by Sienna Mynx
Leo looked on as if he didn’t believe her. They piled in the truck and reversed out. Marietta sprayed dirt and rocks in a cloud of dust in their wake. Mira felt a pang of guilt for leaving her babies. “I’m not sure how we should do this.”
“Huh?” Marietta glanced over at her. “Are you for real? You say that now?”
“I just… didn’t think it through,” Mira said.
Marietta accelerated. “This is it, Mira. We either take a stand and end this or we let our husbands tell us what to believe.”
Mira chewed over the reasoning and held to the inside of the door as they drove dangerously fast around the mountain. “We can’t go this way.”
“Why?” Marietta asked.
“She’s right,” Gemma spoke up. “If your husbands are coming then you have to get off the main road. They’ll see you.”
Mira nodded. She glanced up at the moon. She had no idea if Giovanni had left Italy or not but her gut said he had. “Do you know another way?”
“I do. It’ll take longer, but get us there. Take this road.” Gemma pointed. Mira squinted at the road that was covered in dense forest. As soon as Marietta made the turn Mira suspected it was a mistake. The isolation of the road and absence of moonlight made it very hazardous for the large truck.
Marietta decreased speed.
“I don’t like this,” Mira cast Gemma a suspicious look. She removed her gun and put it on her lap so Gemma could see it in the dark. “This better not be a trap.”
Gemma shook her head. “I swear it. I’ll get you to Mancini. I only ask that you help me in return.”
“Help you how?” Marietta asked.
“Keep your husbands from retaliating against me. We get to Mancini and you let me go. If he sees me… I can’t see him. I’ve done my part in this. I gave you the truth and your father. Spare my life by letting me go.”
Marietta glanced to Mira, and Mira glanced to her. They both nodded that they would. But neither meant it.
* B *
Giovanni was out of the car before it came to a full stop. Renaldo walked out to meet them. “Where are they?” Giovanni demanded.
“You just missed them, Boss. You had to have passed them on the road,” Renaldo said with an ice pack to the side of his head.
“What the fuck do you mean I missed them?” Giovanni checked his watch. Before he boarded the plane he called and confirmed that the women were being watched. That was barely two hours ago. “How the fuck did they leave?”
“It was my fault,” Renaldo said, standing up for his men. “Marietta hit me from behind. I was only out for a few minutes but they got to my truck and left.”
The confession confounded Giovanni. Mira wasn’t prone to this kind of deception. And for what? He looked to Lorenzo. “Where would they go?”
“Only one place, Gio, to see Mancini.”
Giovanni’s right hand was useless. The pain had been unmerciful. He couldn’t strike Renaldo even if he wanted to.
“I’ll go after them,” Lorenzo said.
“No. We’ll go.” Giovanni said. They’re off the main road so that means we can catch them. He glanced back to Nico who was out of their vehicles. “Nico will stay with the women. Renaldo you come with us.”
“Boss?”
“What is it?” Giovanni demanded.
“The Donna, she… the men tell me she has her gun with her.”
Giovanni frowned. “She drew her weapon on you?”
“On Leo, sir,” Renaldo said.
He looked to Lorenzo shocked. “Have they lost their fucking minds?”
Lorenzo chuckled. Giovanni found none of it funny. He walked back to the car and got inside. His only prayer was he got to them before they reached Mancini.
* B *
At first Mira feared her concerns were true. The road was dark, and the small village they drove through looked deserted. But after another fifteen minutes on the road the land opened and the half-moon and stars relaxed her fears. She checked her watch. It was close to five in the morning.
“So how will you do it, girls?” Gemma asked.
“Do what?” Mira asked.
“You can’t drive up to Mancini’s gates with that gun. How do you plan to get inside? And out.”
“You said he didn’t want us dead. You said he was looking for us,” Marietta said.
“Possibly. But you have a brother too. No matter what his father wants he surely isn’t open to acknowledging either of you,” Gemma said.
“Why is that?” Mira asked for the sake of conversation. Though she knew fully why.
“There’s a lot of history between your families. He’s the sole heir to the Mancini fortune unless you two decide to contest it.”
“We don’t want his money,” Marietta said with disgust, keeping her eyes on the road.
Mira had to agree. She glanced back out the window at the stars. Her mother’s death wasn’t on her husband’s shoulders, and tonight she’d prove it by making Mancini confess. After it was done she wanted to leave Sicily and never return. There was nothing remotely familiar or comforting to her about this place. She found it ironic that Giovanni had hoped their visit to the island would make her love the island. She loathed it instead.
“Heads up!” Marietta said.
Mira’s gaze swung to the road. Cars approached fast, four of them with bright lights beaming.
“Do you think it’s Mancini’s men?” Marietta asked. “Are we near his villa?”
“No, we aren’t,” Gemma frowned with worry. “Can’t be his men.”
Mira picked up her gun. It could be a set up. She glanced to Gemma. “If you did this.”
“I swear I did not. I don’t know who it is, but we can’t outrun them on this road. It’s too narrow.” Gemma warned.
“What do I do?” Marietta asked.
“Stop. We have no choice.” Mira checked the chamber of the gun. She prayed she didn’t have to use it. Target practice was one thing but if she had to shoot armed thugs in the night she didn’t know what would be the outcome.
Marietta slowed the car to a stop. The car ahead of them parked in front of theirs. The high beams made it impossible for them to see who was inside. The cars circled around. Their dark tented windows in the night made it impossible to make out the drivers or passengers. They were blocked in on all sides.
“Somebody is getting out,” Marietta said. She glanced to Mira who held the gun.
Mira squinted. Even in the glare her husband’s imposing form could clearly be seen. Relief filled her to the brim. She nearly smiled. Gemma grabbed her wrist. “Please. Remember your promise. That you’ll let me go,” Gemma pleaded. “I know I don’t deserve to ask for anything, but I did come to you to tell you the truth.”
“I didn’t make that promise,” Marietta said.
“Me either,” Mira said.
“What? You two can’t… they’ll kill me!” Gemma said.
Marietta looked to Mira. Mira looked to her sister. She then looked to Gemma. “We will show you as much mercy as you showed our mother.”
“No! Wait!”
“Stay inside. Marietta, don’t get out. Let me speak to Giovanni.” Mira opened the door and exited the truck. She thought to leave the gun behind but decided to take it with her. As soon as she stepped out into the night she realized that the men were out of their cars as well, staring at her. Mira approached her husband and the steely look of anger in his eyes made her bravery slip. His gaze lowered from her face to the gun in her hand. He narrowed his eyes on it. Mira couldn’t believe the sight of him. He hadn’t shaved in days, and yes she knew he had been drinking. But he looked wild to her, and was that blood on his suit? She couldn’t be sure. He raised a hand and she saw how swollen and bruised his knuckles were.
“In the car,” he said and pointed to the waiting vehicle.
“Gio—”
“GET IN THE FUCKING CAR!” he shouted at her.
His voice boomed louder than thunder. There was no room
for discussion by the hard unforgiving look of madness in his eyes. She glanced back to Marietta and Gemma in the truck. Lorenzo walked past her and went to Marietta’s side of the car.
“NOW!” Giovanni shouted and took a step toward her.
Mira went to the car where the door was held open for her. She was inside the back of the car waiting when Giovanni joined her. He slammed the door so hard she jumped.
“Are you going to let me explain?” she asked.
Giovanni hit the passenger glass of his window so hard with his closed fist it cracked. Mira looked at him with disbelief. “You left my children in the night? You pulled a gun on my men? You let a stranger into our home.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? You’re fucking sorry!” he seethed. The mask of anger and contempt on his face was grave. She was grateful when he looked away.
“Do you want to go on like this? Do you?” she asked and her voice wavered. She knew he was on edge. Hell they both were. Guilt skewered through her. The past had come back to haunt them. It threatened to rob them both of the future they desired. She had to do something. “Let me explain myself to you. Please,” she pleaded.
“Mira,” he breathed in and out deeply. His rage burned his face and neck red. Though his hand looked like it was broken he kept pounding it against his thigh. Each time he did she winced.
“Please, give me a chance to explain. One chance.” She reached over and touched the top of his hand to stop him from inflicting pain on himself.
He stilled.
“What’s become of us? I can’t… I can’t tell you how badly I feel about all of it… there’s so much anger between us now,” her voice choked on emotion. With her anger and disappointment in him came fresh memories of how he’d massage her feet and feed her in bed. How he’d wake in the night and readjust her pillows to make sure she was comfortable. Flashes of him with Eve and their bond surfaced. The first time she saw him hold their sons. Fresh tears welled in her eyes. Zia was right. She had lost focus. She turned her back and hid from their problems instead of facing them. She played an equal role in the state they found themselves in.
Mira opened her mouth to speak and emotion clogged her throat. She had to clear it to be heard. “You said to me that you could never stay angry at the woman you love. Did you mean it?” she asked
His gaze slipped over to her.
Mira continued. “You spent weeks protecting me and our children. Longer than that if you count Switzerland. You were at my side. You took care of me through my anxiety; and there was plenty. Left your business affairs to others to hold my hand…” she bit on her quivering lip. Her nerves were frayed. “The doctors told you I could lose the babies to stress and you put it all on the line to keep me from stress. The moment I had to do the same I put us in jeopardy. My babies, they could have died. I lost focus on what was important for a split second and everything fell apart,” she wiped at her tears. She dropped her head and cried. Giovanni didn’t touch or comfort her as he had in the past. That was different. One tear from her and he’d bring her through it. Now he sat at her side silent and withdrawn. That hurt her deeply. She collected herself and tried to continue.
“I’ll bend.”
She lifted her gaze to his face. His brows creased. He stared at her. For a moment there was complete silence. And then he spoke to her. “Bend? What does that mean?”
For the first time since their fighting began she had clarity. She wanted her husband back. She wanted peace in her heart and in her marriage. Fabiana was right. She shielded herself from the bad and pretended at the good. She did it with Kei, and she did it in her other disasterous relationships. It was time to open her eyes and face her choices. He was her choice. The good and the bad.
“Bella? What do you mean by bend?” he asked again.
“From the very beginning of this you have been selective with the truth, Giovanni. And I have been willfully blind. And I know why. You thought that your father and what he did would drive me from you. And I gave you reason to, because I do run from my problems. I’ve run all my life from one thing or person to the next,” she looked up at him. “There are things about me, Giovanni, you don’t know. A past I pretend never happened. Bad choices I’ve made that I ignore. Some of it explains why I am the way I am. Why I am capbable of loving a man as complicated as you. None of it is an excuse. Now you don’t have any faith left in us,” she sighed. “And that’s my fault. I told you that I would never abandon you. I swore it. And it’s exactly what I did. You wanted to talk it out, to fight about it. I… I… I wanted to punish you instead.”
Giovanni sighed. “It’s done—”
Mira kept going. “No it’s not. Because I never truly accepted this life of guns, violence, deception, the man you are for them out there. I couldn’t conceive it at first, because with me you were just the man I love…”
“Bella—”
“Stop! Let me finish. You knew I ignored the truth of what we do in this family. And you let me create this bubble for us. Float through our marriage with my eyes closed. Because you didn’t believe that I’m strong enough, that I love you enough, that I can handle any of it. That’s not on you, baby, it’s on me.” Mira began to cry. It was hard. She sucked down her tears and tried. “I’ll bend, because I love you. I made a promise to you. I broke it. You made a promise to me and you broke it. One of his has to bend. I’ll do it.” She looked up at him. “Because in this life we have, someone has to. And it can’t be you,” she wept.
He pulled her to him. She hugged him tightly grateful for his love. She clung to him and let go of her fear of losing him. She felt a bit stronger, but not much. “I lied to you,” he said. “I could have handled things differently.”
She looked up at him. “Someone has to give in. If it’s what you need to stop pushing me away, let me be the one,” she touched his face. “I want all of you, Don Giovanni Battaglia. Even the parts that scare me. And I’ll learn to be the wife you need. Even if I make mistakes, I’ll learn. I swear it. And I’ll trust you. I’ll bend for you, baby, because you have to be strong for all of us. We’re a family. And our family means everything to me.”
She brought her lips closer to his. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” she said softy. He brought her over to him and she straddled his lap. She kissed him softly at first, and then released her forgiveness and passion for him, because it was the only way to release his.
“I’m sorry, Bella,” he panted when their lips parted. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to you.” Giovanni held her with crushingly tight strength and she allowed it. He kissed her face, and neck, and she allowed it.
“I want you to take me to see my father,” she whispered in his ear.
He stopped kissing her neck.
She lifted her face and looked down into his eyes. “Tonight we end it. Together. I swear to you it’s all I need. My mother died because she was lost in this world. Forced into by that man, and then discarded like trash. I don’t blame Tomosino or you. I blame him. And I want my closure.” She kissed his lips. “Let go of your anger, Giovanni, and give me what I need. I need this.”
He cut his gaze away and for a minute she thought he’d refuse her. “And then it’s over?” he asked. “You’ll be mine again? My Bella?”
“Yes, its over. I’ll face your men and apologize for my actions. I’m your wife. I’m their Donna. I haven’t forgotten,” she smiled. “Be my husband and stand at my side, not in front of me. I need you too. Help me.”
He looked up into her eyes. He dropped his head back. “You’re killing me.”
“We’ll work it out. Together. I promise.” She kissed his brow, his nose, his lips.
Mira heard a woman’s screams. She looked to the window but couldn’t see her from the position in the back of the car. She looked to Giovanni. “Please. Take us. Now.”
He moved her off his lap and got out of the car. Mira got out behind him in time to see the men dragging Gemma to another car.
&nb
sp; “They’re going to kill me!” Gemma screeched. “They’ll do it.”
Mira grabbed Giovanni’s hand. He looked at her. He expected her to plead for Gemma’s life. Mira glanced back to Gemma again. She remained silent.
Giovanni nodded. “We’re taking them all to Mancini.” Giovanni announced to his men. Lorenzo and the others looked on. “Take the woman as well. Armando Mancini can decide on what to do with her.”
“Marietta! Please help me!” Gemma begged.
Lorenzo pulled Marietta by the hand to the car. Whatever he said in her ear calmed her down. Mira was brought back to the car and she re-entered the vehicle. Lorenzo behind the wheel drove faster in the night than they had in Renaldo’s truck. The troupe of cars followed.
Mira reached over and took Giovanni’s bruised hand in hers. She kissed his bloody knuckles tenderly. He looked at her with a sliver of distrust in his eyes. She understood it. She smiled. She stroked his battered knuckles afraid to ask the cause. No one spoke. She could barely hear herself breathe. They drove through the city of Palermo in silence out to the neighboring township that brought them to their father. And as soon as they approached the gates Mira’s breath hitched in her lungs. She was actually going to face the man. What would she say? What would he say?
In the dark she could see so little. But she felt the expanse of the estate and wondered if it was as vast as Melanzana.
The window rolled down. Lorenzo spoke to the men in Italian. The man outside of the car shouted at him.
“Tell Marsuvio both of his daughters are here!” Lorenzo insisted.
That seemed to silence the man. There was activity around the car. Giovanni didn’t seem fazed by it. Mira however felt the tension coil tighter around her gut. Her husband stared out of his window lost in his thoughts. After ten minutes they were waved through the gates. All of the cars were allowed access.
“How do you want to handle it, Gio?” Lorenzo asked.
Mira looked into her husband’s eyes. He took a moment before he responded. “We will go in there and let you see the man. I want two things, Bella.”