The Twelve Vitali Ch. 10

He wanted to at least call Bianca and find out about Pete and Cat, but he had taken David's warning to heart, and he didn't want to be the obsessive stalker guy; especially when officially he and Cat were not a couple anymore. Not that they had been for very long, but he felt like he had loved her for a lifetime with her in those few short weeks. He had been as big of an idiot as Ricco had been to let her walk away, he realised that now, and he needed desperately to fix everything with her.

Facing his demons or demonesses, if he was honest, had been cathartic, but it had been Theresa and her honesty about loving his fathers, even though she knew she lived in the shadow of Maria, which caused her heartache every day, that he realised what he had done. He didn't want the woman he loved, or at least thought he could love, thinking that she was a pale imitation of Nik or his mother just because they'd been the ones to hurt him so badly he had shunned opening himself up to loving again and being vulnerable to heartache.

What he wanted was a chance to show her how much she had come to mean to him, and that, despite his best efforts to remain aloof, he wanted this relationship with her, messy emotions and all. He didn't want to tell her in an email, and he knew he didn't want to say anything over the phone now and was grateful that she had shut down his attempts to contact her when he had first returned from the Kimberley. He needed to see her and look into her eyes and touch her and demonstrate what he was feeling.

His email response to her had been equally as warm and full of pleasantries without touching on the subject they most needed to speak about.

*****

"Do you love him?" Pete asked directly one evening as he sat in the chair opposite her painting.

"I think I was falling in love with him," she smiled thinking of Matteo. "He's a good man. It's not just all about big business for him, he gives back to the communities he works in, he makes sure his buildings are beautiful and have green spaces. He tries to employ locally and gives internships to the underprivileged who don't have ivy league educations, and he a genuinely nice guy," she finished lamely.

"Not bad to look at either, or so I've been informed by many of the female members of my family," he chuckled.

"I find you fascinating on so many levels, and I would like us to be friends. If I'm honest, I wouldn't mind seeing if there could be something more between us, but I'm a realist, and I can see that the relationship between you and Matteo is far from over. I like the women I get involved with to be devoted to me and only me. So, as your friend, I am going to help you, and him, get over some of the biggest hurdles in your relationship and offer you both a lifetime of owing me for your ultimate happiness," he smirked at her. "I'm going to tell you the truth about Matteo and his destiny and what would be expected of you if, as I suspect, he has come to his senses and wants to reclaim you as his."

"Reclaim me? I'm not a possession people can pick up and put down!" Cat argued indignantly.

"No, you're not. You are, however, dealing with a large group of Alpha males and should see why I might have said that, especially given some of our conversations. Matteo has been brought up in a very similar fashion to all of the men you have been dealing with over the last few weeks. If you think about it you will see why I used that term, Alpha, rather than dominant," he smiled again. "These men may not be as obvious about it as their fathers were, but each and every one of them is a dominant man in this family, and people give way to them and allow them a certain amount authority over their lives in exchange for being close to the inner circle that is the table. The twelve are equals, but they stand above everyone else here, including their wives, except perhaps Peri, but she is submissive by nature, and behind closed doors that strong, confident woman kneels at the feet of her husband and her lover and allows them the domination they seek."

Cat tried to wrap her head around what he was saying. Peri was amazing, Cat couldn't imagine her being a submissive, not with the definition she had in her mind of what it meant to be one.

"I have to keep a close eye on her because her personality borders on masochistic where she will push herself to do everything and be everything to everyone until she collapses. Both Josh and Dante will step in and make her slow down from time to time. Dante is hopeless at giving her real limitations, but Josh is able to put severe restrictions on her and limit her business and family commitments where and when necessary. Still, she will, on occasion, drive herself to that point of exhaustion in order to please everyone," Pete explained.

"She does always seem extremely busy," Cat adjusted her thinking, realising Pete had not meant the word submissive as a purely sexual thing.

"As I understand it you are not on any time schedule to get this portrait done. Yet you lock yourself away in here every day working non-stop while a festival is only a few feet away from where you could be enjoying yourself and interacting with the very people you claim to be here to get to know," Pete pointed out. "Tell me what drives you to work so hard on this?"

"I know how eager Peri is to have this done, and I found I was distracted easily when I was in the city and trying to work," she admitted.

"Distracted by a domineering man?" Pete smiled knowingly. "Not all domination is sexual, though by nature one would expect it. Just as not all submissives are sexual masochists. You're a woman who will give in to situations she may not always like if it is for the benefit of others. You put your needs aside to make a life for your brother who gave you little in return, and even now you worry that your actions may have hurt his career and feel guilty about that. You looked after a mother for years that showed you little love and attention. You, like Peri, have great potential given the right circumstances to use your capacity for putting others first to become a well loved and respected figure in both the Donati and Vitali families." He paused registering the shock on her face.

"So, I will ask you again. Do you love him? If you love him, I will tell you all of the obstacles that you will face in trying to be the woman he and his family want and need," Pete said seriously.

"The rational side of my brain would ask how I can answer that after only a few weeks, I barely know him," she said, stunned by what he had just said about Peri as well as herself.

"The emotional side? Your heart tells you what?" Pete pushed her.

"That I do, or at least I could if he would let me," she sighed sadly.

"Is that what you want?" he tilted his head. He needed a commitment from her before he went any further.

"Yes, I think so, but..." she began to make another excuse.

"It was a yes or no question," he cut her off. He stood and walked toward her, "There is a lot you need to know, and though I have no doubt you would learn over time, I am willing to help you speed up the process, not so much for you but for him. It's time he moved on, and it seems he finally wants to, with you."

*****

Cat had been working on the portrait solidly for three weeks, and as the last of the extended family packed up their belongings for the long trek home, she paced nervously in her cabin. Whether she was ready or not she and the painting were returning to the city today. She had shown only Peri, who had deemed it complete and told her to stop being too critical of her own work. Any further embellishment would be redundant now. The men, themselves, would view it in a few days time once it had been framed and hung in the House of Lorraine, and she waited nervously for the steward and his men to come and box up the canvas for transport to the city.

Cat resisted the urge to lift the cover and seek out tiny blemishes in her work to fix and went back to packing her belongings for the trip back to the city. She had to decide what she would take with her on the flight and what supplies he would have delivered by mini-movers. She had stayed an extra week and knew that Matteo had not been happy about having to wait to see her, but he had respected her request to wait until she returned to the city before they saw each other again.

She wasn't sure what would happen when she returned to the city. Peri had offered her more work immediately after seeing the completed portrait. Pete had also hinted that he would like to maintain the close open friendship they had enjoyed during the gathering. Her mind, though, was wound up in seeing Matteo again, and she couldn't make any plans until she talked to him. She had thought that the pain of missing him would diminish as the days stretched out and she had little contact with him, but she missed him even more from those small snippets of information about work and his life that she gleaned from his emails.

David had become Matteo's friend, she knew that much, but David had refused to talk to her about him and had told her that he had cut Matteo off similarly from talking to him about her. He didn't want to be in the middle of anything weird, and he'd already told Matteo to back off and give her the space she had asked for. Cat smiled thinking of David, she missed him so much, but when she had first come to Brisbane she had packed up her life indefinitely and left her brother to get on with his without their co-dependency being an issue. It was the right move, she knew, for both of them, but she couldn't help but want to see him and talk to him properly.

She was lost in thought when the steward arrived, and she supervised the packaging of the canvas closely. She apologised for being pedantic as she made them adjust the way it sat within the slim box one last time before letting them leave it and all the sketch books she had used in its creation. They would be delivered directly to a gallery Peri had picked out for its initial showing. Then she picked up her bags as she followed them from the cabin.

"I love it!" Peri had enthused when she saw the worried look on Cat's face. "I can't wait to show Josh and D."

"I think I'd rather not be there when the men come to view it," Cat said, feeling awkward. First impressions were everything, and people rarely hid their initial thoughts behind plain veneers. She wasn't sure she wanted to see the disappointment in any of the men's eyes about the way she had portrayed them on this canvas.

"But you have to be there. It turned out even better than I suspected it would. It is fantastically amazing!" Peri exclaimed. "You must want to see their faces as they take it all in."

"Maybe if I can hide somewhere and watch from the sidelines," she acquiesced.

"I'll take those for you," Pete said, seeing her struggling with the bags as she walked beside Peri.

"You can hide behind Pete, you seem to have been doing that for the last few weeks anyway, so no one will be surprised," Peri laughed easily. "But I'd like to show just the two of them first, because Dante has the framers at Lorraine, so he will probably see it before anyone else, and I would hate to do that to Josh. So, when we land we'll head into the city and meet them at the House of Lorraine."

"I'd like to meet with the framers," Cat agreed. "Can I have my bags dropped off at the apartment on the way?"

"Why don't you go ahead with Pete while I settle the babies in at home and I will meet you there," Peri smiled. "I'm sure he won't mind giving you a lift to your apartment."

"She gets the hint, Peri, but she has unfinished business with Matteo in the city. Just give it a rest for now," Pete chuckled. "I know you'd love to see me settled down with a wife and babies like everyone else, but I am happy, trust me," he kissed her cheek and moved toward the plane with Cat's luggage.

"Too pushy?" Peri asked Cat, who could do nothing but laugh at Peri's crestfallen expression.

"He's been a really good friend to me, Peri," Cat said eventually. "That's as far as it goes though, he doesn't want to start anything with a girl like me who is still hung up on her ex."

"It's just that you already feel like part of our family, and it was nice seeing Pete relax and enjoy himself with someone for a change. He's usually the odd one out, not that anyone would ever intentionally make him feel that way," Peri explained.

"Maybe you should just believe him when he says he's happy," Cat suggested gently. "He probably doesn't feel that he is the odd one out until you point it out to him." She tried to make things easier for Pete rather than rebuke Peri.

"You're probably right," Peri nodded as they boarded the plane. "Still, it was a nice thought, even if I got it completely wrong."

Perhaps everyone had the wrong impression of her friendship with Pete, Cat thought, and became concerned with the fact that because most of the family had returned to the city days ago that someone may have said something to Matteo. He wasn't expecting her back for another few days, and if she said nothing and arrived at her apartment with Pete it could make him believe that those impressions were true.

She picked up her phone and typed in a quick text to tell him she was arriving back in the city today but would be in meetings until late. She suggested they meet in the next day or two whenever he had free time to make the trip to Brisbane. She wanted no misunderstandings between them when they finally got to talk about what had happened before she left.

"I've been patient and don't want to wait any longer to see you again. I will be there later tonight." Matteo's text came back to her almost immediately, and she felt butterflies flare to life in her stomach at the thought of seeing him again. She didn't reply. What could she say without starting an argument, which she didn't want to do. Rather than the ten days he had given her, she had taken thirteen, and she knew that it had been disappointing for a man who was used to people doing what he said when he said it.

*****

Ricco watched as his brother's face lightened and a rare smile began to appear. He didn't have to guess who had just texted Matteo, and he felt a small twinge of jealousy. When he'd heard about the breakup he had considered his fathers' about predictions of the future Jacobi envisioned as not being the only future for this family more seriously. He had wondered if he should consider living a life of his own if it eventually could include Cat. He knew she was a long way from forgiving him, but the possibility had danced temptingly through his mind more often since returning from the Papillo.

The discussions about their father's unhappiness that two of their sons had dismissed the memory of Alessandro's existence so easily had been just as harsh as any of the other trials his siblings had gone through. Jacobi's worldview had been seriously altered, and he had become withdrawn and introspective. It did not mean that they couldn't ascend to be the leaders of the next table, but with the knowledge that everyone on the current table had always viewed Matteo as the second son, Jacobi's unshakable belief in his destiny had been destroyed.

Surprisingly, Maryanne had seemed relieved by the news and had suggested that they just live their lives as best they could and, when the time came, their fathers and uncles would make the right choices, just as they had on her family table. She had reasoned that it had never been their choice and, despite what happened, Jacobi was a born leader, and his destiny would incorporate that.

Ricco had been surprised when she went on to admit that she felt they had been unfair to him, expecting him to live a half-life while not fully including them in theirs. Now pregnant, she suggested that she and Jacobi have an extended baby-moon, and when they returned they could talk properly to Ricco about their future together. That moment, above all others, had made him think he could, in time, pursue Cat again if Matteo's plans did not work for them.

"I take it that was Cat?" Ricco asked, masking his feelings with an affectionate smile.

"It was," Matteo couldn't help grinning. "She's finally going back to the city, so I'll fly up this afternoon. If you can cover a few things for me while I'm gone for a day or two?" he asked hopefully.

"My work was backed up too while we were in the Kimberley," Ricco reminded his brother.

"I'll let you have the artwork you want for your office in HQ," Matteo negotiated. "Even if Vanessa threatens to disown me."

"Deal. What do you need?" Ricco chuckled. He'd wanted the wildflower paintings that Cat had painted when they had first started dating. He wanted them badly enough to double his workload for a couple of days if he didn't have to argue with his sister over them.

"That was easy. Want to tell me why you want them so badly?" Matteo asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm assuming they are one of the series Cat did for the building."

"The wildflower series. Cat painted them when we first started dating, and I taught her how to ride a horse at your place on the coast," Ricco shrugged. "I like them and what they represented at the time."

"Well, that's not awkward at all. It could be worse, I suppose, they could be hanging in my office!" Matteo grimaced. "I'd like us all to be close," he said at last, thinking over what his parents had said since the New Year and their taking control of his and his sibling's lives. "I'll have to get used to the fact that you still care about her and she more than likely still cares about you, and you'll have to get used to the fact that I won't give up until she's mine."

"Sounds about right," Ricco didn't bother arguing the point anymore. He'd given his brother the go-ahead when they had first started dating, and if he lifted a hand now to try and stop them reconciling, when she obviously wasn't opposed to the idea, then she would never forgive him, and he wanted her forgiveness in the long term. Even if there could be nothing else between them, he wanted her friendship and goodwill. He hated the thought that she would hate him for treating her like a Kept woman.

"You still good with that?" Matteo asked, wondering if he could or would stop pursuing Cat if Ricco asked him not to reconcile their differences.

"I'm never going to be completely happy having to see her with someone else," he shrugged. "I guess I still get to see her if she's with you. If one of the Donatis' decided to move in on her, that would be tough to take. She's been pretty friendly with Pete, from what I hear."

"Did you also hear that she was a gold digger that dumped you because you wouldn't commit and began dating me straight away? Maybe the gold digging conspirators have decided Pete's just as eligible," Matteo smirked, not buying into the rumours. He had been irritated by the comment and thought it beneath his brother, but he smiled regardless. He would finally get to talk to her, and much more than that tonight, and there was little anyone could do to dampen his spirits at that moment.

"I'll give Hilary a call and work it all out. You call the pilot and grab your bag. I'm sure you have it ready to go," Ricco grumbled.

"Thanks, Ricco, I love you, brother," Matteo said, coming to his feet and embracing Ricco before leaving and making travel arrangements.

******

"What I'd like to do," Roz, the curator of the Donati gallery said as she walked through the space she had put aside for the small show Peri had in mind. "Is frame up some of your sketch work, which I have heard are very good, and place them along the walls leading to the final portrait. Cat had talked about giving the sketches to the men who had been so good about sitting for her so often during the Gathering. She had books upon books of sketches done since New Year's Day over a month ago."