Words We Have to Say
By Misha
Disclaimer- Not mine. I’m just borrowing them for a little while and will return them when I am done.
Author’s Notes- This is part of the “A Modern Romance” series. This is the response to a request about Kenna being in an accident and Diavolos’s reaction but it ended up being less about them and more about Diavolos’s relationship with his father. There are no heads being cut off here but this is the modern version of that moment, of things that had to be said and questions that had to be asked and rewriting the relationship.
Pairing- Modern Kenna/Diavolos
Rating- PG
Summary- After Kenna is in an accident, Diavolos confronts his father.
Words- 887
Diavolos paced the waiting room. It had been four hours since he’d gotten the call that Kenna had been in an accident. He’d been in a meeting, but he’d canceled it without a second thought, and he’d rushed to the hospital immediately and now here he was, just waiting.
Waiting for news of his wife and for something else. For a conversation that had been years in the making and that he couldn’t put off any longer.
He tensed as the waiting room doors opened and his father entered. “Father.”
“Diavolos,” Luther greeted and then paused, “how is she?”
“I don’t know,” Diavolos said shortly, “they haven’t told me anything yet, just that she’s in surgery.”
“Did you call me here to threaten the nurses?” Luther asked, “because I’m not sure how effective that will be but I can certainly try.”
“No,” Diavolos answered, though it was tempting. He stopped pacing and looked his father directly in the eye. “Did you do it?”
Luther blinked, staring at him for a moment before comprehension dawned on him. “You think I caused her accident?”
Did he? Diavolos wasn’t sure, but… He’d seen the look on the eyes of Kenna’s friends, especially Dom, and he knew he needed to know one way or the other.
“I need to know,” he said instead. Needed to know if his father was that much of a monster. “Did you see an opportunity to seize her company? Legitimately this time.”
Because he was Kenna’s husband and her heir. The reality was more complex, something he and Kenna and their lawyers had worked out, but it boiled down to the fact that a large number of shares in Stormholt Industries would be in his hands if anything happened to Kenna… God, he couldn’t even process that thought.
Luther was silent and Diavolos was surprised to see the hurt on his face. “I have many failings, but I am not a murderer,” Luther said finally, “and that goes for Marcel and Adrianna, as well, if you are wondering.”
He wasn’t, though he knew that Kenna had wondered in the past.
“I was genuinely sad when they died,” Luther continued, “but I also saw an opportunity. The company was weak, the only heir, a naïve teenager, and yes, I made a move. Maybe it wasn’t the kind thing to do, but it was the smart thing to do.”
Diavolos acknowledged that with a nod. “I also might not have been as gracious in defeat as I could have been,” Luther continued, “and I admit to resorting to some dirty tactics to discredit the girl, and I regret that.” Luther sighed. “I hoped my actions of the last year would be enough to show that I am willing to put the past behind us.”
Diavolos sighed, knowing his father was right. After all, he’d been far more accepting of Diavolos’s marriage than they’d expected.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally, “I just…”
Luther cut him off, “I understand and if anything, I’m the one to blame because my actions have led to you having to ask the question.” Luther looked around the waiting room. “I’m surprised you are alone, given your wife’s brigade of loyal followers.”
“They are here,” Diavolos acknowledged, “I asked Annelyse for some privacy when I called you.”
And she’d talked the others into it, though there had been a few protests and some resentful glances.
“I’d offer to wait with you, but I doubt that would go over well,” Luther commented.
“Probably not,” Diavolos agreed. He sighed. “Father, I’m—”
Luther cut him off with a raised hand. “It’s done. I might not have been responsible for the accident, but it was my actions that lead to this conversation. I just hope we never have to have it again.”
Diavolos nodded. “Will you tell Kenna?” He asked after a moment. “About her parents? And how you had no part in their death?”
“Do you think it will make a difference?” Luther countered, “that she’ll believe me?”
Diavolos thought of it, thought of how his wife regarded his father, but also of the way Kenna had been questioning her own reactions. “I think she would,” he said finally, “Maybe a year ago she wouldn’t have, but things have changed.”
Luther nodded, “then when she recovers, perhaps it is time for your wife and I to have a conversation.”
Before anything else could be said, a nurse entered the waiting room. “Mr. Nevrakis?”
Diavolos turned, his heart in his throat. “Yes?”
“You can see your wife now.”
Diavolos let out a little sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“I’ll take that as my cue to leave,” Luther told him, clasping him on the shoulder.“I’m glad she’s going to be alright.”
Diavolos nodded, too relieved to really even be able to form words.
Luther looked at him for a long moment, his gaze searching and then he nodded, seemingly to himself, before exiting. Diavolos watched him go, knowing that later he’d be analyzing this conversation and what it meant for his relationship with his father going forward, but for now all he could think about was Kenna.
He followed the nurse down the hall, eager to see his wife for himself and to assure himself that she was ok. After all, she had to be. She was his everything.
– End
