Dolce Giardino

Dell wasn't even aware that he kept his hand on Ula's warm back, and every couple of minutes, he would tenderly and very subtly caress her, and all under Carrie's smiling face and watchful eye. Ray and Joyce were focused on Dell's words as were Sharon and Mike. Carrie too watched him and admired him and his calm and organized progression through his story.

"Now just for a minute I'm going to jump ahead to the point where Kathryn and Charles get married. Louis, Kathryn's father, built this grand and impressive home for her as a wedding gift. Very nice of him to be sure, but he had his reasons for doing that too. One reason was that would keep her closer to him and his watchful eye. Not because he didn't trust Charles, but because he had a need to control people, and he was sure that in time he would either want to, or need to step in. Another reason was he was sure he would have grand children, but from what we've witnessed and discovered, I don't think that was high on Kate's early plans. I'll come back to that shortly so you'll understand why that was so.

"Now back to Louis and Elizabeth. They discovered that they very much enjoyed very adult parties, but they had to be very private, discreet and safe parties, attended by people in positions that would make them as vulnerable to gossip as he and his new wife. We've talked about petting parties among ourselves, and what they are and some of the dynamics of typical petting parties. In their simplest and safest form, couples shared kisses and semi innocent touches. In many cases, the so called innocent touches became more intimate in nature, and certainly more exciting. Then there were the parties that Louis and Elizabeth decided they preferred. Often short of intercourse, but anything and everything short of that. Nudity was the norm before the evening was over, and caresses of the most intimate kind were shared. Then of course, on special occasions perhaps, what amounted to orgies. Eating and drinking to excess, and especially drinking, and then of course sex to excess. Husband A would spend a short time with wife B, only to move on to maybe wife C and D., depending of course on his stamina. Men were the rulers in those days, and it was no different in their circles, and in fact, they were kings that didn't even have to demand sex to have their wishes met. The women willingly submitted themselves to whatever man presented himself. It was no different for Elizabeth, and on some evenings, she might be with eight or more other men because she was so impressive. Men would line up to have a turn with her. Of course that also meant that Elizabeth was also treated like royalty, and she had her desires met again and again in a night of rampant screwing. Elizabeth loved her new life.

"I could think of worse things to befall me," Joyce said, and all of them laughed long and loud.

What do you think Ula," Dell asked her.

"I prefer one man...at a time that is," and again they laughed, but then Ula said, seriously, I do prefer one man. I'd want to get into his mind and please him as he wished to be pleased, and I'd have him know me totally and what I like."

"Yes, I agree," Sharon said, and then continued with, but I'm not down on more than one man, because nothing says that both men couldn't know me completely as I would know them. I think I have the ability to keep track of which man I'd be with," and she looked at Dell for a second. "Ray, what do you think?"

"I think there are valid points to those views, but I don't believe there is any one answer that would satisfy all men or women."

"Good point. There are no wrong answers or wrong ways."

"That's right."

Joyce looked at him and bumped him with her elbow and said, "I like your answer. Explore, learn and then take it from there."

"You got it, and never under estimate the excitement of the early exploration," he said and smiled at her.

Chapter Forty Five

Dell looked down at Ula and asked her, "How are you doing?"

She smiled up at him like she was witnessing a god in action, and she managed to tell him, "I'm fine, and this is so exciting and interesting. I hope you and I will get a chance to talk about this some time."

"I'm sure we can make that happen," and he smiled as his hand rested on her back again before he said, "Okay, it gets more interesting as we go. Now remember that Louis knows a lot of people, and he knows their secrets. He introduces Charles to certain gentlemen, which is beneficial to Charles in the business world of course, but more importantly it connects Charles to the right people for safe and exciting parties. To put it simply, he set it up so Charles and Kathryn would go to, and fully participate in those parties while he was doing the same at other parties. In that way he would never be in a situation where he saw his daughter naked or with her legs splayed wide for some man or men, because like Elizabeth, Kathryn was young, very attractive and full of the need for adventure. But think about that for a minute. Men that were screwing his wife, would be invited to other parties and would have the honor of screwing his daughter, and in one instance, by happenstance perhaps or by Louis' design, there was the time that Charles had the honor of screwing older Elizabeth, much to her satisfaction. All of that blows me away. Louis was making sure multiple men were servicing his own daughter. Why? Who knows, but I'll venture the guess it was because he enjoyed it in his own perverted, controlling way. He raised her to be the way he wanted her, and he made sure she lived in a way that he not only approved of, but almost rabidly saw to it that she had every opportunity to play as he wanted her to play. Oh, and of course he had his spies that would give him detailed reports of how things were going for Katy as he called her. Can you imagine a father that would not only endure, but savor detailed reports of his daughter's sexual exploits in detail? Who with, possibly in what position and so forth, were important details to him. I struggle with those details to say the least

Now what do those strange and pretty sick details have to do with murder you ask. Well, all if what I've told you is so you can get a full feel for the man that Kathryn called Dad. Here we are in the twenty first century now, and I still can't imagine a man like he was as a supposedly doting father.

So now you have a picture of a controlling, manipulative, and in ways, dangerous man. Oh, I might mention also that he was in trouble with the law on two occasions for unethical business practices, but it would appear that he managed to dodge those issues. Now it came to be that during a particularly contentious business deal, things got so heated that the police were called, but again thing were smoothed over. It's my idea that money changed hands on occasions like that, but of course there is no record of anything like that. Well the man that Louis had been dealing with ended up broke, and his wife died in a fit of depression. We don't have the details of her death, but I don't see that as significant.

Now let's move forward again, and the old country home that was here burned to the ground resulting in those deaths I mentioned. Very soon after that, Louis contacted the survivors and offered to buy the property, and he would see to it that all traces of the old home would be erased, so the family wouldn't have to keep seeing the site of their family tragedy. Very nice of him right? Well of course he bought it very cheaply, because after all, he did have that unsightly mess to deal with right? We don't have the numbers, but we're sure that the land was purchased for much less than it was worth, because that was the kind of thing that kept Louis smiling.

Now the man that had lost his worldly possessions and his wife because of Louis and his questionable business practices, was now reading about what a great guy Louis was for removing the burden on the grieving family of disposing of the death site. That poor suffering and now very financially destroyed guy had to stand by while his bitter enemy was hailed as a great man, when in fact he was a tyrant at the very least, and very probably a murderer for setting the fire that killed that couple, simply because he wanted this land. Well having it done really, but of course we can't prove that."

Ula was almost leaning against Dell now as he caressed her and she almost swooned as she listened to his melodic narration.

"We don't know the name of that man, but let's call him Mr. Smith for now. Mr. Smith had more than he could deal with, and pretty much fell apart. But not so much so that he couldn't devise a plan to hurt Louis Hanover in a way that would cause Louis unbearable grief, some heartache, and an uncontrollable and overwhelming desire to get even. The bad part for Louis was, he didn't know who it was that he needed to get even with. Someone knew, but they weren't talking. You'll find out who and why in a few minutes though," and he looked around for effect.

"There was one thing that Mr. Smith could think to do to hurt Louis. Mr. Smith also knew Louis well enough to know that his nemesis would go into a rage because he was no longer in control, even as he suffered his great loss. You see, Mr. Smith saw his chance and took it. He murdered Kathryn and Charles with the shovel just as we knew it had happened. As alluded to, and as our source told it, Louis burned that couple alive, and he destroyed a man, and indirectly killed the man's wife. So losing his daughter and his son-in- law was the only way to punish Mr. Hanover in a way that would cause our Mr. Hanover great hurt. Louis was never the same after that, and little by little he deteriorated and died, all without ever learning who killed Kathryn and Charles. He died a broken, miserable and forgotten shell of a man. A proper end for Louis Hanover yes, but sadly, at the cost of Kate and Charles being cheated out of a long and prosperous life. I really don't see any winners in that mess, but at least Mr. Smith did have the all important satisfaction that he had indirectly caused the death of his nemesis."

Carrie asked, "But how is it possible that you know all of those things with enough confidence that you publish them as fact?"

"A very good question honey, a very good one. Remember Elizabeth's daughter, Arlene Carrington, the one that lived a life detached from Louis, and sadly, until near the end of Elizabeth's life, detached from her mother? It was only then that Elizabeth moved in with Arlene, and they had the last couple of years together again. Here's the end of our saga. During his investigations, Marlon finally located Arlene. She's now living in an assisted living facility some miles from here, but at her request, a granddaughter kept a small trunk of Elizabeth's personal possessions until Elizabeth's daughter died. Then the trunk could be disposed of. Well the daughter is still alive thankfully, and Marlon, with the approval of the daughter, took possession of that trunk, with the promise that neither the trunk nor the contents would be destroyed for five years. I'm to pick up that trunk from Marlon next week for safe keeping." Then holding his book out slightly he said, "But over the last period of time, Marlon has been reading this book with great interest and he took many notes. Notes that I have used to layout tonight's tale of sadness. You see, this is an autobiography written by Elizabeth Overland Hanover, Louis' wife, and it was found in that trunk. In it she mentions that she was so disappointed in Louis, but she felt compelled to stay with him, and even protect him, though she does mention the fact that she dearly loved those parties," and Dell rested the old book on his thigh and smiled at his little audience.

Carrie went over to Dell and kissed him lightly and said, "I'm so very glad this is all over. That we can get on with our lives like normal people now."

He smiled and told the others, "One thing that Carrie is referring to is, we negotiated a truce with Kathryn and Charles. Well a truce of a sort, because we did allow them a little loophole. But in essence, they will no longer impose their will on Carrie and me. That means that from now on, what we do, we do because we choose to do. We can no longer lay blame on anybody else. We've also told Kate and Charles that we hope they stay with us because we've become quite attached to them."

"Why aren't there ghosts from the couple that was burned up?" Ray asked.

Eyes darted around as they searched for an answer from one of them. Dell finally said, "We have no idea. Maybe someday Kate or Charles will find a way to share that information with us assuming the know."

As soon as Joyce had a chance she whispered to Dell, "Well the voodoo may be a thing of the past, but I still want you again lover."

"Oh baby, we just need to figure out where and when."

Their guests finally left, and as soon as Carrie and Dell were in their suite, she said, "I didn't know if Ula was going to faint or have an orgasm."

"She seemed to really enjoy herself."

"You caressing her back may have played a part in that."

"Was I doing that?"

"Oh no, you can't claim innocence anymore, remember?"

"No, seriously, I would just touch her back once in awhile as a comforting gesture."

"Honey, you were caressing her, and had she been naked so your hand was on her bare back I think she would have moaned loudly enough for all to hear."

"I'm sorry."

"You can't blame anybody but yourself if she comes on to you, until you two end up in bed together."

"I promised you I wouldn't do that remember?"

"I do and thank you, but she's the least of my worries. Too bad it wasn't her that you spent the night with, because I wouldn't have made a big scene over that. I would have been mad at you, but I wouldn't have felt threatened."

He smiled and said, "Is than an oblique way of giving me permission to bed her?"

She kissed him, and smiling said, "Maybe for your birthday next year."

The End.