Authors Note: Thank you to everyone left comments or sent me feedback about previous chapters of this story. Thank you again to Margaret who proofread for me. ~ellie
*****
The Donati men sat around the big table in the Athenaeum listening to the sermon of the family priest as he retold the biblical story of the twelfth night and the epiphany the following day that the Son of God had been born.
“Like that baby, your ancestors were born the sons of men with no name, no prestige, no power. Men with the courage and determination to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. Each of you has chosen to embrace who you were born to be and receive the name, prestige, and power that your forefathers risked their lives to ensure would be the rightful legacy of their Son’s sons down throughout the ages,” he spoke in a heartfelt rousing tone.
It seemed to the men at the table more of a battle cry than a blessing but then their family had been at war long before the infant Jesus had been born. The history lesson within the sermon seemed to go on interminably as they were reminded that the Twelve tables took up the ideals and purpose of the Italics, as well as the laws of ancient Rome, though they had been chiselled finely to suit the modern day world as each generation had taken its place at the table.
“You the descendants of noble men have chosen to take up the torch and be a beacon of goodness and light to your fellow men,” He raised his hands as he gave his final blessing on the table and the men who sat around it.
Dante felt like laughing. He was coveting his brother’s wife and encouraging her to commit adultery. Not only was he doing that but the act was encouraged and accepted as part of their lives by every man here. He considered the other commandments and realised that the only one he could honestly believe that they all strictly adhered to was, honour thy mother and father. While he didn’t believe anyone in this room was a stone cold killer, he also knew from recent events that anyone could be driven to it given the right circumstances.
It was a tradition brought to the family when they had blended with the powerful and deeply religious Medici family. It was all about salvation for the murky world of religious, political intrigue and manipulation, in which they dwelt when one overlapped the other constantly. Despite how altruistic their ancestor’s motives must have been, there was no doubt that the family benefitted greatly from all the machinations of those medieval generations both professionally and privately.
In this modern world, they continued to slaves and servants. They lived like kings above the reach of the local laws, because of the power and affluence they held. The men at this table, including himself, were far removed from the saintly personalities the priest waxed on about and he could have laughed out loud as he was anointed with an oily cross to his forehead.
This meeting originally scheduled for tomorrow had been rescheduled half an hour before it began and they had all dropped their plans immediately to be here. Dante was reassured that Peri now had two watchers and a bodyguard acting as a third nanny to anyone outside of their home. Each of their wives now had watchers as they remained on alert because the evidence Marcus had brought them, that someone within their immediate family had already been compromised.
The drawn out ceremony was slowly coming to end when Dante felt a prickling on his scalp. Something was wrong. He turned his head toward the door narrowing his eyes and listening carefully past the droning of the priest. He stood and held up his hand for silence stunning those around the table and quickly walked toward the door throwing it open and staring at the man walking toward him with a gun raised before him.
“Gun,” he yelled and dove forward onto the floor taking the gunman’s feet out from under him and carrying him to the floor, as well as he cried out in pain. Ignoring the searing pain in his leg he used the momentary shock of the man below him to disarm him and punch him in the face. Dino and several others ran past him toward a scuffle at the front of the showroom floor.
“You fucking shot me! Motherfucker!” Dante roared in pain and slammed his fist into the man face one more time as his father knelt beside him pulling him away and others moved to make sure the area was clear.
“Well that was a stupid thing to do,” Joseph frowned and took his jacket off, using it to put pressure on the wound. “It doesn’t look too bad.”
“Hurts like a mother…” Dante grimaced as his father added pressure making the pain slice up his leg.
“I don’t think they expected anyone to be here but the night guards, one fled as soon as they saw us, Dino and Larry went after him. One of the guards is down. The others managed to fight back and sound the alarm. Another man is being taped up by Romey and Jules. The police should be here any moment,” Ben reported as he returned with Josh.
“Fuck the police get an ambulance,” Dante groaned.
“What do we do with this guy and his friend,” Vincenzo indicated the unconscious man that he had one foot on. “Keep him or throw him to the boys in blue?”
“Keep them. Charles you take them to your place, Con, CJ go with them we’ll meet back there later after the hero here gets his wound kissed better by a pretty nurse,” Joseph said in a light tone. “Get the others back here with us before the police arrive so we can get our story straight,” Joseph ordered taking full control of the situation.
When the police arrived the two men had been taken away by Constantine, Charles, and his sons, through the narrow corridors that ran like a maze behind this front building to the side streets. Only one of the would-be attackers had a gun which was handed over to the police. The story had been that the men who had been conducting a family meeting had surprised the would-be thieves and Dante had been shot before landing a few good punches on the offender’s face. They described the three men in detail and aside from the fact that they said that the three men fled the scene they were in all other ways scrupulously honest.
Ben received a call and nodded to Joseph signalling that Dino and Lorenzo had been successful in a fast but relatively short little car chase and were on their way to Charles place, they would meet everyone there.
“Change of plans,” Vincenzo said quietly. “Whoever told them our meeting was tomorrow is in danger. Go home and check on your loved ones just as a precaution. The senior table can meet with Charles after we deliver our wives to a safe location. We can’t move all your young families.”
“Josh. Go. Now,” Dante groaned as the paramedics probed at his wound and packed it with dressings. “I’ll be fine with these sadists. Go check on Peri.” He grimaced.
“It doesn’t look bad, no damage to bones or arteries, he’s been very lucky, it could have been much worse,” one of the paramedics informed them as they rolled him onto a stretcher and lifted it to transport Dante to the hospital.
“Which hospital are you taking him to?” Josh asked.
“The Royal is closest,” came the immediate answer.
“Right, I’ll be there soon. Here’re my details,” Josh handed a police officer his card. “I didn’t see much. I’m sure my father and Uncles can fill you in on all you need to know.”
“I’ll call Charles on my way home,” Josh said.
*****
“Josh stop! They’re scared enough!” Peri raised her voice and stood between her husband and her sister’s in-law. “I promised that you and Dante would help them. Where is he?” She looked around at the doorway expecting to see him standing there watching with that crooked smile of his.
“Help them with what? Explaining to their husbands how fucking dim-witted they are?” Josh demanded. “Where are the kids?” he demanded of the two women.
Josh had walked in to find Emily and Carmen sitting with Peri looking worried and thinking about how Ben and Romey would feel returning home and not finding them there tore at his heart. He had picked up the phone and called Ben, “Emily is here with Peri. Call Romey, Carmen is here too and all of the kids.” He had stabbed a finger at his phone and abruptly turned on the two women ranting about how thoughtless they were in not telling their husbands of their plans.
“The kids are downstairs in the nursery, all of them with their nannies. Josh,” Peri said tentatively trying to come to terms with the ranting raving lunatic that was her husband. “What’s happened?” She asked with a sinking feeling. “Where’s Dante?”
“He’s been shot,” Josh growled and regretted his harsh words as he watched all of the colour drain from Peri’s face a moment before her legs buckled and she collapsed to the ground in front of him. He went to her and scooped her up into his arms. “He’s going to be okay, nothing vital was hit, he’s gone to the hospital in an ambulance,” he explained, and she looked up at him with teary eyes. “No, you can’t go there not tonight. He is fine, and they will call with details. I promise.”
“I have to go! I’ll take a bodyguard, a watcher, a team of them with me, but I have to go!” she said in a panicked voice.
“No,” Josh said sternly. “Dante sent me home to protect you, and I am not going to let him down again tonight! Now sit and explain this!” He waved his arm at the two women who looked pale and ill on the sofa before him.
“Emily you have to tell him, especially now,” Peri implored.
“About a week after Nik went to prison I got an email from her. At least I thought it was her. It was her email address, the gmail one she occasionally used when she was mad at the family and needed to rant to someone about them. She called herself Ronnie Mar. I always thought it was better if she ranted to me and got it out of her system, so I never said anything about it,” she said quietly. “We were close you know, closer than she was with the rest of the family except maybe you. Ben tried so hard to be there for her despite everything she did. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“Keep going, you got an email from her,” Josh said through clenched teeth realising where this was going.
“She was miserable, and she sounded so contrite, and I thought that eventually, Papa would forgive her and send her to one of the other families you know. I hated that she sounded so alone and lost. Ben never fully explained the details of what she did to Peri, we never saw her while she was recovering. We had no idea it was anything more than a little tiff with Peri. We knew that she had killed a guard at the Battaglia. We found out at your engagement party after that scene with Isabella that it was more than a tiff, of course,” she tried to justify her actions.
“The emails were all totally innocent, just family news, nothing of any importance. When you got married, that you were expecting, about Bianca and me as well, just general stuff. Then a few days before Christmas when her email came it was different demanding almost and wanting to know when Joseph was retiring so Ben could take over the family business,” she took a breath and knotted her fingers together. “I didn’t know anything about it, so I had nothing to say. The emails seemed so much like her until the ones I received over Christmas at the farm. She seemed to know that all the elders were there with their families, and she wanted to know what was going on.”
“So you told her,” Josh finished for her.
“Only it wasn’t her, and the next email told me that I had betrayed the family and if I didn’t continue to answer her questions something bad would happen,” her voice started to crack. “I thought we were safe in our house with all the security and when the emails came I never answered them I just deleted them until Nik died. They said it was my fault and a demonstration that they could get to anyone anywhere. I couldn’t tell Ben I had betrayed him, and killed his sister. I couldn’t! Now everything is out of control, and I don’t know what to do.” Emily dissolved into tears at that point.
“Where do you figure in all this?” Josh turned his dark gaze on Carmen.
“Romey and I believed he could and should be the new chair. When I found out what was going on with Emily I thought as the mother I could protect her from being sent away, exiled. I thought I could protect her from the family’s wrath for her betrayal, but then you and Peri were there looking like there might be another option for Chair, and I panicked. I couldn’t help Em without that sort of power behind me. I panicked and behaved badly, Carmen admitted, but with Ben out of the race we were so sure it would be us,” she shook her head trying to explain what a bitter pill Josh getting the chair had been to swallow.
“After your words to me in the New Year’s circle, I knew we had to tell someone,” she took Emily’s hand in her own. “Despite the tension between us lately Peri has still tried to be my friend, our friend,” she squeezed Emily’s hand. “Whoever is sending the emails knows about the meeting tomorrow, and we are worried they will do something.”
Josh took a calming breath. Both women had done what they had with good intentions or at least what they believed were the right intentions. He tried to remain calm and consider what Dante may do or say at this point. Every fire in his being wanted to yell and scream at the two women for their stupidity, but he swallowed it down and considered them silently.
“Well at least we know who they were targeting,” Josh said in a measured tone. “That makes life a little easier,” he let out a long breath. “We had information that someone in the family was being targeted, we just didn’t know who. You have all been being watched,” he admitted. Feeling some satisfaction from their startled looks. “Believe me; it’s better hearing this from you than finding out ourselves.”
He picked up his Phone again. “I need your best hacker at my place,” Josh said abruptly. “Well if you’re the best you know then get your ass over here,” he said shortly. “Who the hell have you been texting,” he asked Peri irritably.
“Dante, they’re prepping him for surgery, and he won’t let me be there,” she said in a small voice holding her phone out to Josh with a shaking hand. His demeanour immediately softened, and he pulled her into his arms.
“He’s going to be fine,” he crooned. “I promise you can fuss over him as much as you like tomorrow, but you need to stay here tonight. It’s important to both of us, understand? D. wants you here where it’s safe right now.” She nodded reluctantly.
“Josh,” Emily said tentatively. “I’m sorry. I was stupid. Scared and so stupid. This is all my fault. D. has been hurt because of me.” Fresh tears coursed own her face.
“Why is what happened to D. your fault?” Ben asked stiffly, as he walked into the room and took in his crying wife’s words.
“I can’t,” she said hopelessly and buried her face in her hands. “I just can’t,” she shook her head and let our muffled sobs of fear and sadness.
“Josh?” Ben questioned still staring at his sobbing wife, as Romey came to stand beside him looking at Carmen who looked back with a dismal expression.
“Okay,” Josh let out a sigh. “Let’s all grab a drink and I’ll tell you what I know.”
He passed a bottle of red wine and several glasses to his brothers, from the bar, refusing to be pushed into telling the story before he was ready. Then he grabbed a six pack from the fridge.
“Choose your poison you’re all staying the night anyway,” Josh waved his arm. “I imagine this place is safer than anywhere else. The family can meet here rather than Charles house once they’re done.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll have something stronger, I have a feeling I’m not going to like this,” Romey said without any emotion and walked to the bar grabbing a bottle of Sambuca.
“I’ll have a shot,” Ben said watching Romey and they all sat down around the large coffee table in the middle of the couches.
“Tell me,” Josh started to speak, “Why didn’t you tell them what Nik did to Peri?” He stared at his brothers. “Who did you think you were you protecting? Her or them?” He demanded. “Because you sure as shit weren’t protecting us.”
“What was the point? Nik was going to jail for murdering Giorgio,” Romey shrugged. Ben said nothing. The truth was that he hated to think about what she had done. He was haunted by the vision he had of Peri the following morning in the hospital, barely clinging to life.
“The point is that they had no reason to be wary of Nik. As far as they knew, Giorgio’s death was accidental. Not the act of an unstable woman, who had lost touch with reality,” Josh explained. “If I have learned one thing over the last few weeks, it’s that every single man on the current table rely heavily on their wives and trust them absolutely. It’s time to step up gentlemen and accept that what happened tonight is partially your responsibility.”
“What does Nik have to do with what happened tonight,” Romey’s logical brain couldn’t connect the dots.
“Someone using one of Nicks random Gmail accounts, has been a pen pal to Emily since Nik went to prison,” Josh said. “Emily had no real idea what had happened in Canberra or what followed so she assumed that eventually all would be forgiven, and Nik would be sent to live with one of the other families.” Josh looked at her sadly, “And I can’t blame her for that, she did it out of love. She believed she was helping a lonely, lost sister, who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“You never said,” Ben frowned.
“She was in exile. You refused to acknowledge her name anytime I tried to bring it up. I thought I was helping her and you by telling her the family news,” her whispered voice trailed off, and she put her face into her hands again.
“I see. Then what happened?” Ben turned to Josh.
“Christmas,” Josh supplied. “Seems things turned quite nasty, and the writer revealed they weren’t Nik and threatened to expose her betrayal to the family. Things got quite nasty when Emily refused to correspond anymore. They threatened to hurt the ones she loved and,” he looked at Emily, “Correct me if I get this bit wrong. Then after the holidays they claimed to have killed Nik as a demonstration that they could get to anyone at any time.”
Emily nodded not taking her hands from her face and letting out a loud sob. “I’m so sorry. She’s dead because of me and now Dante,” her soft voice was muffled, and she let out a heartfelt cry and began sobbing in earnest.
“I was looking most likely for the chair, so they targeted Emily,” Ben nodded seeing why she would have been a target.
“Back to Christmas though, because that’s when Carmen found out what was happening and decided that because she was so sure she would be the next Mother she could protect Emily and fix it all for Nik, and everyone could go on with life as normal. It seems she went into a bit of panic when she realised Peri might be a threat to her plans. Rather than confide in us or Peri who admittedly was still new to the family, she tried to take matters into her own hands and even after the announcement, sought to take over the role by forcing Peri to give her free reign. That way she could still influence the outcome of events for Emily and Nik.”
Romey pursed his lips, but said nothing, as he took in the information that Carmen had not been honest with him about why she had threatened Peri.
“CJ is on his way over to hack Gmail, or at least that’s what I hope he can do,” Josh said feeling the weight of leadership settle on him as he watched his brothers each deal with their wive’s stupidity and betrayal. “D. is in surgery by the way,” he added to the gloom of the evening and took a large pull of his beer.
“Fuck,” Ben sighed. “That gloomy sack of misery is always around to poke shit at everything I do and the one fucking time I need him, he has to go and be a fucking hero.”
“Dante?” Peri asked her eyes widening.
“Yeah, it was like he had a sixth sense or something. Stood up in the middle of the sermon and bolted out of the room to crash tackle the gunman. If he hadn’t we would have lost someone for sure tonight,” Ben scratched at his stubble. “We could have lost him,” Ben admitted the evening’s events still sinking in.
“He has a blunt way of making sense out of everyone else’s shit,” Romey nodded. “He hasn’t been a gloomy sack of misery for a while, though,” Romey corrected Ben and smiled slightly at Peri in acknowledgement.
“Peri, I’m sorry,” Ben said after a moment. “I was there when they brought you into that hospital room in Canberra. You were comatose and close to death. What had happened to you was so horrific, I couldn’t bear to think about it when I came home. The vision of you barely recognisable with all the swelling and bruises, it haunts me even now.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that Ben, really I am,” Peri apologised.
“Why are you apologising for something completely out of your control?” Romey asked with a confused frown. “I never went down to Canberra, and when you came up here, you refused to see any of us. I saw the photo, though, and that was enough. I can only imagine how Ben felt, and I can’t begin to fathom what went through his mind,” Romey nodded toward Josh. He scrolled through his phone as he spoke and finding the picture he had been sent and saved, he passed it to the two women who still sat side by side. Fresh tears flowed as Emily glanced it, but Carmen gasped and physically recoiled looking at Peri in wonder.
“I can’t describe it,” Josh said quietly closing his eyes as if in pain.
“When I went to the airport, to identify Nik to authorities,” Romey continued quietly. “She was insane, by every definition. She wasn’t the woman we knew, not even at her worst. What I remember most, is that she honestly believed she hadn’t done anything wrong. That she believed she had done Josh a favour in killing Peri, she’d even changed the message recording on Peri’s phone, to that effect which sealed her fate at trial. She had no idea that Peri had been found clinging to life.”
“Josh is right. We should have told you what happened. The full story, there’s more but not tonight,” Ben said in a tired voice. “What the two of you should know is that this family has caused Peri a great deal of pain and anguish in the short time she has known us. More than you could know and still she has opened her heart to all of us, when other people would have walked away loathing every single one of us, for allowing so much pain and heartache to occur again and again.”
“You give me too much credit,” Peri said overwhelmed by Ben’s words. “I am loved so completely by the most amazing of men, how could I not embrace the whole family.” She looked at her phone again and wished she could be at the hospital when he woke up. “Emily and Carmen need some time to talk with their husbands, and I need to be there when he wakes up Josh. Please let me go,” she pleaded.
“Go,” Ben said. “I’ll take care of things with CJ. If it was her or you, you know where he would be,” Ben said softly. “We’ll keep you fully updated, take your charger and an energy bank with you. I’ve spent a good deal of time on Vinnie’s boat this week. I know exactly what we need to do to get these bastards. Starting with a call to Vinnie.”
Peri looked at Josh hopefully, and he nodded slowly, “Yeah alright. Make yourselves at home. I expect Bridgette has already organised rooms for you. She’ll get you whatever you need. I’m just going to change. Do you want to grab some clothes for D.? He’ll probably be in there a day or two.”
“Gosh, yes!” Peri stood with him, and they walked to their room hand in hand.
*****
“Hey there sleepy head,” Peri smiled as Dante blinked at her.
“Hey,” he said in a dry croaky voice. “This is the best dream,” he reached out and stroked her face. “Wait, you’re really here. What are you doing here?” He said touching her face more firmly.
“Where else would I be?” she smiled.
“At home safely tucked up in bed,” he grumbled despite being more than pleased to see her there as he woke from the anaesthetic. “I told you not to come. There is a severe spanking in your near future.”
“Promise?” She giggled. “You realise this heroic stuff puts a large dent in that dark foreboding demeanour you try to carry off.”
“I’m no hero,” he grumped sounding tired.
“Ben says you are, and he is pretty pissed at you about it. He needs you, so you better get some sleep and heal fast,” she said softly and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. “I’m not going anywhere,” she smiled as he gripped her hand. “Sleep now.”
Josh watched the interaction from the doorway to the post-op room where Dante lay with mixed feelings. He’d managed to bury his jealousy and convince himself that Peri accepted Dante as a lover because of the expectation of being who they were. He had convinced himself that the depth of feeling she had for him could never be like their own love affair. He and Peri had been through so much together, evolved and become stronger in their love and commitment to each other. He knew that the new relationship she had with his brother couldn’t compare, but watching them together like this made him jealous despite his efforts not to be.
He could see the intimacy between them, as Dante gripped her hand and she soothed him. ‘What did you expect?’ Josh asked himself. ‘You knew she would never give herself completely to someone she didn’t love. Had she given herself to him completely?’ he wondered, and the thought gnawed at him. For him, there was the boundary of brotherhood. He tried to rationalise his feelings as he watched them. He felt the control he had been trying to maintain over their relationship begin to slip away from him. He turned away from the image before him and saw his father watching him with a knowing expression.
“Looks like you just swallowed a hard pill,” Joseph commented.
“I don’t know what I was thinking would happen but,” he looked back at the woman he adored with the brother he loved and tried not to be bitter. “Now he’s a goddamn hero.”
“Ah my boy, you do not even realise that their devotion to you is what brings them together,” he smiled softly. “Should you ask it of them they would distance themselves. The question is would you want to do that when there are so many rewards to encouraging that devotion?”
Josh cocked his head to one side as he considered his father’s words. Drawing his eyes away from Peri he turned to his father and indicated the small plastic chairs behind them. “Tell me about these rewards, I think I need to hear it right now.” They talked quietly for a time and were interrupted when Peri walked out of the room with a doctor.
“Mr. Donati?” The Doctor inquired as both men looked up at him.
“Yes,” they answered in unison before Josh signalled his father as the senior.
“He’s lucky, we assume the bullet has missed its original target and ricocheted back to hit him, the internal damage was minimal. We cleaned out the wound to ensure no infection, and he should heal relatively quickly,” the doctor informed them. “We’ll be moving him back to his room in a few minutes.”
“Excellent news thank you,” Joseph said, the relief evident on his face. “How long will he need to be here?”
“I have spoken with your family doctor, Peter Donati. I have explained the procedure in detail and the necessary treatments and aftercare. I would be happy to hand over to his care later today if all goes well. With the assurance from the patient that he will follow doctor’s orders that is,” he nodded.
“I am sure his lovely nurse here will ensure he follows doctor’s orders,” Joseph chuckled indicating Peri who smiled widely.
“I am sure he will be well looked after,” the doctor nodded and left the small waiting room near the post-op recovery.
“I’m surprised Pete isn’t here already,” Peri said with a frown.
“He’s dealing with another situation first, he’ll be here soon,” Joseph said easily. The truth was that Dante had inflicted quite a bit of damage on the gunman who remained unconscious for a time. There were also some minor injuries from the crash that had finally ended the car chase for Larry and Dino.
“Time to regroup, the penthouse will be the most secure, we’ll get it swept and set up there. Call your mother and let her know what’s happening here and where to meet,” Joseph became commanding. “Peri go look after our hero, we have work to do, we’ll stay and follow him down to the room then we’ll leave you with some security and Pete will be here when he can.”
“Wait,” Josh came to his feet and wrapped her in his arms. “Forever and always, he murmured before kissing her. “Stay safe, call for anything even if you just have a feeling something isn’t right.”
“Forever and always,” she repeated and kissed him tenderly before going back into the room to be with Dante.
*****
Peri lay on the bed with Dante looking at the widescreen television that showed the replay of a European football match. His hand absently rubbed her leg as he watched engrossed. She smiled at him and let her thoughts roll back over the last week.
Most of the extended family had finally returned to their homes after a week of being forced into close proximity within the Penthouse. Peri had been surprised by the extra wings at the rear of the penthouse that she hadn’t even realised were there. Admittedly she hadn’t explored the penthouse house much even though much of her pregnancy was spent here. To her, she had been a guest in Dante’s home at the time. She had only felt like this was becoming her home in the week following the holidays at the farm.
The space was huge, and even though eighteen Donati men and their families came to stay they managed to give each other some personal space from time to time. The children too didn’t seem to mind having their cousins constantly with them, and an extraordinary amount of technology and play equipment was brought in to keep them more than happy under the close supervision of the nannies.
Between the connections, the family had within the justice system, and local law enforcement and their own superior investigative skills, the people who were targeting the family had either been arrested or had gone underground to lick their wounds. Peri had worried as Josh barely seemed to sleep, and even Dante remained with his brothers either on a couch or in a wheelchair, long into the night. They seemed constantly angry and out of sorts, even now as things were calming down, they appeared to be always on alert for the next attack.
Carmen, it seemed, had learned that she couldn’t fix everyone’s problems and that no one wanted or expected that from her. Joseph and Romey had made sure she understood that it was the tables job to protect and ensure the families prosperity. Her greatest sin had been not going to them as soon as she found out. Joseph saw it as a gross sign of disrespect, not for him or Romey personally but for the laws and traditions the family adhered to. It was decided that she would spend two weeks with the Battaglia to relearn her place within their society and family.
It hadn’t surprised Peri to find out that Emily was submissive to Ben in a similar way that she was to Josh and Dante. Her disobedience, if you could call it that, had sprung from wanting to do the best for Ben and then when she realised her mistake, not wanting to disappoint him the way she had. She hadn’t been frightened of his wrath when she came to Peri with her story, she had been terrified of seeing the disappointment in his eyes when he looked at her. Once she realised what could have happened because of her emails, she lost her mind with the guilt and believed everyone looked at her with pity and disappointment. She simply could not cope with the shame and had a complete breakdown, where she ran out onto the balcony intending to leap off. Josh, who seemed to have heightened reflexes, despite his lack of sleep, caught her before she could scale the small wall.
Emily had endured a complete emotional breakdown and became barely coherent, as she stared off into space crying hysterically. The idea that the three men who had attacked the House of Lorraine had planned to plant a bomb, thinking the official induction ceremony would be held the next day and that she could have been responsible for wiping out the entire Donati table had broken her. When under the tender care of Pete, she hadn’t regained her equilibrium after several days, Ben reluctantly agreed to have her hospitalised and treated by a trusted associate of the family.
Peri took on the responsibility of making sure Ben’s children had everything they needed as their parents, became absent from their lives and she had offered to do the same for Carmen when she left for the Battaglia. Her babies were well looked after by their nannies, and she spent as much time as she could with them. She wasn’t sure whether it was the stress or just the overwhelming drain on her time, but her milk supply had waned to the point that even Dante complained, and she gave up attempting to be superwoman, as Josh called it and ceased breastfeeding her triplets.
A light knock on the door disturbed her reverie, and she climbed over Dante kissing him lightly as she got up to see who it was. Carmen stood there looking nervous and shyly asked, “Peri could we talk privately please?”
“Carmen what’s wrong?” Peri was immediately concerned. The woman looked at her helplessly. “Come in we can go out onto the balcony,” she said quietly opening the door wider.
“How are you feeling D.?” Carmen asked as she saw him lying on the bed.
“I’ll feel better if Milan picks up their game,” he grouched and nodded at the television. “Don’t mind me just pretend I’m not here,” he added.
Peri guided her to the sliding glass door. “It looks a bit windy out there do you want to stay in here?” she indicated the small couch and comfortable chairs, before looking back at Dante who was once again wrapped in the football on the screen. “He won’t hear anything but the game,” she rolled her eyes at him.
“Romey and I would appreciate you looking out for the children while I am gone,” she began tentatively. “Bianca and Jules are leaving on Sunday and with Emily gone too,” she shrugged.
“I’m more than happy for them to stay, it will be a good chance for me to get to know them all better,” Peri smiled. “It might be nice if your housekeeper comes too so the children can have familiar meals. I’m afraid that has been the biggest sticking point for Emily’s children. They love their mother’s cooking.”
“You wouldn’t mind?” Carmen asked in surprise.
“Of course not, many hands make light work. Ben is sending over the woman that helped Emily prepare meals, but I am sure no one will mind if there is another cook in the kitchen. Especially with so many little mouths to feed.” Peri said genuinely. “Bridgette is wonderful with managing opposing personalities if any problems arise, which I am sure they won’t.”
“I don’t understand you, Peri,” Carmen admitted. “I never have if I am honest.” She paused and looked up at her. “You could push your own agenda now. Emily is in no state to oppose you, I am being sent away as punishment, and yet you have been nothing but supportive of what we need. I heard Ben ask if you would step into Emily’s place at the board meeting of Fairholme.”
“We are family Carmen. It’s not about the individual. It’s about what’s good for the family. Josh doesn’t lead alone. Every single member of that table is just as important as he is, he is only the spokesman, the public face. We are the same. I’m no more important than you or any of the wives. Margarite can have as strong of a voice as me.” She tried to explain. “What I have learned in becoming part of this great family is that nothing and no one can overcome the love and sense of belonging we share.”
“Perhaps that why the Donati’s are respected above the other tables,” Carmen mused.
“They are?” Peri asked, a little surprised by the statement.
“You didn’t know?” Carmen tilted her head. “I guess you didn’t grow up in one of the other families so how could you know.”
“Can you tell me about your family? I’d be very interested. It’s one thing working on the histories, it’s another to talk to members of that family and how they view their table. I’d like to travel and get to know them all if I could.” Peri was enthusiastic finding that for the first time Carmen was not antagonistic toward her in some way.
“I was born into the Martino family,” Carmen began.
“The table of royalty!” Peri exclaimed.
“Yes,” Carmen smiled appreciating that Peri knew her family had descended from Italian royalty. “I was brought up to believe we were born to rule. I was a true Italian princess during my childhood and I was groomed to marry a man of great importance, a prince.” She smiled a shy smile. “The problem was that I was never tall and beautiful like the other girls who could have been supermodels. Bianca is all of that and more, but I was a princess, and I was brought up to know my worth.”
“Can you explain, about how you were brought up? I sometimes feel like I brought up myself and my mother as well,” Peri confided. “Andie was not always the woman you see now with Charles.”
“Let’s see. Like all good would be rulers, I know three foreign languages and used to be able to speak them fluently, but now I could at least understand them if not speak them,” Carmen began.
“Which ones,” Peri asked truly amazed.
“English, you might have noticed that. French, Italian and Japanese.”
“Holy moly, that’s amazing!” Peri said wide eyed. “Sorry keep going.”
“I did a political science major with economics,” she said twisting her mouth to one side. “It was an important element of being a Princess, to take on some International Relations study.”
“Carmen you’re incredible. I had no idea!” Peri was shocked to find this wealth of intelligence in the frumpy maternal woman sitting opposite her. Then she suddenly remembered the day over a year ago, when she had sat in Emily’s kitchen asking about the family history and Carmen had been the only one with any real answers for her.
“I was sent to spas to manage my weight and deportment. I was given elocution lessons. The list goes on and on.” She stopped talking, hating the memory of never being beautiful enough for her family. “Oh, and I play the piano, and I am a black belt in Judo.” She took a deep breath. “I wasn’t raised, I was groomed.”
“Wow,” Peri let out a deep breath. “Can I ask you a very personal question?” She asked her mind ticking over with all the new knowledge.
“I guess,” Carmen said guardedly.
“Okay, just don’t judge me,” Peri said carefully but in the spirit of Carmen finally opening up to her she felt the need. “Here at home, more so in this room and those attached to it, I am theirs. Totally and with all my heart and soul because I love them that much, I am submissive. Is that how it is with you and Romey?”
“He loves me,” she said quietly. “He makes me feel beautiful and worthy, and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him, but I don’t submit in the way you mean,” she admitted quietly. “I’m scared Peri. My parents never made me do the trial. What if I can’t do it? You have been there. You know what it’s like. What if I can’t face it? I couldn’t bear it if I let Romey down.”
“Okay, I’m going to ask you one more question, and I need a truly honest answer,” Peri said sternly “You have been groomed to be so much more than a homemaker and mother. Are you happy? I mean truly at peace with your soul, not resentful of anything or anyone, happy being a homemaker and mother?”
“I love my husband and children,” Carmen said quickly. Too quickly for Peri’s liking.
“I know I am asking a lot, and I will tell you my secrets and answer any questions you like if you trust me for just a few minutes. I will tell you every single thing that happened to me in my time with the Battaglia if you can trust me right now.” Peri took hold of Carmen’s hands and looked into her eyes. Carmen nodded slowly.
“Stay right here and listen to every word I say, assume nothing. Understand?” Peri commanded knowing now that the woman had submissive tendencies if only to her husband. Again Carmen gave her a slow nod.
Peri knew the game was practically over, and Dante was tuned into their conversation more than the television when she stood and walked slowly toward him as he lay on the bed. She swayed her hips knowing he was aware of her.
“Dante, I know you’re beloved Milan is playing but can I ask you a quick question?” She purred.
“Anything for you, my love,” he answered beyond happy that she had included him in her admission of submission.
“If you knew that there was a family member with a degree in international relations. Poli-sci- and economics, as well as speaking three languages what would you do?” Peri asked.
“Hire them on the spot sight unseen,” he said without batting an eyelid.
“Josh is trying to take his publishing house international what do you think he would say?” Peri asked.
“You wouldn’t” Dante grumbled. When he saw her nod and start toward the door, he turned to Carmen. “You have all that?”
“And more,” Peri grinned.
“As soon as you get back you’re hired. I’ll break the news to Romey,” Dante said to Carmen in a loud voice.
“I would counsel you to wait and see what Josh offers, but it’s up to you,” Peri grinned and bent to kiss Dante. “Have I told you how much I love you today?” she murmured.
“I never tire of hearing it. You never cease to amaze me,” he wrapped his arms around her kissing her passionately. “I don’t want her in our playroom,” he murmured, and she nodded in understanding.
“Let me go, you big oaf,” she laughed and swatted his shoulder. “Don’t make me red card you.”
“Oh was I holding you?” he relaxed his arms and lifted them up as if denying the fact.
“Yes I think you were,” she grinned as she rose to her feet. Then she walked back to where Carmen sat. “The fact is, I know that if either one of them knew of your talents, you would be using that keen mind of yours.” She paused before she spoke again. “Romey may well know how gifted you are, but it doesn’t help the family if he doesn’t share you.”
“You may have overstated my degrees there,” Carmen giggled.
“Who fuckin cares, if even half of that is true, I’m having words with Romey!” Dante called out from his place on the bed.
“You’re amazing, you’re wanted and you, Carmen Donati are a big asset to this family,” Peri said with certainty. She was pleased to see Carmen blush and become girlish.
“Carmen, I am wounded here, you can’t go with Josh. I’ll square it with Romey,” Dante called out again making both of the women grin.
“My turn to trust you I guess,” Peri said quietly and preceded to talk to Carmen not only about her time with the Battaglia but the time preceding it. She started from the Christmas at the farm, her encounter with Joseph, but not what she did to prove herself to him, only that it involved her submission to the family tradition and law. She explained that her love for Josh that propelled her forward.
Dante had listened in noting that Peri had mentioned how Joseph had tested her commitment to Josh and the family with her submission. Whereas with Cherise, it was a prenup. He wondered at his father’s intuition, the information gateway that was Vincenzo and Andreas’s role as Oracle in the absence of Christo. He thought of Cherise for the first time in ages and felt a twinge of pain for the tiny life lost. He knew within his inner being that the next child Peri had would be his and heal those wounds from so long ago. The date that she should be fertile again was etched into his brain, and he planned to be there often enough to make it beyond doubt that the next child would be his.
Carmen didn’t interrupt but rather savoured every word. When Peri had finally finished talking Carmen sat silently for a few minutes taking it all in and remembering the photo that she had seen on Romey’s phone of her battered and bruised face.
“I know it might be hard for you, but can you tell me about all of the things Nik did,” Carmen asked tentatively.
Peri found herself glad to be able to divulge how scared she was of Nik through all of their encounters and what had happened before Nik tried to kill her. She watched as Carmen paled and felt a strange sense of satisfaction that the truth could sometimes give.
“So just because she was his twin you trusted her?” Carmen asked after the full story.
“I know it’s hard for you to understand, but I have only known the Donati’s, not your family or any of the others. I saw the love of family first hand. I knew Josh loved her and that alone made me think she would never hurt me.” Peri admitted. “I was wrong. I am more cautious now, but I won’t stop trusting anyone in the family because of Nik,” Peri asserted.
“My turn to wow,” Carmen let out a long breath. “Do you think I will get the same treatment?”
“If Romey has anything to do with it I imagine so,” Peri smiled. “You are a Donati after all.”
“I am, aren’t I? And all this time I have been acting like a Martino Princess,” she gave Peri a sad smile.
“My advice, even though you never asked for it directly, is, go and find your husband and give him a reason to remember why he married you and how much he will miss you.” Peri smiled. “Everything else will look after itself.”
“You know I think I will. Are you sure it’s okay for the kids to stay here?” She asked one last time.
“I will even kiss them goodbye as they leave for school each day,” Peri smiled.
“Thank you, for this. For being honest with me,” Carmen stood and walked past the bed on which Dante lay watching football. “You don’t fool me; I know you were listening” she smiled taking his hand. “Would you really let me work in the House?”
“Let you?” Dante questioned. “I’m afraid I’d have to insist. Romey had been keeping you to himself for far too long.” Carmen blushed and leant down to kiss his cheek.
“When I get back you and I will be negotiating that deal.” She whispered.
“I look forward to it,” Dante chuckled. “Just don’t talk to Josh, I couldn’t outbid him even if I wanted to.” He continued to chuckle softly.
“I forgot about that,” she feigned interest and walked through the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Dante asked Peri as she started to follow Carmen through the doorway.
“I was going to go and check on our little ones, I feel the need of a cuddle,” Peri said sitting on the edge of the bed. “Thank you for helping me,” she whispered.
“Helping you?” Dante said with confusion. “Trust me I will have words with Romey hiding that little star.”
“Thank you,” she grinned. “I think Romey needs to hear that as much as she does. I imagine he thought the watchers would know how very qualified she was to be the Mother.” She smiled. “I’m feeling very inadequate right now.”
“Are you kidding me?” Dante grasped her just below the shoulders squeezing her biceps. “You just made a lifelong friend of someone who believed you to be nothing more than a pleb that she could kowtow into doing her bidding.” Peri blushed but said nothing instead letting him pull her into a strong embrace and passionate kiss. “You are the Mother, the queen, my princess,” he murmured while kissing her.
“My hero,” she teased knowing how much he hated the way his family viewed him now.
“I’m no one’s hero,” he groaned running a hand up her leg to cup her ass cheek.
“You’re my hero,” she countered with a smile.
“I’m not such an invalid that I can’t spank you myself,” he growled.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she grinned and wrestled herself free of his arms. “For now, though, you need to rest my hero,” she smiled and bent to kiss his forehead.
*****
Despite her best effort to avoid it, Peri had been cornered by Joseph in the vast penthouse. After making sure all the children including her own were cared for, she had walked toward the stairs to the upper apartment without thinking. She’d read one of her favourite childhood stories and was feeling buoyant; she hadn’t realised Joseph was lying in wait at the stairwell.
“Sit,” he commanded moving away from the stairwell and allowing her access. Waiting until she sat on the third step up, he smiled and continued. “You, my dear are an anomaly,” he began.
“I think I know that by now,” Peri sighed. “I didn’t grow up in this or any of the twelve families, so I have had to adapt as I have learned along the way. Regardless, two of your sons love me, and two more of them trust me with their children, so whatever you are about to say be warned I will fight for my family,” she bristled thinking he wanted to criticise her in some way for the mess that had occurred recently.
“Are you finished?” Joseph asked with a smirk.
“Yes,” Peri answered quietly feeling small and insignificant in Joseph’s presence.
“My sons love you,” Joseph pronounced. “All of them not just the obvious.” He paused as she took in this information. “It is the obvious ones that I need to speak to you about, however. Josh would never deny you and Dante your time together especially at this juncture, but I am here to caution you, Joshua is more fragile than he seems. He needs to know he is the leader not only of the table but his family.”
Peri dropped her eyes guiltily. Josh had been so busy with the family business, and she had been so busy with the children and Dante that they had barely connected over the last week.
“May I suggest a date night,” he smiled softly. “It’s not a new idea and perhaps not something you had considered, given recent events, but your husband needs to know he still holds your heart, forever and always.”
“Josh?” she questioned.
“Dante has always been more resilient despite appearances. Joshua needs you and the validation of who he is through you,” Joseph said. “It is a fine line you tread. I know, I was on the receiving end of such an arrangement.” He admitted. “Antonia, like you had not realised what marrying me meant for her, she fell for Christo and felt conflicted about it. I felt her conflict and not truly understanding at the time, the tension in our relationship led me to make several disastrous decisions.”
Peri’s face showed surprise. This was not the conversation she had expected from her father-in-law.
“I am beyond grateful that you have brought joy to Dante’s life, but Joshua is your husband. He is a jealous and controlling man,” his lips quirked in a half smile. “He needs to know he is first and foremost in your life. Date night,” he repeated. “Choose something meaningful to you both but do it soon. His demeanour shows the strain of having to share everything he ever wanted with a man he loves above all others.”
“I understand,” Peri said slowly. “Do you think you could do without Josh and I for thirty-six hours? Say next weekend?”
“Forty-eight if need be, and we knew of your whereabouts, in case we need to contact you,” Joseph answered. “What did you have in mind?”
“The chalet at Andreas and Marisol’s winery. It was our first real,” she paused and looked at the man opposite her. “It’s where he confessed his needs and asked for my submission.” She blurted knowing that he would appreciate her honesty. “It’s where I learned about what it meant to be part of this family. If you can get him there, I can handle the rest.”
” I can,” Joseph nodded.
“I will need someone here, Antonia would be best to oversee all of the children, and their nannies,” Peri said softly trying to work out the plan in her head. “I promised Carmen before she left, that I would care for them like my own,” Peri said remembering the woman confiding in her.
“I will take Josh on a diplomatic mission on Thursday morning,” Joseph said seeing where her mind was going and second guessing her. “You can have Thursday night with Dante anywhere of your choosing, and Antonia will be here to manage the household. I will deliver Joshua to the winery Friday evening, and you can spend the weekend together unfettered by responsibility.” He paused, “Your children are but babies, they will survive a few days without your presence,” he added reading her worried expression.
“Thank you,” she said simply. “Josh is very much like you,” she smiled.
“I know,” Joseph replied with a soft smile. “Josh is destined to lead. But he can’t do it without you or Dante.” He got to his feet and turned to look at her. “I could never have become the man I am without Christo or the devotion of Antonia. I need to know you and Dante are devoted to Josh.”
Peri realised that this was a difficult conversation for Joseph by the way he stood straddling several stairs and fidgeting. She decided not to push him and nodded. “Dante and I have both told him that we would stop, cut all intimate ties if that was what he wanted. It’s a difficult time for each of us in our own way. The last thing I want is to come between them, and I had thought that scheduling some alone time, meaningful alone time, with each of them was in order.”
“For Joshua’s sake I think this weekend is good,” Joseph said without emotion despite his joy at her words and her worry over being all she could be for both of his sons. He had talked to Antonia at length about the problems she encountered in the early days of their relationship with Christo and discovered what a struggle it was for her to make sure they both got what they needed from the relationship.
“You’re a good girl, Peri. I would appreciate that you don’t mention this conversation to the boys,” Joseph said.
“I won’t lie to them,” Peri said carefully. “I will delay telling them the truth until you and Josh have left on Thursday,” she compromised.
“Done,” Joseph said both surprised and pleased by her response.
*****
“Mama, what are you doing here?” Dante asked struggling to keep the plaintive tone out of his voice. With Josh on a business trip, he had planned to spend some quality time alone with Peri.
“Well that’s a fine welcome,” Antonia laughed moving forward to kiss her son’s cheek. “I am here so you and Peri can have some time alone, away from all of the children,” she whispered and gave him a knowing smile.
“Thank you,” Peri said coming from the bedroom wheeling two overnight bags. “I appreciate you staying with the children. That is if Dante wants a change of scenery and a night away from this place with me?” She looked at him expectantly. “I would hate to have brought your mother all the way here for nothing.”
“Are you kidding me?” Dante grinned and began hobbling his way toward the elevators on his crutch, not wasting any time. “Thanks, Mama, love you,” he said over his shoulder as he jabbed at the button that would lead them down to the carpark.
“Thanks, Mama,” Peri laughed and followed Dante into the elevator. Dante bubbled with enthusiasm trying to guess where they were going as Peri drove out to the bay.
They boarded a sleek catamaran cruiser, and Peri handed their overnight bags to a steward who stowed them below decks in their room.
“When you are healed, you can plan our date nights but for now, it’s up to me,” Peri said pushing Dante into a deck chair and sliding onto his lap.
“Date nights?” he asked.
“What the three of us have is wonderful, beyond wonderful,” Peri smiled. “I need to know you though without Josh, just as I need time with him without you. I always feel guilty that I can’t give you both what you need individually. I need a date night, whether it is once a month or once a week I need it,” she admitted.
“I love you,” Dante said quietly. “I would love you no matter the time we spent alone or with Josh.”
“Shall we launch, Ma’am?” one of the crew asked as Peri considered how she would respond to his words.
“Not yet I am expecting two more guests,” she spoke with an authority that surprised Dante.
“You know I can’t go anywhere without security,” she blushed as she explained the holdup.
It was only a matter of minutes before Phillip and Gerrard entered nodding at her and sweeping the lower decks.
“All clear,” Phillip said and moved onto the upper deck with Gerrard. The engines began to whirl below them, and Peri smiled as they pulled away from the dock.
“Would you like to explore?” Peri asked in a soft voice.
“Bedroom first please,” Dante didn’t hide his excitement or desire from her. Grinning Peri led the way to the bow of the lower deck and the master suite they would occupy for the night.
“Dante,” she turned to face him in the doorway before they entered the room. “I love you more than I thought possible. So much it scares me sometimes.” He looked at her not saying a word letting her say what she needed to say. “It scares me because I fell in love with Josh and he is my husband and…” her voice faded for a moment. “I can’t help the way I feel about you now. I love you, and I want to know you like I know him.”
“That will come,” Dante said his eyes boring into hers. “Tonight you are mine with no interruptions, no sharing, just mine.” He advanced on her tossing the crutch he used to the side. He wrapped his hand into the hair at the nape of her neck and bent her head back forcing her to look up at him. Peri whimpered, and he kissed her. “I never thought I would find a woman like you outside of the kept yet here you are,” he murmured before kissing her again.
Peri’s head spun as she felt him take control. She knew this was a very real side to him but even the afternoon they had spent together on the farm hadn’t prepared her for the intensity of his eyes and his expression as he took hold of her.
“The men of this family are prepared to make sacrifices, to marry the good girl and keep a nasty girl in the closet. With you I get both,” his hand ran up her side and over her breast. “You are one in a million,” he took her hand and dragged her as he limped into the bedroom.
“I’m not so special,” she tried to argue as he closed the door behind them.
“In here for the next twelve hours, you are mine. Kneel,” he commanded. Peri sank to her knees tilting her head unsure of this side of Dante. “Like I said I don’t have the benefit of a year with you. I am still in the lustful needy stage as Josh once was,” he spoke as he undid his belt, button, and fly. “Understand that I need this, more than you could know, I need to do this.” Peri quivered in dread as he advanced on her. “I need you.”
“I love you,” Peri said simply in the face of his need. This was a different man to the one she knew, and she wasn’t sure how to deal with him. She remained on her knees as he slowly stripped off his pants exposing the large dressing on his leg. She knew that wearing long pants annoyed him as they rubbed on the dressing and she could see his instant relief as he removed them. He then pulled his shirt off over his head. Peri felt her need ignite and begin a slow burn as she gazed at the man before her.
“I don’t suppose you packed any toys into those bags?” he eyed the two overnight cases that had been placed in the corner of the room. They seemed large for just one night. He took in the shy smile and the way her eyes lit up at his question and grinned. “Why don’t you show me what you’ve brought for us.” He stepped back and sat on the bed leaning in a relaxed manner watching her carefully.
Peri kept her eyes on his as she tried to unfurl from her kneel as gracefully as possible. She padded softly over to the bags and unzipped both. She took two boxes, one from each bag and carried them to the bed where Dante lounged.
“Two boxes of fun,” he sat up and rubbed his hands together.
“May I speak?” she asked tentatively.
“Always,” he frowned at her. “I may want to dominate and play with you in here, but you are still the woman I love. I would be disappointed if you felt you couldn’t be honest about anything I ask of you.” He took her hand and drew her to him. “You’re overdressed,” his eyes crinkled as he suppressed a smile. “You can talk, and I will help you out of this dress,” he ran his hands up her legs lifting the dress as they rose.
“There is no rush, you have me to yourself for almost twenty-four hours,” she grinned and took the necklace he had given her to signify her submission to him from one of the boxes and handed it to him. “I don’t want you to overdo it with your leg,” she said not keeping the concern from her voice as he placed it around her neck and fastened it.
“I’m not a masochist Peri,” he chuckled. “Quite the opposite in fact. I will be careful and let you brush up on your riding skills. Now can we take this off?” He pushed the dress up her legs again, and she giggled helping him to remove the dress. “This too,” he flicked her bra strap.
Peri reached behind her and undid the bra, slowly peeling the garment away to reveal her breasts. She was self-conscious with their lack of fullness since her milk had waned. Dante sat up cupping the soft globes of flesh and bring a nipple to his mouth. She felt the familiar tingles of arousal rather than the rush of milk letting down into her breasts, and she murmured softly in pleasure.
“Anything else?” He asked transferring his mouth to the other breast.
“There are other people on this boat with us, I don’t want them running in here thinking you are killing me,” she said softly. “It’s not sound-proof like our room at home. I have found that Gerrard and Phillipe take their jobs very seriously.”
“I understand, but they are Donati men. They have signed family contracts which means they will ignore certain aspects of what we do while they guard us,” Dante murmured hooking his fingers into the tops of her panties and sliding them down her legs. “So beautiful,” he murmured as his hands ran back up her legs and over her hips. One hand stroked over her belly, and he pulled her closer kissing it. Peri had glowed throughout her pregnancy, and he couldn’t wait until she was fertile again determining that the next child she had would be his. Of course, he would never know for sure, but he knew he would love all of her children as if they were his own, including the three that had already arrived.
Wrapping his arms around her and the boxes of toys momentarily forgotten, Dante leaned back onto the bed carrying her with him. He kissed her deeply feeling the softness of her body as it pressed against him. She was right they had all night to play, and he desperately needed to fuck her right there and then. It had been over a week since his surgery, and she had not even entertained the idea of intimacy with him. He rolled her onto her back and hovered over momentarily lifting the lower part of the injured leg and placing a little of his weight on his knee.
“You’re right,” he murmured, “We have all night to play with toys.” He pulled her legs up at the knee and pushed them wide. “I am glad you are wearing that necklace because you are going to regret enforcing a week of celibacy on me,” he grinned and pushed his cock into her finding her as warm, wet and welcoming as ever. While not exactly a quick fuck there was no finesse in his actions as he pounded into her as hard as he could, making her feel every millimetre of his cock. He revelled in the sounds of her and the matching movements she made raising her hips to meet his as if needing this rough fuck as much as he did.
When they came, it wasn’t the earth-shattering high that they were used to but rather a satisfying slow burn of their arousal and need for each other that left them breathless and sated. Dante rolled to his back taking the weight from his knees and groaned appreciatively as Peri kissed down his body and began to clean his cock with long slow strokes of her tongue.
“Keep that up and we won’t be making it up onto the deck to watch the sunset,” he growled.
“I would like that,” she almost purred contentedly as she lay her head on his thigh and ran her fingers through the dark curly hair that crowned his manhood.
“We better put some clothes on then,” he stroked her hair enjoying her attention being solely on him. “No underwear, just a loose shift if you brought one.”
“I need a bra at least,” she looked up at him.
“No,” he said sternly. “Unless you have a bikini in that bag you are not fettering those wonderful tits until we leave for home.”
“No, we can’t swim with your leg the way it is,” she said. Josh had a large aversion to bras and knowing she would travel from here to the chalet she had packed a dress with a halter neck and built-in support that made her feel more confident than going completely without any support for her sagging breasts.
Dante pulled her up into his arms and kissed her deeply. “You are beautiful and sexy and mine,” he murmured into her ear and stroking over the necklace she wore as a sign of her submission to him during their first encounters in the playroom. “Now get up and dressed before I change my mind about leaving this very comfortable bed.” He slapped her ass hard making her yelp in surprise.
They made their way out onto the deck after dressing slowly, Peri into the comfortable revealing halter neck dress and Dante into loose filling shorts and a polo shirt. They made their way to the front of the main deck which faced the setting sun and stood at the rail. A steward approached wheeling a small silver trolley.
“Compliments of Master Vincenzo,” he informed them quietly picking up a bottle of champagne from the ice bucket for Dante to inspect. “Would you like me to pour, Sir?”
“Please,” Dante murmured with a nod. He turned to gaze at Peri speculatively. “You borrowed this boat from Vincenzo,” he cocked his head to one side. It was a statement rather than a question.
“I borrowed from Zita, actually,” Peri laughed. “Your uncles still intimidate me a little.” She admitted. Dante chuckled with her quietly impressed that she had built relationships within the family so fast. “It’s very nice of your Uncle to send a gift, though,” she said taking the glass from the steward and sipping it as he pushed the bottle back into the ice and slowly melted away out of sight.
“To Date nights,” Dante grinned and sipped the champagne. “What else do you have planned for this evening?”
“Dinner after sunset and I thought we could make the rest up as we went along,” she smiled shyly.
“Wonderful planning,” Dante moved forward and kissed her lightly. Stepping back, he leaned on the crutch he used for support and considered her thoughtfully. She was an extraordinary woman, and he understood her need to escape the confines of their home and the bed they shared with Josh. This time together apart from the world they knew was her attempt to bring him into her life as a couple separate from family expectations and the strain if feeling like she was betraying Josh. He didn’t need it. It was enough that he knew she loved him. When he had woken up in recovery and seen her hovering over him, the concern etched on her face; it had reinforced in his mind that they had moved on from those first tentative days of their relationship.
“And tomorrow we go back to the real world?” He tilted his head.
“No,” she said turning to face him. “Let’s sit,” she indicated the comfortable looking lounging area behind them.
“This sounds ominous,” he frowned but followed her, and they sat closely on a small couch allowing him to wrap his arms around her as they looked out at the setting sun.
“We have the boat to ourselves until lunchtime tomorrow,” she said softly. “Just you and me making our own memories.” she snuggled closer to him.
“I understand,” he murmured into her ear. “It can’t be easy with both of us putting claims on your time and attention.”
“It’s not difficult but I think each of us deserves some time as a couple which made the suggestion to do this sooner rather than later easy to agree to.” She said tentatively.
“Suggestion?” Dante questioned pulling back slightly to look at her.
“I will never deliberately lie to you or Josh,” she reached up and touched Dante’s cheek. “I love you. I don’t ever want you to doubt that, and I want time like this to make our own memories.” She paused as he narrowed his eyes and she went on again before he could speak. “In some ways, you and Josh are very similar and in others so very different. Josh needs to be in control of every facet of his life to be happy and successful. Our relationship, while he accepts and even encourages it, is a strain for him at times.” She tried to explain.
“I got the feeling he wasn’t happy at the New Year’s Eve party,” Dante considered her words carefully.
“I think you might not understand why that was,” she whispered. “It wasn’t what we were doing. He seems to enjoy our intimacy and watching us together, like that,” she blushed. “It was that we didn’t tell him we were leaving for a little while.”
“It took me a long time to understand what it did to him when I left him, during my recovery and when I tried to leave him again at the engagement party. It’s the not knowing, the loss of control. He needs it like he needs air. Finding me just gone without a word at the party rattled him badly,” she tried to explain.
Dante could hear and acknowledge the truth in her words. He said nothing letting her talk.
“When I was entering the trial we had thought I would be kept at the farm, within his reach so that if anything went wrong he could come and fix it. Your father waited until we landed to tell us about the Battaglia and gave me all of thirty seconds to choose whether to agree or not continue. Josh didn’t handle that well, but it is not my story to tell,” she hesitated. “He was upset, angry even, then, well we know what happened there and my refusal to see him or any of you.”
Dante knew the information, but he hadn’t thought about it regarding Josh’s feelings. The court trial had been tough for all of them, the knowledge of what Nik had done and the subsequent damage control within the family and the other tables. Josh had been strung out, but it had been easy to write off given that it was Nik. They all understood Peri’s reaction, he just hadn’t put it into context with everything else that was going on. If he was honest, he had been devastated that she wouldn’t see any of them during that time. He hadn’t acknowledged the depths of his feelings then, though he knew he felt more for her than he should have for his brother’s woman.
“The point is, Josh needs to know that nothing between us has changed and when he feels me slipping even a little bit, well it unbalances his world,” she took a breath. “Your father calls him domineering and a perfectionist in all facets of his life, and I can’t say I disagree, but I also know that he is kind and generous and fair which balances out the other side of his personality. It’s all about that balance, if that makes sense.”
“Yes,” Dante said quietly looking back over the year and all they had been through together in his minds eye.
“You, on the other hand, are intuitive and confident because you can read people. You are emotional and loving even in your dark times. You can see when someone needs support or the harsh truth and give it in equal measure. I don’t think you realise just how much your brothers rely on you for that. Ben seriously lost it when he didn’t have you to turn to the night of the shooting,” Peri reached up to touch his cheek again.
“I think you have me mistaken with Lio,” he said with a wry smile and reached up to take her hand from his cheek holding it softly in his own.
“You are an amazing man and people probably don’t tell you often enough how important you are to them because Lio was always there to be the good guy. Even when he was alive, you were the one they all leant on, despite his sweetness. He may not have been as controlling as Josh, but Lio was a perfectionist, at work at least if not at home.”
“He was,” Dante chuckled acknowledging the fact.
“Ben and Romey have not taken their wives part in what happened at the auction house well,” Peri said softly, “They need your understanding, and they need your forgiveness. Most of all they just need you and your natural way of seeing to the heart of the matter.” She acknowledged the surprise on his face.
“There is nothing to forgive them for,” he was stunned by the idea. He knew the full story, and he didn’t blame either of the women. They had after all gone to Peri with the warning thinking the attack would be the following day. They had tried to avert what happened.
“Tomorrow when we dock, Vincenzo is bringing Ben to the boat and Charles is bringing Romey and Pete. They’d like to take you out for some manly bonding while deep sea fishing,” she said, “Surprise!” she said cheerfully, but the concern in her eyes showed as she waited for his reaction.
“Whose suggestion was this?” he asked carefully remembering her earlier words.
“The fishing trip was my idea,” Peri admitted.
“You said earlier that it was a suggestion,” he narrowed his eyes and reached out for the bottle to refill their glasses.
“Your father came to me last week concerned about Josh. He suggested date night, I took it one step further and probably over organised everything,” she bit her lip and looked down at their entwined hands.
“So you sent Josh off today so you could have this time with me, and you will send me off so you can go to Josh?” he asked not showing any emotion in his expression or voice.
“Are you mad at me?” She whispered.
“I feel like I have been ambushed, but I’m not mad. You’ve made me think about some things differently, and that will take some adjustment. I’ve never seen Josh as a control freak. I can see elements of it now you have pointed it out. I like the idea of Date Night, but you don’t have to occupy my time like you would a child, while you spend time with Josh, if that is what he needs, I would never begrudge the two of you time alone. I am, however looking forward to our time alone tonight,” he took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. “I appreciate your honesty and your insight, thank you.”
“You are an amazing man, and I love you,” she said looking up into his face
“I may be content to share your affections, but you are every bit as much mine now as you are Josh’s. I have told Josh that I could never let you go now and walk away even if that is what he wanted. I know we told him that in the beginning but I am so in love with you that it would be impossible ever to do it now,” he kissed her deeply pulling her against his body. “If it were up to me we would forgo dinner and head back downstairs again, but you will need your stamina for what I have in mind,” he grinned. “Why don’t we see if we can speed up the event a little.”
“I’ll go and find the steward,” Peri smiled in relief that he wasn’t upset for making the plans the way she had without telling him. She hoped it went as well with Josh as she tried to explain she needed time alone with Dante as well as him.
Dante watched her walk away considering all that she had said. He was almost ten years older than Josh and although they had spent time together during vacations and holidays he had missed most of his youngest brothers growing years leaving for boarding school when Josh was barely three and never returning home in a full-time capacity. Not that it would have mattered he thought, by that time Josh would have been at the same boarding school he had graduated from.
They were close, or at least he had thought they were, with family meetings in the city once Josh had started work. Josh even hung out with both himself and Emilio socially from time to time. How had he not seen Josh’s controlling nature until it was pointed out to him? He had seen glimpses of it along with his perfectionism, but all of his brothers had confidence that bordered on arrogance in their personalities. They had grown up in a privileged world where nothing they did could not be undone by their family connections. He’d tested that theory often enough in his youth getting Emilio out of bar room brawls.
This was far from a boat, Dante thought and laughed at her word for the luxury yacht as he glanced up to where she stood to talk to the crew on the deck above where he sat. She’d gone to a lot of trouble and pulled herself away from the nursery and her babies to make this time with him and Josh possible. He’d never met a woman like her. She constantly sacrificed her needs for those around her. He determined that this, their first date, would be memorable for her, and he smiled as he watched her move from his line of sight, he guessed to move back to where he sat.
“So this is Vincenzo’s catamaran?” Dante asked as she returned.
“Yes, it was lovely of him to let us have it a day early,” she grinned. “We can go up to the dining area if you like but the first course won’t be ready for a little while yet.”
“We can finish our champagne then,” he said easily pulling her back down onto the couch with him. “Thank you for this, I needed to get out of the house after so long being stuck there healing, how did you get Pete to agree to it?”
“I hinted that you would spend most of the time in bed, and I promised not to let you overdo anything,” she admitted blushing slightly. “There isn’t anything you would do here during a night with me that you couldn’t do at home unless you’re planning on swimming and I sincerely hope you’re not.”
“No, I’m not planning on swimming,” he chuckled and kissed her. “I just thought that I could have spent the evening in bed with you at home, and it would be a crime to waste this beautiful view by spending all of it below decks.”
Peri looked at him quizzically as he picked up her champagne glass and passed it to her. She took a sip and leaned back snuggling into his side as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The sun had gone down, but the last of its light still stained the horizon with its golden glow as the darkness marched across the sky uncovering stars as it went.
“What delectable menu have you devised for us?” Dante asked into the silence.
“Truthfully, Zita said that the chef was superb, and she would organise that for me. I hope you don’t mind it was one less thing I had to think about, and I am not very good at choosing wines that go with different dishes,” she apologised.
“Oh my God, you know what this means?” Dante asked sitting back and looking at her in horror. He saw the panic register in her eyes, and he smirked. “You’re not perfect? I’ve discovered your weakness. I am so relieved. I was starting to believe you were too perfect, and I could never measure up.” He laughed heartily as she shook her head the tension flowing from her.
“If you wanted perfection, you are definitely looking in the wrong place here,” she continued to shake her head.
“You are perfect in every way that matters, my love,” he tilted her head up and tenderly kissed her taking his time to enjoy just being here in the moment.
“Who are you and what have you done with the man I love?” Peri asked feeling the difference in his kiss and hearing his full laugh for the first time it seemed since the New Year’s Eve party.
“Oh, he’s here,” his hand dropped to her breast flicking the nipple below the soft material making her eyes widen. “I have just decided to slow down and enjoy every moment of this evening with you starting with wishing on the evening star for many more nights like this.” He pointed at a bright star hovering above the horizon.
Peri snuggled back into his side and smiled contentedly as she sipped her champagne. She felt the arm wrapped around her slide under her arm and his fingers play over the soft material covering her breast as they sat in silence watching the stars appear above them.