by Sienna Mynx
Arielle burst into tears. She looked so relieved. Mirabella left before she spilled tears of her own. She returned to the car where Tacchini waited outside of it. He opened the door for her and she got inside.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
Mirabella let go her tears of relief. She had been so scared that Giovanni had betrayed her. She needed the truth. Tacchini opened his arm and pulled her to him. He comforted her. She let him. For the second time. There was a tap on the window. Mirabella realized the intimacy shared between her and the Don. She immediately withdrew. He rolled down his window.
Umberto glared at Don Tacchini, then his gaze switched over to her. He cleared his throat. “Donna, I got a page from Melanzana. Rocco has broken his hip. The doctors called an ambulance. He is now headed to the hospital, as are Zia and Dominic. They want you to join them. We can take you, Donna.” he said the latter after giving Tacchini a look.
“I don’t mind, Mirabella,” Tacchini offered.
“No. Thank you. You’ve done enough. Yes, Umberto take me to him.” Her enforcer went around the car to her side in a flash. He couldn’t wait to bring her out of the car with Tacchini. Before she turned to leave, the Don touched her hand.
“If you need anything. Call me. Okay?”
“I meant what I said. Goodbye Piero.”
***
Mirabella rushed to the hospital. She barely heard the nuns advise where the family was. She worked hard to keep her panic down. She knew very little of his condition. Only that he was hurt and it was her fault. He suffered because of her.
When she arrived at the hall where his room was she saw Dominic first. He was with Dr. Marchetti. The two of them saw her next. Dominic looked relieved. Mirabella hugged him first to feel sane and then to reassure him. “He’s okay? Right?”
“They want to take him into surgery.” Dominic took her hand and pulled her into the waiting room. Zia sat with her head in her hands crying. Mirabella went to her. She hugged her and Zia hugged her back.
“I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I swear I didn’t mean to do it.”
“You didn’t do it,” Zia said. “He was pushing himself too hard... too far.”
“I did this. We argued. I made him fall.”
Dominic sighed. “Yes, he fell. But that’s not your fault. The doctors said that he has very low blood pressure. They think its postural hypotension. That’s why he’s been more and more reliant on the cane.”
Zia lifted her head. “They think his heart is too weak to fix his hip. There are risks to the surgery. That’s why we haven’t decided yet. We don’t know what to do.”
Mirabella nodded. “What do you think, Dominic? What are the risks?”
“The doctors said the sooner we do the surgery for him at his age the better. But without knowing his cardiovascular health, they aren’t sure he is strong enough. They want to run more tests, and that could take awhile.”
“Signora Battaglia,” Dr. Pena walked inside. He paused at the gathering.
“How is he?” Mirabella asked.
“We have given him something for the pain,” the doctors said.
“Have you gotten the tests results back?” Mirabella pressed.
“We are still waiting, but he is refusing anymore tests. He wants to see you.” Dr. Pena said.
“Zia, you go see him first,” Mirabella turned and helped her stand.
“No, Signora, he is very clear, insistent. He wants to see you, alone,” the doctor said.
“Go to him, Mirabella. Tell him that he has to let the doctors continue the tests,” Zia said through her tears. “Please.”
“Okay, okay,” she agreed. She let the doctor lead her out and left her family behind. They had to go up to another floor to reach his room. And when she arrived she found him awake. He lay propped against his pillows. His focus was trained straight ahead. He glanced at her when she came inside. Mirabella let go tears and rushed over to him. She hugged him. Rocco was feeble in his attempts, but he hugged her.
“I’m so sorry. I am. I swear I never meant for this to happen.”
“I’m an old man. Stop crying. This happens when you are old.”
“You are strong, Rocco. Let them give you the tests. See what can be done.”
“I know my body. The hip is nothing important. I’ve felt it for awhile. I know there is more, something wrong with my ticker. That’s not going to be fixed.”
“No. We just lost Vito, and Giovanni is recovering, we can’t go through this again.”
Rocco grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Stop talking. Stop!”
Mirabella fell silent.
“Listen to me. There are so many things you don’t know. Things I swore to my brothers I would take to my grave. But the family... it’s in trouble. And if I’m gone you have to see it through.”
“See what through?”
“Dominic thought I pushed you into the Cammoristi for selfish reasons. That boy is so smart. Rely on him more. Drunk or sober he’s smart.”
“I know,” Mirabella smiled.
“I was trying to find a way to stop the war between Lorenzo and Giovanni.”
“Why would you try to do that Rocco. You know better than anyone there is no end to it.”
“There can be an end. Before it was too late. If we took the Mancinis down and gained your father’s territory, a truce could be called. Lorenzo could live in Sicily with his family, and Giovanni could stay in Italy with you.”
“Truce? What are you talking about? There is no truce. And Armando would never hand over my father’s legacy to Lorenzo and Marietta. Why would you even suggest this after everything?”
“We are family!”
“Not anymore, Rocco. I’m sorry, but not anymore. All of that changed when Lorenzo and Marietta plotted to kill Giovanni.” She pulled away, but he grabbed her arm again. This time his strength had purpose. He wasn’t trying to hurt her as she previously thought. He was desperate to stop her.
“What is it?”
“I was thrown out of this family once. Because my brother never forgave me for what I had done. But what I did then, I did to help my sister and to help an innocent baby. A baby that could have been mine.”
“Could have been? What baby?”
“Eve has a diary. She kept one. It’s in that attic storage room on the third floor. You know the room. The locked one that no one goes into.”
“I don’t want to talk about Eve’s diary. I want to talk about you letting the doctors run their tests.”
Rocco sighed. “I don’t have the energy to explain. Maybe if he, Giovanni had just gone in there once. Maybe if Catalina had gone in there this could have been prevented. You have to go in there. The proof is in a cedar chest. I wrapped the diary in a red and black wool blanket. Tucked it in the bottom of the chest. I told Eve if Lorenzo and Giovanni ever came to this one day, I’d give them the proof. Tell them the truth.”
“You’re not making any sense. What is the truth?”
“The truth is Eve was not the first one. She was one of many. My brother Tomosino loved young girls and so did I.”
Rocco winced. Mirabella wanted to ease his discomfort but she couldn’t. He wouldn’t let go of her wrist to let her try. He insisted she listen to him. “He liked the ones with the blue eyes and red hair. The year before he took Eve, he took another one. A girl out of Genoa. She was Irish. Part of the migration into Italy. He took her off the streets and forced her to Sorrento and then to Sicily. Kept her locked away at villa Mare Blu.”
Mirabella’s heart began to race. She wasn’t sure of lies and secrets, but she knew from the way Rocco spoke this was the truth. And she didn’t want the burden of knowing.
“I tell you what. You rest, and get better. When Giovanni is awake you and he can talk about this...”
“The girl’s name was Katherine. She tried to kill herself. It was my fault my brother drove her to it. My fault he didn’t believe the child was his.”
“Child?”
<
br /> “He didn’t want her. So I took care of it. I couldn’t have a child with Zia... I, thought the baby could be mine. I am not proud of the man I was back then. I was full of jealousy and rage. Zia grieved so much she wasn’t a wife to me anymore. And one night after drinking too much I did a horrible thing. When she became pregnant she swore to me it was Tomosino’s child and begged me not to tell him of what I had done to her. I didn’t believe her. And it made me angry that she would want Tomosino over me. I told my brother it was my child. He wanted her thrown out like trash.”
“What did you do?” Mirabella asked.
“What I had to do. After I got rid of the young girl, I was going to leave the baby at an orphanage. But my sister was broken. She had lost her daughter because of her affair with Flavio. She was turning mad. I had no idea if the baby was mine or not. Zia would never accept a child I conceived in... rape. I had to atone for my sin. So I gave the baby to my sister, and the young girl disappeared soon after.”
“Rocco, stop. I can’t do this.”
“You have to hear the rest. We came up with a story about one of the servant girls wanting her to have the baby. And we made the adoption official. My brother didn’t suspect.”
“Lorenzo? Lorenzo is that baby? What about his father? The man who married his mother? Are you trying to tell me that he had no idea that the boy wasn’t his?”
“Isabella was already married. Forced into it by me and my brothers. Especially after the incident with her bastard daughter. But she hated the man, and hated the marriage. The baby was a way to fix everything. And Auturo, agreed to be Lorenzo’s father.”
“I still don’t believe it. You’re making this up.”
“It’s true. Even after Auturo died we kept the secret. Or at least I thought we did. I believe my sister told Eve. I think it was the final straw that made Eve run from Tomosino.”
“Giovanni said you were banished because of Isabella, for covering up the affair between her and Flavio.”
“No. My brother never knew about Flavio. I let Giovanni believe he did. I’ve lied so much over the years I don’t know how to tell the truth.”
“I won’t believe this Rocco. It makes no sense.”
“My sister was bitter and cruel to Lorenzo. And it wasn’t all her fault. We made her that way. When I finally had enough of the verbal beatings she gave the boy, she turned that rage back on me. It was because of me she didn’t have her daughter. It was because of me she was in a loveless marriage. And it was because of me she was forced to raise a bastard who was fathered by our brother. She had enough. She got her revenge.”
“How?” Mirabella asked.
“She went to Tomosino and told him that Lorenzo was his child and I hadn’t gotten rid of the baby, accused me of killing the mother. Eve was there for the confession. Tomosino was angry. He had me beaten, almost killed me. Eve intervened and begged for my life. She convinced Tomosino that Lorenzo didn’t have to know. She told Tomosino to accept the boys as his sons. To raise them as his sons. So I was forced to live in exile in Chianti. And my sister was forced to swallow her bitterness unchecked until all of her hate dragged her to an early grave. The only rule of law she obeyed was the one Tomosino enforced. Lorenzo was to never know that he was his son, or mine.”
“So he could be Giovanni’s brother or cousin?” Mirabella stepped back. “You never found out?”
“Those boys have always been drawn to love and hate for each other. They never knew why. They are brothers, not cousins. I see that now. I see the jealousy in Lorenzo that I had in me for Tomosino. I see how cursed they are. Bastards, the both of them at war, and neither of them know why. Lorenzo is entitled to just as much as Giovanni. That’s what I wanted to fix before I die.”
“You let these lies go on for almost forty years and now, after all of this you want to fix it?”
“I didn’t know that Lorenzo tried to have Tomosino killed.”
“Tried? He not only did it but he tried to kill Giovanni!”
“Eve wanted them to know. She wanted to tell them. Tomosino forbade it. To compromise, he said he would put Lorenzo in charge and send Giovanni to college. And that worked for a while. But Lorenzo got caught up in the drug selling, and Flavio hated his existence. Hated that his daughter was thrown out, but Lorenzo was Isabella’s. So he fanned the flames of Tomosino’s anger. Tomosino didn’t trust me, or respect me. I could do nothing from Chianti. When he died, Eve wanted the diary given to the boys. She wanted me to explain it. I told her I would. But I didn’t know she would take her life the way she did. Giovanni had lost both his parents. He had inherited hell, and had Flavio whispering in his ear. I didn’t need to throw that horrible truth at him. If I had, maybe this would have been prevented.”
“So you were meeting with the Mafiosi to set things up for Lorenzo, and you were going to tell them both the truth to end the war?”
“You’ll have to do it. Giovanni is going to get better. He will. And he will need you to make him believe it. The hardest thing in this family is to forgive.”
“I need to stop for a minute. Just stop.”
The doctors came in. Mirabella wiped her tears to keep them from being seen. She faced the doctor. “He’ll have the tests.”
Rocco didn’t object. Dr. Pena had the nurses wheel Rocco out and followed. Dr. Singh stayed behind. She was surprised to see him. He should be at the villa with Giovanni.
“Why are you here? I pay you to stay with my husband.”
“I came with Rocco Battaglia. To make sure he was admitted. And to also get the lab results I requested.”
“I can’t take anymore bad news.”
“This news you have to hear. You’re pregnant.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, you’re eight weeks pregnant,” he said. “You don’t seem surprised.”
“Nothing surprises me anymore. Of course I’m pregnant. It makes total sense. When my world falls apart I should bring new life into it.”
“So this is good news?” Dr. Singh asked.
“The best news for my family.” Mirabella got up from the seat and smiled. The doctor smiled. He turned and left. The moment she was alone she allowed herself to cry.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The Hidden Truth
Sorrento, Italy
Mirabella arrived home ahead of Zia and Dominic. They would stay at Rocco’s side until the last tests were run, and a medical decision was made. But she had to get home. She arrived to find even the staff up and waiting for news. Mirabella gathered the family. She saw Minnie, Belinda, and Cecilia with the kids in the mix. Kyra, her baby and stepson were also present.
“Rocco is going to be okay.”
The family cheered.
“The doctors are going to have to fix his hip so they are running tests.”
They seemed to believe her.
She was a good liar.
“Kyra, come see me when you have a moment.” She escaped her crying children and Minnie, who once again wanted to talk about Marietta. She hurried up the stairs to her room and found the drawer with all the master keys to the locked storage room upstairs. When she went up the stairs, part of her wanted to retreat and return to Giovanni’s side. Part of her wanted to tell him the truth. Give her burden over to him and let him carry the load.
Nothing could or would stop her from her mission. She went to the storage room and pushed open a door that felt like steel. It groaned but eventually opened halfway. The stale air and dust assaulted her first. She was caught up in a sneezing fit. She tried to find a light switch, and when she did she found the bulb inside didn’t work. It must have been a decade since it was changed.
“Damn it.”
Mirabella was forced to go back downstairs and locate a flashlight.
“Mommy?” She froze. Eve was up. She stood there with a muffin in her hand. “What are you doing, Mommy?”
“Isn’t it time for bed sweetheart?” Mirabella walked over and knelt before her daughter.
“Not sleepy and the twins keep crying, so Cecilia let us get a snack. Want some?”
Mirabella bit into the muffin while her daughter held it in her hand. It was deliciously packed with blueberries. She chewed and smiled.
Eve touched her mother’s face. “You okay, Mommy? You look sleepy. Have you been eating?”
“I’m feeling okay. Mommy is sorry that she hasn’t been around more.”
“We don’t see you anymore. You never come to my ballet. And you never come home. Gianni asks for you all the time. And Gino now cries. He never used to cry before,” Eve said. “I talk to Papa and he don’t wake up. I talk and I dance for him and he don’t wake up.”
“Eve, shhh,” Mirabella pulled her baby-girl to her. She hugged her. “Mama has been distracted. She’s been gone, yes. But not anymore. Tonight you tell Cecilia that I want you all to sleep in my bed. Okay? I’m going to take care of something and then I’m going to get in bed with you. Tomorrow, it is just us. I promise. Mama will be here all day.”
“Promise me?”
“Yes!”
“Okay!” Eve said, and all past disappointments were forgiven. Mirabella was wrong. There was forgiveness in her house, it was with her children. Eve kissed her on the cheek and turned and ran out yelling Cecilia’s name. Mirabella stood again and tested the flashlight. Its beam was bright enough. She went back up the stairs, but felt tired with each step. Part of her wanted to save it for the morning. But a bigger part of her needed to know the truth. So she pushed herself onward.
She unlocked the door to find a stairwell. She had to climb the narrow stairs to reach the next door. And when she went inside there was no light source to guide her. But the door swung open with ease. The flashlight swept the darkness. It was an attic. It looked so much like the one Me-Ma used to do her sewing in. Mirabella braced against the surge of lonely heartache she felt as memories of her Me-Ma surfaced. There were boxes stacked on top of each other. There were dress mannequins with sewing patterns attached, and even a sewing machine. There were racks of clothes, an old bed frame, antique crib, hats, clothes, boxes and more boxes. She kept sweeping the beam left, and then swinging it right. She kept searching. But as soon as she moved the light beam away, the darkness swallowed the space and it made it even harder to see what she may have initially missed.