by Sienna Mynx
Marietta crawled over to him. She dropped her arms around his neck and hugged him from behind. The side of her face pressed against his. “Whatever it is, you can’t do anything until the morning. Let me make you feel better.”
The request sobered him. His anger dissipated a fraction. He turned and she pulled him down on top of her. Lorenzo rested against her breast and between her legs. She stroked his head and said nothing. Her silent acceptance of his frustration brought him more comfort than sex could. His eyes closed and the exhaustion of the day overcame him. He’d get the photos and tape, get her justice, and he’d do it all before anyone knew better. With Marietta at his side.
Chapter Eleven
Storia - History
From my enemy let me defend myself;
but from a pretensed friend Lord deliver me. – Italian Proverb
New York was unlike any city in the world. Catalina marveled over the diversity of the moving crowds, traffic jammed streets, and flashing neon lights advertising soda pop, fashion ads, and celebrities. Even more overwhelming were the tall buildings that she was certain touched the sky. Did the people at the top floors open their windows and clouds floated in? Giovanni told her the first time he brought her to the American city while he was on business, that Hong Kong was even grander. She doubted it. No place on earth compared to New York.
The driver arrived early. Dominic paced while she fretted over which suit to wear. She was so nervous, so anxious, she could barely apply her makeup with a steady hand. But now they were headed to Mirabella’s and she worked on calming her nerves. The office was located in lower Manhattan between buildings that looked less posh than she imagined, very un-glamorous. She and Dominic were buzzed in at the door. They walked down a narrow hallway to an elevator that looked as old as the surface of the building. Her disappointment was climbing by the minute. When she looked over at Dominic, he seemed unfazed. Catalina pouted. All she could think of was the cramped sewing rooms in Milan with fabric rolls and weary factory workers. If this was more of the same, then screw New York. Dominic lifted her chin and kissed her. She adjusted her attitude and waited for the slow climb of the elevator to bring them to the twentieth floor—House of Mirabella’s.
The elevator stopped. The doors opened. All of the polish and refinement neglected on the surface was reserved for the interior of the twentieth floor. They were greeted by two large glass doors with Mirabella’s signature name spelled out on the surface, in cursive salmon-pink lettering. A man was inside beyond the glass, talking to another who appeared to be scrambling the dictation in a hurried manner. The man’s attention turned toward them, as if sensing their arrival. Immediately, his stare latched on to her.
This was Mira’s ‘teddy bear’? He looked tough, lean, and serious—like the businessmen who dined with the Prime Minister, then slipped away to visit her brother’s gambling houses. He approached with nonchalant grace and she couldn’t look away from his hazel green eyes. His classically handsome features were muted by the serious dent between his brows. Maybe in another life he could have been a prince, but Catalina had seen enough bad guys in her life to know he wasn’t. He wore a dark grey suit with a pinstripe grey and white tie. An expensive watch gleamed from his wrist. He had thick tawny-gold hair with a swath that lay casually against his brow. Catalina walked at Dominic’s side. She wondered if he noticed the look the stranger gave her. If he had, it was dismissed. Dominic had been distracted since the phone call he received that morning.
“Welcome!” The man said, throwing open the glass doors to Mirabella’s. “Dominic, right?” he shook Dominic’s hands.
“Yes. And this is Catalina,” Dominic answered.
The man again turned his attention to her. “Ah, yes, Catalina. We spoke yesterday. I’m Theodore Tate.” He took her hand and kissed it. Catalina smiled and immediately removed her hand from his. “We are all so anxious to meet you. Dominic, the attorneys arrive within the hour. Let me give you both the tour.”
Catalina looked to the receptionist. She was a black woman with very polished dark skin and strikingly beautiful brown eyes. Her hair was in a curly natural style that looked like a black halo on her head, but it matched her chic attire. She smiled at Catalina, and Catalina smiled back. This was Mira’s and Fabiana’s business. Where they created the magic that Catalina used to drool over in magazines. As they walked down the hall and Theodore spoke to Dominic, Catalina absorbed it all in. They passed walls with large portraits of some of the most revered celebrities dressed in exquisite gowns and outfits on the red carpet of varying events, designed by Mira. Each one dated for the season and year she created the masterpiece.
It didn’t end there. She looked in at the offices and saw so many people of color, it became overwhelming. Black, brown, yellow, Mira had a multicultural mix of employees that were all young, fashionably trendy, and extremely busy. Catalina had met her share of Latins, Asians, and blacks in Italy. Most of them tourists and her conversations were always brief. Now, she would have to work side by side with them. Her world was really changing.
“Teddy! Teddy, I want to talk to you right now!” A brown woman with a deep French accent, long flowing silky hair, and flawless makeup stalked toward them. They all paused. Catalina remembered her photo in the folder that Mira gave her. Mira had clipped it from a magazine that showcased the designer’s line under her fashion house. With a red ink pen, Mira drew horns on the woman’s head and wrote the word bitch on the picture. Catalina stifled a chuckle. This had to be Carole Montague.
“What is it, Carole?”
“Who are they?” She turned up her nose to Catalina particularly, and then cut Dominic an interesting look.
“Meet Dominic and Catalina Battaglia. They are family to Mira. She sent them to meet with us about the House of Mirabella’s transitioning back under Mira’s control. We spoke of this after Kei’s arrest.”
The angry indignation that flashed over the designer’s face made Catalina narrow her eyes and go tense. She waited for the haughty bitch to say something against Mira. Anything. But the woman bit down on her tongue and turned and sashayed off. “See me when they are gone!” she tossed back over her shoulder.
Theodore chuckled. “Forgive her rudeness. She and Mira, well, they have history. I was surprised when Kei chose her to represent Mirabella’s but after hearing all that Mira went through in the past two years, nothing should surprise me,” he smiled. “Please, we have much to discuss. I want to review the business plans for this year with you, before you meet with the attorneys.”
“I will need to use a phone first,” Dominic said. It was the first time he spoke. Catalina knew her guy and he was just as uncomfortable as she was, but possibly for different reasons.
“Of course. You can use this office. We will be down the hall in the conference room, waiting for you.”
Dominic left her side. Catalina hesitated, feeling she should wait.
“Come with me.” Theodore put his hand to her arm. They continued down the hall. “Above us is a design room, sewing rooms, and a showroom,” he said. “Below us are business offices. In Virginia, we have two factories that make all of Mirabella’s collections. Mira and Fabiana were insistent that her clothes be made in America. Ironic that they were looking to abandon that rule and move to Italy, isn’t it?”
“I guess.”
“After we meet with the attorneys, I can give you a peek at next year’s collection.”
“Do celebrities come here to be fitted?” Catalina asked, looking around at the models congregating near one particular office. There were statuesque women of all shades. In the middle of the chaos was Zenobia, Mira’s featured model. The girls were gathered listening to something she was telling them. Her eyes met with Catalina and she nearly fainted. She loved Zenobia.
“This way, Catalina,” Theodore again touched her, this time at her lower back to steer her toward the door. “Now to your question. Do celebrities come here? Many do. Depends. Mira, when she and Fabiana r
an the fashion house, insisted on them meeting with clients in her private design room. After we believed she died we sealed it off, and her office. It was too hard for the staff. Those doors are never opened. Carole prefers to see her clients in their homes.”
“She wants me to use it as my office. While I’m here.” Catalina announced.
Theodore’s brows shot up in surprise. “Does she? Okay. It will be arranged.”
“So, you were saying?”
“Mira was most creative in her own space. ‘A creature of habit’ is what Fabiana used to say.”
“You three were close?”
Theodore nodded. “It was my idea that Fabiana relocate them to Italy after I returned from Sicily.”
“Oh, you’ve been to Sicily?”
His smile broadened. “Met interesting people there. Even a business contact that helped us get settled in Napoli.”
“Who?” Catalina asked.
“Marsuvio Mancini.”
Catalina stopped. She blinked, surprised. Don Mancini was many things but a man of fashion, he wasn’t. Odd that he would offer to assist without expecting something in return.
“Fabiana and I travelled to Italy.” Theodore continued. He opened the door for her and waited until she walked in before he entered. “After our trip, we both agreed Italy was the future. To convince Mira, we put together a solid transition plan. I still believe she only agreed to leave the States after she and Kei… uh, her ex-boyfriend broke up. She was very pragmatic back then. I hear she’s changed.”
Catalina paused. They were in the conference room alone. “What do you mean she’s changed?”
Theodore chuckled. “Something to drink?”
“Coffee would be nice,” she said, shrugging off her coat and dropping it on the chair. “What do you mean changed?”
“Well let’s see. Mira never wanted kids. But now she’s a mother, with another on the way.”
“Mira loves Eve!” Catalina said.
“Oh, yes, of course. Eve is her daughter, right? I’m sure she does. But the Mira I knew was never comfortable with children. Diane, one of her apprentices, brought her baby in to work one day. Mira was so upset, she made her assistant take the child to another floor so she wouldn’t hear the crying. Said it distracted her. Referred to the child as ‘it’ instead of the baby’s name.”
Catalina frowned. “That doesn’t sound like Mira.”
Theodore poured himself something that looked like scotch out of a crystal decanter. He picked up the coffee mug, his drink and hers. “Exactly my point. She’s changed. I hear you just left her wedding? The news stations announced she married Giovanni Battaglia.”
“It was beautiful, she was beautiful.”
“Mira and Fabiana were two of the most beautiful women in New York.” Theodore smiled. “However, her getting married is the biggest surprise.”
“Let me guess, she didn’t want to be married either?” Catalina rolled her eyes and sat.
“She and Kei fought constantly over his desire to marry her. She once told me she never believed in the little girls’ fantasy of marriage, baby carriage, or the white picket fence. She liked her life as is—independently free. Though Mira often contradicted herself. Kei was very possessive of her, and territorial. How carefree could she really be with a millionaire boyfriend bankrolling her company?” Theodore chuckled.
Confused, Catalina sipped her coffee and stared at Theodore. Mira had given up a lot to become the head of their family. But she did it willingly. And though her priorities had changed, the power she wielded over these people in New York was not that different from the power she would have over the Battaglias as their donna. Glancing around at how controlled and straight-laced Mira’s life once was, she felt a pang of envy and sympathy. Mira was definitely better off with them. She secretly vowed to help Mira reclaim her business in any way she could.
“Enough gossip, beautiful, tell me about you. What do you know about the fashion business?”
“First, my name is Catalina, not beautiful.” She tossed back at him. Theodore gave a nod of respect but didn’t apologize. She feared he was flirting at first, now she was sure of it. If Dominic picked up on it, their newfound friendship could become problematic for Mr. Casanova. Nervously, she touched the diamond Faberge egg pendant he gave her for Christmas. “I helped Mira design and make her wedding dress.” Catalina volunteered. Theodore appeared impressed. Catalina went on to tell him about her love of clothes and accessories and some of the top fashion events she’d attended in Milan.
Dominic walked in. They stopped talking. He approached the conference table and shed his coat. “I will have to leave in three to four hours. We need to begin now. First, I want to review the financial reports. Please get them. Also, present whatever court documents we need to file to transition control of the company to Giovanni Battaglia.”
Theodore sat back. “Giovanni Battaglia? But I thought full ownership would revert back to Mira?”
“Mira is his wife. He represents her on all business matters,” Dominic said in an even but uncompromising tone. “Now. Please see to it.”
Theodore Tate nodded and rose. Catalina waited until he walked out before addressing Dominic. “Everything okay?” Catalina asked.
He winked. “It will be.”
Capri –
Mira felt movement. A low drumming softly vibrated through the mattress and her body. Eve soon felt it too. She woke crying for her mother in the dark. Sitting up in the cabin she reached for her daughter and put her to her breast. Mira found her pacifier in the sheets and gave it to her. Eve settled down in minutes. She waited for Giovanni to return but he didn’t. After ten minutes of waiting, she kicked off the covers and scooted to the edge of the bed. A wave of dizziness smacked her to the front of her forehead, as soon as she tried to rise. The nausea had replaced the cramping. It was becoming more and more frequent.
“Ma-ma?” Eve said, patting her breast with her tiny hand and talking with her pacifier in her mouth. “Ma-ma aqua?”
“Give me a minute, baby.”
She tried again to stand and was steady on her feet. She found Eve’s diaper bag and located one of her drink cups. Holding Eve, and wearing a shirt that barely covered her hips, she walked out into the cabin. She had to climb to the upper deck to go to the refrigerator. Inside, she found a plastic container of fruit juice. She managed to fill Eve’s cup while balancing her on her hip. Her daughter was bouncing with excitement for it. She took it from Mira before she could pass it over. Eve spit out her pacifier and turned the cup up. Mira noticed again they were alone. Instead of returning to bed, curiosity drew her to the stairs that led to the captain’s deck. And soon she found Giovanni. He was at the navigation console, steering the boat back toward their private beach and docks. “What time is it?” Mira asked.
His head turned. He looked surprise to see them. “It’s a little after three in the morning. Go back down and I’ll join you.”
“Why are we heading back in? I thought we would stay the night out at sea?”
“I’d rather we be closer. My men will be on the docks to greet us. We can stay onboard but I won’t sleep with us alone out at sea. I thought I could. I can’t.”
She chewed on the inside of her jaw. Eve’s head rested on her shoulder and she drank. Mira knew she was sleepy. Deciding she was too, she turned to leave.
“Bella?”
She stopped.
“Don’t go. Take a seat with her. If my girls can’t sleep, then let’s do another night tour of the bay under the stars. Sound nice?”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Papa!” Eve said, lowering the cup. She held it out to offer him some when Mira sat in the chair next to him. Giovanni chuckled.
“I need something a little stronger, bambina.”
America –
The meeting was informative and productive once the attorneys arrived. Three hours into the discussion a young woman named Sheila came for Catalina, supposedly to take h
er to her new office. Dominic noticed how Catalina pranced out with her chin tossed upward. She was truly enjoying herself. He’d hoped the place would entertain her a bit more while he dealt with business.
Theodore Tate agreed to a dinner meeting to finish the business he had with him after a call came and he was summoned to the street. A car waited for him. He climbed in without question and rode out of Manhattan to Riker’s Island. Once he arrived at Ricker’s Island, he was told he had to take a van ride to the visiting center. The Kimmatore men informed him they would wait for his return.
Dominic wasn’t inclined to trust these men. Where Stefano Kimmatore showed respect for the Camorra, these men acted as if he washed up from a third world country. He was keenly aware of their shifting stares and snide smirks. None of it intimidated him. He’d dealt with tougher bastards than them. He boarded the van and rode side by side next to women with crying babies, and old ladies holding their purses in their laps. All of them determined to see loved ones locked away from society. And when the van delivered them to the visiting center, he was soon after greeted by the warden and two guards in uniform.
“Dominic Battaglia?”
“Warden Glenn?” He shook the hand of the tall Irish man. The warden gave one of the guards a look and he stepped to Dominic, patting him down from front to back. The other man gave him a clearance badge.
“Come with me, son.” The warden walked him away from the others. Once they were in the hall alone, he spoke. “Here is how this works. You get an hour with James Walker. And fifteen minutes with Kei Hyogo. Both men will be brought to you here. Do or say anything that will make me regret this gift and you won’t make it out of Riker’s. Do we understand each other, Sicilian?”
Dominic nodded.