Mak’s jaw clenched, his memories drifting back to the past, to the first time he’d set eyes on Suri.
His voice grew quieter, almost distant. ‘Fourteen years back, I agreed to Tewa’s invitation to meet with a young woman in a private garden on the Light Nautilus. When I saw her, I was taken by her beauty. I fell for her hard.’
Xander raised an eyebrow. ‘She’s the sister who -?’
‘Naam. Suri Lisades,’ Mak interrupted, his hand running over his jaw. ‘I asked her family for permission to court her, thinking she was everything I’d ever wanted.’
Xander’s expression hardened. ‘But things went south?’
Mak nodded, bitterness seeping into his words. ‘She reciprocated, or so I thought. The little glances, the shy blushes, the kisses. Hell, I treated her with care and tenderness. She appreciated it. Even let me put an engagement ring on her finger.’
‘Sounds like a fairy tale,’ Xander murmured.
Mak snorted, a humorless laugh escaping him. ‘Yeah, until she gave the ring back and disappeared. Vanished, just like that.’
Xander shook his head. ‘That’s a lot to carry for a young man.’
Mak’s eyes darkened as the memories hit him like a physical blow. ‘I lost myself after that. Went on a rampage, drinking, hitting the clubs. I spent every night with different women, trying to forget, attempting to drown the pain, to numb the wound she left in me. It burned deep.’
Xander’s brow furrowed, his empathy clear. ‘I can imagine.’
Mak nodded, his eyes flashing with the memory of it all. ‘Then, after all the chaos, the Lisades came crawling back. Tewa, desperate for synth steel, begged me to consider Shiloh, Suri’s younger sister, whose holo image was even more beautiful.’
Mak exhaled. ‘I caved. I was weak. Shiloh resembled Suri, but more amped up in beauty, if you can believe it. But there was a catch. I had to wait seven more years before she could marry, so I arranged the deal in my favor.’
Xander raised an eyebrow, intrigued. ‘What kind of bargain did you make?’
Mak smirked, the memory of the power he’d wielded still fueling his pride. ‘I designed it so that the Sauvage clan was the only one allowed to sell synth steel to the Syndicate Commission that Tewa was a member of. Plus, all the hydrogen needed for the ark ships had to come through me. It made the Sauvage family the wealthiest and most influential in the flotilla.’
‘Fokk, brother,’ Xander trailed off, knowing the rest. ‘You never said a word. You’re one secretivehermano.’
‘My clan is complex and messed up. Not shit you want to share.’
‘Damn.’
Mak’s eyes darkened again, the hurt resurfacing. ‘Yet for all my troubles, all I have to show for it is a stranger for a wife, and a lifetime of lies. The betrayal stings, Xander. She knew what she was doing the whole time. Knew I was stuck in a deal I couldn’t get out of, and she still went along with it and deceived me.’
Xander leaned back in his chair, studying Mak with the quiet intensity that only a close friend could offer. ‘You’ve been carrying that for a long time, huh?’
‘I have,’ Mak’s voice was thick with frustration.
Xander let the silence settle between them, his tone steady when he spoke again. ‘You’re not alone in this, Mak. You’ve gotus, your pack, who care, but you’ve gotta take your time to heal. You’re not gonna fix this all in one go. Don’t allow it to eat you alive.’
Mak met his gaze, his shoulders heavy with the burden of years of emotional turmoil. ‘I don’t know, Xander. It feels like it’s all crashing down. The family, the legacy, and now this. I don’t know how to move forward.’
Xander gave him a long, measured look. ‘You don’t have to do it alone, my friend. You’ve got time. Don’t permit the pain to define you. Heal, in your own time. But don’t keep punishing yourself for what’s been done. You’re more than the mistakes of the past.’
Mak sat for a moment as Xander’s words settled in.
It wasn’t easy to hear Xander’s wisdom. Nor did he feel ready to heed it yet.
‘One more thing,’ Xander rasped, arms folded, the wind off the lake ruffling his hair. ‘Is Saba your prisoner, Mak? You’ve kept her in that lodge and we’ve not seen her since the wedding.’
Mak stilled. The moonlight cast long shadows across his face, carving the lines of his jaw into a darker sculpted ridge.
‘Nada,’ he said, voice low. ‘She’s not my prisoner. She’s my wife. And I’m keeping her close, per Akkadian rite.’
Xander’s brow twitched. ‘Close? That’s what we’re calling confinement now?’