thinking of for she came over and hugged him from behind effectively cutting off his movements if not his ruminations. "You are doing it again." she told him. "What?" his voice came out as harsh but he knew that it did not bother her. For some reason, she loved him even though he was not as good to her as he had been with Katrina's mother. However, that was not to be wondered at. He was no longer young or carefree and the burden of the many responsibilities that weighed on him saw that he never smiled and if he did it was always rare and very short-lived if not strategic. "You know what I mean. You are over thinking it. Now I don't want to tell you how to treat your own daughter for you have your mother for that... but this can't be healthy." she said as she released him to walk around and face him. "I didn't know you had a degree in medicine." she gave him a look and he sighed as he moved back to the edge of the bed and sat down. "Look, I am sorry Alice. This is..." he paused as he racked his brain for the perfect word to describe his emotions. "Difficult? Out of your control? Control... That's it! But you have to know that she is no longer a child. Your intentions are pure but some matters were never meant to be controlled. Whom we love, whom we marry. Such decisions affect us for life and they can either make us or destroy us." "How can you say that when you saw what he did to her?" "Sure, but whether she leaves him or not, that's her decision to make. You can only empower her, support her and pray that she makes the right one. But treating her like a child? That will make you lose her to the very forces that you are fighting against. " " So, you expect me to just sit down and do nothing. He hurt my daughter Alice. Broke her!" " Nah... "his wife shook her head. "Katrina is much stronger than you think and it would take more than a broken man to destroy her. Speaking of which, can you blame him for how he treated her? I have never said this before but, how could you Dominic? You forced the man to marry her. For once, just once did you even think to put yourself in the man's shoes?" "Not you too Alice." the man groaned in his hands. "his family assured me that all was okay..." Alice scoffed. "Sure, but I know you know how that sounds even to your own ears. Either that or you don't want to admit it. You were wrong and the price to pay was your daughter's happiness." Alice was being ruthless with the truth but maybe Dominic needed to hear that. The rift that had formed between him and his daughter was a product of his foolishness, his greed, and lack of foresight in dealing with a family whose interest was only set in making powerful connections. That was why they had not stopped him when he started searching. After all, a connection to Veterum through one of its high generals was more beneficial than an alliance with just a meager businessman big time as he was. All he had was his money and his business empire, but the General, he would open the very doors to Veterum and its high Society and they all knew very well how beneficial that was. "They stabbed me in the back. At least the boy was honest enough to refuse from the start. And now that he is back, I do not know what to think or imagine. On one end, I am angry that he left my daughter to chase after that other woman and now that she is untouchable he comes crawling back to..." "Maybe...but I do not think that it was for her that he came back. You are a father Dominic... Think about it." "Sure sure but he abandoned the other one before. Who's to say that he won't do it again?" "We are just human. We can only hope. Now stop worrying and be patient hard as it may seem the best thing to do now is give them space." the man sighed. "I hope you are right Alice. I will sympathies this once but do not expect me to treat him like all is okay." She smiled. "Of course, we are all wary but somehow we trust that this time things will turn out to be okay. If not Katrina's sake, then for the baby. We all know how important that is, right?