Russian Roulette - Family secrets - Draft version!

Ch. 78: He can never know

"Mackenzie?" Phoenix was gently smoothing back Mackenzie's hair. He had found it was the best way of waking her or pulling her from her own thoughts if he had wanted to get in contact with her. "It's morning, cupcake. We've made breakfast."

"Thank you," Mackenzie whispered without moving or looking at him. His voice was calming and familiar to her. How she longed for Gareth's voice to call her 'malyshka' and do that breathing into her hair he always did, but Phoenix had the same kind of care to his voice.

"You don't have to thank us for breakfast."
"Phoenix." Mackenzie turned her head and finally looked directly at him for the first time in the 4 days it had been since they had found her. "Thank you."

Then it dawned on him that she was not referring to breakfast. "Don't mention it." He smoothed back her hair again.

He had done it over a thousand times already, sitting next to her making sure she felt safe when she tried to sleep. They had all taken turns watching her, she only fell asleep when it was him sitting there, so Jace and Vasili had sat there after she had dozed off the first couple of days.

Cracker had been their link with Gareth.

They could keep Gareth in the dark for the time being, but they had needed Cracker, Dimitri, Rami and a few more to not make it look suspicious. Keeping secrets from Gareth was difficult, they all knew it was necessary, he would not be able to handle Mackenzie that hurt. They had seen him when Mackenzie had 'only' been down with stress, if he experienced her in her present state, he would fall apart.

"Do you think you can eat something? Please, just a little. Your body needs something to work with, the soup you've gotten won't be enough."

Mackenzie did not answer, she seemed to have gone to that passive world she had been in for days.

"Come on, cupcake. Anything you want. If we don't have it, we'll get it for you," Phoenix tried. "Pizza? Noodles? Fruit? McDonald's?"

At his suggestions Mackenzie shook a little like she was laughing without sound. Maybe he had been on the right track.

"Ice cream? Chocolate cake?" He thought like mad, what would make an Italian foodie go nuts? "Biscotti? Tiramisu? Panna cotta? Anything Mackenzie, we'll get it for you."
"Cake," she finally whispered making Phoenix smile.

Cake.

The magic word.

"I'll be right back." Swiftly Phoenix left the room and went to the kitchen to grab a piece of the cake Jace had bought. Jace might be everything Phoenix could ever want in a man, but he ate like a girl with a broken heart. The amounts of sweets that man could consume was beyond Phoenix's comprehension.

He rushed back to Mackenzie and sat down like he had been sitting before. He placed the plate and fork on the duvet in front of Mackenzie waiting for her to dig in. She just kept staring at the cake. Maybe she was too sore to move still, she only really moved when he helped her to the bathroom.

With the fork he cut a small bite and held the fork to her mouth like he had done with the soup and she accepted the cake. In silence he helped her eat and gave her a sip of water from the glass at her bed after. Mackenzie had eaten it all.

Total success.

"Gareth?" Mackenzie asked in a low voice.
"You don't have to worry. He thinks you're still with your mother. We had Horse hack your phone and he's sending sweet little messages to Gareth telling him that you're having a good time."