The Twelve Vitali Ch. 07

Authors note: Hello everyone. This story is a spinoff of the Twelve Tables series I wrote a while ago. I hope you enjoy this series despite its differences to the original story. Thank you once again to Paul who continues to be my second set of eyes. ~ellie.

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Matteo was not naïve enough to think his fathers didn't already know he had spent the last three days in the company of Catriona Leone. He was grateful for the fact that Peri had asked her to upgrade her wardrobe to fit in with the social crowd at her family functions over the next few weeks. Those functions were the perfect excuse to be continually in each other's company and form a quick bond that would lead to the relationship he wanted his watchers to report back to his family. He didn't need media exposure for his fathers to believe he had fallen in love with the quirky artist. He just needed to be seen with her regularly and eventually start spending the night at the artist's loft where she was staying.

He'd lain awake contemplating what she had said about her failed relationship with Ricco and her obvious admiration for his father and decided that the conversation he had to have needed to be done face to face. Having made no plans he couldn't alter, he sent off emails and instructions, and by five the following morning he was airborne, and by seven thirty he was landing in Melbourne with a long list of things to accomplish before he had to make the return flight for his date with Cat.

Matteo smiled at his assistant, Hilary, who waited for him at the airport. She could pass for a woman half her age and had more energy and drive than most of the personal assistants he knew in the company. He relied on her for everything to do with his business and she had never let him down. He took the keys from her and drove back into the city as she reported back on all of the emails he had sent overnight and told him of the meetings she had set for him before his four O'clock flight back to Brisbane.

"It's going to be a busy day for you," she said at the end of her discourse.

"Right, call Martin back and tell him to meet me with Aimee and David at three in my office. Then get me the Dean of that University who has been advertising the bespoke courses, he's about to have a good day by bringing in a large philanthropist. Organise a conference call that you can sit in on and take notes. I'm going to be an hour or two with my parents, so anytime after eleven is fine. The rest we'll deal with after I've dealt with the family business."

Hilary said nothing as she picked up her phone and began doing as he asked. She was used to these flying visits and having to carry a mobile office with her as she followed him around for the day. She had everything she needed in the car with them and had, thankfully, pre-empted his request for a meeting that afternoon. The request about the University was new, however, so she went about making contacts with people she knew could get her the conference call she needed at several Universities who would create a bespoke course just for him if they could get him on board as a beneficiary for the engineering and related departments.

She remained in the car finishing off the phone call she was engaged in as Matteo stepped out and took the front stairs two at a time, eager to get on with the days business. He put off his meeting with Joshua Donati to come down here and smooth out the wrinkles in his plans, and he had limited time to do it in.

"I guess you know why I'm here?" Matteo greeted his fathers' with warm embraces.

"We have a fairly good idea, but why don't you enlighten us anyway," Roberto said.

"I met Cat Leone when we were accidentally given the same apartment to stay in by the Donatis. I got to know her over pizza and beer, and I like her, a lot. I'd like to date her, but for some reason when she found out that I was a Vitali she freaked out on me. I gathered there must be a background check by the way she freaked out, and, after reading her it, I spoke to her again. She feels that neither Ricco nor you," he looked pointedly at Roberto. "would approve of me asking her out on a proper date. I've spoken to Ricco, and now I am here to discover the truth of why she would be so worried of your opinion, knowing I have read her background check. What don't I know?" he took a deep breath and eyed his fathers.

"Smart girl," Stefano said.

"I've always liked her and have no problem with you dating her," Roberto shrugged easily. "I wouldn't want to see her hurt again, however, if you're not serious about dating her."

"So that's it then? No blood's thicker than water lecture, no dire warnings about dating outside of the tables, nothing?" Matteo narrowed his eyes.

"I told Ricco she would make a good addition to the family when he dated her. I still believe that. She is strong and capable of great love and acceptance. The question is, why this woman suddenly? Why, after all the years of spurning women and love, are you here asking for our blessing to date this one?" Robert sounded as if he was questioning a suspect on the witness stand.

"There's something special about her that makes me want to get to know her better," he admitted. "It seems every time I seem to be making headway with her the family name comes up and she shuts down and runs away, so explain it to me," he said in frustration.

"Our explanation is long but necessary at this time, so be patient and listen carefully," Stefano spoke softly. "Mia!" Stefano called to his eldest daughter, who came to sit beside Matteo. "It is important at this time that she hears this too. It's not a pleasant story to tell, and I doubt it will be a pleasant story to hear." He said and saw his son stiffen as he realised what was coming. "Please, Matteo, listen properly this time."

Matteo took a breath, this was not a story he wanted to hear, he had enough memories of his own and information gleaned from other family members and overheard conversations. He couldn't fathom what this had to do with his wanting to date Cat.

"Your mother, when I met her, was a Savoy Princess making her debut into Sydney's social set. She was simply the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had been raised to take her place alongside the leader of one of the other tables, and most of the eligible younger sons were present at the event. She had wanted Joseph Donati's attention and flirted outrageously with him all night. I believe he may have already had his sights set on Antonia Farnese by then, but for whatever reason he dismissed her advances. It has always been assumed by most tables that it was the second son that would inherit, and most often this was the case. After failing to entice Joseph she began seeking out the other second son, Stefano among them," Roberto said easily.

"I always believed you were the second," Matteo tilted his head as Roberto held up three fingers.

"I was the third," he chuckled. "They started dating, and I was happy to just be part of fun Maria brought into our lives. Before Stefano proposed, our fathers brought us together, the three of us, and told us that Stefano was not destined to lead the Vitali family and that in all probability I was, and your mother was asked if she believed she could love us both," he went on with the story. "She understood how the tables worked and what was required of the mother of the family and agreed to marry me rather than Stefano, at least in name."

"She entranced everyone within the family and they all doted on her. Once the wedding was arranged, and she was sure of her role within our family and table, she changed ever so slightly. She was still lively and fun and so very charming and endearing to everyone in the family, but it seemed that she was no longer desperately in love with either of us. She cared for us and did her wifely duties, but there was no passion," Stefano carried on the story. "She played her role as the mother of the family to perfection. She was everyone's best friend and go to person; we couldn't fault her on that. She was truly a remarkable woman that way, and I loved her for better or worse."

"Her twin brother, Giovanni, visited regularly, they were very close, and she felt she needed him, because in the first five years of our marriage she had produced three beautiful children, Alessandro and yourselves. Her pregnancy with the twins, however, was traumatic, and her brother was visiting less often. She became manic, swinging from great highs to extreme lows, and we worried for her safety. We kept a closer watch on her, and when her brother did arrive to visit he brought his new bride with him, which enraged her, and she had some sort of episode that we put down to the terrible time she was having in her pregnancy."

"She seemed to settle back to being her normal self after the twins were born, and life went on as usual. Her brother's sporadic visits became somewhat regular again, if further spaced apart, and she seemed, for the most part, happy, and she fell pregnant with Vanessa," he smiled. "Once again it was a difficult pregnancy, and instead of her brother arriving for one of his visits, however, his wife made a rare appearance. She was a Farnese, and a lovely woman of strong integrity."

Matteo looked at his sister with a sinking feeling he could see where this was going. She, too, seemed on edge, as if waiting for a bomb to drop.

"Your mother had been telling her brother all of the family business, and they had been attempting to undercut us and take over certain marketplaces that crossed over the two home bases of our combined families. That, in addition to other deals, had been designed to undermine our family and our fortunes. They had planned for Giovanni to father the next table of Vitali," he paused in the story as Mia gasped.

"Your mother was not so stupid. She knew the effects of incest on pregnancy and children, which was why she had lost her mind during the difficult pregnancy with the twins, believing she had miscalculated her dates. When the woman suggested a paternity test for the children your mother flew into a rage, ranting and raving at what she called an insecure child who couldn't keep her husband happy," he said sadly.

"When we agreed that a paternity test would be no issue, as we had faith in your mother, she had agreed easily for the three of you but had argued that the twins were too young to undergo such an invasive test. She hadn't known how simple that sort of test could be, and even when it was explained to her she argued that the proof of the oldest children should be enough without making her babies endure it."

"What is the point of all this? We both know what happened next," Mia said stiffly. "It's not like either of us need this trip down memory lane."

Both Mia and Matteo knew what had happened after that. Their mother had lost her mind at the thought of being caught out and had gone to the nursery, determined to get rid of the evidence of her wrongdoing. Her babies had been perfect, but the difficult pregnancy had made her believe her brother had fathered them. She was totally crazy, of course, and the three older children, who had been playing in the nursery with the babies, immediately reacted. Alessandro had reacted first to seeing the knife in his mother's hand and had not moved when she told them to get out, or she would make sure their fathers suffered even more.

Matteo had valiantly stood behind his big brother as Mia had run screaming from the room. By the time their fathers had arrived, both Matteo and Alessandro lay on the floor bleeding, and their mother stood over the rockers where her babies' nannies cowered in front of them trying to reason with the mad woman who had just stabbed her other sons. She had turned as Roberto called her name harshly and her eyes seemed to clear momentarily, and she wailed at the sight of her older sons on the floor. Turning the knife on herself, she had tried to kill not only herself but the baby she carried.

"You are all our children. Had we not submitted to a paternity test at a request of the thirteenth table it would still be true," his father told him, and Matteo knew it to be true. His fathers would have loved each of them, regardless of the results of a paternity test. Not that any had been declared a bastard. His mother, on the other hand, was a different story.

"She hated us. She said as much that day, but she had never particularly made a secret of it," Matteo said. While he had been brought up with the unconditional love of two amazing fathers, he had no illusions about the fact that his mother found him unlovable. "Alessy and I were collateral damage in her need to lash out at you." He said through gritted teeth. "She never loved us. How could she and do that?"

"She didn't hate you. She'd been brainwashed and raised to a certain purpose. She'd let her family down by not marrying Joseph Donati, and then she had let them down again by not wanting to bear her brother's children, just as Emily Donati had been raised for a purpose by the Pellegrini's. There have been similar instances over the last two generations in most of the families. The obsession of mothers to have their sons be seen as successful leaders within the tables has created more havoc amongst the tables than the Suebi or any of our real enemies," Stefano said sadly.

"Joseph Donati fought for new blood to be admitted to the ruling tables. The law of the tables does not state that the mother has to be of the tables. Joseph knew that if the twelve acknowledged Peri's trial she could be the new mother of the Donati table, once she married Joshua. That was why they insisted she was sent to the Battaglia. I agree, new blood is not only important but necessary to the survival of our table. Mia, you are in love, and we cannot think why you have not come to us to tell us your fears for him if you continue your affair," Roberto softened. "We have never been ogres, have we? At least Stefano hasn't."

"While we would never exile you for wanting a life away from the family, you should know that there is no law that says the warrior must be of the Battaglia, it has been tradition, nothing more. A military man who completed a trial with the Battaglia would have just as much right to become the Warrior of a table should he be loved and trusted by the family who would sit with him," Stefano explained.

Matteo looked at his sister but said nothing. He had known for some time that Mia was in love in Kalum, and had been happy for her. Kalum was a good guy, but he wasn't from the tables, and it was expected that all the girls would marry into another table, just as the men had been expected to marry a girl from the tables or discard their right to a chair at the table. Josh and Peri Donati had blown that perception out of the water.

"We adhere to the family laws, but there is a small amount of wiggle room between what is the law and what is tradition," Roberto added. "We want only to see you happy... Both of you. The shadows your mother's sins have cast have gone on long enough, don't you think? For better or worse she did love you all, and it was only that one moment of insanity that took both Alessandro and your mother from us. Her family was to blame, not her. Forgive her once and for all. We have long ago and can still think of her with fondness on occasion."

"Ricco was a fool where Cat was concerned, he loved her, but he let his brother's ambitions overshadow his own needs," Stefano turned to Matteo. "Do not let the machinations of two women whose view of the world was distorted by their ideas of what it meant to be a woman in one of our families. You deserve love as much as your sister, Matteo. Do not make the same mistake your brother made and treat that girl as a temporary distraction. She has been through enough trauma in her life and deserves better than that."

"We haven't even had a proper date," Matteo shook his head. "She's too worried about what all of you think to even give me a straight answer on that. I got her to agree to dinner tonight. I'm hardly going to propose on the first date!"

"Perhaps not, but you should be open to the possibility. As you said, that girl is special," Stefano advised.

"I have other meetings this morning, and I'm sure Mia has more questions about her situation," Matteo said, getting to his feet.

"Sit down, Matteo, I'm not done yet!" Roberto said in an abrupt tone.

"That's okay, I have to get to a meeting of my own," Mia said. "Can I invite Kalum to dinner tonight?" she asked in the face of what they had just said.

"I think that would be a wonderful idea," Stefano grinned and walked her from the room, murmuring softly and leaving Matteo staring at Roberto.

"The only person in this family that believes absolutely that Jacobi is the second son is Jacobi himself," Roberto began. "He has lived his life with that unshakable belief, he believes he has the perfect wife to be the next mother of our table and a brother who would be his oracle and accept a life of sharing his wife's love."

"Sounds about right," Matteo nodded. "Jacobi is a born leader, and Ricco will be good at keeping him grounded and stop him from doing anything stupid. I imagine he will listen to me as well, if it comes to that."

"Let me put another scenario to you," Roberto said. "Let's imagine I stick around long enough that Rafael is in a position to take the chair, he has similar leadership qualities to Jacobi. Let's imagine that Leonardo has never felt more than brotherly affection for his brother's wife, but it is you who feels a deep attraction for her. In return, she, despite loving her husband, feels the same way about you. The three of you embark on a loving relationship, much like the strong triumvirates of many tables. Who would be in the best position to take the chair?"

"Raf would lead, and I would stand at his side," Matteo said easily.

"Why?" Roberto asked. "Why wouldn't Jacobi and Ricco lead, as they think they should with their arrangement as it is now?"

"Ricco doesn't love Maryanne, he accepts her because Jacobi expects him to," He shrugged. "The same reason he broke Cat's and, I expect, his own heart because Jacobi expected to," Matteo admitted.

"Okay, final scenario," Roberto pursed his lips and touched his fingertips together in front of him. "You are now, and have always been, the second of my sons. Alessandro was my son, and I will not have him forgotten, or his presence in our life dismissed in any way."

"I agree," Matteo said softly. He had been close to his brother as a child. He had worshipped him and trailed around after him like a shadow.

"Let's say you date Catriona Leone, become engaged and find that, although she loves you, she has also never stopped loving Ricco, and him, her. Could you let him into your life and your bedroom?" Roberto asked seriously. "If the answer is no, don't pursue this girl, because in becoming part of this family a harsher trial and a future where she is required to share her love could very well be a possibility."

Matteo sat dumbfounded as he took in what his father was saying. As a businessman, he didn't deal in possibilities, he dealt in realities. He made things happen through careful weighing up of information and making informed decisions. He itched to ask how much of a possibility there was in that future, but he knew Roberto wouldn't be drawn on it.

"It's one date, a first date! Shit, one girl can't be worth all this crap!" he grumbled, hating the feeling of not being in control of his future.

"You're the one who flew down here to find out answers about that one girl, my son," Roberto smirked. "I know you almost as well as I know myself. You don't do anything without a purpose, and you could have easily picked up the phone and called us with the simpler questions. Instead, you flew home to see us to find out more about that girl and why she and Ricco broke up when they still quite obviously care about one another. You did that because Cat pulls at something in you. First date or not, that girl has already had a profound effect on you."