The Twelve Vitali Ch. 32

Authors note: Hello everyone. Thank you everyone for the positive feedback and comments they continue to 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.

*****

Marcus had Bruno call Roberto and Trevino to him for mediation, before the situation got out of hand on the second day of arbitration and fact-finding, while he met with Matteo and Theo quietly in the atrium he used for special trainees.

"The leaders of the other tables are on their way to form the thirteenth table. Whether there is full disclosure about the issues surrounding Maria or not is being discussed at present between the men with grudges," Marcus began. "They will be asked to step down from their chairs, and you will take your places in this meeting of the thirteenth. You are both men of honour, and the past deeds of your families are not yours to own. Make peace for the good of everyone, it cannot end well otherwise."

"You would un-chair our fathers?" Matteo gasped.

"Temporarily, yes. They have shown a total unwillingness to cooperate in this challenge to the traditions and laws of our families," Marcus was stiffly formal. "Shame and guilt are difficult to admit to for anyone; for proud men of the tables, an impossibility. The confessions needed must come from another source, just as hurtful, but not of their own making. Do you understand?"

"Not exactly, but I am going to assume you will enlighten us further," Matteo said carefully.

"I understand," Theo took a large breath and exhaled noisily. "I will do what needs to be done if Matteo stands with me after reading this." He handed Matteo a tablet.

"Tell me," Matteo said, glancing at the tablet. "If you want me to stand with you, then tell me what I need to know, and I will trust your word." He could see how difficult this was for Theo, and he agreed with his sentiment from earlier that morning. It was time to put all of this hatred and feuding behind the two families.

"Giovanni was a difficult baby, only calming when his twin sister was placed next to him in the crib. He was a toddler and child prone to tantrums, fits of rage and cruelty, and his father sought help for him from various doctors and psychologists. Maria became bound to him, not only because of their bond as twins, but because he became her responsibility. She was the only one who could calm those fits of rage, particularly when he hit puberty. My grandfather encouraged the incestuous relationship that developed rather than see his son locked away by the Papillo because his behaviour led him to harm someone, or worse." Theo spoke softly, not making excuses for his grandfather's actions, but rather stating the facts.

"Maria became vain and pampered because everyone was too afraid of Giovanni to deny her anything she wanted. The relationship eventually became stifling for her, however, and when she came of age she wanted to marry and get away from her family and possessive brother. She almost killed him with an accidental overdose of mood-altering drugs when he tried to deny her marriage and escape from her family. Again, it was my grandfather who stepped in and kept Giovanni in the hospital and medicated while Maria became a debutante and fell in love with Stefano Vitali."

"You mean, Roberto," Matteo said.

"If you insist, but I am led to believe it was Stefano that she believed would protect her from Giovanni," Theo said softly. "My grandfather sanctioned the marriage with Roberto and kept control of Giovanni for a short time, even forcing him into a marriage with the promise of a seat on my father's table. This worked until my grandmother's death, and I expect you know the rest of the story."

"My version is slightly different to yours, no doubt, but then I wear the scars of the havoc Giovanni and Maria wreaked on our families," Matteo said sadly. "She is happy there, surprisingly. She doesn't wish to see Giovanni or be caught up in the feud between families any longer."

"Be that as it may, Giovanni is obsessed with the news that Vanessa claims her mother is alive and well in the Ghost Town. Despite my father's attempts to counsel him that it is not true, he will not let it go," Theo said. "I am afraid that if what is in those packages is true there may not be anything we can do to protect the family from the position he has put us in."

The two men continued to talk, laying out what had occurred between Giovanni and Maria from their different points of view and what they had been told by their fathers. In the end, both agreed that there was a fault on both sides of the equation, but, regardless of what had happened in the past, Giovanni's obsession had brought them to the brink of lapsing back into old feuds that could endanger the stability of the twelve tables and the working relationships of the thirteenth. Each family could survive alone, but they were stronger together in an alliance.

Marcus had sat back listening to it all and saying nothing. He wasn't even sure the two men realised he was still in the room. From his family's records, he knew they were being brutally honest with each other, and he saw no reason to intrude on their revelations with his own version of events. The men who would populate the Thirteenth table, once the older generation retired, were men to be reckoned with, including Joshua Donati and Leyton Papillo, who had already taken their chairs on the table.

*****

"We've been in this hotel for three days. How long do they expect us to wait?" Ricco grumbled. He chose a loose-fitting pair of basketball shorts and a light shirt and sighed. "I'm going outside for a while, call me if anyone comes for us."

Stefano raised his hand in acknowledgement that he had heard his son and turned back to his book. He was enjoying not having to think about anything for a few days, and he was more than enjoying his son's company and getting to know the real him rather than the face he exposed to the world. He was more than happy to realise that he hid a dark and demanding side that came out only when alone with Cat to indulge his desires, and that she had embraced that side of him. The Oracle needed to embrace both the light and the dark to truly read the heart of others.

That had been his error with Maria. He had only seen the light in her, the good and sweet side that needed protecting from her family. She hadn't been honest with him though. How could he have known of the nature of her twisted relationship with her brother? He should have known, he was the Oracle, but he had let love blind him from the reality of her true nature. It was a mistake he had not allowed himself to make since, even to the detriment of his relationships with his children.

Ricco hated doing nothing. He wanted to be home with Cat and Matteo, dealing with business and the drama surrounding the family at present instead of expecting Matteo to handle it on his own. Not that he was on his own, he reminded himself. He walked out into a field of tall grass and smiled, reminded of his last day at the house on the hill with Cat. He chose a place near an old tree that afforded a modicum of shade and sat, drawing a deep breath.

Emptying his mind, Ricco closed his eyes and let his mind drift, filtering through all of the external noise of his world to focus on the things that really mattered. An image of Cat as she had been, in a field just like this, embracing him and his darkness, bloomed in vivid detail. Clouds scuttled across the sky becoming darker as his desire and need to possess her and have her serve his every need filled him. He breathed deeply again, tilting his head back, feeling the sun on his face and looking for it in his vision.

Ricco slowed his breathing and allowed the image to shift and move to include Matteo. The darker clouds shifted, and lighter fragments shone through as wind ebbed and flowed within the clouds like the tide of a lapping ocean. The stronger the vision of Matteo the fewer the clouds and the warmer the sun became in his mind. He felt the love and warmth of his brother soften the hardness that threatened to overwhelm his desire for the woman who submitted her mind and body to him when they were alone. The loss of that control scared him, the possibility of hurting her or breaking her trust in him all hung on his ability to remain in control of his darkness, and he knew Matteo was the touchstone that grounded him. He couldn't find that balance internally when it came to Cat, she was too giving of herself, and it took all his strength to take what she gave so willingly and not ask for more, demand more, take more from her.

An image of Cat bound in rope and hanging from the ceiling of his dark retreat at his Uncle's house filled his mind. She was beautiful with her skin pink and lined with angry red welts. The image shifted, and she appeared as she had been that day in the field, kneeling quietly before him, enduring the cold and shivering in her nakedness for him. The image aroused him even more than the vision of her bound and suspended. In his mind's eye she blossomed and swelled with the baby she now carried, her belly and breasts distending, swelling outward, and he felt himself harden with the loose shorts. Once again Matteo swam into his vision, softening the dark desire to possess and use every inch of Cat and take more from her than he should ask of her.

Concentrating on the two people he loved most in the world, he tried to reach out toward them, to feel them and know that they were in no danger. His mind stretched as he concentrated, feeling nothing but his own need for them both, and the pain of his separation from them. He was better with them than without, he needed them, he admitted sadly. Being the Oracle was not something he could do alone. Still, he wanted to know more, be able to do more. He picked up the file he had brought with him and began to concentrate on its contents, hoping to glean even the smallest amount of information from it to tell him what was true and what was fabricated.

"Your will is stronger than you believe, young Vitali," A woman's voice sounded close to Ricco. "I am Fawn, and you seek my people, the Tatar."

"I do," Ricco said, opening his eyes to look at the woman, surprised that she appeared to be about his age. "I am Ricco Vitali, and I travel with my father, Stefano."

"My Mother told me as much. May I have the file, please? We would see for ourselves," she asked, tilting her head.

"Of course, we would be interested to know if it contains anything of truth," he said, holding out the file to her.

"Can you not feel that for yourself?" she asked curiously.

"My feelings on its contents are conflicted. My head tells me it must be false, my heart wishes for it to be true, but deep within I know there are elements of both. My emotions cloud my thoughts, I am afraid I cannot discern which is true and which is false," Ricco admitted.

"Emotions should always rule your thoughts," Fawn frowned at him and reached up to touch his face at his left temple.

"Maybe I said that wrong, it's more like what I want clouds my judgement instead of seeing things just as they are," he tried to explain.

"What is it you want from this information?" she asked, clearly interested.

"I want the woman I love not to be hurt or upset by the lies I believe it contains, but I hold out a small hope for her and refuse to acknowledge that it isn't there. Not until I know for sure up here," he tapped his head. "I want your family to have the answers I seek and be able to give us the answers we need. I also want for there to be friendship, or at least open communication between your family and mine, though it has never been that way in the past."

"Invite me to dine with you tonight," she commanded suddenly after staring at him silently for several minutes.

"I would love for you to join my father and me for dinner tonight," Ricco responded immediately. "Perhaps you could bring your mother," he smiled, easily liking the young woman who sat with him.

"I believe I would be delighted, thank you. I will see you at six at the hotel," Fawn said, getting to her feet and turning to stop him from getting up with her. "Please stay and meditate, it suits you to look so peaceful." Then she turned and walked away across the field with Ricco staring after her.

*****

"Good morning," Cat sang as she waltzed into the kitchen, putting on a cheerful persona, despite the fact she had not slept well for the past three nights and felt more nauseous than she had on previous mornings. She desperately hoped Matteo would come home today. She knew Ricco would still be several days away at least.

"Did you sleep?" Lucca eyed her critically as she went to Lisa and took the plate she offered with some surprise.

"Let the woman sit down before nagging her," Zion chided his brother and winked at Cat. "Good morning, Cat. Sleep well?" he asked with a grin.

"Yes, thank you," Cat said in the same cheerful tone. "It' getting easier to fall asleep now." She looked down at the breakfast Lisa had made for her and frowned.

"Something wrong with your breakfast?" Zion asked.

"Just not what I was expecting," Cat smiled, but felt her tummy roll and swallowed hard against the nausea.

"Seriously, you're not looking so good this morning," Lucca said, scrutinising her. "Maybe you should stay home today and rest," he suggested.

"No, I'll be fine once my body wakes up," she said, keeping her cheerful persona. "Lisa, could I just have some toast, please?"

"Of course, Miss Catriona," Lisa acknowledged the request, but looked concerned as well.

"You need to eat more than a piece of toast for breakfast! Especially as you are functioning on such little sleep!" Lucca said.

"Lucca, what's going on this morning?" Cat asked, frowning at him. "I'm perfectly fine, just like always."

"He's got a specialist appointment for his leg today, so he can't trail around after you like a lost puppy," Zion enlightened her. "She has security for a reason, Lucca," he reminded his brother.

"Oh, I didn't know. Are you worried about it?" Cat asked, trying to steer the conversation away from her current eating and sleeping habits. Rather than morning sickness they should call it all day sickness, she thought morosely.

"I'm more worried about you at the moment. Maybe you should see Zachary today, he could give you something to help you sleep and settle your stomach," Lucca suggested.

"Lucca, I'm fine, honestly, and I saw Zachary only a few days ago," she said in a soft voice. "It's perfectly normal to feel a little out of sorts with both Matt and Ricco away. I love you and Zion dearly, but you must have at least a fraction of an idea how much I miss them. There hasn't been a time this year when they were both gone at the same time before now."

"Hey everyone," Aria's cheerful greeting startled them as she leaned over Zion's shoulder and kissed his cheek, making him smile. "Ooh, what did I walk in on?" she asked, seeing Lucca's frown.

"He's doing his crusty pirate expression while he still has his gimpy leg," Zion explained. "I imagine they'll give him the all clear to go back to work today," he winked at Cat, who he knew was chafing under the scrutiny Lucca had given her since Matt left.

"That should make you happy, not grumpy," Aria sat down at the table and waved her hand at Lisa. "I'll have whatever is left over, don't make anything special for me."

"You miss Zee, don't you?" Cat said understandingly, "You know you could just come and stay here too rather than come for breakfast every day."

"If Matt and Ricco are going to be away much longer I might take you up on that. Have you heard from him this morning?" she asked, looking at her brothers as well as Cat.

"Not about when he will be home," Cat grinned, unable to help herself when she thought of the call she had enjoyed with Matteo early that morning. Her communication with Ricco had been difficult, as it seemed he was in a very remote country town where the telephone coverage with the satellite was sporadic, at best. Still, he emailed her and texted her when he could, most of those coming through during the night when she was sleeping. She missed him terribly. While Matteo was commanding and in control, Ricco carried his authority in an unassuming way, but there was no mistaking he was just as in control as Matteo was, particularly when it came to her.

"Ooh, do tell!" Aria giggled, watching Cat blush deeply.

"I didn't think you'd be that interested in Matteo's fantasies, but if you insist," Cat teased back while blushing crimson and having no intention of saying anything.

"I think I could live without that over breakfast," Zion saved Cat with a chuckle. "I'm going to be here at the HQ offices again today if you need me for anything," he said, smiling at Cat. "Come see me after your breakfast," he invited Aria with a squeeze of her hand. "You can give me an update on the depository." He stood and kissed Cat's cheek, smiling at her. "Have a good day, don't overdo it."

"Thanks, you have a great day too," Cat returned his smile. "I'm going to meet with Arturo," she went to get up from the table with him, forgetting her request for toast, making him turn and step back toward her.

"Look, I agree that Lucca is way over the top, but, Cat, if you want me to side with you, you need to at least pretend to eat something, even if it's only a single piece of toast," Zion said seriously. "It's been a long time since I was scared of my big brothers kicking my ass, but I have to admit that I have no desire to have it kicked by two of them when they return."

It was the first time Zion had scolded her for anything, and Cat blinked in surprise, sinking back into her chair. She looked at Lucca, who seemed just as shocked by Zion's words, and then Aria, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"Call Matt," she said, suddenly feeling tears sting her eyes knowing that she was totally over-reacting but somehow unable to help herself. "He'll tell you not to worry about whether I eat breakfast. He won't want to kick your ass," she promised as her tears filled her eyes.

"It's breakfast, it's not worth crying over," Aria said softly, unsure of what had been going on before she arrived. "You can have brunch," she suggested.

"Cat, you're overtired and emotional because you're not sleeping or eating, something's got to give. Let me call Zach," Lucca suggested.

"Just call Matt, please," she said in a voice that cracked with emotion, showing how upset she was. "I don't have my phone on me. He'll tell you not to worry. I'm an adult, I can choose not to eat breakfast if I want."

*****

"Hi, Zee, what's up?" Matteo answered his phone with a frown. He excused himself from the table he had been sitting at and walked a few feet away.

"Cat wanted me to call you and tell you that I made her cry," he admitted.

"Any particular reason you felt the need to make my wife cry this morning?" Matteo asked urbanely, despite feeling his insides tear apart with his need to be home where he could look after Cat himself. He knew how emotional this pregnancy had made her, and that she wasn't feeling well, particularly in the mornings.

"Lucca was trying to channel Ricco's courtroom persona and questioning Cat about her sleeping and eating habits, and I backed her up until she didn't eat a bite of breakfast. She hasn't been sleeping since you left, and she is starting to worry us, so I sided with Lucca just this once and made her cry," Zion explained.

"So, you're saying that I need to kick Lucca's ass, not yours?" Matteo asked in the same unconcerned voice. "They both there with you?" Matteo asked.

"Yes, to both questions," Zion chuckled, looking between Cat and Lucca.

"Great, put me on speaker," Matteo said, shaking his head.