The Twelve Vitali Ch. 23

"I asked Miss Leonne for some assistance because I didn't want you to think badly when I let you down tomorrow night," Lisa said in a strong, confident voice. Once she had decided to speak in defence of Cat and take the consequences, she wouldn't cower like a small mouse.

"Tomorrow night?" Matteo asked.

"Yes, there will be quite a lot of people here, and, without help, I am not sure I could cater to your needs appropriately or successfully," she said, keeping her responses as formal as he had originally.

"Shit, so all this drama was Ricco's fault!" Matteo raged to himself. "Thank you, Lisa, you may go." He waited until she left the room before turning back to Cat. "I'm afraid you still have to face the consequences of seeking help from Mama, despite your good intentions," he spoke to Cat. "You should have spoken to us when you knew there was an issue."

"You were so busy, and I'd already messed up your day with the hunt, and..." she hesitated. "I had no idea that it would escalate so quickly."

"You have no idea what you have done, but you are about to find out," he sighed in frustration. It was no good wishing Cat hadn't pre-empted this, it was what it was now. "Once we are married, the table will be announced. You, as my wife, will become the most important figure in our family. Not just our household, the entire family. You will be the mother of the next generation to lead this family, and it will fall to you, like it falls to Theresa now, to be the glue that holds the family together. Without the mother to bring us all together on special occasions and at this annual gathering, the men who sit on the table to make the decisions that help our family flourish would just be executives of a big company. Instead, because of the mother and the love we feel for each other, we are a family." He tried to explain using the analogy his friends had used when he was in Kuala Lumpur.

Cat had known some of this, and, while she realised that she still didn't grasp the full ramifications of the position, she had known becoming Matteo's wife would mean a lot more than simply looking after her own household and the men she loved. Every single man from the Donati table loved Peri and spoke of her with the utmost respect. Cat also knew that all Peri had to do was make a simple request and they would all bend over backwards to fulfil it. She had marvelled at how the super busy Peri Donati managed everything she did so well and fit so much into her days. Her mind went to Theresa. She didn't feel like Theresa commanded the same amount of love and devotion from her family as Peri did, but she imagined it would be difficult to step into another woman's shoes and carry on without any pomp or ceremony.

"I did understand that being the wife of the future leader of this family would entail more than the average woman would expect when getting married," she said cautiously. "I spent a lot of time with Peri, a little bit with Marina, and I have gotten to know Theresa quite well, as you know."

"Then you know there are certain expectations placed on us and our lives. We will need personal and household staff to help us keep our increasingly busy lives in order and coordinated. Theresa is a highly organised and efficient woman, but she doesn't do it alone, nor is it as effortless as she portrays," he said, making his way to his point. "A lot has happened in the last few months for both of us, and if we are to survive the madness and be stronger, happier, and more in love, then we have to put the supports in place early."

"Okay," she said hesitantly, not sure where this was going.

"To start with, Lisa will become the household manager, and there will be a cook and two maids directly under her management," he stated, knowing that this would come as no surprise, since she had pre-empted it. "In addition to that, Knox, who will remain my driver, will head a security team that will include a driver for you," he held up his hand to forestall her protest. "You can keep your car and use it for small errands, but, for safety reasons, you will have a driver and a town car. That isn't negotiable, even if Ricco were here."

"I see," Cat said, trying to understand the need for such security measures.

"Each time a new table is announced there has been an attack on that family, the most devastating was that on the Donati family," he said, watching her to see if she understood what he was saying. "Do you know what happened to their family a few years ago?"

"Yes," she nodded, unsure of how to take that information.

"You will also have a personal assistant who will not be a contracted employee but, rather, a loyal family member of our extended family who knows our laws and traditions. This person will coordinate between Lisa, Knox, Hilary, and everyone else who you deal with on a frequent basis, including any work you do for any of the families, including the Donatis', if you take on more commission work," he said.

"What if I don't get along with them?" she asked.

"Then we find one you do get along with, because you will have these people to support you," he said adamantly. "There is one last thing for now," he took a breath. "Logan."

"Logan?" she tilted her head.

"Since finding out that our future would be... this way, I have been considering your request to renovate the house on the hill. Logan is one of the best project managers we have at the company, and he has agreed to manage that project for you. He will put together an architectural design team to sit down with you and discuss our needs with the understanding of what someone in my position also needs from a home. It's only an hour or so's commute from the city, and there is no reason we couldn't maintain both houses so that our children have a home with a yard as well as a good city experience."

"Like Peri and Josh have?" she asked, also considering the possibility. She had been so busy since he had given her the house to do with as she wanted that she hadn't had time to even think about what she wanted, but she had loved the Donati country house, and wondered whether she could incorporate some of their design into her own. The major difference was the view of the Southern Ocean. Her whole world view had changed since her original thoughts to renovate it, and she had trouble picturing the details of the house in her mind.

"Something like that, only better, because it will be ours," he smiled, believing she was taking her loss of independence better than he had thought she would.

"And I need all of these people in my life to make it possible to do all the things I need to do as well as the few I want to do?" She asked to clarify. "I can still take commissions, and keep the house on the hill and see my brother whenever I want to?" she asked, knowing she hadn't spent nearly enough time with David recently.

"Yes, all of those things," Matteo nodded.

"Okay," she agreed. "I assume you and Ricco will have the same supports in place, so it would be a bit childish of me not to agree. Why would you think we would fight about this?"

"You usually aren't so accommodating about your independence, we argued over your car," he said.

"That was a discussion, and you made an arbitrary decision without explaining why. This time you told me why, so I understand why you want me to have these people in my life. As long as I can get along with them and still do the things I need to do, I am happy," she said to reassure him as he continued to look at her sceptically. "I like the idea of working with Logan. He's so serious, but he has a wicked sense of humour that comes out when you least expect it. Remind me again; Household staff and driver will be contracted, and Logan and my assistant will be family?"

"Yeah, I guess your driver is distantly related too, in a roundabout way, but he still took the contract," Matteo admitted.

"So, about these consequences," she smiled softly and moved towards him.

"Those were your consequences, your punishment for not coming directly to Ricco or me will be long and difficult," he murmured deeply and pulled her into his arms.

"So just an average night in the red room of pain then," she teased.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Kitten," he warned.

"I thought you liked playing games," she brushed her lips over his, "It is our last night together before the big day when you are officially no longer one of the country's most eligible bachelors."

"So that went well, then?" Ricco said coming into the room. "I don't see any tears or bloodshed."

"He almost cried once, if that counts," Cat laughed, making Matteo growl.

"We were just discussing her punishment for going to Mama rather than us," Matteo said, his voice deep and husky.

"I have an idea," Ricco flashed a look of dark desire at Cat and tilted his head at Matteo.

"I'm open to suggestions," Matteo chuckled.

They led her into the Red room where they helped her out of her clothes but didn't take the time they usually would have with teasing touches and kisses. Ricco worked quickly, as if on a time clock, while Matteo helped her undress.

Ricco then placed a long rope that hung like an odd necklace around her neck. Knots were made in several places and then pulled between her legs. Cat could feel the knots that would once again caress her clit and ass, and she wiggled, eager to feel them again.

"Don't go too deep into that headspace, beautiful. We are going to need you lucid and able to hold a conversation!" Ricco warned, despite the heavy arousal evident in his own voice. He attached ropes to the back of the necklace like structure and then under the arms to the ropes in front. These were then looped through and back; and the process repeated, creating diamond shapes with the rope against her pale skin. The sweet caress of the ropes over her skin had her making soft purring moans, and Ricco considered if they should allow her some respite before the meeting. He had purposely not bound her tightly so that this harness of rope could be worn for a long period of time.

"I found it!" Matteo announced, walking back into the room with a dark high necked dress be had never particularly liked but was grateful that she had kept it now. He helped her dress, seeing the heated look in her eyes and the soft whimpering purrs, and grinned. "I guess you're wondering how this is punishment for you, Kitten?"

She tilted her head and looked at him questioningly, and then at Ricco, who also grinned.

"Did you forget we have a meeting at nine?" Ricco asked with a smirk.

"No, you wouldn't!" she gasped.

"Wouldn't we?" Ricco asked with a grin.

"Red!" she said, becoming immovable. Ricco reacted first, stepping forward to remove the dress and rope. Matteo was stunned and relieved that she had safe-worded.

"Why would you want to do this to me in front of people I am supposed to work with as equals, if not more?" She asked as the ropes were removed quickly and easily. "What we do in here is private and..." she bit back the word special.

"We wouldn't have let anything happen to you," Matteo immediately said. "We had no intention of leaving the teaser knots in place when we went to meet the guys. No one would have known but us."

"How could you have stopped it?" she asked incredulously. "How could I, with the constant stimulation from the Karada, even without the knots? I'm supposed to be the woman you love and want to marry! I'm not a Kept! Why would you think it was okay to treat me like one?"

"You are the woman I love, and we are getting married!" Matteo squared his shoulders, realising what he had done too late and preparing to fight with her until he won back her trust. They had never planned to expose her or her submission in any way, but he could see how she wouldn't like to be put in that position, despite being open on occasion about their unconventional sex life.

"Why would anyone respect me if I let you parade me around in a rope collar and harness like a Kept? The rope would have been visible at some point, especially around my neck!" She asked and pushed past them to leave the room, picking up her clothes as she went, and slammed the bathroom door so she could get dressed and think for a minute.

"Cat, please come out. Just come and meet with the three men and then we will grovel for forgiveness however you see fit," Ricco said. "We would never have left the leg ropes in place; no one would have known anything, I swear! We wouldn't put you in that position."

"Fine, I will meet with them because they have come here for my benefit," she said, emerging from the bathroom looking as she had earlier that evening. She didn't believe they wouldn't have purposely humiliated her, but the threat had seemed so real. Real enough to make her feel sick at the thought of a family member realising that this had all been a mistake and she wasn't good enough for Matteo or Ricco as anything other than a Kept. She didn't belong here, and she'd been faking it for weeks now, had let herself believe that maybe she could get away with pretending to fit in with these people. She never would though, Ned was right, and Matteo and Ricco knew it, she thought sadly.

*****

"It's fine," Cat said again, as Matteo and Ricco continued to apologise after Logan and the others had left. "I'm just tired, it's been a long day," she smiled. "I think I'll go to bed early tonight." She kissed both their cheeks and walked toward the bedroom.

Matteo had seen the mask of the happy bride-to-be go on as she met with the three men who would make up the beginnings of her support team. He knew she wasn't fine, but, while Cat continued to insist that she had over-reacted and knew they never would have gone through with the threat, he couldn't do much to make her take off the mask and talk to him properly.

"Do you believe her?" Ricco asked as he watched Cat walk into the bedroom.

"No, but I need to believe that she will be," Matteo said. "Give me a few minutes, would you?" He asked and turned to follow her to the bedroom. She was in the bathroom, and he walked in and shut the door behind him, watching her as she brushed her teeth.

"It's okay, Matteo, you don't have to look so worried," she said, wiping her mouth with a small towel.

"From the beginning, we promised each other honesty, I'm trying to work out why you aren't being honest with me now. Tell me, Kitten. Tell me why you are so upset about what happened. I can't fix it if I don't understand what's really going on, and I don't want to make another mistake like that again," he said honestly. "I know it's more than just the ropes, tell me what happened."

"When did you realise?" she asked with a sigh.

"After the third time you said you were fine," Matteo shrugged. "Fine is a word no man wants to hear from the woman he loves."

"That's not what I meant," Cat turned to look at him and leaned against the bench. "When did you realise you'd made a mistake asking me to marry you?"

"I didn't make a mistake. It's what I want more than anything!" Matteo took a step toward her, but she held up her hands in front of her and stepped back.

"I've been trying so hard to fit in and pretend I belonged here, with you. I don't though, not as anything more than a Kept. You and Ricco spend more time with me in that room every night than you do talking to me on a typical day. Now I need babysitters for every moment of my day so that I don't do anything to embarrass you or your family. Ned was right after all, and now it's too late for either of us to back out of the wedding without a lot of drama," she said sadly.

"Ned was wrong, so very wrong! You are everything I ever wanted or needed!" Matteo was horrified by what she was saying. The threat they had made had obviously triggered some unpleasant memories. Everything they had done in the red room and before the empty threat of punishment had been by her consent, never as punishment. Using sex as punishment rather than pleasure had to have been what had triggered the dark spectre that was Ned and made her compare him to the cruel bastard.

"You don't have to pretend anymore, it's okay, honestly," she gave a sad smile. "I won't call off the wedding, and I will not be a problem for my babysitters. I understand now."

"No, it's me that understands, finally," Matteo said, wanting nothing more than to pull her into his arms, and stepped towards her again.

"Ricco told you, didn't he?" Cat asked, moving away from Matteo again. "He told you that I didn't want to go to the hospital or press charges against Ned. He told you I would just accept whatever happened if it meant keeping the people I loved safe. He's right, you know, I won't hurt your parents or my friends by throwing away everything they've done for me, not to mention the expense of this wedding by calling it off, so you have nothing to worry about. I'm not running away."

"Ricco didn't tell me anything. I only know what was in the report and the little you told me," he said, backing her into a corner but refraining from touching her as she looked up at him with questioning eyes. "I told you that your past doesn't matter to me, only our future. I am asking far more of you than you have ever asked of me. The crazy family, the trial, the big wedding when you would have rather eloped. I want all those things because I am proud you chose me and I want to show the world how lucky I am. I would have left this family to be with you if you had asked, refused the trial, or any of this."

Cat said nothing, trying to think about what he was saying. At least he had stopped apologising. She'd never had cause to doubt his words until tonight, but now it seemed so obvious to her, she wondered how she had let herself believe it all for so long.

"I shouldn't have threatened to punish you. You were so playful when you asked about consequences. I never knew that Ned used sex as a punishment for you. If I'd known he did that..." Matteo's voice turned gravelly with anger.

"I get it. You didn't know, and it was a playful threat and I over-reacted," Cat sounded resigned as she spoke.

"I love you, and I can't believe I hurt you so badly that all the trust we have built between us has just evaporated. I will call off the wedding, if that is what you want. I'll do it so no blame will be placed on you. You can go home to David or to the Donati, wherever you like, and I will take you there myself, if that's truly what you want. I won't force you to stay if you don't trust me anymore," he said sadly, backing off from her. "It doesn't matter how much I love you if you can't love and trust me in return."

"I already said that I wouldn't call off the wedding," she sighed.

"I want to marry you because we love each other, not because you feel you have no choice. I'm giving you that choice right here, right now. Can you trust me to never do anything like that again now that I know how it affects you? Do you still love me?" He asked, looking at her intently with his heart in his eyes.

Cat felt the shock of knowing how hurt Matteo was; he looked as if she had wounded him so badly he was in severe pain. He was giving her a choice to walk away from this life, from him. It had been easy to believe that she'd build her own cage yet again, albeit a prettier one than the caged life she had with Ned. Yet here he was opening the door for her to step through and leave him if she wanted. No babysitters, no having to pretend she could fit into this family, she would be free, but she would also have lost the man she loved.

"You're not being babysat anymore than I am," he said as if reading her mind. "I have an assistant, a driver, and more project managers than I need working for me. They are necessary to keep on top of everything in our lives. I knew you wouldn't like the idea, but I explained why, especially the driver. I would die rather than let anything happen to you that I could prevent."