The Twelve Vitali Ch. 27

The final count seemed to go so slowly as each question was revisited and explained tediously by the hunt Master, Stefano, before the correct answer was given. Cat gave up listening and tried to sneak away to the bathroom while everyone was watching the screen.

"Wait!" Kalum looked at her in alarm. He had promised not to let her out of his sight tonight.

"I'm just going to the bathroom, Kalum," she whispered in frustration. "I am sure I can make it on my own."

"I'll go with you," Tate said.

"Problem?" Thomas asked, appearing behind her as if out of nowhere.

"Oh, for goodness sakes, I am surrounded by family, friends and personal security! You all just need to chill!" Cat said, and stormed off toward the bathroom, aware that people nearby had turned to look at her. This was Matteo's fault, obviously, with his paranoia over not being able to find out who was behind the copycat incidents that had occurred over the weekend of their wedding.

"Pretty frustrating, huh?" Tate asked, following her into the bathroom.

"Just a tad," Cat sighed. "I'm sorry, it just gets to me sometimes. I understand why Matteo is so overprotective, but, honestly, here, of all places."

"Oh, Cat, you really don't understand, do you?" Tate laughed lightly. "It's not Matteo, it's the table. Chase told me what you did on the day they all found out. How you went around all of the cousins and told them the best things about themselves. Things they thought no one else noticed. Except you noticed, you took the time to see the best bits of all of them. Every single one of those guys is a little in love with you right now, and even if Matteo gave you all the freedom in the world, they would be watching over you. I actually think Matt's brothers were a little jealous of that."

"Jealous that I got to know their cousins a little bit?" Cat came out of the stall and looked curiously at Tate.

"Well, you didn't list off the best attributes of his brothers, did you?" she asked.

"I also wasn't that nice to Sebastian on that day," she sighed.

"Well, as far as my brothers are concerned you can do no wrong," Tate laughed. "My life wouldn't have been worth living if I didn't follow you in here," she giggled. "Even my sister thinks you're great, and I don't think she likes anyone."

"Someone told me Logan didn't like anyone either, and you two obviously get along like a house on fire," Cat argued.

"Everyone likes me, I don't give them a choice," she grinned. "We better go back before one of my brother's bursts in here looking for us."

"Okay, thank you, Tate," Cat said genuinely. Tate had unknowingly given her a lot to think about, and she considered what she would do over the next week to make sure the brothers knew she had gotten to know them as well. They opened the door to find Thomas lounging nearby and grinned at each other. "I've just decided what I am going to ask for if we win," Cat laughed.

"What do you mean, if?" Tate asked. "It's in the bag! I've worked my butt off this week to make sure of it."

"Okay, when we win," Cat conceded as they got back to their chairs. "Thomas is getting a bell!" She laughed as he scowled at her.

"It's almost over," Logan whispered to Cat as she took her seat. "Sebastian's team can't catch up now, but Lucca is close, and might be just ahead," he said, concentrating on the screen.

A large part of Cat wanted Lucca to win. He needed to win over Matteo as much as Logan needed to beat Sebastian, which at this point he obviously had. Lucca was the brother Matteo could truly rely on, whether he realised it or not. He picked up the slack at work, did whatever his family wanted or needed of him without complaint or delay. He was a true family man, and he idolised his biggest brother. She truly wanted him to win at this point, especially after what Tate had said in the bathroom about his brothers feeling jealous that she hadn't spoken about them in the Athenaeum when she was trying to prove herself.

The other part of her mind remembered the bet she had made and worried what a day working for Lucca or Sebastian might entail and if they would hold her to the bet. She waited and watched with the others as the scores rose and evened out. This wasn't the landslide Logan and Tate had predicted, and she could see Kalum becoming tense, his competitive nature showing through.

"It doesn't matter what happens now, because you still beat Sebastian," Cat said quietly to Logan.

"That's true, I guess, but I still want to win," he grinned.

It was close, and once again Cat watched the screen as Stefano spoke about the questions and answers.

"For the first time ever in the history of our hunt we have two teams with an equal score!" Stefano finally announced. A murmur went around the room, and Matteo came to his feet.

"This can be decided easily!" Matteo announced loudly, quietening the room. "Both captains can have thirty seconds to convince me to give you the one item I withheld from the collection! Logan?" he invited his young cousin to speak first. "Why should I give you the garter?"

"This is a no-brainer, Matteo. The girl who so beautifully wore that for you less than a week ago sits here beside me on my team. I'm sure she would appreciate its return," he grinned at Matteo and turned to Lucca, who came to his feet.

"What can I say, except I understand you need to give it to Catriona and apologise to my team," he shrugged in defeat and retook his seat.

Matteo chuckled and turned to confer with his fathers before saying anything else. Pulling the garter from his pocket as if he knew this would happen, he walked the length of the ballroom to where the hunters sat, and smiled. He went to Cat first and kissed her lightly. "Ricco and I gave you a lot of help, and he did the hunt on his own," he murmured in her ear and smiled, handing the circle of ivory and gold lace to Lucca.

"Congratulations, little brother," he grinned into Lucca's stunned expression. "You deserve it, and Cat will say the same thing, eventually." He heard both Kalum and Logan groan, but Tate, as always, laughed and rushed to congratulate the other team.

"I'm guessing Cat didn't tell you about the little side bet she had going with Sebastian and me," Lucca chuckled. "I'll let you know which day works best for me," he said, smirking at Cat. "Maybe we should settle the bet on Monday before you have the chance to conveniently forget."

"Fine, Monday," she sighed. "I'll tell you about it later," she kissed Matteo.

"I believe that the bet was that you would win, which you didn't. So it seems you owe me a day as well," Sebastian said smugly.

"That's great, actually, because CJ Donati is waiting for us to contact him about when we are both available to a conference call," Cat said sweetly. "We could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak."

"You and I obviously need to talk about your gambling problem," Matteo frowned at her.

"Don't worry, your money is safe, I would never bet for something as common as cash," she laughed. "That Lamborghini that everyone wants, on the other hand..."

"You didn't!" he gaped at her.

"No, but just keep that In mind when I run off with your brother on Monday. It could have been worse," she advised him, trying to stifle her laugh as he looked anything but impressed by the situation.

"You can't complain about not giving her the win now, Matt," Logan patted his shoulder.

"Yeah, you only have yourself to blame for giving away your wife for the next few days," Kalum commiserated and clapped his shoulder.

"You know this isn't happening, right?" Matteo growled at Lucca and Sebastian.

"You can't do that! I don't renege on bets!" Cat gasped at Matteo. "Monday is fine, just text me what time I have to be there. Be warned, he will probably make me bring along a big conspicuous friend to follow us around all day."

"I'll text you," Lucca said. "Thanks again, Matt, this is going to be more fun than the hunt!" Both Lucca and Sebastian laughed and walked away, shaking their heads.

"You should start explaining before my imagination fills in all of the blanks," Matteo warned her, but she just laughed and kissed him.

"I love you, so much," she smiled widely and kissed him again.

*****