by Sienna Mynx
“And then what?”
“And then you and I will find out who Isabella is.” He grabbed the towel and again headed for the shower.
“Wait! Lorenzo, wait a second.” She scrambled off the bed, dragging the sex- soiled sheet with her and wrapping it around her body. “I want something in return for my silence.”
“I’ve already offered you your life!” he exclaimed, anger making his blue eyes darken.
“You didn’t do that for me. You didn’t do it for the sex we both enjoyed. You did it because you need to find Isabella and I’m your bait. Aren’t I?” Marietta tossed at him. “The bottom line is we need each other. I want you to help me find my mother.”
“She’s an Americana,” Lorenzo said, as if the word tasted bad on his tongue.
“So what? She has something to do with this place. Capriccio was determined to keep me from finding out her identity. The people who raised me act like she is some random whore off the street.” Marietta reached behind her neck and unclasped the necklace she wore. “Look at this! Look at it please.”
He accepted the necklace. “I had it made into a necklace. It was a baby bracelet once. It’s the only thing I have that my mother gave me before she disappeared. Turn it over.”
Lorenzo did as she asked, and Marietta walked over to the switch on the wall. She flipped it up and flooded the room with light so he could see the insignia. “Del Stavio made it. Gemma told me he was the private jeweler to the Dons of Sicily. My mother left this behind for me, so she is tied to this place, or Sicily, or both. The Capriccios are hiding something other than money. And you and I both know Caruso Capriccio was never a Don.”
“It’s not possible that your mother had this made. Not even possible she could have received it in America. Jewelry from Del Stavio was a personal private endeavor. Makes no sense.”
“Yet, there is my name. Right there. Explain it.”
She saw the impatience in his scowl. Marietta let the sheet she held to the front of her go. It pooled to the floor. She stepped out of the heap and walked toward him. “I need your help, Lorenzo. I’ll sign whatever David wants. Like those factories where you have marijuana stashed…”
“Your mouth, woman, will get you in a lot of trouble.” Lorenzo chuckled.
Marietta smiled. “You know I have talents.” She ran her hand over his chest, and pulled in her bottom lip between her teeth. Lorenzo responded, as most men had to her since she was sixteen. His gaze darkened to the deepest sapphire blue she’d ever seen, and the muscle in the side of his jaw twitched with restraint.
“You agree, don’t you? We make a good team. Who else can help me with the Capriccios to get the truth of who my mother is? And who else can help you find this Isabella person? Do we have a deal?”
Lorenzo placed his hands to her hips and guided her closer to him. She naturally put her hands around his neck and pressed her face to his chest. “I’ll make this deal,” he said. “Until a better one comes along. Now will you please dress so we can go?”
Marietta tilted her mouth up to his and rose on her toes. He parted his lips as if to welcome her kiss, and she spoke just a fraction away from temptation. “Since you asked so nicely, yes, but only if you join me.”
When she stepped back and turned for the bathroom, he was right behind her.
*****
“It’s Gio’s rules, Catalina. We must respect them.”
He kissed her. Soft and sweet. Like a shy lover. When she spent the night at his place in Naples, he was a madman in bed. Now he would barely hold her hand. And they had fucked hundreds of times in her room before. “Cara mia, ti voglio bene. I want to make love to you so bad right now.” The man could talk her into anything, and right now he was doing a damn good job of talking her out of her passions. “I won’t disrespect Gio now that he has given me a second chance. Help me be a good boy.” He eased his hand down her backside to grab and squeeze her ass.
“He won’t know. He never does.” She tried to bring his lips to hers, but he pulled away from their embrace. “Domi! We’ve fooled him a hundred times before. Please. Come inside. We have only a few hours before the sun is up and we have to be ready for the wedding. I want to lay in your arms.”
Dominic leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You’ve had too much to drink.”
“And I’m horny,” she pouted.
“We leave after the wedding. Then nothing will keep us apart.”
Catalina sighed. With no other choice, she let him go. He gave her another pat on the ass. A trip to America for just them would make up for the night she’d spend alone in bed.
“Get some rest. I can’t wait to help you undress tomorrow night.” She felt warm and lovely; especially after the look he gave her breasts. When he stepped away, she saw Rosetta in the hall behind him, observing them.
“What the hell are you doing? Spying on me?”
Dominic’s head turned. He was equally surprised. Rosetta looked like a trapped rabbit. Her mouth opened and closed robotically but nothing came out.
“Were you spying on us?” Catalina shouted.
“Calm down, Catalina.” Dominic admonished.
“No. No!” Rosetta waved her hands at them frantically. “I wasn’t. I just needed to talk to Catalina. I didn’t want to disturb but—”
“Va via!” Catalina shouted.
“Lower your voice, Catalina.” Dominic said. “Talk to her. I’ll see you in the morning. Bournasette, Rosetta.”
“Night, Domi.” Rosetta looked to the floor instead of him. Catalina noticed, as he strolled away Rosetta did slyly slip a look his way.
“Don’t you even think about it. He’s mine.” Catalina crossed her arms.
“Of course, Catalina.” Rosetta said sweetly.
Disgusted, Catalina turned to close the door. But her cousin hurried to throw her hand up and use her body to prevent it from closing. “Let us talk. It’s very important. I promise it won’t take long.”
“You have five minutes, I need to go to bed.” She walked over to her bed and sat on it. She really did feel exhausted from the wine, and dancing. She wanted to sleep, not spar with her sworn enemy. “Go on. What is it you want?”
“First, to apologize.” Rosetta sounded both sincere and humble. Catalina had many wars of words with her cousin over the years, and even more fistfights when they were younger. Never had her cousin apologized without being forced to by an aunt or relative. Catalina looked behind her, then back to Rosetta, and gave her a snide smile.
“Are you kidding?”
“No. I’m not.”
Admittedly, Rosetta was on her best behavior in Sorrento. However, Catalina knew this was because they were in Italy and not Sicily. Here, Catalina was queen. In Sicily, she was a bastard and beneath them all. “Apologize for what?” she asked, deciding to humor Rosetta before she tossed her out on her ass.
“For being such a bitch to you all these years. I know I can’t take back the things I’ve done and said to you. All I want for us is to be cousins. I want for us to act like famiglia.”
“Bullshit!” Catalina choked out through laughter.
Rosetta’s brows lowered, and her eyes closed to angry slits over the insult. Catalina readied for the true Rosetta to come out. But her cousin surprised her by reigning in her emotion. “I understand your distrust of me. You will make this hard for me, won’t you?”
“Damn right I will.” Catalina stood with her arms flung open. “Take a look around. This is my life. I have no friends, Rosetta, no sister. And when I was a little girl, I realized I had no famiglia either. It’s not because you cut my hair when I was asleep, and only six years old, to make me look like a boy. Or that you, Aurora, Ramona, and Adrianne put dirt and bugs in food you convinced me to eat. It’s not that you and those bitches would gang up on me and beat me until I was black and blue. Calling me bastardo, and half-breed. All of that I can forgive. Hell, I’ve learned to get over it.”
Rosetta shook her head sadly. “We were kid
s…”
“I don’t care. You aren’t better than me. Get that? I don’t need your apology or friendship. In fact, I’m tired of you coming around here period! So don’t plan on coming back after the wedding.”
“No! Please, Catalina. My husband is dead, just like Franco. Papa is trying to marry me off again. He isn’t even cold in the ground and he’s bringing Roberto around. Remember him? He has no penis!”
Catalina snickered.
“It’s true! Adrienne told me that a school chum said it’s so small she couldn’t feel it. I can’t go through this again. I won’t.”
“Not my problem.” Catalina shrugged.
Rosetta smiled. “I admire you. I respect you. Look at who you’ve become, and now America? Wow! You will design clothes and meet famous people. I was wrong about you. We all were.”
Catalina looked at her doubtful.
“Please. I’ll die in Palermo. I came here tonight to ask you to let me stay. Permanently.”
The request took Catalina by surprise. She blinked at Rosetta, not sure if she should laugh or spit upon her request. Rosetta stepped toward her, cautiously. “You’re going to America. You’re about to do so much, become so much. I only want a chance to do something with myself. You won’t even be here.”
“I’ll never let you stay at Melanzana!”
“I’m begging.” Rosetta lowered to her knees. “Please.” She grabbed Catalina’s hand and rubbed her face against it. “I beg you.”
Catalina rolled her eyes and snatched her hand away. “Get up off the floor. Don’t be stupid. It’s not my decision anyway.”
“The Donna says it is. She says I can only stay here while you both are gone, if you approve. Give me your blessing. The moment you think I don’t deserve the privilege you can send me away. I’m just asking for the chance.”
Catalina crossed her arms and considered the power handed to her. She dreamed of crushing Rosetta under her boot heel as a kid. The best she could do was tease her by having nicer things than Uncle Vito would buy for her cousin. It was never enough. The wounds of their childhood war cut deep, and only a few scars had healed. Now, she had the power to give forgiveness and take it away. It was too tasty of a proposition to turn down. “You can stay until I come back from America. Then, we must have this talk again.”
“Grazie!” Rosetta got to her feet. She put her hands to her mouth. “I am sorry for who we were as kids. I’ll show you I have changed.” Rosetta headed to the door. She looked back. “You won’t regret this!”
Catalina smirked. “Oh, but you might.”
Giovanni opened his eyes. Mira had ordered him to put on his boxers before she returned to their bed with Eve. His daughter snuggled under him, between her parents, content. In the dark, he turned on his pillow and looked at them both. When they slept, he saw how much daughter resembled mother. He ran his fingers across Mira’s jaw, and then kissed Eve’s brow. A soft knock on the door drew his gaze up. Mira’s eyes opened and she looked at him curiously. He winked, and she settled back to sleep. Giovanni found his robe and eased it on. Quietly, he left the room. Dominic waited for him in the hall. Leo was reclined in his position, awake and alert.
“What is it?”
“Can we talk?”
Giovanni nodded, and the two of them walked away from the door to the far end of the hall near the stairs. “I got a call tonight. Our friends in New York say that there is a good chance that Kei Hyogo will be extradited back to China.”
“So soon?”
Dominic nodded. “And what’s interesting is there is a petition in the courts to have his companion Cheung removed from the jails and sent back to China. I will make sure that doesn’t happen, Gio. As for Kei, well there isn’t much we can do with the American courts.”
Giovanni rubbed his jaw. It burned his gut that Kei Hyogo lived. If he returned to China, he would certainly be killed by the Triad. Why bloody his hands for the sake of revenge? “Pay him a visit when you get to America.”
Dominic nodded. “I understand.”
He turned to walk away when Dominic grabbed his arm.
“Gio.”
“What is it?”
“I want to say that I’m happy for you. For you and Mira. Tomorrow is a great day for our family.”
He stared at Dominic a moment, mumbled thanks and shrugged off his touch, walking away. He looked back once as he walked down the hall to see Dominic watching. Even now, brotherhood didn’t soften his heart to Dominic’s betrayal. He had to wonder if anything would.
He returned to the room and paused. Mira had moved on the bed. She positioned Eve on the left side and she lay in the middle. She looked into his eyes and smiled, stroking their daughter’s back. Giovanni removed his robe. He walked around the bed and eased in behind her, drawing the covers over them both. Mira eased back into him and he kissed her head. His hand went down her thigh in a slow, moving caress. He drew the fabric of her gown up as his erection drove a tight hunger through his groin that had him groaning in his throat.
To his delight she wore no underwear, and Giovanni had no trouble removing his dick from the opening of his boxers and sliding into her from behind. She let go a soft whimper, but barely made a sound as he thrust deeper and deeper, until he was buried inside of her.
“Don’t wake Eve,” she whispered, moving to please him.
“I promise,” he said through a tormented moan, tightly wrapping his arm around her waist and thrusting in and out of her. The more he moved, it felt as if the walls of her pussy melted and relaxed to give him full access. Together, they found a tempo that bound their bodies in rhythm. Giovanni breathed in soul-drenching drafts and caressed his hand down her growing belly to find her distressed clitoris. Again she whimpered and moved against him. He plucked her swollen bud and thrust in her a little faster, so they could shatter in climax together.
Eve’s head lifted when they lost control and Mira soothed her back to sleep. His daughter didn’t suspect. He pressed his face into Mira’s neck to silence his hard pants of surrender. He wanted to sleep buried inside of her. He swore she felt softer and warmer than normal. Was it his imagination?
“Mira…” he wheezed.
“Shh, it’s okay. Go to sleep,” she said.
Like a good boy, he withdrew his cock and drifted to sleep, holding her to him with his hand on her breast.
Chapter Six
Matrimonio – Wedding
After a cool wet swipe went across his brow, and holy water trailed downward like a single tear along the bridge of his nose, Giovanni’s lids lowered and his breathing went shallow, and then even. Father Anthony Rissoli made the sign of the cross. In Giovanni’s hand was his mother’s rosary. He cherished it. The last time he touched it, was the prayer service he attended, when he believed Mira had died. He crumbled the tiny beads connecting the silver cross into his palm, and bowed his head.
A wonderful inner peace overcame him as he accepted Father Anthony’s words. Eve would be christened on or shortly after her second birthday. His faith was important to him. She had told him she would be willing to convert to Catholicism. In fact, she’d already attended Mass with Zia and met with their family priest, Father Rissoli. In a matter of a few hours, he would take the next step in his life with the blessing of God, the church, and family.
Father Anthony patted Giovanni’s shoulder. “Dio ti benedica.”
“Grazie.”
The priest left the altar dedicated to Our Lady of Montevergine. Giovanni remained on his knees in his black tuxedo next to the baptismal fountain. He closed his eyes, and prayed again for penance for his sins. And in the previous year, there had been plenty. He wanted a clean mind with a pure heart before he took his vows. When he lifted his gaze, the marble statue of the blessed Virgin Mother Mary holding the child Christ, made him remember his own mother and all the promises he’d made to her as a little boy.
He made the sign of the cross before him and kissed his fingers in respect. Easing the rosary into h
is pocket, he stood and headed for the doors of the church. Lorenzo was the only other person in the sanctuary. He waited, dressed in a tuxedo identical to his own. He held his hands together in front of him, shielding his watchful gaze behind the dark lenses of a pair of sunglasses. The bruises and scratches on his cousin’s face gave him pause. If he dared to cause issue with anyone on the eve of his wedding, he’d put his fist through his neck. The long scratches across his cousin’s jaw stretched to his neck. And the purplish red bruise on his left cheek reached up to his cheekbone.
“You’re late. Domi had to drive me to the church.”
Lorenzo nodded his head in respect. “It couldn’t be helped.”
“Do I need to know about this?” Giovanni asked, gesturing to Lorenzo’s appearance. Thankfully, he had cleaned up and showered. Lorenzo would stand at his side when he took his vows. To his question, he received no answer. Giovanni chose not to press the issue further. It was Lorenzo’s birthday yesterday, and every man in his crew knew it was the hardest day of the year for his cousin. If ever his indiscretions were to be forgiven, it would be now.
“Is everything in order? I want no news trucks, no outsiders, and no surprises. The day must be perfect for my Bella.” Giovanni began to walk with his hands clasped behind his back. They stepped out of the drawn open abbey doors into the sunlight. It was warm and crisp against his skin. The sky was clear. The church went under the name St. John the Baptist Parish and overlooked the sea from the west with the expanse of the township Conca dei Marini to the east. Above them in the tower, the large iron bells rang, announcing the approaching hour to the townspeople. All of Conca dei Marini prepared for the event. The doors to the church were closed and a blue satin ribbon was tied to secure it. The entire township had prepared, just as tradition required. All he needed was his bride.
“Even God has blessed this day. Look! Look at that sky. He’s sent the sun instead of rain!” Giovanni exclaimed.
“Yes, I see,” Lorenzo said, dryly, through a deep yawn. “There is no need to worry. All you have to do is be ready for the big plunge.”