Russian Roulette: Family secrets [2021 version]

Ch. 20: You. Are. Mine!

The box was big, and Gareth carried it like it was nothing.

Mackenzie had tried on five original dresses at Olivier's, a fashion designer she loved but rarely bought from. Gareth had taken her there after their lunch at a lakeside restaurant, where they had sat by the window with a panoramic view of the lake.

Lunch had been idyllic, for lack of a better word. The table private, the view amazing, and the food had been five-star deliciousness served by discreet and polite waiters. Gareth had driven them there in his sports car. From the city and through the countryside into the forest where the lake and restaurant were. During the drive, he had told her he had taken the weekend off, and Mackenzie knew what a feat that was. He had left Vasili in charge and all his men knew, that unless an absolute emergency, he was not to be disturbed.

While they ate lunch, Gareth had pushed a rectangular wrapped box across the table for Mackenzie and smiled shyly. First, she had thought it was an extravagant piece of jewelry, but it had turned out to be a Japanese kitchen knife for her collection. She had sat there with tears in her eyes, looking at the exquisitely handcrafted wonder. Those knives were not cheap, and Gareth could afford to pay, but it was the right knife. He had bought the exact one she had talked about one night a while back. Gareth had remembered the little details of their conversation.

Then he had taken her to Olivier's and told her to get whichever dress she fancied for their dinner later. The floor-length dress was a dream, and Mackenzie had loved it from the moment she had seen it. Its color made her skin glow in contrast, and had been the absolute winner of the ones she tried on. An off-the-shoulders, figure-hugging, silk dress in a deep red, which flowed in a cascade of fabric around her legs in orange and yellow. Dramatic, like moving fire. Gareth had said nothing about her choice. He had nodded in approval, paid, and thanked Olivier, who had personally fitted Mackenzie for the dress.

Mackenzie had told a small lie to Olivier to make him leave while she put on the dresses, though he had offered to help her. As the customer, she held all the cards, and he had respectfully accepted her request for him to wait outside until she had slipped into the dresses. Then he had come in to do the fitting and critically size up the dress on her.

He had seen nothing he should not.

They put the box in the car and went for ice cream. In the cutest way, Gareth grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers, brought her hand to his mouth for a kiss, and refused to let it go while they walked around the city plaza.

Like an actual couple.

People looked at them; Gareth was not his usual possessive and overprotective self. He seemed more laid back, only subtly acting in a way to make others know Mackenzie was off limits. Walking with him felt secure and liberating, to not hold back their attraction to one another and their right to be there together.

They got ice cream from a truck near the plaza. Gareth, his usual hazelnut, and Mackenzie, a champagne sorbet. Then he, of course, got all jittery for his coffee fix.

Sitting on a bench overlooking the busy plaza while drinking coffee, Gareth pulled out a small envelope from his inner pocket and gave it to her. Mackenzie scolded him, telling him he did not need to give her gifts; Gareth shrugged and told her it was what he wanted to give her.

The envelope held five gift certificates to different street kitchens around the city where she could have lunch delivered from. The consideration and thought he had put into the gifts blew her mind. That was the Gareth he never showed anybody, and that he showed her attested his commitment to his words.