The Twelve Vitali Ch. 24

Authors note: Hello everyone. Thank to everyone who takes the time to vote and comment, as always I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the people who read this series. Thank you once again to Paul who continues to be my second set of eyes. ~ellie.

*****

"I'm going to be late if you don't let go of me," Cat laughed. Matteo held Cat tightly against him and kissed her deeply, not wanting to let her go. He had stayed with her until she slept last night and had not left her side for more than a few minutes this morning as she packed her overnight bag and prepared to spend the night with Lucia at the small house she had taken over for her wedding preparations.

"I don't want to," he grumbled. "Why can't you just stay here tonight?" It wasn't just the guilt and awkwardness he still felt from the evening before that made him not want to let her go. He had a bad feeling. Like Phil's sixth sense or Dante's gut feeling, he just felt that something big was looming over them, even though he couldn't place exactly what that was.

"It's bad luck to see the bride the night before the wedding. Besides, you're the one who wanted all the traditions. It's too late now to complain and want a more modern wedding," she laughed again.

"Then stay at Papa's tonight, they have the room, and they would love to have you and Lucia both there. Theresa, especially, would love to have you there for all those last-minute things," he suggested.

"Theresa has me on speed dial, plus she has to be here for the gathering events. All your friends will be here soon, you have to let me go," she kissed him and wriggled against his hold on her again.

"Let her go, Matt," Ricco chuckled as he walked into the room. "Nathanael is here early."

"Someone finally talking some sense," Cat shook her head as Matteo's grip on her loosened.

"He's only saying that so he can kiss you goodbye," Matteo grumbled.

"Is that a problem?" Ricco asked, raising an eyebrow. He felt just as unsettled after last night as Matteo did. He'd fucked up, and for a second time he had believed she was leaving him.

"Here, keep my place warm while I say hello to Nathanael," Matteo finally let her go, passing her to Ricco.

"This is ridiculous, you realise," Cat sighed. "Let me go and say hello to Matt's friend before I leave. You can hold my bag hostage if you like for a few minutes, but I have to leave soon or I will be late to meet Lucia." She wriggled out of his arms and picked up her bag, smiling as he took it from her and followed Matteo to the living room.

"Hello," Cat said, greeting the man who stood talking with Matteo.

"Hello," Nathanael turned toward her. "I've heard so much about you, but I doubt he has even mentioned me, despite our long friendship."

"I'm just going to assume he said good things about me, so don't disillusion me if he hasn't," Cat grinned. "I won't disillusion you either if you want to believe he talks about you all the time!"

"Deal!" Nathanael grinned, liking the woman immediately. "I expect you need to be somewhere, so I can babysit him now and make sure he gets to the church on time."

"Oh, would you?" Cat enthused. "I do so worry about him when he's left to his own devices."

"I'm standing right here," Matteo groaned.

"We know, my love, but you and Ricco do tend to get into too much mischief when you're on your own, so it will be nice to have someone responsible here to keep you out of trouble, especially when Dante arrives," she said patronisingly, and included Ricco in her statement.

"You don't have to worry, Catriona. I'll keep an eye on them both," Nathanael reassured her. "And if I don't, Phil will when he arrives."

"Now I really have to go, so give me my bag," she held her hand out to Ricco.

"Knox is coming up to get it," Ricco said. "It's heavier than it looks."

"Good grief, if you have to. But I thought we decided that Hugh would drive me so Knox could be here in case you needed him?" she looked between Matteo and Ricco.

"Changed my mind, I'll feel better knowing Knox is with you," Matteo said with a shrug. "I need to know someone will make sure you get to the church on time. There's nothing that could stop me from being there tomorrow, and I would like to know you won't be late."

"I won't be late, we're doing this whether you like it or now," she laughed as Knox walked in and took her bag from Ricco. "Don't have too much fun, I don't want to be bailing you out of jail or having to get you back from Timbuktu because your friends thought it would be fun to send you on a little trip," she turned to Ricco and Nathanael. "No shaving his eyebrows or any other body parts, no permanent markers or any of that other stuff, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Nathanael said seriously.

"Thank you," Cat smiled. "Despite what you think, he did tell me about you, and I am glad you're here early to keep an eye on him for me, Nathanael. Don't let Dante or..." Cat paused to think, "Or Massimo, I think, convince him to do anything too dumb."

"He did tell you about us," Nathanael laughed.

Cat kissed the men goodbye and left with Knox to meet Lucia at the hotel where she and Dante had booked rooms. They had planned a relaxed lunch and a trip to the spa before heading over to the small house for the night, where her wedding dress waited. She walked into the hotel and, far from being late, she was early. She checked at reception to find that Lucia Battaglia had just checked-in and had left a message that she would meet Cat in the bar once she had been to see her room.

Cat ordered a coke, not wanting to end up drinking too much during the afternoon and evening, then find herself feeling awful on the morning of her wedding when she needed to look and feel her best. When Lucia arrived, they went into the restaurant and Cat left her to order a bottle of wine while she went to the bathroom. Cat was standing at the sink and washing her hands when the woman beside her struck up a conversation.

"You're Catriona Leonne, aren't you?" the woman asked.

"Do I know you?" Cat asked, looking at the woman. She was tall and extraordinarily beautiful, like a supermodel, and she held an air of superiority about her.

"No, though I'm sure you have probably heard my name mentioned. I'm one of Matteo's ... old friends. I'm here for the wedding," she said lightly. "Veronica Maris," she held out her hand in greeting.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Cat tilted her head, not being able to place the name. "It's quite disconcerting to have so many strangers know who I am and not have a clue whether I've met them before or if they are part of the Vitali family," Cat admitted.

"I hate to be rude, and I know this is the last place I should be asking this," she indicated the surrounding bathroom. "Would you mind if we got a selfie? I'm sure you'll be surrounded by so many people tomorrow, it just won't be possible."

"Seriously? Why? You don't even know me?" Cat shook her head.

"Trust me, everyone in the family knows the woman who managed to catch Matteo and make him settle down," Veronica laughed. "My friends would love to know I met you in person. Honestly, you'd be doing me a huge favour, they will be so jealous!" she wheedled. "We never thought he would get past the loss of his great love, Nik Donati. They were the perfect couple."

"That's not the impression I got about their relationship," Cat said, feeling strangely defensive about her love for Matteo.

"When she died he threw himself into work and wouldn't socialise and have fun anymore, we barely saw him. He was a mess, trust me. It's nice he found someone who doesn't mind him still pining after his first love," Veronica smiled. "You must be a very special woman to get him to the church, and I'd so love a picture with you. Please?" she asked again.

"I'm having lunch with Lucia Donati. Why don't you come out to the table and she can take the picture for you?" Cat asked, feeling like something was very wrong with what this woman was saying about Matteo and Nik.

"Selfies are always so much more intimate," Veronica said. "It will only take a moment."

"Sure, I'll take one too," Cat said, thinking she would be asking Matteo about this woman and what she said regarding Nik. "It will help me remember who I've met this weekend at the wedding. Matteo's family is just so big!" She took her phone out of her purse.

"That's not necessary, I can text it to you," she said.

"Great, and I'll text mine to you!" Cat said enthusiastically. "Then I'll have your phone number as well." She stood close to Veronica and snapped a pic before the woman could argue more.

Veronica was livid that his stupid woman wasn't doing what she asked, but she stood and took several pictures with Cat. This wasn't how this well-orchestrated 'accidental' meeting was supposed to go. She farewelled Cat, refusing to come to their table to meet Lucia, who would recognise her immediately, and hoped that Cat didn't show the photo too soon. She needed time to escape; this had not gone to plan at all.

Cat watched the woman practically run from the bathroom and the restaurant. She watched her until she lost sight of her leaving the building and entering the busy street outside, then she went back to see Lucia and ask advice as to what to do, because she knew something didn't sit right about the whole conversation.

"Do you know this woman?" Cat held out her phone to Lucia as she came back to the table and took her seat.

"Fuck!" Lucia exploded after staring at it for a few moments. "Come on, we have to go! Do you have a driver?"

"Yes, but..." Cat began, confused by what was happening.

"Get him here now, we have to go! We have to go now!" Lucia said, dragging Cat from the restaurant as she called Knox to pick them up.

Dino ran from the building to the sidewalk where they waited for the car and bundled them inside as soon as Knox pulled up, demanding Cat's phone from her and studying the picture in minute detail.

"What's going on?" Cat whispered, panic rising in her chest as she looked at Lucia and her husband.

"You just had a conversation with a dead woman!" Lucia said as if in shock.

"She was very much alive, I assure you!" Cat said.

"That's the problem right there," Lucia nodded. "We buried Veronica Maris Donati, Nik, my sister, two years ago!"

Cat paled and blinked at Lucia, unbelievingly at a total loss for words. When they pulled up at the HQ building, Dino instructed Knox to take the girls to the safe house where they had planned to stay the night and not leave them, he would have extra security meet Knox there. Then he disappeared into the building, leaving Lucia to explain further to Cat and make her realise the danger the woman she had met posed.

*****

Dino was escorted up to the penthouse by what he assumed was the Vitali's version of a watchman. Rather than a blue suit, he wore a black suit and shirt with a scarlet red tie. He walked in looking like thunder, holding his phone with the pictures he had forwarded from Cat's phone. He locked eyes with Dante and nodded and followed him into an office space, closing the door.

"This woman, claiming her name was Veronica Maris, just took selfies with Cat in the bathroom of the restaurant where she was meeting Lucy," Dino said, keeping his voice low and looking at his brother-in-law intently.

"It's not possible!" Dante gasped.

"We both know it's impossible. The question is, how?" Dino murmured.

"Where is Cat now?" Dante demanded, trying to think.

"I sent her and Lucy to the safe house with Knox and the watchmen who travelled with us as security."

"Stay here," Dante said, and left the room, walking back into the living room where the friends had gathered. "Rick," Dante said, trying to keep his anger and anxiety from his voice. "Can I see you a minute? Yes, you can come too, Phil," he grumbled as Phil eyed him and began to walk in that direction. "I'll explain in a minute, Nathanael," he shook his head as the other man began to get up from where he was sitting too.

"Where's Nik?" Dante demanded of Rick as soon as they walked into the office and shut the door.

"You know where she is," Rick shrugged, eyeing Dino suspiciously.

"Then explain how this was taken less than half an ago here in Melbourne?" Dino held out his phone with the picture of Veronica and Cat showing on the screen.

"It's got to be a look alike; I swear there are no breaches in our systems. I can confirm it, if you want, but that's not who you think it is, it's just a very good copy," Rick said.

"It does seem a bit convenient to have her show up on the eve of the wedding," Phil said as if working his way through the crisis. "What if having Rick confirm Nik's whereabouts is what whoever set this up wants? They didn't get what they wanted through the data mining attack, so having Rick, here, panic and sound alarms that would have his family moving and making calls and exposing the hidden facility to get confirmation may be playing straight into their hands." The three men looked at Phil and back at each other.

"If she wanted to hurt or kidnap Cat she had every opportunity," Dino said, considering the idea. "No one would have known until Lucia went to find her. Whoever is behind this wanted us to panic and hit the alarm buttons in every family. They probably have all the Papillo phone lines into various facilities hacked."

"I have a secure line to Leyton, I can confirm without compromising anything or anyone," Rick said, and texted his brother a code to contact him on a secure phone.

"Someone better fucking tell me what the hell is going on here!" Matteo exploded through the door of the office, holding up his phone showing a similar photo to the one they had been looking at that had been sent to him anonymously.

"Tell me you haven't hit the panic alarm yet!" Phil asked urgently, and, when Matteo nodded, he began to explain his theory about what was going on and why.

"Of all the people in that facility, Nik is the worst and would cause the most panic," Rick confirmed as he hung up from his brother. "Leyton is doing a full sweep of all of their tech, including phones again, and will confirm no breaches of the hidden facility. He'll call us back as soon as he finds anything, but nothing is amiss. I agree with Phil, my first instinct was to push the panic button which would have had our watchmen all racing for the Ghost Town. It wouldn't have been hard to track the men themselves, even if the phone lines are clean. Even if Cat hadn't told us first, that text you just got proves they want you to panic and sound the alarms. The Papillo have been doing this for generations, looking after these people is our job, we've never had a breach, and I guarantee you there hasn't been one now. Let us handle it."

"Alright, but we better let the others know. They probably hadn't factored it into their scenario that we'd all be together today and be able to warn the other families about seeing dead people come back to life. Lookalikes, you think?"

"It makes sense," Dante said slowly as they went back out to inform their friends who could warn their families in case they, too, had someone in the facility who might magically come back to life this weekend.

"I better warn Papa there is another ghost that could come back to haunt us this weekend, and the outcome would not be pleasant, I can assure you," Matteo said, having calmed down quickly once he knew Dino had taken steps to protect Cat.

"I'm going to go and see Cat and explain what we think is happening," Ricco said from behind him. "We need to beef up security around her, too, if they are targeting you and this wedding, because we both know who else could show up."

"Get David and his mate to the safe house too," Matteo said, not willing to take any chances.

Ricco waited for confirmation from the Papillo before leaving, and decided on the spur of the moment and a large gut feeling to grab Lucca and take him with him. Lucca had become his go-to guy, just as he was for Matteo. His younger brother stepped up and did whatever needed to be done at a moment's notice and never once let them down. He had an uncanny knack of unravelling problems and conundrums to see to the heart of things. If anyone could help ease his mind about the strange occurrences, Lucca was the man to do it. He could imagine that Lucca was destined to take over the watchmen, after talking to Cat about her portrait, and how each of the Donati men seemed to be a natural fit for their roles on their table, as if it was preordained. He wouldn't have picked his and Matteo's leadership, though, until it happened.

"It's happening, isn't it?" Lucca said softly as they pulled up at the house. "You know, I always thought it would be the other way around and you would lead with Matteo as Oracle, though it could have been me if he hadn't have come back to family life."

"What?" Ricco frowned at his brother.

"The new table, they're going to announce it," Lucca said as a statement, looking his brother in the eye. "Up until six months ago, when you broke up with Cat, I thought it might have been you and me leading, together," he shrugged. "I'm glad it's Matt, but I always thought you were the leader, or could have been."

"I always thought it would have been Cobi," Ricco admitted.

"Nah, we love him, he's our brother, but we wouldn't follow him into hell and back because he ordered us to," Lucca laughed. "The difference is you wouldn't order us, you'd ask and expect our opinions or alternatives. Cobi was never going to be chair; he didn't love the rest of us enough to let us do our own thing without constant judgement and instruction on how to do it better."

Ricco thought about the changes in Jacobi since he'd realised the chair was not in his grasp after all. He'd changed, his relationships with all of his siblings had changed. Now that he wasn't big-brothering them, even his relationship with Maryanne had changed. It was all for good, but, as Lucca had pointed out, it was too late to make those changes.

"Yeah," Ricco said after a few moments thought. "Sunday, after the wedding, when people least expect it, I imagine."

"Cat's a good choice," Lucca nodded. "I guess they were waiting for that, I know Papa had wanted you to make it work with her. If you had we could have been looking at a far different scenario."

"True, but it's better this way. Cat makes him want family and love again, and Matteo makes me a better man. I'm not sure the bonds would have been as strong if she had stayed with me, I needed him as well as her," he said.

"She's an easy woman to love, can't say I'm not a little bit jealous," Lucca chuckled. "Thanks for the honesty here, I appreciate it and won't say a word. We all know it's coming, just not when. Even the little genius's have worked out they will be the youngest men of the tables in a few decades. Sunday will take most of them by surprise." He opened his car door as if ending the conversation, but he turned back and looked Ricco in the eye. "You know, even Mama loves her like she was one of her own, and that, in itself, is no small thing." He stepped out of the car.

"Ricco! What are you doing here?" Cat gasped, opening the door. "You can't come in! My dress is in the middle of the living room!"

"Throw a sheet over it or something, because I'm coming in whether you like it or not, and so is Lucca. David and Mick are also on their way. So suck it up, princess," he chuckled.

"Lucca, help me out here!" she pleaded.

"You know that any other time I would do anything for you, Cat, absolutely anything, but I just can't this time. Why don't you show us where the kitchen is and I'll make sure he doesn't peek and report back to Matteo that you are wearing the proverbial hessian sack. How about that?" Lucca grinned.

"Fine, but no peeking!" she warned both of them, wagging a finger in their faces. Cat turned and led them through the small house to the kitchen where they unloaded lunch and several good bottles of wine.