The Twelve Vitali Ch. 28

Authors note: Hello everyone. Thank you everyone for the positive feedback and comments they mean the world to me and have brightened my days. Thank you once again to Paul who continues to be my second set of eyes. ~ellie.

*****

Lucca walked into his office just before six and was surprised to see Cat already there and waiting for him with coffee in her hand. He noticed the woman, who was obviously her personal security for the day, slip out of the office once he arrived and go to stand nearby where she could view the doorway to the office. He remembered her from during the week as Jones. Jetta Jones.

"Is that for me?" he asked, amused and indicating the coffee in her hand.

"Sure, if you take it the same way I do," she said cheerily, despite the early morning. She was determined to make the best of today and begin making it up to Matteo for not showing how well she knew his brothers during their time in the Athenaeum. "I did get you a vanilla latte though, which I thought you might prefer," she said, indicating the cup on his desk.

"Thank you," he said, not overly surprised that she had asked Matteo about what sort of coffee he liked.

"So, boss, what's on the agenda for today? Cat asked.

"Catch up on the backlog," Lucca said, sitting behind his desk and turning on his computer. "We'll need to go out to the site in an hour or so. Is Matt in his office?"

"No, he and Ricco were enjoying the role reversal this morning," she laughed softly, and tilted her head as he didn't smile but looked at his computer intently as if uncomfortable to be alone with her. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you went upstairs if you need to talk to him," she said quietly, suddenly unsure of herself.

"It's fine, I can wait until he arrives," Lucca said, tapping on his keyboard as he answered emails that had come in overnight. Despite being at the gathering for the past two weeks, he hadn't stopped working, and there was little to catch up with. He was used to having to work while being mobile and supporting his family when they needed assistance. Between his fathers and siblings, it was rare to have a day where he could just concentrate on work. He glanced at her briefly and considered his day ahead. 'What was the agenda?' He asked himself. He usually just took each day as it came, remaining flexible and making sure everything ran smoothly. Matteo had a knack for finding the right people for the right job, and had surrounded himself by highly skilled, reliable and trustworthy people within his company, which made Lucca's job infinitely easier.

He hadn't expected to have Cat with him today, even after his bravado at requesting she come to pay the bet today. He had thought Matteo would pull rank and keep her away from the company and their work. The fact that he hadn't, and she hadn't asked him to, spoke volumes about her character. He looked at his schedule for the day and considered what he could move and what he needed to attend to.

Cat stood looking awkward as he worked and, at a loss of what to do, she finally took a chair in front of his desk and picked up her tablet to check her own emails and the schedule set up by Arturo to see if she was missing anything important that he would have to cancel. Sipping her coffee, she was content to work in comfortable silence with Lucca until he was ready to speak to her.

It finally sank into Lucca what Cat had been trying to prove in the Athenaeum. She really had gone out of her way to get to know them all and be part of this family, as they expected her to, but no one had truly gotten to know her outside of her relationship with his brothers. It hadn't occurred to him to find out from Matteo how she liked her coffee or where she might like to go for lunch today, yet she had shown up earlier than him with his favourite coffee and a smile.

He needed a girlfriend, and badly, before he let himself fall over the line of a simple passing crush on his brother's wife to obsession. Perhaps he could let her play matchmaker and check out the eligible women from the other tables and point him in the right direction. It couldn't hurt. She would be in prime position to find out about the women he would be expected to take an interest in as she began talking to the other mothers. He hadn't had a lot to do with the other tables as one of the younger members of the family and living with the stigma of being the son of a second wife. Not that his older siblings had ever treated him as such, but preferential treatment had always been for the older children of the family by his fathers.

He wasn't resentful; it was just the way it was. Just like all of the laws and traditions they adhered to, none of them was so awful that people openly rebelled or resented their parents. Well, for the most part, some of the women chose a different life, and that was reasonable, considering the expectations on them from an early age. He was glad his parents weren't as strict as some of the other parents of his friends he had gone to school with. He considered her again. She was frowning at the walls of his office.

"Did you request this artwork?" she asked as their eyes met. "Or did Vanessa install it for you?"

"Vanessa," he said, looking up at the two paintings he barely even acknowledged as being there. "Why?" Lucca asked.

"I wouldn't have thought they suited you and your style," she admitted. "They suit the office though, and I guess that's what she was aiming for; harmony in the space. Maybe I could look at the archive for you and find something that may be a bit more for you to personalise your office."

"I'm pretty busy, so, to tell you the truth, I don't really care what's on the walls," he shrugged.

"May I show you something?" she asked.

"Sure," he agreed, and she stood, indicating that he should follow her.

"Sit at Matt's desk and lean back in the chair," she instructed as they walked into Matteo's office.

"He sees the things that motivate him to make his company better than others, to be more responsible environmentally and to create beauty in a world of concrete and steel," she said, watching him carefully before turning to look once again at the photos that adorned the walls in here. "The first building he designed and created on his own terms, from breaking ground to beautiful landscaping, the pictures are all about him and his dreams. No matter what he built since then, it all started there, and the furniture was chosen to go with the art instead of art being hung to match the furnishings. This office is all about the man behind the desk. Does that make sense?" she asked.

"Show me Ricco's office," he said, coming to his feet and walking with her to the next office. He could feel her reluctance as they entered the space and tilted his head at her as he took a seat behind Ricco's desk. Behind him, shelves of leather-bound books lined the walls, but on the walls in front of the desk he could see the paintings that his brother was possessive about to the point of escorting them to and from the Donati exhibition of Cat's work. "What does Ricco see when he leans back and takes in the office?" he asked as she came to stand beside him as she had in Matteo's office.

"Like Matteo's artwork, these paintings have emotional value to Ricco, memories tied up with the past," she said without going into detail.

"A wildflower meadow? It doesn't really seem like Ricco's style," Lucca said. "It's pretty, and suits the décor in here, but it's not what I would have thought a corporate lawyer would have on his walls."

"That's because I am not a corporate lawyer, Jacobi is," Ricco said, walking into his office, surprised to find them there. He smiled as he approached Cat and kissed her. "Is there a reason for this intrusion?"

"Cat was explaining why my office sucks," Lucca shrugged.

"I never said that!" Cat gaped at him, making him laugh.

"Tell me why these pictures mean so much to you? What do you see when you lean back in your chair and look at them every single day?" Lucca asked.

"That meadow is where I fell in love with Cat for the first time," Ricco said honestly. "Back when we dated, just after the court case."

"It's a real place?" Lucca asked. "Why not just use photos, like Matt's office?"

"Cat created these when she worked for Vanessa, and I didn't want anyone else in my meadow," he explained. "There are a series of them, the rest are in my office upstairs in the apartment, and probably are a better representation of why they are among my most valued possessions. I am, however, contemplating a small change, eventually, with some added photography," he said thoughtfully. "Not immediately, just eventually. Probably before November," he nodded.

"Why November?" Cat asked.

"Matt's birthday," Lucca guessed. "I'd like to see the ones upstairs now," he grinned.

"Okay," Ricco said easily, unconcerned with the content of the painting being obviously intimate. Cat had painted them to go into the building where people would never know her or even meet her. He knew she felt differently about telling people about her daydreams behind the paintings. Lucca wasn't just anyone though, and it was obvious he cared about her.

*****

Matteo walked into his home office as Ricco went to get ready for work. They were purposely giving Cat time to work with Lucca alone... Or as alone as she could be with her security nearby. He was going to take the opportunity this morning to talk to the staff that would work for Cat and look after the most precious person in his world, as well as his home. He had the feeling Arturo believed too much of the family propaganda about a woman's place and needed a little education about his wife's position in this family and his life. He wasn't about to let anyone have control over Cat's actions. That control belonged to him, and even Ricco knew not to mess too much with that fact.

Logan would be here this morning, and keeping Arturo from overstepping his brief would be in his job description, but Matteo wanted to make himself clear after seeing him in action over the last week and speaking with Lisa. Lisa was a godsend, and he was happy she had made the move from just looking after him to looking after his new family. They had always had a good working relationship, and he was glad that seemed to be extending to Cat as well now. The two women seemed to be forming a friendship which he wasn't sure about, but he was allowing, as he knew his wife wasn't used to dealing with staff and giving orders to other people. That was where his concern over Arturo's behaviour had stemmed from originally.

"Come in, Ladies," Matteo said to the staff, seeing Lisa tap on his door. He watched them all file in and stand before his desk. With so many new staff he was glad that Vanessa had insisted on a large and imposing desk for his home office before anyone even knew about the formation of the new table. Explaining the bed and Ricco's office had been harder, but it wasn't an unusual arrangement within the families, and accepted on a certain level outside of the leaders of the table. More often, however, a widow would move in with one of her brothers-in-law and his wife rather than two brothers living together.

Matteo waited patiently as Lisa introduced each woman and her designation within the household. He spoke to each briefly about their satisfaction with working with his family. He reiterated the clauses in their contracts that would allow them to seek alternative positions within the family or break their contracts, then sat back and gave each the time to speak to either accept the offer to continue rather than return to the households they had left to come to work in his home.

Each spoke deferentially but with enthusiasm about remaining part of the household and looking forward to working between this home and the new home where the Master and Mistress would start a family of their own. Satisfied, Matteo dismissed them, but asked Lisa to remain.

"And you, Lisa, are you content to remain with my family and me?" Matteo asked, genuinely concerned that he had been asking a lot of her recently without taking enough time to speak with her personally before each change occurred.

"I am, Sir," she said simply. "It has been a joy to see you so happy with Master Ricco and Catriona."

"Good," he nodded, wondering how to approach the delicate question of his wife's naivety without undermining her in this woman's eyes. As if reading his mind, she spoke again.

"If I may speak, Sir?" she asked. At his nod, and seeing him lean back in his chair steepling his fingers, she continued. "Catriona has expressed her displeasure at being referred to as Mistress. I have explained that it is necessary for the general staff, particularly the young ones for them to remember their place, and she has agreed on the provison that I call her Catriona. I cannot, in good conscience, call her Cat, as she requested, so it is a compromise we have reached. I will be careful when there are visitors to use the title Miss, which she is not happy with either, but will accept over Mistress from me."

"I see. It's a reasonable compromise," Matteo agreed, realising that Lisa had not given in easily to Cat's demands to be more casual in the relationship with her as if they were friends instead of employer and staff. "She would not accept Mrs. Vitali?" He queried.

"She believed most of her visitors will also hold that title, and it may cause confusion," Lisa explained, showing that she did attempt that compromise.

"That's fair," he accepted the explanation. "Is there more?" he asked, feeling that Lisa still wished to speak.

"We have spoken about her desire for a permanent family home and my input into the staffing and staff requirements for that home. I am not as comfortable with this, but she is very insistent," Lisa said honestly.

"I imagine that she values your honesty and knowledge of such things. There is someone I would like you to meet before we speak again. I have meetings this morning, but I will organise for that person to come here if I am unable to take you there," Matteo said, thinking that Cat was right in this instance. Lisa was loyal and trustworthy, and obviously loved his family. He would want her to remain as housekeeper and head of household staff. He would arrange a meeting with Theresa, housekeeper and right-hand woman. She was as formidable as Theresa herself.

"As you wish, Sir," Lisa said immediately upon his request.

"The only person aside of the family who live here that you will answer to is Logan. In matters of security you will answer to Knox, as usual," Matteo continued after her agreement to meet the person he had in mind. "As far as Hugh or Arturo are concerned, you are their equal and do not have to explain yourself or your actions to them. You and Knox are the most valued senior staff members here and will be treated with the deference you deserve. That does not change now that my position within the family has changed and others are joining our staff. Have you been issued with your own card for household expenses?" He asked.

"Yes, with a small limit for speciality purchases. I was led to believe that Logan would manage the household budget and Arturo would manage the day to day expenses that arise," she said, having clearly taken on board everything she had been told when the cards were issued. "I am sure it won't be a problem to keep that setup."

"I will monitor that closely. I do not think I like that setup and would like you to have better autonomy when it comes to looking after the people I love. I would like you and Arturo to work in concert as equals, along with Knox and Hugh, with Logan overseeing both households to insure they are maintained to the standard we expect," Matteo commanded.

"I understand, Sir," Lisa nodded.

"Thank you, Lisa," Matteo said, dismissing her. He took a few minutes to gather his thoughts and went to see if Arturo had arrived for work, despite knowing that Cat would not be here today. Walking into what was Cat's office, he could hear other voices, telling him that Arturo was on a conference call.

"Excuse me, Gentlemen, Matteo has just arrived," Arturo interrupted their conversation and stood up to greet Matteo. "Good morning. I'm sorry, am I late for our meeting?" he asked, checking his watch.

"Not at all, I was done early and came to see if you were free," Matteo said, taking a seat. "Please, continue with your call."

"Sebastian and CJ Donati are in on the conference call, if you would like to join us," Arturo offered.

"Good morning, gentlemen. Is there a technical problem I don't know about?" Matteo asked.

"Not at all," CJ chuckled. "As a wedding gift, Peri has asked me to set Cat up with a program she created for keeping track of the family and events. It works particularly well after all the refinements we have made over the last few years."

"We are just trying to work out a time to install it and give some training for both myself and Cat," Sebastian said. "Arturo won't commit without checking with her first. Is she still there, or is she already acting as Lucca's assistant for the day?"

"I'll give her a call. What's the preferred date?" Matteo asked.

"The sooner, the better," CJ said. "Sebastian and I have been talking about some of the system protection systems we have in place. We were thinking about an information exchange, spending a little time in each other's backyard, so to speak."

"This week would be good. If not tomorrow, then Wednesday?" Sebastian added.

"What does Cat's schedule look like?" Matteo asked Arturo.

"Catriona wanted this week left free to work with Logan on the house. She was pretty specific about that," Arturo said. "I have been putting off a million requests for lunches and meetings already for this week."

"Alright, I'll let her know I think this is a priority. Give me a few minutes," he said and stood, getting up from the desk and moved toward the doorway as he dialled her number.

"Miss me already?" she answered her phone.

"Always," he grinned into the phone.

"Well, you're in luck, we're coming up for a few minutes."

"Great. Can you come into your office when you get here for a minute?" It was more of a command than a request, and he knew she wouldn't say no.

"I'll check with my boss, but I am sure he won't mind," she said cheerily, hearing Matteo growl at the word boss. A minute or two later they walked into the small office and Cat went to the desk where Matteo was talking to the two technical engineers.

On hearing what was being spoken about, she agreed readily. Anything to make her job easier was fine with her, she could give up one more day before beginning her work with Logan on the house on the hill. Arturo did not look happy, and she frowned slightly, wondering what had happened, but said nothing in front of so many of the men from the table. She wanted to navigate her relationship with Arturo on her own without their interference. Perhaps Matteo's interference and insistence of the importance of this meeting had bothered Arturo for some reason, and she tried to remember what was on her schedule for the following day. Aside from meeting Logan and the design team, she couldn't think of anything else, and she would still have had time to meet them at some stage, she was sure.

Arturo ended the conference call and stood as Cat, Lucca, and Ricco left the room, not noticing that Matteo had stayed after following them to the door and closing it. He let out a large sigh and, placing his elbow on the desk, lowered his forehead to his hand, counting back from ten before attempting to reschedule Cat's week for her.

"Problem?" Matteo asked in a flat voice, making Arturo look up in surprise.

"Honestly?" Arturo looked up at Matteo.

"That's the expectation here," Matteo said shortly.