The Twelve Vitali Ch. 03

"And that would be a bad thing because?" she laughed softly.

He grabbed her then, taking her in his arms, kissing her deeply and murmuring, "You had your chance to get away and didn't take it."

Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her gently but passionately. Cat wrapped her arms around his shoulders, matching his kiss with her own, their tongues rolling in a delicious dance with each other. He moved to hover above her as she lay back on the couch, her head resting on the well-padded arm. Ricco kissed down her neck and torso as he lifted her shirt, leaning back slightly as she helped him pull it off revealing the bra which he made short work of, peeling it away from the pale creamy skin of her breasts and revealing small pink nipples.

He lowered his head to the soft flesh of the tops of her breasts, kissing lightly there. He took his time exploring each nipple, sucking them between his lips into his mouth and rolling his tongue around them, sending tendrils of pleasure through Cat. She closed her eyes and arched her back, enjoying the sensation as he lowered his hands to begin to remove her jeans and panties without her getting up.

Lost in the attention of his skilful hands and mouth, Cat revelled in the feelings he gave her, it was all so different to anything she had shared with Ned, even when she had chosen to sleep with him. She wiggled and manoeuvred at the touch of his hands so that he could slide her pants down her legs and discard them. Ricco pulled her up slightly and kissed her deeply as his hands glided down over her naked body.

She moaned softly into his kiss. Her hands tried to lift the shirt he was wearing, so he sat up looking down at her and grinned as he pulled it over his head, discarding it to the floor beside them. Remaining sitting, he lightly ran his fingers up her ribs and around the swell of her breasts, causing her skin to become goose-bumped. Looking up into his eyes, Cat could see the desire in his eyes, and it made her melt inside with the need that rose quickly within her. She reached for him then, and he leant back down to kiss her. She ran her fingers down over his chest to the band of his underwear which now showed above his jeans. They continued to kiss as Cat began to massage his cock through the material.

Understanding what she wanted, he quickly rocked his hips side to side as he pushed down his jeans and underwear in one swift movement, kicking them away to lie on the floor beside her discarded clothes. Ricco's fingers began to move and press into the folds of flesh in her pussy. He noted how wet she was from his teasing of her body, her pleasure even more evident to him now with the soft moans and mewling noises she made. He was enjoying this slow exploration of the girl below him, and he ran his fingers over her swelling clit, smiling at the quiver it elicited in her body. He continued to tease her as her hand moved to circle his cock and stroke him, gently eliciting a low groan of his own.

Cat moaned and bucked her hips slightly as he left his thumb to rotate and tease at her clit, the fingers of his hand curling around her pussy and pushing one inside. Using their hands alone, each began the rocking, pumping motion of sex until with two fingers crammed into her tight pussy. Cat arched up and back, calling out her first climax to the room and shaking with its impact.

Ricco swallowed her cry with deep soul-searching kisses until she bucked up hard against him, and they fell to the floor below the couch. Grinning, having fallen on top of him, Cat began to follow the path that he had taken on her body. She kissed down his neck and chest as he stroked her hair, manoeuvring to kneel between his legs. His cock stood up from his groin proudly and she reached out, fondling it gently and guiding it to her lips. Surprising him, she did not take it immediately into her mouth but rather extended her tongue and licked from under the head of his cock, down the shaft and over his balls, making him groan deeply with pleasure. She repeated the motion in reverse and swirled her tongue around the tip and fluttered her eyelashes as she looked up at him. Over and again she teased him until finally she lowered her mouth over his cock and began to suck.

It took only a few minutes before he groaned and pulled her up, wrapping his arms around her as he rolled her to her back again. He entered her without preliminaries and began to pound long deep and hard into her willing body. Cat wrapped her legs up around his hips, overwhelmed by the aggressive passion in his fucking; she rocked her hips to meet his thrusts and mewled loudly in pleasure.

"Fuck!" he groaned as he came minutes later, pushing into Cat harder and harder until he finally collapsed on top of her, wrapping his arms around her. She buried her face in his shoulder breathing heavily and holding him tightly as they both came back down to earth. Ricco rolled off her to his back letting her breathe again and smiled.

He rolled to his side pulling her to face him and kissing her deeply, "I've wanted to do that for a while now, but after the, well... everything you'd been through, I didn't expect it would happen quite so soon," He admitted.

"Do you think I'm totally awful?' she asked, afraid that he would think her just as much a whore as Ned had called her. "It just felt right, and I..." Her voice seemed to disappear into uncertainty.

"Not at all. I'm beyond happy, and I think you are sweet, beautiful and one of the most amazing woman I have ever met," he said as he stared into her eyes showing the truth there.

*****

"It's hard to believe this is the same place," Cat said, getting out of her car and looking around. She had assumed with welfare alley bulldozed to the ground that what was built here in its place would still have the same feel of poverty and desperation, but what she found instead was luxury living for low-income families. The shopping precinct and glittering high-rise buildings that topped it were stylish, and the materials they used felt high-end rather than bargain basement.

"I'm sorry Mr. Vitali couldn't be here to greet you himself, I understand you know his family," the sales manager greeted her with an obsequious smile and a soft handshake that lingered a little too long while taking in her run-down car and off the rack clothes. 'No wonder this woman needed the family discount,' he thought.

"Yes, and my brother works for his company too," she smiled, making small talk.

It seemed that Matteo had made a call earlier that morning and told the sales manager that a family discount would be applied to any sale to Catriona Leone, and that the discount he had been instructed to give was quite a generous amount. The salesman was obviously excited about her visit, assuming that the purchase was inevitable.

"Shall we go and fill in some paperwork, Miss Leone?" The salesman was practically salivating. His job had been made harder by the sheer fact that the neighbourhood had a stigma that kept people away rather than coming to see what had been built in place of the hovels that used to stand here.

"I'd like to talk to my brother tonight, if that is okay? I'll let you know tomorrow what we decide," she said encouragingly.

"The family discount may not be in play tomorrow," the salesman feigned regret, trying to push her into committing on the spot. He could see she had little money to invest, and believed that if she went home to think about it she might not return. He wasn't sure what connection she had to the family, possibly a maid or nanny, but she certainly wasn't of their class of people.

"Well, that would be unfortunate, but I can't commit to anything today, I'm sorry about that," Cat said. "Perhaps if I called him directly," she pulled her phone from her bag and watched the little weasel of a man sweat. She had no intention of making a call, but he didn't know that.

"It would be the small hours of the morning in Europe," the man said quickly, as if to stay her hand.

"Perhaps you're right, even though we both know the man never sleeps," Cat was guessing, but she knew these big business types were all workaholics who had some form of insomnia. "I'll call his brother instead; I believe he does all the legal work on these properties." She walked toward her car rolling his eyes. If Matteo wanted to sell any of these properties he needed a better sales manager than that. Even Mick could do a better job than that guy. She smiled sadly thinking of Mick. She was hurting him by flaunting her new relationship with Ricco in front of him, not that she did it on purpose, she hadn't realised until David pointed it out.

It would do them all good to have some space from each other, and with the family discount she could afford two of the townhouses in the gated community, just. She may have to see the bank manager about a small loan. She needed to discuss it with Roberto, but the income of collecting rent from her sibling and his friend would make up for the shortfall. The property was a good investment rather than leaving the money in the bank to be frittered away. She began the long drive to the better part of town for her appointment with Roberto.

"That's okay, I know the way," Cat said to the housekeeper as she entered the mansion that was the family home of the Vitali family. She walked toward the library where she always met with Roberto, who had taken over as being her lawyer. She paused outside the door as she heard raised voices.

"Knowing what you know, what you have grown up knowing, do you seriously think we are unaware of your plans with Jacobi?" Roberto asked. "Has she not been through enough without you treating her like a common whore?"

"I'm not!" Ricco's voice sounded clearly through the door.

"You committed yourself elsewhere though, haven't you?" he continued to argue. "You have no intention of having a long-term relationship with the girl, so why let her believe otherwise?"

"He doesn't know what she's been through, you protected her from that information being released beyond a select few," Cat recognised Stefano's gentle voice interceding on Ricco's behalf.

"If you keep to your agreement with your brother it won't matter, you will cast her aside at some point. It will be better for everyone to make a choice now rather than later," Roberto said in a stern voice. "Let me warn you though, even if you keep to your commitment to your brother it will not automatically gain him the chair he is so desperate to inherit."

Cat had heard enough to know what she had to do. She was not going to be the woman who caused drama in this amazing, loving family who had done so much for her. She steadied her breaking heart and schooled her features before knocking loudly and opening the door.

"I'm sorry, do I have my appointment time wrong?" she asked, widening her blue eyes innocently. "The housekeeper said I could come through since I know the way," she gave a light laugh.

"You are right on time," Roberto smiled and walked forward to greet her. "Here's the case file I would like you to look at," he passed Ricco a large folder. "This shouldn't take long; we can speak again over dinner."

"I had plans tonight," Ricco said shortly, still looking angry, despite kissing her when she arrived and standing beside her with his hand on her back.

"Oh, don't worry about me. David and Mick were complaining this morning that I never seem to cook anymore. It will be good to have a night at home," she smiled. "We've barely been apart in the last few weeks, I'm sure your family misses you too." She made it all sound so reasonable, despite the fact that she was falling apart on the inside. She'd had a lifetime of learning to hide her true feelings, so much so that she could play the part of a happy temporary girlfriend without any hint that she had heard anything through the closed door.

"If you're sure," he frowned at her.

"Yep, now that I think about it, it's been ages since I managed a bit of girl time with my brother. He'd never admit it, but he loves a soothing face mask and a pedicure," she grinned, making him chuckle.

"Okay, I'll give you a call later just to say goodnight," he bent his head to kiss her and left the room with Stefano.

"You can breathe now," Roberto said as the door closed behind the two men.

Cat was surprised to find she had been holding her breath and let it out as she walked toward his desk, wanting to get the meeting and the reason she had come to see him out of the way.

"How much did you hear?" he asked casually.

"Enough to confirm what I already knew, girls like me will never belong to this world that your family lives in. I never believed it, really, but it was a nice fantasy while it lasted. Don't worry, I'm not inclined to stick around and cause drama for anyone, especially not between brothers as close as Ricco and Jacobi. I'll let him down gently, and life will go on as it should do," she spoke without emotion, hiding her true feelings as she said the words she believed Roberto needed to hear.

"You, my dear, are a breath of fresh air in this stuffy family, and I, for one, would love to have you as a daughter-in-law, but Ricco needs to stand up to Jacobi for that to happen. I am not sure he is ready or strong enough to break the commitment he has made to his brother." Roberto seemed to consider her for a few minutes, "I wouldn't like to see you hurt again, hence my earlier words to my son. I am sorry you overheard that argument," he said sincerely. "I was trying to force him to face the reality of the commitments he has made and what he would be giving up if he didn't discard them as childish schemes. He is a good man, and I want nothing more than for him to be happy with the decisions he makes in his life."

"I understand," she said quickly. "I'm afraid, though, the decision regarding this relationship has already been made. I won't be the one to cause drama in this family," she laughed. "It wouldn't be fair to him or me. He can make any choices he likes, but I have made mine already."

"Don't be hasty, give it time before making a decision like that," Roberto said. "He cares about you, I know that for a fact."

"I care for him too. He is a good man. Too good for me," she smiled sadly. "I promise to consider what you have said for a little while, but I think we all know what he will choose. Jacobi is more than just his brother, they have an unbreakable bond. Now, about the money and what I would like to do with it." She got down to the business to why she had come, feeling like she was barely holding her broken heart together and worried about flying apart in front of this kind man.

*****

"Hello, Catriona," Maryanne swept into the small studio Cat worked in and indicated the canvas she was working on.

"Hey, Maryanne, I haven't finished this latest series of paintings," Cat said, indicating the canvas on her easel depicting a drooping willow on the bank of a small river.

"Oh, I haven't come about the paintings," Maryanne waved her hand and grinned. "I have a favour to ask. I do have to say, though, that this one seems to be a bit darker than your other paintings lately. Perhaps a hint of colour beyond the branches would help."

"You mentioned a favour?" Cat asked, turning back to the painting and tilting her head, wondering if Maryanne's suggestion about colour would work.

"Yes, I need you to get Ricco to come to a small party I am throwing this weekend. He said he had plans to take you riding out at Matteo's house, but surely you can put that off for one weekend. He never comes to any of our get-togethers anymore, he's never seen at the clubs or restaurants we all used to go together. His friends are complaining that he seems to be hiding lately. I've promised I would get him to this party, but he had refused any of my invitations or entreaties," Maryanne explained.

"I can do that," Cat said, as if it was no big thing. "I could use some time to do a few things of my own that I have been putting off."

"The invitation is for you too," Maryanne gasped. "I wouldn't be so rude as to invite him and not you."

"I'm not much of a party person," Cat laughed. "Thank you though. I'll talk to Ricco tonight."

"Well, the invitation is there if you change your mind. Try your best to get Ricco to come, it's an important night for Cobi," she said. "All of the family are coming, so you'll know some people."

"If all of the family are going it won't be a small party by anyone's description," Cat said good-naturedly. "And I wouldn't like to be the reason Ricco is the only member of his family who isn't there."

"Wonderful!" Maryanne grinned and clapped her hands. "You're a doll. I'll see you at the party then, bring your dancing shoes and your singing voice." She swept out of the studio before uttering the last word, making Cat shake her head.

Looking back at the canvas, she admitted it was more than a little subdued, bordering on melancholy. Maybe a party would do her good, a way of saying goodbye to the family who had been so good to her before she had to break up with Ricco. She'd given it a couple of weeks, she watched him during that time with different eyes, and all of what Maryanne had said had confirmed what she had concluded for herself. Ricco was embarrassed to be seen with her. She could never be part of his world or his social set, and they couldn't live their lives hiding from the world. She couldn't let him give up the life he had always known for her, and she didn't want to live each day knowing she wasn't good enough. Not good enough for him, his friends, his family, or for being seen with in general.

She had assumed that, like her, he had liked the isolation of going out to Matteo's house on the hill to go riding, but now she realised he had other motivations for taking her away from where they couldn't be seen as a couple. He was trying to make good on his commitment to Jacobi while keeping her as his dirty little secret. Her mind wandered with gloomy thoughts, and she knew there would be no pop of colour in this painting.

*****

Cat bustled about in the kitchen as David poured drinks for the guests she had invited over for dinner. In addition to David and his latest girlfriend, she had invited Coach Frankie and his wife, Anna, as well as knowing Ricco would come, as usual. She felt bad not inviting Mick, but she had taken David's words about hurting him to heart and decided it was for the best to stay away from him for a while.

"Hey you," Ricco came in with a smile and kissed her cheek, and she tried to dodge his embrace reaching for a hot pan.

"Hey," she said. "I'll be out in a sec, just a few things to do. Go talk to your Uncle and Aunt," she shooed him out of the kitchen.

The dinner went well, and Cat was glad to have both Frankie and his wife, Anna, there. She owed them a great deal, and she loved them both like family now. The distance Ricco seemed to place between them in front of his uncle and aunt only strengthened her resolve, and as they lingered over dessert she brought up the conversation of weekend plans.

"Any plans for the weekend?" Cat asked Anna.

"Maryanne has a thing that she's asked us to attend. Are you and Ricco going?" the older woman asked.

"She actually came and extended a personal invitation to me today. She wasn't sure if Ricco had told me about it," she said in a casual voice, but glanced at Ricco who looked guilty.

"We had plans before she asked, so I told her we probably wouldn't make it," he said, obviously pissed that Maryanne had gone to Cat personally.

"She said it was important to Cobi, so I told her we could change our plans. I'd hate for you to miss something important," she smiled widely seeing his less than impressed body language before he recovered himself. "I'm glad you will be there as well, I barely know any of Ricco's family or friends."