La Dolce Vita: Romantic Suspense (Battaglia Mafia Series Book 7)

by Sienna Mynx

  Mirabella’s tear stained face lifted from her hands. She looked at Minnie with horror.

  "Broke Clyde's heart. He was the one that found the body. The rest of her children couldn't take it. Some moved away. Those that stayed hated your grandfather and Lisa. When she come back here, people were so nasty to her. She had no one on her side. I'm sorry, Mia. I'm sorry for the scorn you felt and didn't know why. I'm sorry for the town using your pain and guilt against you."

  "What about Granddaddy? How did he live with it? Sleeping with two sisters. Breaking his wife's heart. How?" Marietta asked.

  "He buried it. When your mother ran away, he took every picture down. Every single one. They were in boxes upstairs. I think Mary made those books out of them and hid them away. Maybe she thought he'd grab the boxes one day and burn away her memories of her sister and her daughter. And I ain't finished. Let me tell you about Lisa. When she returned. He stood in the pulpit and called her a drug addict in front of the whole town. Shamed her. But she held her head high and took communion." Minnie smiled at Mirabella. "Your mother was healthy. She was clean of drugs when she was here. I know that for a fact! And she loved you. Loved you hard. I remember when you took your first steps, Mia. It was right out there on that porch. You walked to your mother. And she cried and swore she would love you for the rest of her life. I think the grief of losing you, Marietta, is what made her leave. She came to me one night. I was newly married to Clyde. His other wife couldn't take his crazy ways. Lisa told me she had to leave and go to Chicago. I asked her why. I was afraid it was for drugs. But she was smiling. Happy. She said she had the biggest surprise for everyone. That she’d gotten a job, and could move to Norfolk. So she had to go get someone special she left behind. She didn't tell me it was another baby. That's not a secret I would keep. Hell no! She only asked that I look out for you, Mia. That if she doesn't come back she wanted me to take you from her parents. Raise you away from your grandfather."

  "I don't understand this," Mirabella said.

  "I couldn't keep that promise. Clyde, no one would stand up to your grandfather and tell the truth of the affair. And for all his faults he did love you, Mia. He loved you, and he paid for his mistakes. He lost your grandmother, and it broke what little strength he had in him. The guilt ate away at him until there was barely enough left to give a Sunday sermon. He paid."

  Marietta put her arm around Mirabella's shoulder. "Can you leave now, Minnie? It's been a long night. I think we’ve heard enough."

  Minnie nodded, and her daughters got up. Each came over to kiss Marbella on the cheek and smile for her before they left. Minnie was the last one. She forced Mirabella to stand and come into her arms. She hugged her. "I know you live in Italy. I know you got a big fancy life and all of that jazz. But we are family. Okay? Let's be family again. Always."

  Mirabella hugged Minnie one last time before Marietta showed her to the door. "I'll be right back," Marietta said and went outside with Minnie.

  She walked Minnie to the car. "Thank you for this. For telling us the truth."

  "I got something I kept just for you. I know Mia is having a hard time. The abortion thing is big to her. I understood. But it was never something that kept us from being close. It was secrets and lies that did." Minnie went to the trunk of the car. "Mia has a different view of life because of her devotion to her grandfather. Not like you. You just want to know your mother. Mia never really tried to understand what happened to Lisa. I guess she got her reasons for that. I swear in all the years I’ve known her Mia never asked one single question about her mother."

  “Really?” Marietta frowned. She looked back to the farmhouse. Mirabella was staring at them from the window.

  "Here," Minnie said. "I found this in the attic too. It was a diary your mother kept when she ran away. I never read it. I wanted to a few times, but I never did. It's Lisa's story. Maybe she wrote it so one day you could read it. And this here is a song she recorded and brought home. Album."

  "What?" Marietta felt as if the key to heaven was put in her hands.

  "Yes," Minnie grinned. "Ever heard the old Negro spiritual 'Motherless Child’? Folks say that song was sung by slaves when the masters would come and separate the fathers from the mothers, and the children from the mothers. It was the only true song that spoke of all the pain from back then. Nowadays Rock and Roll bands and musicians sing it without understanding the meaning. Lisa sang it. It was a gift she brought home to give to Bessie-Mae, who used to sing it on the ‘chitlin’ circuit. Lisa didn’t know that Bessie-Mae had killed herself when she ran away. So sad she was too late. Just like it’s too late for you to know Lisa. This here is your mother. You listen to that and hear her pain, and hear her love for you. It all make sense now sweetheart. Lisa went back for you. She had gotten a job and was going to raise her girls herself. I wish she had told me then. I would have found you. I don't know what happened in Chicago. But I do know she loved you deeply."

  "Thank you so much," Marietta wept. She hugged Minnie. "For everything. For keeping this. For being a friend to Mama. Thank you."

  "It's okay, baby. You gone be a mama soon too. You focus all that love and energy you got in you on that baby. Give your child what your mother wanted to give to you. Okay?"

  Marietta nodded. She stepped back. She watched Minnie and her daughter’s pile in the car and drive off. She waved until they disappeared.

  When Marietta returned inside she put the gifts Minnie gave her on the record player. Mirabella didn’t ask what they were. She didn’t seem interested. She seem more shell shocked than anything. Marietta could see the last of her sister’s strength had slipped away. Marietta went to her and helped her. She let her cry. She didn't tell her to stop. Sometimes crying helped. They went upstairs to the master bedroom where the children were. She and Mirabella stood at the door. "Look at your babies. You can't change what you did in the past. But you can make it up through them. Loving them." Marietta kissed her sister’s cheek. "We have a good life, Mira. The best life. We have the life our mother wanted. Men who love us. Family. That's what we focus on. Promise me."

  “I promise.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  American Gangster

  Apple Grove, Virginia

  The day spent on the lake fishing was one of the most relaxing ones he’s had. Fishing with his sons reminded him of when he was just a boy and Patri would take him out on his boat. Giovanni found it ironic that he had to come all the way to America to make such memories with his sons when they lived so close to paradise.

  Gino wanted to jump off the boat and into the lake. So Lorenzo had to hold him. Gianni would let no one hold him. Clyde and his sons talked about life in Apple Grove and their past. He found most interesting the story of Clyde's mother. Apparently, she was a singer like Mirabella's mom. Though he didn't say how she died, he shared some pretty wild tales of how unconventional of a mother she was.

  When they day ended the men had agreed to take the boys to the local barber for their first haircut. It soon became apparent that the time in the sun and on the water had exhausted his sons. The children collapsed in complete exhaustion and never woke. So dinner and a beer was good enough for him. After the night he had with his wife he truly began to believe the worst of her issues were behind him. Coming to America was a good idea.

  "The young-un’s go to the skating rink. It turns into a nightspot after dark but closes early. This is the only place that stays open late for a beer, and a game of darts is Larry's. I think you boys will enjoy it," Clyde said.

  "As long as the pint doesn't take like piss I'm in," Lorenzo said from the backseat.

  Clyde glanced over to Giovanni for his approval. It was something men did when in his presence without being told. There were some who would say it was because of his arrogance. The people in Italy and Sicily would say it was out of respect for his ties to the Camorra, and his father’s legacy. But he knew differently. There were men, alpha men in the world that always took charge. Just
as there were followers who always stood a step behind. It was nature. And that was why Giovanni knew this man Cutter was as much of a threat to his wife’s happiness as Kei Hyogo ever was.

  “Tell me about Cutter,” Giovanni said.

  Clyde drove at a moderate speed through a neighborhood before he turned onto the artery of the main road through town.

  “Not much to tell. He’s a bully Always has been. Tried to claim it was because he was a boxer, but some men are just that way.”

  “How did he and my wife become so involved?”

  Clyde glanced over to him and then back to the road. “She tell you about Cutter?”

  “I know everything. She tells me everything.”

  “Then you know how they got involved?” Clyde asked.

  Giovanni considered the question for a moment. It was odd. He knew what Cutter had done to hurt his wife. He knew what pain she carried over their time together. And he knew her shame over her mistakes. But he still didn’t know the reasons why.

  “I want to hear it from someone other than her. Were you around when they met?” Giovanni asked.

  “Yeah. I was. Didn’t know she was sneaking out of the house to see him. Found that out later. Much later. Mirabella was a sweet girl. Very obedient. I think it's a shame that her only act of rebellion was with that scumbag,” Clyde said and came to a stop at a traffic light. He tapped his finger on the steering wheel. “She liked to see him box. That’s what the girls said. She would go to the recreation center and watch him and the boys box. He noticed her. Guess it went from there.”

  "Is this where Cutter hangs his hat?" Giovanni asked.

  "It is," Clyde replied. "Cutter typically comes through whenever he is in town. Larry’s is owned by a close friend of his."

  The car parked. Giovanni stared at the sign on the front of the building. The apostrophe was the only symbol not lit. He glanced back to Lorenzo who arched a brow. It was the only communication the two of them needed.

  “Let’s get that beer,” Giovanni said.

  When he exited the vehicle, Lorenzo was out and walking straight for the door. His cousin had a thirst that once rivaled his own. Tonight he sought answers. He wanted the answers his wife and Clyde didn’t give. Cutter still had her in his sights after ten years. It was time Cutter understood how unlucky that made him.

  It was the first time since he arrived in town he saw white men and black men socializing together. There were bikers, workers in uniforms from some company, and local men hanging around their cars drinking from paper bags. A few stopped talking and stared. Others said a friendly hello. Others went inside, curious about what the arrival of two strangers to their watering hole would bring.

  The bar itself was much smaller than it appeared on the outside. So much cigarette smoke filled the air he had to squint to see clearly. Lorenzo went straight to the bar. Most tables and booths were filled. Others had empty bottles and needed to be cleaned. To the back of the bar were two pool tables and a pinball machine. Above the bar was a television seated on a shelf.

  In a matter of seconds, Giovanni spotted Cutter. He sat to the back in a booth with his men. He was deep in the shadows, but his piercing stare could not be missed. This was Cutter’s place, and he didn't seem to please to have visitors.

  Giovanni walked over to the bar, but two men got up from a wooden table after speaking with Clyde. Clyde gestured for him to take a seat there instead.

  "Those are my nephews. Told them to give up the table for our guests," Clyde said. “Good boys. They both work at Mirabella’s factory as managers.” Clyde took off his sweaty baseball cap and dropped it on the table. Giovanni pulled out a chair and sat down. A waitress appeared. She was short but shapely. She was a light brown skinned woman with long hair in braids pushed back by a band so her pretty face could be seen.

  "Hi, Clyde, and who this?" she asked with a wide grin.

  "This is Mirabella's husband, Giovanni, and that there at the bar is his cousin Lorenzo who is married to her twin sister."

  "No shit. Everybody been talking about the picnic. I wish I had come. Was the sister there too?”

  Clyde nodded.

  “Damn! I always miss stuff. What you like, sugar?"

  "Beer," Giovanni said.

  "Get us two Michelob’s, Pat," Clyde said.

  Lorenzo came over with a mug of suds and sat down. Pat nodded that she would. As she passed, Lorenzo sipped his beer, but his head turned and he stared at her backside. Two other men dragged over chairs. One was around the age of Giovanni, and the other looked to be his son.

  "Hey there, the name is Robert, and this is my son Bobby. I went to high school with Mia," he said and extended his hand. Giovanni shook it. The beers were brought over. "We heard you two come to town. That's pretty big news here. She the only celebrity we got."

  "Nah, we got that local boy that went on to play for Michigan," Clyde said.

  "He ain’t famous until he gets into the league. And ain’t no one rich like Mia," Robert said.

  "True," Clyde chuckled and tossed back some beer.

  "How long yawl here for?" Robert asked.

  "They'll be visiting for the rest of the week," Clyde said. “Three more days.”

  "Out there at the old farmhouse?" Robert asked.

  Giovanni tuned the conversation out. It was happening without him. Cutter stared directly at him. And it was Cutter who had his interest.

  "Bobby here is in love," Robert announced.

  "That so?" Clyde asked. Lorenzo drank his beer and stared at the fuzzy televised broadcast above the bar.

  "Pops, stop." Bobby blushed.

  "Found him whimpering over a girl the other night. Brought him here to put some hair on his balls. Women like strength. Right? That's what I tell him. Stand upright. Open your mouth and speak. Don't start giggling like a punk the first time she looks your way. Right? That's what I tell him."

  “The boy too young to be in this bar Robert.”

  “Ah, fuck that, Larry don’t mind. He’s not drinking just learnin.”

  Giovanni’s attention returned to the conversation. He fixed his eyes on the youth. The boy had to be sixteen. Giovanni shared his first toss of strong alcohol with his father at that age.

  "He got questions, but afraid of the answers," Robert joked.

  "What is it you want to know? Sex? Have you had sex with her?" Giovanni asked.

  Bobby shook his head no.

  Robert chuckled. "See what I mean? He can't get nowhere with all that ducking and diving."

  "Do you want to have sex with her?" Giovanni asked.

  Bobby nodded yes.

  "Why? For pleasure?" Giovanni asked. "For love?"

  It was Lorenzo’s turn to pay attention. He too now stared at the boy. Clyde was the only one who looked away, mildly uncomfortable.

  "I love her. I want her to love me," Bobby said.

  Giovanni pushed aside his beer. He leaned in and looked into the young boy’s eyes. "Sex is easy. Love requires a little more work. The problem is for some girls sex means love. So if you really want her, then you need to be able to understand and teach her the difference.”

  "Okay," Bobby glanced at his father. "She's a good girl. She's not going to let me... you know."

  Lorenzo laughed. “Good girls are the first to give up the pussy.”

  “If you want love, then the main body part you need to be focused on is her mind,” Giovanni said. The boy's father goofy smile over Lorenzo’s comment faded from his lips.

  "The problem is girls are smarter than us. Lorenzo over there. His wife is smarter than him. Clyde, his wife Minnie is smarter than him too. Mirabella is my wife. And yes she is smarter than me. When it comes to love. I’m sure your mama is smarter than your Pops too.”

  “Yeah,” Bobby laughed. “Ma is smarter.”

  “Bullshit!” Robert said.

  “So, what do I do? She only lets me kiss her once. We talk all the time. All she ever wants to do is talk.”

  “T
hen listen to her.”

  “Huh?” Bobby frowned. “I am. That’s the problem.”

  “What does she talk to you about?” Giovanni asked.

  “Everything. She tells me everything.”

  “Never trust a woman that tells you everything right away. It's probably a lie,” Lorenzo said.

  "I told him to eat her pussy. That is what’ll do it." Robert said.

  Lorenzo laughed out loud. Little Bobby dropped his head in shame.

  Giovanni smiled.

  "Hell yes, it works! That's how I got his mama," Robert said with a serious frown.

  "That's a shortcut. Forget that mind business," Lorenzo said. "It's not her mind that gets her; your father is right. Let me teach you something, boy. Put your hands together. Like you're praying.”

  The boy did as he was told.

  “Now, but point your fingers at me."

  The boy did.

  "Now tuck in your thumbs," Lorenzo said.

  He did that as well.

  "See that. That is the shape of a pussy." Lorenzo used his pointer finger. He touched the bent knuckles the boy's thumbs tucked down in between his pressed together palms. "This is the hood of the vagina. Underneath is the clitoris. Understand?"

  The boy nodded.

  Lorenzo dipped his finger in the small separation made by the two index fingers where they met and the thumbs that were tucked. "This is the spongy part. Right here. You taste here with your tongue should go first. Curl your tongue up at the tip and brush right beneath the clitoris. Do it in little flicks." Lorenzo flicked his tongue at the kid. Bobby's eyes stretched. Clyde chuckled. "Don't stop until she's saying your name. And then, only stop when she’s trying to squash your head between her thighs. By then she's completely tamed. That is the g-spot. Own that, and you own her mind."

  "Damn," Robert said. "I just lick and stick it. But yeah, Bobby, listen to him. Much better idea than all that talking shit."

  Giovanni chuckled, and then he laughed heartily. He hadn't laughed so hard in months. Bobby put his face in his hands. There was movement to the back of the bar. The man who sat with Cutter eased out of the booth and approached.