The Twelve Vitali Ch. 35

"Yes," Sonya admitted without further argument. She turned to the rest of the table who were listening quietly to Matteo's words, just as she had been, and then turned back to him. "But you don't understand, she wants to change everything, and we do so much for people who would suffer without our patronage."

"Does she really, or did she just want to expand on what you already do?" Matteo asked. "You didn't even give her a chance to explain her thoughts on what she could bring to the table and what she wanted to do," he said sadly. "She gave you several chances to back down and join the conversation, more than I would have given Frankie or Salvatore if they tried to take over for me without even letting me speak. Even now they probably don't agree with how I am handling this situation, but they are giving me a chance, and I will give them the chance to have their say when I'm done, now that everyone is calm and in control of their emotions. Are you ready for that?"

"No. You can't see what she's doing, she will destroy everything I have worked towards," there was a hint of accusation in Sonya's voice. "You would side with her, regardless of what I said, so it doesn't matter now anyway," she said bitterly, but straightened her posture and turned in her seat to face the judgement of the men gathered there, glad it was not the whole table she would be humiliated in front of.

"There are no sides here," Paolo said stiffly. He rarely wasted his breath on arguing, but both Kari and Ruth had come to see him about Sonya's demands in the last two weeks. "There are the laws and traditions that bind our family to the other tables; and you have shown disregard for all of them, including our own. It's that simple. I will bow to your husband's decision here, but only because I believe his punishment will be far worse than any Matteo or Ricco would insist upon." Paolo rose from the table. "For now, I am going to plan a reward for my daughter-in-law and wife who made me very proud today."

One by one the other men spoke similarly and left the room until only Ricco and Matteo were left with Sonya and her husband and son.

"You will be going to your family in Canberra. I will send Marcus the transcript of the women's Circle meeting, along with this one, as well as my recommendations. You can plead your case to Marcus and Marina; both know Catriona well, probably better than most of the members of this table. I will let them judge you for breaking the laws of the tables. Respect for the mother, above all else, Sonya," Salvatore said in a cold voice. "I imagine the punishment for breaking that law will be harsh."

*****

"I feel like I have been eating all day," Cat said as she entered the kitchen after the last of the women had gone. "Do you think I could have something small and light for dinner rather than what you are planning for the men?" she asked.

"They called and told me not to cook tonight," Lisa said softly. "Would you like me to prepare you something anyway?"

"No, please, have the evening off, you deserve it!" Cat said enthusiastically. "You were amazing today with all the meetings and food! I'm going to shower and get into something comfy, I made them both promise we could stay home tonight," Cat grinned and slipped her shoes off with a happy sigh. Picking them up, she padded back into the living room on her way to the bedroom.

"Hard day?" Ricco asked.

"No, just long and tiring," she said, turning to look at him as Matteo followed him into the room. "Oh my God, seriously? You bought me junk food!"

"Told you," Ricco grinned. "I know the way to our girl's heart."

"I really wasn't hungry, but now I'm ravenous, gimme, gimme!" Cat laughed and held out her hand toward the thick shake Matteo held in a cardboard cup holder.

The trio sat on the floor in the living room using the coffee table as a picnic table and relaxed as they ate. Cat considered the men she loved. Something was amiss, not to mention the fact that Matteo hated junk food and never encouraged her to eat it. It was her secret indulgence with Ricco or Lucca on occasion, and the longer the meal went on, the more nervous she got.

"Can one of you just tell me what's going on before I start thinking the worst?" she finally said.

"We watched the meeting you had this afternoon, well, some of it anyway," Matteo admitted.

"I would have told you what happened after dinner anyway," Cat said. "I don't think Sonya is going to be very happy tonight. I half expect you will get a call from Uncle Sal," she said. "If you watched, then you'll know why I did what I did and that I tried to avoid it coming down to that."

"Sal saw it too," Ricco explained. "Not the whole table, but the older members and the men you invited to your little opening speech about Theresa. You know it's quite different reading the report to hearing your account. Not the content so much, but the emotion of the moment."

"I see. Well, I did try to make it work, and I'm sorry if I did the wrong thing, but I had to draw a line in the sand at that first meeting or there would have always been a power struggle. This way we get a lot more accomplished, and we can do it democratically," she explained.

"You're not mad that we spied on your meeting?" Matteo asked, astonished by her easy acceptance of the fact.

"Why would I care? I'd tell you what happened anyway, we do plan to spend a lot of money next year on creating a foundation. I'm guessing you or Zee, or someone, would have to approve what we decided on anyway. I'm sure you have much better things to do than to watch my meetings every time we have them, but I get it today. You were worried about me because I was nervous, and I haven't always handled my nerves very well," she gave him a lop-sided smile. "So, what did you think?"

Matteo was left speechless. He had expected that she would be mad that they had invaded her privacy by spying on her, or not trusted her to handle whatever happened in the meeting on her own. He found he hadn't been prepared at all for her easy acceptance and the question she posed.

"I think what you told them about Theresa needed to be said and heard, not just by the women, but by the men who were watching," Ricco said into the silence. "I don't think she was ever given enough credit for the shit we put her through growing up and still loving Maria's children like a mother should, like her own."

"She really does love you," Cat smiled. "I'd say I was jealous, but she and I have a pretty tight bond since the wedding ourselves. I wish I had that growing up, but it is wonderful to have her in my life now. I've been considering going to therapy to properly deal with my mother before this one comes along. I've been having bad dreams, and I think I might need some unbiased help," she admitted.

"You've been having bad dreams?" Ricco asked.

"Not nightmares, just unpleasant things that I don't really want to talk to about or remember much about, except the feelings they gave me," she explained.

"Whatever you need," Matteo took her hand. "I'll talk to Paolo; he'll know someone who understands our family dynamics."

"Heh," Ricco gave a short, derisive laugh, making them both look at him. "I can't believe you gave Sonya a history lesson today," he chuckled his explanation. "I think that shocked everyone who watched with us."

"Sonya didn't think it was very relevant," Cat said sadly.

"Which is why Sal is sending her back to school, with the Battaglia, for a little while," Ricco said.

"No!" Cat exclaimed. "Now she really will hate me, and cause problems when she comes back," Cat sagged as if deflated.

"I highly doubt that," Matteo chuckled. "When you live in a world of privilege it's easy to forget that not everyone has the same opportunities in life. She will, no doubt, get more than a gentle reminder of what it means to be charitable in real actions, not sipping champagne at charity events. She won't be given a trial like yours, Kitten." Matteo reached out and pulled her to him, kissing her forehead. "I don't think she would succeed if she were."

"You were amazing today, not only how you dealt with Sonya, but how you inspired the other ladies. I don't think any of us has ever heard Kari speak out before. I have no doubt she is being spoilt tonight by her husband and father-in-law for speaking out the way she did in your defence," Ricco acknowledged. "What happens to Sonya has nothing to do with you; you didn't know we were watching."

"I suppose," Cat said, unconvinced and wondering if the other women would blame her or believe she hadn't asked Mateo and Ricco to intervene on her behalf because she couldn't do it on her own.

"I know I shouldn't go to bed with such a full tummy, but I am exhausted, it's been a long day," Cat said, getting to her feet and beginning to clean up the debris of the dinner.

"We'll help," Ricco said quickly, tossing a lascivious look at his brother. He got to his feet and helped with the clean up, following Cat into the kitchen and searching the fridge for a sweet treat while he was there.

"You really should try to eat better," Matteo grumbled at him as he followed them and saw Ricco pawing through the refrigerator.

"I can't help it if I have a high metabolism that craves sugar and fat," Ricco chuckled.

"Don't look at me," Cat said, squashing the last of the wrappers from the burgers into the bin, "I'm pregnant, I can't help my cravings," she grinned.

"I give up," Matteo groaned. "Let's go to bed." Matteo followed Cat into the bedroom and, grabbing her, pulled her back against his body with one arm wrapped around her waist. His hand went to fist her hair and turn her head so he could kiss her. It was an uncharacteristically aggressive move by him, and Cat stiffened in his hold before melting into his kiss and squirmed her ass back against his cock, which she found to be hard already.

Ricco pressed up against her front and lowered his lips to her exposed neck, his hands moving around her to slowly draw the zip of her dress down, his hand sliding between her body and that of Matteo. He continued to kiss her neck and shoulders as he pushed the dress down to her hips exposing a corset, to his surprise. Her breasts barely covered and bulging from the top edge. He scooped his hands below the edge of it, drawing them out to sit up on the edge, her nipples pointing out and hard with her arousal. It held them perfectly for him as his mouth descended to lick and bite the twin peaks.

Cat purred loudly into the kiss and felt Matteo's hand move to push her dress the rest of the way over her hips to drop to the floor, capturing her ankles and shoes in its deep red material. She gasped as she felt his fingers tug aside the flimsy satin of her thong and caress the folds of her pussy. She gasped as he found her clit and rubbed hard, then lifted the leg on the other side up to his hand to wrap around Ricco's hips, effectively sandwiching herself between the two hot hard bodies.

"Fuck!" Matteo groaned in awe of how wet and willing she always was for them, no matter what they demanded of her. He stepped back, his eyes taking in the corset, garters and stockings above the very high heels. She was his every fantasy, and watching her arch in Ricco's arms only made him hotter for her. He wanted her chained to the ceiling of the playroom dressed just the way she was. He quickly pulled off his shirt and kicked off his pants, then he approached them again, resuming the position he had and fisting her hair to pull her back against him and away from Ricco.

"Playroom!" he murmured hotly, and turned Cat, moving her before him, keeping his hard cock pressed against the small of her back.

Ricco followed him, divesting himself of his clothes as he walked, pleased that Matteo seemed to be unusually aggressive tonight. Each of them had been undergoing transformations since the events surrounding the shootout at the airport, and he was interested to see how far Matteo would go this time. He sat back and watched as Matteo wrapped soft leather cuffs around her wrists and connected them to the ceiling chains, tightening the tension until her body stretched and she danced on the high heels she wore. She was beautiful, by any man's standards, and while he was partial to the rope, he couldn't deny how sexy she looked.

"Spreader!" Matteo said in a husky voice, and Ricco happily went to gather the equipment he asked for.

"It's your show, brother!" Ricco said heatedly, handing him the spreader bar. Then he kissed Cat, fondling her breasts as Matteo positioned the spreader and secured it to her ankles before lowering the chain just enough to take some of the weight from her arms. "These are so tender, it's hard not to enjoy playing with them," he murmured as she whimpered into his kiss.

"Let me tell you about Cat's day today," Matteo said, handing Ricco a soft flogger as he held a leather stinger. "She was magnificent as she wove her spells on our poor unsuspecting family," he flicked his wrist, and the stinger met her ass, leaving a red welt in its wake and a cry in the air, making him smile.

Cat and Ricco both listened as he recounted her first meeting of the day with Bradbury and Hugh, questioning them on the backgrounds and motivation for remaining with her after the drama of the shootings. Then her meeting with Sebastian and Zion, where all the work had already been done for her, and she delegated the responsibility of the daily report to Arturo. He would then keep her informed of any event she needed to plan for. His version was very factual, but Cat could feel the stinger land at relevant moments where she had asserted herself and her position.

"All this before lunch," the stinger landed again on her ass as both Ricco and Matteo circled her, making strokes of both the soft flogger and the stinger as they went. "I got both reports as I came up to meet her for lunch. Did you hear what she did at lunch?" Matteo asked, his voice low and heated.

"She suggested that Aria take over Vanessa's company and do the interiors of the house on the hill?" Ricco asked.

"There was no suggestion," Matteo gave a derisive laugh. "She knows the men of this family are powerless to say no to her, and I am starting to think that she is beginning to understand the power of being the Mother." He flicked his wrist in rapid succession, marking the pale flesh above her nipples with two bright welts.

Cat was confused, this is what they had been asking her to do all along, embrace the position and power that came with it. She had, today, in many ways, she had gone to each meeting confident in what she wanted and how to go about getting it. She had hoped not to have to ask Sonya to leave, and was ecstatic that Angela had not backed Sonya up in anything she was saying and didn't have to remove her as well.

"I've had a freaking hard-on since midday watching her strut around in that dress and heels on a power trip!" Matteo growled. "Be thankful you were spared having to attend the meeting, or we could have been in this room much sooner than this! She was so fucking hot, but..." the stinger landed again over her hip. "Perhaps we need to revisit the rules of telling us what's going on. A hypothetical conversation is not the same as seeing how we felt about it or giving us warning of what you planned."

Cat gasped, she understood finally why he was a little more aggressive than usual. They were both dominant men, and she loved them like that in here, and she knew she had to be more respectful of the alpha male culture of this family out in the real world. It was a balancing act, and one she would have to get used to. However, if this was her punishment she wasn't so sure she wanted to. She could feel the heat and pain of the welts, along with the pleasure of their caresses and touches and softer strokes of the flogger as the two men circled her. Her breath was coming in short pants now, and she whimpered softly as they continued to tease and torment her overwrought body.

"So, fucking hot!" Matteo growled and pressed up against her, kissing her, leaving Ricco to meld against her back and kiss her neck as he finally lowered the chain holding her arms. Seeing her dressed like she was, knowing this was what she wore underneath the tailored dress, had just about undone him when he saw her on her power trip. The meek and mild girl went, and the confident woman expecting people to do what she suggested was magnificent, and all he wanted to do was dominate her like he had always fought to dominate Nik so long ago.

The softer unsure Cat, the strong but submissive girl from the Grove he wanted to love and care for and protect from the world. But the confident, sexy, powerful woman she had been today, especially with Sonya and the other women, fed his libido like nothing else and reminded him of the feisty, confident girl he had first met in Brisbane. He hadn't ever admitted, even to himself until today, that his attraction to Nik lay the victory of dominating her. It had been heady to win those battles of will, and today, as he had watched his wife, all he had wanted to do was take her and fuck her hard, reminding her who she belonged to and who she promised to love, honour and obey. He loved her beyond reason, and she was his for all time.

The two men released her from her bonds and carried her to the fucking chair in the corner, an item of furniture they hadn't used before. Ricco sat on the edge, his feet against the front poles to anchor himself. Matteo tossed him the lube, and he nodded his understanding. Matteo then slid Cat down his body and offered her his cock, pushing it into her mouth as soon as she parted her lips.

Ricco raised her hips up and back by cupping her pussy and stroked her as two lubed fingers of his other hand began preparing her ass for him. She was so hot, his fingers working her pussy and ass as she sucked Matteo. She cried out her first climax around his cock, making him groan deeply and pulled from her mouth, leaving long strands of spittle between her mouth and cock as he looked down at her in needful lust.

With his hands wrapping around her slim waist, Matteo picked her up and held her over Ricco's cock as his brother fisted it toward the glistening dark star of her ass. He watched in wrapped fascination as the intense mix of painful pleasure washed over her features until she held him entirely. He held her for balance as Ricco stroked in an out, groaning deeply before he lay her back on his body, her back to his chest, and stepped forward to take her.

"Look at me!" he growled, and when she opened her eyes and focused on him, he drove into her hard and deep, the pure pleasure of the moment radiating deep within him as he began to fuck her. He held her waist, lifting her partially with each thrust so she fucked both of them in the strange fucking chair. The pleasure fuelled moans, groans, and whimpers filled the large room until Cat came again, crying out, her body shuddering with the force of it and her muscles clamping around the two intruders in her body. "Look at me!" Matteo commanded again as her eyes began to shut again, and obediently they flickered open but remained unfocused as she floated on a high so big she barely remained conscious.

Matteo dropped his hand to tease her clit and keep her orgasm from fading as he and Ricco raced toward their own climax. Ricco groaned and bucked below them as he came first, and finally unable to stand the pulsing pressure of his brother's cock against his, Matteo gave up the fight to hold his climax back and came with a loud roar into the room.

It took long minutes for anyone to move, and the brothers slowly regained their feet, with Mateo carrying Cat back to the bedroom to undress her properly and care for her marked body.

"Want to tell me what that was about?" Ricco murmured sleepily as they climbed into bed beside the woman they loved. "I hope it's not a onetime only appearance of Alpha Matt," he chuckled.