The Twelve Vitali Ch. 04

Authors note: Hello everyone. This story is a spinoff of the Twelve Tables series I wrote a while ago. I hope you enjoy this series despite its differences to the original story. Thank you once again to Paul who continues to be my second set of eyes. ~ellie.

The Twelve Vitalis

Chapter 4

*****

Cat had found it impossible to avoid the Vitalis' and seeing Ricco over the following weeks. He hadn't made a secret of the fact that he still wanted her in his life, but she remained steadfast in her refusal to be intimate with him again. After the last time she lost control with him, she had begun having strange dreams, some of them nightmares, but most reminding her that no one would ever love her the way she wanted and needed to be loved. Dreams where Ned and Ricco morphed into one being and called her a whore made her wake up gasping. Better dreams, where Ricco realised that she was worth putting his commitments at risk made her wake up crying knowing that would never be true.

Her emotions were a rollercoaster on a daily basis from lack of sleep and a form of depression she hadn't realised she had until Doctor Peter Donati had walked into her home with David one day. "Hi," he had said easily. "I was in town visiting Maryanne and thought I would check up on my patient," he had smiled warmly at her and accepted the offer of coffee. He'd been so easy to talk to, and relating stories of other patients who had dealt with similar, if not worse, trauma made her feel almost normal again.

He made her realise that, rather than being almost normal, she had been a basket case for the last month and had made David, Ricco, and even Vanessa worry about her. He asked her if she would mind talking to his cousin, Lucia, who had a similar traumatic experience at the hands of criminals, and the book she had written with Peri to read, hoping it would help to know she wasn't alone and that people healed given time. Lucia had written a note to go with it that was heartfelt and listed her contact details.

Cat had devoured the book and sent an email thanking Lucia for writing a story that resonated so much with her and her own life. The emails became a daily thing, and after a few days, at Lucia's request, Cat called her. They became strangely close friends rapidly, and Lucia invited her to Brisbane for the launch of her second book in the new year. She'd worked hard for Vanessa, and for the first time in her life had some savings. She spoke to Mick and David about taking over the small loan she had on the properties as a form of rent and decided to pack up her life and put some distance between herself and the cause of her neurotic mood swings.

David and Mick had encouraged her, and, after seeking some advice, he had taken over the loan in the form of a mortgage on the townhouse she had bought for him. Mick would rent her townhouse and had set up an account to pay rent into for her in case she needed to supplement her savings. They'd had a quiet Christmas together, and on the thirtieth of December she had boarded a plane with her life packed into one large suitcase and a duffel bag.

Lucia had set up a meeting for her with her sister-in-law, Peri Donati, who wanted to talk to her about a project she was working on that might turn into a commission for Cat. She looked out of the small window of the plane at the night sky, she was hopeful that the new year would bring her new beginnings and she could leave the past where it belonged. This was what she needed, to put everything and, more importantly, everyone behind her. Everyone except David, she thought with a smile. The only man who had never let her down, the only man she would ever trust fully."

*****

Dante Donate looked up from his desk with a wide smile. He watched the tall, muscular man he had known most of his life walking toward him. Standing, he came out from behind his desk and embraced his friend.

"Hey, D!" Matteo Vitali's face mirrored Dante's wide smile as they embraced.

"Seems like I only saw you a few weeks ago," Dante greeted him with a warm chuckle.

"I know, right?" Matteo said with a shake of his head. "You'll have to bring Peri and stay longer than twenty-four hours next time. So much for being the confirmed bachelor who was my role model."

"What can I say, love hits you when you least expect it," Dante smirked. "Seriously, mate, when it happens to you I will be first in line to congratulate you. You're not here to ask me to be your best man, are you?" He chuckled as Matteo looked horrified by the idea. "I guess it's hard to find a girl like Peri. So hard, in fact, that I had to settle for sharing her love."

"Yeah, okay, I agree, she's amazing. I doubt there are two Peri's in the world though," Matteo lamented. "On top of being an amazing person, she just had twins to add to your growing family!" Matteo whistled. "You'd think you and Josh would have given her a little more time to enjoy the first few years of motherhood with the three you already had."

"Don't tell Josh, but I am sure the twins are mine," Dante grinned and winked as he poked a finger at the photo on his desk of Peri and her five children.

"You Donatis' breed like rabbits," Matteo chuckled. "I hear even Carlo has a little bundle heading his way. Now that's a surprise," he chuckled.

"What about you?" Dante asked. "Will we hear wedding bells soon? You're not getting any younger."

"That's part of the reason I am here, I guess. I'm having dinner with Josh, ostensibly on family business, but I was hoping to talk to you guys about, well, about Nik," he looked at Dante nervously. He'd proposed to Nik and found himself on the receiving end of a humiliating tirade that left him shattered and firm in the belief that love was a fallacy.

"Time heals all wounds," Dante nodded. "Josh still doesn't like to talk about the betrayal he felt, so tread carefully there. How much do you know about what happened to her before she died?" Dante considered his friend carefully.

"Almost nothing. Or, at least, nothing I believe to be the truth. I think the little we were told after seeing the news reports was a cautionary tale for any of the more free-spirited young women of the family," Matteo said.

"Geez, mate, it's a long and sordid story, and if we're going to have this conversation, I'm going to need a beer," Dante let out a large breath. He knew Josh wouldn't have the heart for this conversation, even now, almost two years later. That meant he would have to go over the whole story yet again. He didn't want to, but he knew why Matteo was here and asking this particular question, so he grabbed his coat and suggested a nearby bar.

The two men sat quietly at a small booth in the shadowy rear of the small boutique beer house. As he went through the story, starting from the time Josh started dating Peri to including her attempts on Peri's life, the threats to various people and her dealings with the Suebi, he watched a myriad of emotions cross his friends face.

Matteo's emotions rolled from anger to disappointment to sadness. Everything he heard made him feel sick and made him realise that he had not been the only one she had used and abused. What he had felt after their breakup was nothing compared to how her family must be feeling, and explained Maryanne's obsession with having him like her and becoming his friend. He had been lucky to escape from the madness that had enveloped Nik's life after their break-up. Just as he had been lucky to escape his mother's scheming when she had eventually crossed the line into insanity, and his older brother had borne the brunt of her fury.

"She made me believe that it was Josh who held her back from committing to our relationship. Our parents wanted it, I wanted, I thought she wanted it," he raked his hand through his hair. "I knew after six months of excuses that it would never happen, but she continued to claim that when Josh found a wife, she too would settle down." He had loved Nik wholeheartedly at the time, and wished more than anything to believe her, but the last time he had seen her he pushed her to make a commitment to him by proposing, and she had flown into a nasty tirade and walked away, never looking back. His heart had been badly broken, and he wondered how he could have been so stupid. Had his mother's behaviour not taught him how selfish and cruel women could be?

"She lied to everyone, Matt," Dante said sympathetically. "You weren't the only one to believe there was still a part of her that could be loving and true. Josh still hasn't recovered, not properly."

"I understand that, and thanks for the truth. I'm glad I came to you rather than bringing this up with Josh. No wonder he still doesn't like to talk about her," he said before covering his own feelings by picking up his beer and taking a long sip. Love was for suckers. He'd never met a woman he could trust fully. The depth of Nik's betrayal made him realise that finding a love match was something he couldn't do, even to appease his fathers. Luckily, he'd come up with another plan to ensure his future, he'd just needed proper closure where Nik was concerned first. He had that now, and he felt that finally having all of the pieces to that puzzle he could move on.

"So, you're meeting Josh for dinner tonight?" Dante changed the topic now that Matteo had seemed to have run out of questions. "Mind if I tag along?"

"I won't bring her up at all," Matteo said. "You needn't worry."

"It's not that," Dante said seriously. "Peri has invited Louisa and Lucia over tonight, so I'll be at a bit of a loose end, plus this way I can make Josh drive home and have another beer or two with you," he grinned. "It really has been far too long since you made it up here to visit us for a change. The trips down to Melbourne are always so rushed we never have a chance to catch up and have some fun."

"Well, you did request my expert advice on one of your construction projects," Mateo said thoughtfully. "I just finished a big project of my own, so I had some free time to consult and catch up with you. I'd wanted some answers about Nik for a while now, and I knew you were probably the only one who would tell me the truth. I'm sorry to put you through that again," he said genuinely.

"Yeah, well, it comes at a price, buy me another beer and I'll tell you about this project and all the family events you will be expected at while you're in town," he chuckled as Matteo's face fell and he swore under his breath. "Don't panic, Pete is still clinging to bachelorhood like the last man in a lifeboat." He laughed out loud, slapping his friend on the back.

*****

Cat stepped out of the plane and sighed. 'Of course, it would be raining,' she thought, and pulled her shoulders up with the collar of her new leather jacket as she ducked her head and trudged down the stairs to the tarmac and the short walk into the terminal. She stood at the baggage carousel and pulled her bag from the conveyor belt, praying the cheap, squeaky wheeled old suitcase would hold together just a little while longer until she could get herself settled in this town. She picked up her duffel bag and went out into the rain to find how to catch the air train into the city. She couldn't afford to waste any of her savings on a taxi, no matter how inviting and dry they looked.

She'd spent all of her settlement, plus a little more, on the two townhouses. Vanessa had bought all of the paintings she had done for her, and she had her savings, but she wasn't sure if she would be able to find work, and she needed to make those savings stretch as far as she could. She looked longingly at the taxi rank where the black and white cars shone wetly underneath fluorescent lights and made her way toward the ramp to the station to catch the air train, when she turned back toward the rows of taxies. A man in a dark suit held a card with her name on it, and she frowned. Seriously, how many other Catriona Leone's are there likely to be in the world. Curiosity got the better of her, and she approached the man with a smile.

"Hi, I know it's probably just a coincidence, but you're not waiting for me, are you?" she asked sticking out her hand in greeting. "I'm a Cat Leone. Catriona! I mean, I'm Catriona Leone. I'm just not sure I'm the Catriona Leone you're waiting for."

"Are you here to meet with Mrs. Battaglia and Mrs. Donati tomorrow?" he asked politely as he took in her wet, bedraggled appearance.

"I am, but she didn't say anything about having a car waiting for me at the airport," Cat said, reaching for her phone and turning it on to check her messages. Lucia was lovely and had offered accommodation for the time she would be in town to discuss the commission she was offering. The telephone calls they had were the reason Cat had finally gathered the courage to pack up her belongings and leave her brother and Melbourne. It would be safer this way; she had put both David and Mick in enough danger already. When Ned got out of jail he would probably torment her life again. That wouldn't be for quite a few years yet though, she hoped.

The message that must have come after she had turned off her phone for the flight sat waiting for her. She read it quickly before looking up at the man with a lop-sided smile. "I guess you are here for me."

She handed over her luggage and allowed him to put the single bag that held all her belongings that hadn't been destroyed by Ned, and the ones bought to replace some that had been, into the boot of the car. Then she pulled open the rear door thinking that she may as well milk it for what she could. As the car pulled away, she imagined she was one of those women who lived the life of the Vitali family, a woman, more importantly, that they would approve of including attending the charity functions for pitiful cases like she was in reality.

The car pulled up outside a trendy apartment building in the Southbank area. Lucia had told her that this apartment was across the road from the gallery of modern art, as well as the museum and state art gallery. Cat couldn't wait to explore them all. While her meeting with the overly generous Lucia and Mrs. Donati shouldn't take long, she had offered Cat the use of the apartment for a week, and had encouraged her to see the sights on her first visit to Brisbane.

"Here are the keys to the apartment. You should find everything you need there. I will pick you up for your meeting with Mrs. Donati at ten tomorrow," the driver said stiffly.

"Roger that," she said with a grin in the face of his stiff formality, and saw his eyes crinkle at the corners, even though he didn't smile back. Feeling better for not having to try and find this place using public transport in a town she had never been to before, Cat took the handle of her luggage from the driver. She hoped she got the job Mrs. Donati wanted to talk to her about. Family portraits weren't normally her thing, but a job was a job, and if she did well who knew what else she might pick up along the way. She watched as the car pulled away and turned to walk into the building.

She swore under her breath and looked after the car. The keys didn't have the apartment number on them, and she frowned, stepping inside the foyer out of the light rain. She went through her phone and couldn't find the details in a text message or email, so she dug into the duffle she had used as carry-on luggage and came up with her diary, which she flicked through until she found the notes she made during the telephone conversation and found the room number.

Shoving the book back into the bag, she stood up quickly and made her way to the lift, brushing the hair back from her face. She was wet and cold and just needed to find a place where she could stop and take stock of what a momentous day this had been in finally doing something for herself after years of looking after everyone else.

Reaching the door, she fumbled with the key card, but finally pushed the door open, letting it sail free on its hinges as she reached down to gather her luggage again.

"Why is your face blue?" a very male voice asked a moment after the door flew open, making Cat stop in her tracks.

Cat blinked at the half-naked man sitting on the couch and did a double take. She hadn't known what to expect exactly, but a half-naked man sitting with an iPad tablet in his hands wasn't it. She had assumed the apartment would be empty, completely empty.

"What are you doing here?" she stuttered.

"I should ask you the same question," he said in a low, menacing tone.

"Mrs. Donati offered me the use of the apartment during my time here in Brisbane. I was expected," she held up the keycard she had just used to open the door in front of her like a small shield.

"Well, obviously you can't stay here, you'll have to find a hotel or something," he dismissed her. "Surely you know someone else in this town."

"I'm not leaving! You're the one who is not supposed to be here," Cat stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. He looked her up and down, amused by the spitfire attitude as she rummaged through her bag and came up with her diary. "Besides, I can't afford a hotel in this part of town," she admitted. "It's late, it's cold, and it's raining, and if you think that I would willingly leave and try to find another place to stay you can think again, Mister..." she let the question hang so as to find out who he was.

"Why is your face blue?" He repeated the question he asked earlier.

"What?" she asked in frustration, then let out a groan as she saw the deep blue paint streaking the back of her hand and realised she must have rubbed her face. Cat began dumping out the contents of the duffel, putting paint affected items into a plastic bag before reloading the duffel and standing to look at the man who looked so comfortable in this apartment that she knew she would probably have to be the one to leave.

"Perhaps you'd like to use the bathroom. It's back there, on the left," Matteo jerked his head in the general direction seeing her predicament. The last thing he needed right now was a damsel in distress, he had other things to consider. More important, and on a much grander scale than why she was here and claiming the apartment Dante had assured him was his for his time in Queensland.

"Thank you," Cat stood, being careful not to touch anything, and made her way to the bathroom. "By the way, I'm not leaving," she said as if it was the truth. The apartment was small, compact, if she considered the dimensions. Behind the couch where the shirtless man sat was a small glass table with bright green chairs, which gave it a much-needed pop of colour, and beyond that a tiny kitchen area.

This apartment, she realised would have been perfect for her to start her new life, whether she got the job Peri Donati was offering or if she had to move on. She made her way into the beautiful gilt and marble tiled bathroom, tapping the door closed with her foot, essentially shutting out the half-naked man with his dark good looks and broad shoulders from her sight.

Cat gasped when she caught sight of her reflection. She looked much worse than she had thought, and she had just been in a room with one of the most attractive men she had ever seen. He reminded her in some ways of Ricco, but this man seemed darker, broader across the shoulders, and had strong facial features that made her think of ruggedness over beauty. She sighed. Well, fate was still having a laugh at her expense, she sighed as she took in the drowned rat with a blue streak of paint in wonky horizontal lines across her face. If they hadn't been so wonky, she could have passed them off as tribal paint.

Added to the scary tribal paint was her long rain soaked fringe that was plastered to her forehead in strange spikes. Her long hair fell in dull, damp strands from a messy ponytail that more than just the usual wisps of hair had escaped from to hang over the shoulders of her leather jacket. She was a mess. Not just any mess, but a scary mess, what must Mr. tall dark and handsome have thought of her. No wonder he immediately asked her to leave. Not wanting to get anything dirty, she used her elbows to turn on the faucet. She scrubbed until most of the paint was off her hands before adding a little hot water to the stream, making the removal of the paint far more efficient.