The Twelve Vitali Ch. 15

"Wouldn't it be better to test her limitations yourself, training her to your own way of doing things?" Ricco asked, accepting that submission was something she wanted and needed in her sex life.

"That is not my choice, but I do have influence over it. The thirteen forced the issue of Cat being sent to the Battaglia. After what happened to Nik and Peri there, it was thought best to disguise her identity and have her go through with a group of recruits under an assumed name. As far as I know, only Bruno and Marcus know of her real identity. Marcus told me that for her to have the etiquette, elocution and social class profile they desire she must be on the Kept track. So I asked for a female trainer. That phone call this morning was her trying to negotiate that decision with me," he admitted.

"So, you're fine with a Domme fucking the woman you love with a strap-on, but you'll leave the family rather than let your brother into your relationship, even on a superficial level?" Ricco said, his tone holding an angry edge.

"I never said that. What I said was that I would leave rather than see you marry Cat. I will be her husband; I won't fade into the background at public events like Dante Donati does. He says he's happy though, and claims he wouldn't have it any other way, but I have tried to imagine it, and I can't. I want to marry that woman, and I will jump through as many hoops as needed to make that happen, but I won't let you or anyone else marry her instead, regardless of the reasons," he said with conviction.

"Okay, so let's say it's a perfect world and you get the chair and I am named Oracle," Ricco said slowly. "Would you allow me to pursue an intimate relationship, not just with Cat, but with you, a true triad leading our family into the future?"

"I think that's a question for when we get home. This place looks like it's getting crowded," Matteo indicated the hovering waiters. They'd arrived early and been lingering over the food as they had their in-depth conversation.

"Give you time to formulate an honest answer, you mean," Ricco said, throwing some notes on the table to cover the bill and getting to his feet, grateful that Knox waited for them outside.

"If it helps, Cat knows about the triad and said if it were you she would accept it," Mateo smirked.

"It helps, but at this point in time that means nothing unless you can accept it," Ricco said quietly. "Jacobi said all the right things, but when it came down to it he kept putting off allowing me any time to get to know Maryanne properly on my own terms, and she never seemed interested in knowing me on a deeper level. I was just supposed to live like a monk and be grateful. I won't do that again."

Matteo nodded his understanding and followed Ricco from the restaurant, considering all that had been said. If Ricco had been more honest with Cat about what he wanted, and she'd been more honest with him about her needs, they may have stayed together and he would never have met her. His brother was a good man, and he deserved a real relationship, and the fact that he wanted that, not only with Cat but with him as well, made the impossibility of the situation seem less so.

*****