The Twelve Vitali Ch. 11

"I'm quite looking forward to it myself, though we have made some pleasing progress," Matteo chuckled good-naturedly but felt jealous of the intimacy of the friendship Cat had with Pete at his words.

The restaurant was such that they sat in a small alcove and had relative privacy from the tables around them. Aside of the occasional waiter, who discreetly approached the table, they were free to discuss anything without fear of being overheard.

"Troia is my Kept," he explained to Cat. "I thought you might enjoy meeting her after all our conversations. You can ask her anything you like about her role in my life."

"Oh!" Cat's eyes widened, and she suddenly felt awkward about sitting across the table from a woman who was essentially a paid sex slave. Suddenly the tight choker style necklace and the metal bracelets on her wrists made perfect sense.

"I'm not embarrassed about it, if that concerns you," Troia said quietly in the face of Cat's reaction. "I'm exactly where I want to be. You can ask me anything. Peter told me you were curious about my role in his life."

"I am, mainly because I don't understand it or your motivation for taking on a role like that," Cat said, feeling even more awkward.

"Let's see, I grew up in a normal house with an indulgent mother who tried to be my friend, and as I went through my rebellious stage I drank too much, tried too many drugs, and most days didn't even know where I was when I woke up. I went from just using to starting to sell drugs and got involved with some pretty bad types and the underbelly of society. A bad shipment came in and a few people I knew and sold to started to overdose. The guilt was so bad I tried to go to the police, but then my mother died, and once you're in that sort of scene you never get to leave," she said with a tinge of sadness about that time in her life.

"That must have been hard. But you did leave, obviously," Cat smiled encouragingly.

"Yeah. A military man offered me the chance to clean up my drug habit and change my life," she said. "I would have died if I'd stayed where I was, so I took the chance, and I haven't regretted it once."

"Military man?" Cat asked.

"Yes," Troia said with a smile. "Tall, handsome, and with one of those trustworthy faces, like he would protect me from everything that had gone wrong in my life, and he did. He took me to the rehabilitation facility and showed me a new way of living. I found I liked the rules and restrictions enforced in the program, and when asked if I wanted to stay and undergo further training, once I was clean and healthy, I jumped at the chance."

"Was Pete the first man you agreed to serve?" Cat asked curiously.

"No, but he was the first I asked to extend my contract beyond the initial two years," she admitted.

"You asked for the extension, not him?" Cat was surprised.

"Sure, it's my life and my choice what I do at the end of each contract. I wanted to stay. He was so young and serious when he was studying. I have always enjoyed his company and making sure he was happy," she smiled softly. "I know it's not very socially accepted anymore, but I like the whole patriarchal society their family embraces. They are good men, good people. They look after the people they care about, and that includes all of the people who work for them."

"Didn't you ever want more?' Cat asked.

"Sometimes I wondered if I could ever be like my mother and live a perfectly normal life in a perfectly normal house. I'm happy here, however, and even though I know that eventually Pete will commit to someone he loves to start a family and I will retire, I am happy with the choices I have made. I have plans to travel the world and seeing everything when I finally leave him. I know this isn't a forever thing, all Kept do, but we have options and money we can take at any time and leave. No one forces us to stay," she grinned. "Nobody, aside from you and a select few, even know I have a relationship with the Donati family. You could never slip away into anonymity now and do your own thing, whereas I can once he tires of me and I need to retire." She laughed lightly as Pete looked over from his muted conversation with Matteo and scowled at her.

"That's still going to take me some time to understand, but I appreciate you being so honest with me about it," Cat said genuinely. They continued to talk quietly throughout the lunch as the men talked about their families and business. Despite seemingly involved with his conversation with Pete, Matteo constantly held her hand or rested his hand on her thigh. Even when using both hands for his cutlery during the lunch his thigh rubbed against hers and his foot occasional curled around hers beneath the table showing her that he was acutely aware of her beside him.

Cat hugged the woman as they parted after the lunch and took Matteo's hand again as they walked up the street.

"Did you get the answers you were looking for?" he asked.

"I think I did," she smiled, "Or least a better understanding of why someone might choose a life of servitude. Not just as a Kept, but the staff who give up their personal freedoms to serve the family in other ways."

"I got the answers I wanted too," he nodded. "I don't think I would be happy with Pete supervising your trial. I would prefer someone you weren't emotionally bonded with already."

"You'd have nothing to worry about! You have to know that now!" she exclaimed.

"I know it in here," he tapped his head. "I just don't want to share what we have with someone we both love and respect."

"What if you do become the chair?" she asked quietly, knowing this was always going to be a spectre on the horizon between them.

"I won't," he sighed. "But if in the unlikely scenario that it does happen, we will cross that bridge when we come to it, and I will trust my brother to be respectful of the relationship we already have."

"You don't trust Pete to be respectful?" she asked, curious about the fact that he would be jealous of her relationship with Pete.

"The difference would be that I would be sharing your affections with someone who would want to enhance our relationship and trusting that your feelings for them didn't grow and come between us," he tried to explain. "I don't want to talk about this anymore right now, and you promised me that today I could be in control of everything, including you," he smirked and pulled Cat into a tight embrace. "You have no idea what you do to me!" Matteo murmured close to her ear. "Come with me," he took her hand and guided her to a waiting car.

*****

"Where are we going?" Cat asked again as she stepped onto the private jet.

"Home," Mateo said. "My day. My rules," he forestalled any argument from her.

"I was only going to say that I have a gift for you back at the apartment," she said petulantly.

"You are the only gift I need today," he grinned and led her into the small jet. "And I want to take you home and share more of who I truly am with you."

The cabin of the plane was more spacious than Cat had thought it would be from the outside. Four recliners sat together with a small table between them, and further into the plane was a conference table and chairs for six. The back of the plane was walled off, but a door allowed access in a similar design as the cockpit at the front of the plane. The interior had been designed for maximum use of space, and she was a little overwhelmed by the luxury of the fittings.

"Sit," he indicated one of the recliners, and she sat while he helped her with her belt. "Nicer than travelling on a regular airline?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her as he took the seat beside her.

"I've only ever flown once before, and that was to come up here," she continued to look around taking it all in. Matteo took her hand and visibly seemed to relax. As the engines came to life and the plane taxied toward the runway, she turned to him and smiled. "I guess that sounds strange to someone like you with your own private jet."

"Not at all. Did it scare you?" he asked.

"The takeoff and landings are more thrilling than scary. The turbulence I could live without," Cat laughed lightly, clutching Matteo's hand as she felt the plane speed up and leave the ground. "Why are we going home to Melbourne?"

"I need to take you home. A few days ago, when we first saw each other again, I told you how I felt. Not that I loved you, or craved you, or needed you, even though all those things are true, but that you terrified me," Matteo said honestly looking into Cat's eyes. "That feeling is why Pete cannot supervise your trial if you agree to marry me. It's why I ask you every day if you will marry me. It's why we are going home."

Cat considered his words silently for a long time as the plane climbed and levelled out. It seemed so ludicrous that she could love the man beside her after such a short amount of time, but she did. She knew she loved him within the first week of meeting him, such was the intensity of the chemistry and friendship that had immediately sprung up between them on that very first night. Yet he'd never come out and said, "I love you". She knew it was silly, but she needed to hear it. She needed to hear his sincerity and love as he said the words before she would agree to marry him and everything that came with it.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"I was thinking about the first night we met," she smiled crookedly. "Not the best first impression I ever made."

"You were adorable from the moment you almost fell through the door," he chuckled. "Once the paint came off, though, that adorableness increased to include sexiness, and I was already lost, even though I couldn't admit it." He leaned over and kissed her.

"What are you scared of?" she whispered breathlessly as he finally drew away from the kiss. "I don't really terrify you, do I?"

"Like I said, you're erratic and unpredictable, I can't risk manage you. You make me feel things I had thought I didn't need and now know I can't live without. Things I didn't want to feel. I missed you from the moment you went out to the Donati property and were out of my reach. You make me feel out of control as if I have no control over my life anymore, and I hate that!" he admitted. "I want to fix that, for both of us."

"You think you can fix that by taking me home?" she asked.

"That's part of it," he admitted. "The second part is this flight where you can't run and hide from the things neither of us has wanted to discuss in depth, and you can't ask me to leave."

"Such as?" she tilted her head.

"The red room of pain you are so curious about. It's a Romanticised fantasy, the reality is pain and pleasure, tears and triumph, as well as the big highs and lows that sort of relationship can bring. It can be wonderful, exhilarating and bring untold pleasure, but it can also be cruel and abusive if both parties aren't totally trusting and honest about their needs. It is not kinky fuckery, as you call it. That makes it sound cute, when the reality is that it is hot, sweaty, excruciating, ecstasy when done right."

"If you were trying to dampen my curiosity, then you failed massively," she laughed. "I was humiliated, degraded and beaten for years in the name of love," she said, watching the shock register on his face as she used the words she had avoided when they had talked about her relationship with Ned. "Ricco was a good lover, he was soft and sweet and romantic, never pushing me and never giving me more than a small moment of pleasure, which left me feeling like something was missing. Then there is you, who can and does push me and takes me to wonderful pleasure filled highs, but I feel like I need more. Not that I want the abuse that Ned rained down on me for years, but somewhere in between with someone who I trust to look after me and make sure I am safe." She sighed. "Sometimes I want more, the pain and harsh use and. . ." she couldn't bear the look of shock on his face anymore, so she lowered her head, fidgeting with her fingernails.

"You want more," he said into the silence, and watched as she nodded, not looking up at him. He took her chin and turned her face back up to his. "I told you I would build you a room just like that if that was honestly what you wanted. I just needed to know you didn't have some fantasy built up in your head from books and movies."

"You don't think I'm..." she searched for the right word. "A freak?"

"I'm happy that you are sure of what you want, honestly. I have been scared of taking advantage of your curiosity and pushing you too far risking losing you again. I still don't want to push you further than you're willing to go, so we are going to talk about needs, wants and limits so we both know where the boundaries are and don't hurt each other," Matteo said, removing his seatbelt and standing, holding out his hand to her.

Cat stood and took the offered hand, following him to the small conference table. She sat and watched as he went to a locker and took out a file. He took a jug of iced water from the fridge and poured them both a glass before taking his seat.

"Matt, why are we going back to Melbourne? We could have had this discussion at home?" she asked.

"Honestly I was a little surprised you got on the plane without more of an argument. This city is not our home, Cat," he said assertively. "We have a nice little studio apartment, and it has served its purpose, but it's not home. We will both need to visit Brisbane often, and for that we will need to find a bigger better place that can accommodate an office for me and a playroom for us, as well as an art studio and the normal living areas, but even that will not be home. Melbourne will always be home for both of us," he explained. "This is a need for me, not a want that can be negotiated. My father is unwell, and I don't like being away so much lately."

"Is that why you have been asking about me moving back to Melbourne and into your place soon?" she tilted her head.

"That's part of it," he admitted. "The bigger part is that I want to come home to you every night. I don't want to be seeing you once every couple of days or on weekends only."

"What about my work?" she argued for the umpteenth time.

"We've both agreed that you can do that remotely. It's not hard to come up for a day here and there, and I guarantee the Donatis will travel down, not just for sittings but to shop and go to football games and visit my family," he gave her the same answer he had given her each time they had discussed it. "You just have to accept that fact instead of trying to delay the decision any longer."

"Moving in together is a big step., Maybe if I went back to Melbourne to my house. You know people will talk, and I'm not sure I can deal with any more of the accusations like Trista made yet," she finally admitted for the first time why she had been resisting the idea of moving in with him and marrying him. "We also have to consider Ricco; he must be feeling awful at the moment with both you and Jacobi being out of town."

"That's another reason to return home, for Ricco and the rest of my siblings who need me around. Nobody thinks those accusations were true, not Trista and not Theresa. I promise both Ricco and I have made ourselves clear on the matter," Matteo said. In truth he hadn't thought about the reason Trista had been sent away since returning from the Kimberley. "Besides, do you really want to kick Mick out of the place he calls home now?"

"My studio is there," she added to her argument.

"I will build you a studio, my place is huge. You can have any room you like and remodel it totally." Matteo changed tack. "You can hang out with David if you come back to Melbourne full time. He and I are good friends now; he'll come over just to watch football with us. I'll even invite Pete down to keep you company, if that's what it takes."

"I've never even seen your place in the city. I don't suppose we could live at the house on the hill?" she asked.

"Only if we knock it down and rebuild it," he said honestly.

"You can't mean that! It doesn't need knocking down, it just needs a little renovation," she frowned.

"I built it when I thought I would marry Nik, and you fell for Ricco there. I don't know that it's the best place for us to be starting our lives together. Do you?" he grimaced.

"It's such a lovely house though. Can we talk about renovations and redecoration rather than totally rebuilding?" she asked. "I'd love a studio there in the country with the ocean and the horses, though I probably wouldn't get much work done."

"Move back to Melbourne and agree to marry me, just wear the ring like we originally planned. We don't have to set the date straight away. Tell everyone that you're mine and I will let you do whatever you like to that house on the hill. I will even give you an architect and a designer as an engagement present to create whatever you like there, and I promise once it is done we will spend as much time there as we can manage," he negotiated with her.

"I thought we took the contract off the table so we could get to know each other properly!" Cat exclaimed. "This is the second time today you have talked about getting engaged like we had originally planned with the contract."

He had told her that he didn't need or want a fake fiancé anymore; that the contract was off the table for good. Yet when he had proposed again that morning, he had asked her to return to Melbourne with him and move into his apartment in the city. He'd suggested they still get engaged like they originally planned, despite taking the contract off the table. If she wanted to stay in Brisbane, he wanted a ring on her finger, and it would give him a chance to talk to Roberto about what hoops the Thirteenth Table would make her jump through to be Mrs. Matteo Vitali.

"The reasons I had for coming up with that plan are still there," he admitted. "Stefano still has a heart condition that worries me, and the older members of the family want to retire. Papa wants to see me settled in my life, and I know I want that now, with you," he said and took her hand. "I know all of the excuses you are going to start making; it's too soon, the expectations on you are huge, and we've already had such a rocky start, we barely know each other, but I can refute them all. I want this, I want you!"

"I understand that. And if all the reasons are still there then how would it be different? We need to build on what we started, not go back to square one. We'd be doing it for all the wrong reasons," she sighed.

"We have been honest with each other and talked more about our lives in the last month than I have with my family for the last year. Marry me, and I promise I will make it my mission in life to ensure you never regret saying yes. I don't want the contract or a fake fiancé, I want the messy emotions and risk of heartache, because I didn't just miss you while you were gone, I needed you. I realised that I had fallen in love with you, and not only wanted a life with you in it but needed you in my life because I love you!"

"Okay," Cat said casually. Inside butterflies flared to life in her stomach as she heard the words she'd been waiting for. This was the reason she wanted, the only reason she needed to hear from him. She cared about his original reasons for wanting a fake fiancé contract, especially now knowing how much he cared about his family and that Stefano was so unwell. None of the other stuff she was worried about would matter in the end, however, if he loved her, because she knew she loved him, truly, madly, deeply.

"Okay?" Matteo asked, unsure if she had just agreed to marry him or agreed that he had answers to all of her reservations and was agreeing not to argue with him.

"Okay, I will marry you, but we don't set a date for at least six months. And..." Cat took a sip of her drink and looked at him with a soft smile. "I want a proper proposal with hearts and flowers or some sort of romantic gesture, not just an idea you threw out there as another way to get me to move back to Melbourne and make your family happy. You also have to be reasonable about the ring, I can't wear a rock on my finger, my hands are always covered in paint, so I would probably need to keep it on a chain around my neck. So something small, please, maybe just a simple band. Oh, and I love you too," she finally let her smile form into a grin.