by Sienna Mynx
Armando's sports car had little room for the bags of clothes she selected. They sat between them. With the top down, she could inhale the fresh air of Sicilia. Catalina had swiped a pair of designer sunglasses from the boutique to cover her red, swollen eyes. The drive was mostly comfortable because of the music he played. But even that false sense of comfort felt wrong and fleeting. Armando had a few similarities to Dominic. They both loved fast cars. And drove them like professional race-car drivers. She hoped he’d spin around a curve so quick he drove them both off the cliff side road.
Catalina glanced at him a few times, but she could see nothing on his face. Just his dark sunglasses covered his eyes. They arrived at the gates to the Mancini home in under an hour. Two men greeted them and let them enter. They drove onto his land. The Mancinis had plenty of land. More land than they did house. She saw trucks and jeeps with men hanging around them. And a few tents posted. She could see tables with guns and ammunition laid out. It looked like their entire camp was under siege and ready for war.
“What is going on?” she asked.
“Why do you think something is going on?” he answered.
“I can tell. Has something happened between you and my family?”
“My men don’t care about your family.”
Armando parked. Ignacio approached the car. He was looking at her, not his boss. Catalina felt dread creep into her stomach. The stab of guilt sharpened and twisted like the cold steel of a knife. Her door was opened for her, but she wasn’t able to move. She stared at Ignacio. Was this it? Was this the moment he would tell her that Giovanni had died? Is that the reason the men were all on the grass, surrounding the compound? She needed to know. But she was afraid of the answer.
“Boss, we need to talk.”
“Is it my brother?” she blurted.
Ignacio smiled, but didn’t answer. Armando removed his sunglasses. He gave her a reassuring nod. “Go inside. Wait for me. I will explain.”
“No! Tell me now! Make him say it now, Armando! I’m begging you, please. I can feel it. Something is wrong.”
Armando stared at her for a moment, then his gaze slipped over to Ignacio. “Is it Giovanni?”
“No, Boss.”
Catalina let go a sigh of relief. She turned to get out of the car when Ignacio delivered a decisive blow to her heart.
“It’s Vito Battaglia. He’s dead.”
“What did you say?” Catalina asked.
“Dead. As dead as your cousin Rosetta.”
“That’s a lie. I... Zio Vito is in Roma!”
“Basta Ignacio. Let’s discuss it inside.” Armando got out of the car. Catalina didn’t wait, she was out of the car and confronting Ignacio with a shove to his chest. The man was unmoved. But all the men tensed and glared.
“Fucking liar! Vaffanculo a chi t'è morto—go fuck the souls of your dead family. My Zio isn’t dead. He isn’t. You fucking liar!” she slapped him, but was pulled back before she could deliver a blow. Armando wrapped his arms around her and forced her to be still.
“He’s a fucking liar! Testa di cazzo! I’ll kill him! I’ll kill him!” she broke free and elbowed Armando, delivering a decisive blow to his nose. And then she attacked Ignacio. She leapt on him, fighting and clawing at his face. Her attack was so ferocious he was caught off guard, all the men were. He lost his balance in trying to shove her off, but she was all hands and feet. She kicked and scratched at him. Ignacio went down hard on the ground and she punched his face. He recovered, and tried to throw her off, but Armando’s men got to Catalina and lifted her. She kicked Ignacio in the ribs with her new shoes, as they dragged her away. She screamed and hissed angry threats like a feral woman. Armando shouted at his men to let her go. They did. But they all looked ready to draw their guns on her if she charged their boss the way she attacked his consigliere.
Instead Catalina ran for the door and inside.
“Catalina!” Armando shouted after her.
“That bitch!” Ignacio got up from the ground. He had several long scratches that bled on his face and a split lip. He was humiliated and enraged, a deadly mix for Ignacio. Armando leveled his eyes on him and Ignacio lowered his voice. But he puffed and paced like a caged bull. “What is she doing here, Boss? She’s fucking insane. Why keep her here? We should be out there taking back what is ours! Send her in a box back to the Battaglias!”
“You threatening her? Are you? You threaten her, you threaten me...”
“Boss?”
“Say another word against her and I’ll cut you down.” Armando said through clenched teeth. Ignacio looked up with surprise as the men that worked for him raised their guns and aimed them at Ignacio. Everyone froze and waited for their boss to give the word.
“Anyone lay a hand on her, even look at her wrong, and I’ll gut you! Do you all understand me?”
The men all nodded their allegiance.
“I want the truth. Is Vito Battaglia dead?”
“Coluegio called from Roma. He says the Battaglias arrived in Bagheria from Sorrento. Apparently, the authorities have found the body of Rosetta and they brought her home. She will be on display in the Battaglia’s villa soon. The priests of Santa Lucia shared the story. Said they were sending for Vito. Apparently, they told Vito that Rosetta was dead, and the old man’s heart couldn’t take it. He’s dead.”
Armando glanced to the open door of the villa. He may not be fond of the Battaglias, but he did have a fondness for Vito. Despite the ways he used Rosetta to help him plot against their family. Now both were dead, and the blood of the family was on his hands. He took no pleasure in that fact.
“How do you want to handle it?” Ignancio asked, trying to appear as if he were back in control. Armando arched a brow at the question. The other men lowered their guns. Armando felt the respect of his authority challenged and knew he should address it. He couldn’t help but weigh that responsibility against Catalina’s suffering.
“My sister here? With Lorenzo?”
“Yes.”
“Have they been told?”
“No. But Boss....”
“I’ll deliver the news.” He walked up the steps and headed toward the back of his villa. He assumed Catalina went straight to Marietta and Lorenzo.
“Don Armando,” Bionca said. The young woman stood at the corner of the bottom stairwell as if waiting for him. “La signorina went up the stairs. She was upset. I thought you should know.”
“Grazie,” Armando changed course. He headed up the stairs and down the hall to his room. It was where he found her. Crying and pacing, grief had unleashed in her like he’d never seen. He wondered how she handled the news of her brothers shooting and was able to recover. She didn’t care about herself, or even her plight. When her family was hurt, she reacted like a lioness protecting her cubs. It was a trait a man respected in his woman. Specifically, a man like him, who wanted to have a family, and a partner that shared his darkness. He entered the room and closed the door.
“Is it true? Is what Ignaccio said true?” she demanded with clenched fists.
“I’ll double check the information. But my source is... reliable.”
“How did he die? Was it the cancer?”
“Does it matter?”
“Tell me what you know.” She took a step toward him. “Tell me!”
“They have found Rosetta’s body. Your aunt went to see Vito to tell him the news. His heart stopped.”
“No...”
“It’s what I know. Like I said I will confirm...”
“Noooooooo!” she put her hands to her head. She wept and collapsed in tears. Armando went to her. He couldn’t make her stand, so he swept her off the floor into his arms. He carried her over to his favorite chair, and sat with her cradled in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and cried her heart out against his neck. She cried so hard her sobs left her trembling all over.
Chapter Sixteen
Two Days Later
Sorrento, Italy
&nb
sp; “Maaaaaaa-ma! Maaaaaaaaaaaa-ma! Aspettami—wait for me!”
The sing song voice of her daughter called out to her. Mirabella stopped halfway along the path between Melanzana and villa Rosso. The little girl half-ran and half-skipped along the cobblestone walkway, like a young one caught up in a playful game of hopscotch. The path they took was divided by tall green blades of grass and dandelions. Tiny insects and butterflies with wings of purple and yellow, stirred in Eve’s passing. Sorrento had to be the most beautiful village in Italy at this time of year.
Eve’s long pigtails flapped against her shoulders. She wore a pair of blue overall shorts, and a white and yellow striped shirt. In that brief moment of her baby-girl’s joyful approach, Mirabella was reminded again of her goals. Protect her husband, her children, her family at all cost.
“Eve, I asked you to stay inside. Nico is going to take you riding today with your brothers. Don’t you want to feed the horses?”
“No.”
“Eve.”
“I want to see my Papa,” she said and took Mirabella’s hand. “Come on.”
“He’s not here yet, sweetheart. I have meetings this morning, I explained this to you at breakfast.”
“Papa used to let me come to his meetings. Do you remember?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Only Gino and Gianni go with him now. Can I come to yours? I’ll be good. I promise. I can help.”
Mirabella glanced behind her to the villa. She once hated the idea of Eve being exposed to her husband’s affairs. However, she learned to accept it when he shunned his daughter and chose to involve her sons at an early age. Why was it acceptable for her boys and not Eve? Who would her daughter become without her influence to help her navigate the world she was born into? Would she be destined to repeat the same mistakes she had?
“Please, Mama?”
“Va bene, cara. You have to promise to be a good girl and silent.”
“I promise.”
Mirabella walked up the path while holding Eve’s hand. Her daughter continued to hop on one foot and jump at her side. “Papa will stay out here, won’t he? In villa Rosso? I heard Zia say he will have doctors that stay with us, and that he will be all better. Zia said it. I want to see for myself. See Papa, and tell him to come into my room. To be with me and talk to me. Like he used to!”
Mirabella’s heart ached. She listened as Eve told her all the things she needed Papa to do when he came home. She stopped again on the path, and knelt before her. Eve didn’t stop speaking. Mirabella had to smile. How often did Giovanni claim that all Mirabella did was talk and talk. Little Eve definitely got her gift for speaking her mind from her.
The wind seemed to sweep downward to Eve’s level. The warm breeze toussled Mirabella’s long bangs, and blew her hair from her cheeks so she could feel the sun beaming hotly against her face. She needed to go inside the villa immediately so as to not sweat off her makeup. First impressions were of great importance. But a mother never turned away from her daughter.
“Hey, hey, that’s enough. Listen, sweetheart, take a breath.”
Eve stopped talking. She panted with bubbling excitement. She smiled.
“Zia is right. Papa will come home today. But the better news is he will stay inside the house, and not in villa Rosso. I have changed my mind.”
“You have?”
She kissed Eve’s hands. “Papa needs you. He needs family.”
“He does?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Then what is wrong with him? Why you not let me see him?”
“He’s sleeping, Eve. His body is healing and he’s trying to get better. We are going to help. You are going to help me wake him up.”
“How? What do I do?”
“Love him.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all. It’s your job to read to him, talk to him about ballet and riding the horses. Tell him all your secrets. And when the time is right, he will open his eyes and tell you how special you are to take such good care of him.”
“Why me? Why don’t you talk to him and tell him to wake up?”
“I have, and I will, and you will. Now I understand that it’s not just Mama he needs. Papa needs the love of us all. So together we will wake him. We will heal him.”
Eve grinned. She hadn’t seen her daughter so excited in a very long time.
“Can he stay in my room, Mama?”
“No, sweetheart. But guess what?”
“Che cosa?” Eve asked.
Mirabella took her hands. “You will be able to see him anytime you want.”
“Promise me? Pinky promise me like Titi Marietta does. Where is Catalina? I want her and Titi Marietta, too.”
Eve’s mention of her aunts struck Mirabella. She blinked out of it, and recovered with a smile. She held up her pinky and Eve wrapped her smaller pinky finger around hers. “Pinky promise!”
“Pinky promise! Mirabella pulled Eve to her and squeezed her to her heart. “Now, come with me. Let us do this meeting Mama has together.”
The past two days had been a dark spiral for the family since Zio Vito’s and Rosetta’s death. The grief was so strong, weeping could be heard from every room in Melanzana before the family left for Sicilia. Giovanni still hadn’t woken from his coma. The only bright ray of hope were the results of his MRI and other brain scans. They showed no sign of brain damage. Physically he was healing. The better news was he had been cleared to come home, and in two days she and Francesca had transformed Melanzana’s third floor into a hospital wing. She even had quarters for the medical staff. Two nuns who worked as nurses, and two experienced doctors, who would stay under the watchful scope of her husband’s men until he woke.
It was the first commanding decision she made as Donna, and it felt right. Dominic was barely sober, but functioning. He’d had no progress in locating Catalina. The depression in him had turned to darkness. However, he did organize the return of the family to Bagheria. The funeral plans for Vito and Rosetta were underway. Rocco had stepped in and filled the void left by her husband and Dominic. He put her through a grueling two days of Mafioso boot camp. Today would be the test.
“Donna, they are ready for you.” Leo said.
She and Eve followed Leo to villa Rosso. In her many years of marriage, the compound sanctuary, the place she made into a home, had seen few uninvited visitors. The meetings she granted today were out of necessity. She could not travel into town and perform this duty as Giovanni would. She had to be here, where they were safest.
Leo opened the door, went in first, and then held it for them. Mirabella entered, and every seated person stood. All of them transfixed on her. Very few of them had ever been this close. She gazed upon the people gathered. She had agreed to meet with twenty-three of the shopkeepers, street merchants, thieves and employees that worked for them. Where Giovanni held these meetings previously was still a mystery to her. In the past, no one was allowed in villa Rosso but his men and associates. Her meetings would be different. Mirabella represented the family. And to her, any meeting was an extension of Giovanni, not a replacement of his role as their Don. Rocco agreed with her approach. Dominic did not.
“Donna Mirabella, che piacere verditi!”
“Donna Mirabella, buongiorno!”
“Buongiorno!”
“Salve, Donna Mirabella.”
Voices raised, and a few that were bold enough to try to reach for her were immediately stopped by her men. Eve grabbed her mother’s leg and looked on in wonder. Mirabella picked Eve up. “Buongiorno a tutti,” Mirabella said to the competing voices in the room. The others silenced. “I will see each of you soon.” Mirabella walked toward her husband’s office with Eve looking over her shoulder at the others. Rocco waited by Giovanni’s desk. Dominic sat on the leather sofa speaking into the phone.
The office re-model was swift, but not as lavish as she had once set the place up to be for her husband’s comfort. She only needed the basics now. Mirabella
was however, grateful that all traces of Giovanni’s destructive rage were gone.
“Dominic voiced his concerns with me about conducting the meeting here. I’m not convinced there will be a problem with impropriety. But I do agree, it’s not our way.”
“I won’t take any unnecessary risks.”
“I know. It’s just... Giovanni has rarely approved of visits from people outside of the clan that serve him. He has always kept the family, you, separate.”
“Giovanni isn’t in charge right now. I am. Isn’t that what you’ve been drilling in me for the past two days? And they are not visiting our home. They are being escorted here. I made a decision. I expect everyone to respect it, not throw in my face what Giovanni would approve of.”
Rocco gave her a nod of agreement.
“Did you invite the doctor here?” Dominic asked, and hung up the call he was on.
“Doctor? Giovanni comes today, of course the doctors are arriving.” Rocco answered.
“No. That lady doctor. Sera Marchetti. She’s at the gates.”
“Oh?” Rocco frowned. “What use do we have for her?”
Dominic and Rocco stared at Mirabella curiously. Of course they all thought Mirabella remained a mental head case in need of supervision. She couldn’t blame them. For the past few months she had been emotionally and physically incapacitated. But she was far stronger now.
“Yes. I invited her.”
“Why?” the men asked in unison.
“We’ll discuss it later. Have her wait inside Melanzana.”
Mirabella walked Eve around the desk. She sat and put her daughter on her lap. Eve immediately grabbed a pen and notepad to begin to write her thoughts, or draw a picture. Dominic and Rocco didn’t move or speak. They continued to stare.
“Who am I seeing first?” she asked.
“Santa. Let’s see Santa first, Mommy!”
“Hush, Eve.”
“She’s talking about Roberto Bianchi. He’s the older man with the white beard. A shopkeeper that sells limoncello, lemon soaps, and things to tourists down in Piano di Sorrento.” Rocco nodded to Dominic to bring in the first appointment.