by Sienna Mynx
“To be your wife.”
“You’re my wife, you’re not my conscious.”
“I’ve been your conscious since the day we fell in love.”
He smiled.
“I’m coming to Sicily,” she said firmly.
“If you go that means we stay in Mancini’s palazzo, under his roof.”
“I don’t care,” she replied.
“You sure about that?”
“It’s not his palazzo anymore.”
“You’re right. It’s yours, and what’s yours—”
“Is yours,” she finished. “Now. That’s settled. When do we leave?”
Giovanni groaned.
“Let me work something out,” he said.
She hugged his neck. You’re the best husband!”
“And you’re my spoiled wife.”
Mirabella smiled and kissed his jaw. “You’ve spoiled me.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Forgiveness Defeats Betrayal
Palermo, Sicily
THE ATTORNEYS RESCHEDULED on her twice. The meeting that was supposed to take place at eleven had been pushed to five in the afternoon. The odd postponements did alarm her. She trusted nothing and no one since Bionca’s betrayal, Marissa’s kidnapping and murder, the excommunication of the Armenians. If you mixed in the growing turf wars and violence in Sicily, you had a recipe for danger. However, fear could never rule her life. If it did she’d find little existence for herself anywhere on the beautiful island.
Catalina arrived with three caravans of armed men. They were out in the streets first. After a sweep for safety her door was opened and Catalina was escorted into the legal offices of her late husband’s family attorney Marco Romano.
“How long will you be, Donna?” asked Augustu.
“Not long, hopefully,” she assured him.
“It would have been best that the meeting happened at home, not here.” Augustu referenced the streets that barely any people walked along. He took her hand and helped her step up on the sidewalk and then escorted her to the door.
“We’re fine,” she told him again. His nervousness was contagious. She didn’t need the added stress but she felt it too. They were far from fine. They were vulnerable.
“I think we should be careful,” he whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” she frowned. The young enforcer blushed. Catalina shook her head with a smile and bravely went inside the door. The moment she did Augustu’s warning was proven. The first person she recognized was Umberto. He stood in the hall with six other men. Catalina froze solid at the sight of him. Augustu didn’t. He drew his gun and shoved her aside so she fell behind him. The men that accompanied her drew their guns immediately and pointed them at the Battaglias. Umberto welcomed them both with taunting smiles. The same smile Giovanni’s assassins greeted her with at his hospital bed.
“Benvenuta Donna Catalina Mancini , you’re early,” Umberto said.
The men she brought with her numbered four inside and six outside. And she knew instantly they would not be enough. But she didn’t let her fear show. Fear was power. It was what Giovanni and Lorenzo taught her. She’d be damned if she gives them any power over her.
“Put the guns away.” She told her men. “There’s no point.”
Her men ignored the order.
“Put them away!” she demanded.
Unsure about the commands the men hesitated but Augustu was the first to comply. His obedience forced her entourage to do the same. Umberto seem amused. However, the men who worked for her brother didn’t share the humor. Those leaning against the wall came off it and stared at her men ready for whatever was necessary.
“Dominic is here? Isn’t he? He’s ambushing me with my attorneys? How original. Tell him I said nothing has changed.” She stepped to Umberto and made sure her voice never wavered. She didn’t even blink. “I’m not leaving Sicily. I’m not giving up my house. This is my home now. And his little meeting is cancelled.”
Umberto’s gold tooth gleamed at the side of his mouth within his wide tooth grin. “I’ll deliver your message to Domi, but he’s not here to receive it today Donna Mancini.”
Catalina frowned. She glanced back at her men who looked at her uncertain. There would be only one other person to arrive to Sicily with his own Battaglia army of henchmen.
“Who’s here?” she feigned confusion.
“He’s requested the presence of his piccoletta . I’ll keep the boys you brought with you entertained. I suggest you go inside and greet him personally. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“Don’t touch my men Umberto.” Catalina warned. “I don’t know why my brother has given you power but understand me, at the end of the day you work for my family! That means you work for me.”
Umberto chuckled. “I’ve never worked for a Mancini a day in my life,” he spat back at her in Sicilian. The door at the end of the hall opened and more of the Battaglia men entered. Her men were outnumbered. Each of them were disarmed and Catalina knew those who were outside suffered the same fate. Umberto walked over to the office door and opened it for her. “I’ll take good care of them Donna Mancini. Don’t you worry.”
It was crazy but she wanted to run. If she weren’t pregnant she might have. Umberto stared at her as if he hoped she would do or say something he’d be forced to correct. The respect and protection her presence once commanded from these men had all but disappeared since Giovanni’s shooting. She wasn’t convinced her brother would even demand respect again for her.
“I’m going to be there when that smirk is wiped off your face,” she said.
“I look forward to it,” Umberto winked.
Catalina walked into Marco’s office. She glanced to the left. Giovanni stood by the window staring out of it. He must have seen her arrive. The door closed behind her.
“Ciao, piccoletta .”
“I’m glad you’re well, Gio.”
Giovanni turned his gaze over his shoulder at her. He stared at her for a pause then greeted her as he would a business associate. His smile so slight to his face it could barely be seen. His gaze so precise she couldn’t look away. And it was apparent he couldn’t either. She took a step forward and made sure he saw all of her. He did.
“After you were shot I came to the hospital. Did they tell you? I prayed for you. It felt like Patri all over again. The pain was too much. Something in me broke. I’ve never been that scared in my life.” Catalina touched her heart.
“So you came here? To feel safe?” Giovanni asked.
“I guess you know everything. No need for me to explain, huh?”
“I know you married Armando. I know you abandoned your family. Abandoned our Bella.”
“She’s not our Bella, she’s your Bella. She made that perfectly clear.”
“You’re piccola mia, you knew better than to betray the family in this way. I thought I made that perfectly clear.”
“What? Betray? I... I did marry him but I never abandoned anyone. I begged Mirabella too—.”
“And now you’re carrying his bastard?”
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare call my baby that name! I was married when I made my child. You and Mirabella weren’t when you made Eve!”
Giovanni smirked.
“Why are you here? To punish me? Trust me, Gio, you don’t have to, Mirabella was really good at it. Oh, and I can tell you how Lorenzo got a kick out of it too. He killed Armando in front of me. So go find someone else to pick on.”
“Calm yourself, little sister, before you say something you can’t take back.”
Catalina huffed, but silenced.
“Mirabella was the only one to protect me,” he said. “You left.”
“I had no choice! No support!” she paced. “I lost Domi, I... I did things, and I had no one. When I came here to Sicily it was to defend you. To punish Armando.” She stopped pacing and put her hands to her hips. “I came to kill him!”
“But you fucked him instead?”
“N
o!” Catalina shouted. Giovanni continued to stare at her with what she thought looked like a cocktail mix of judgement and disgust. It made tears well in the corners of her eyes. “I... I was scared and he was the only person who didn’t hate me. Do you remember what you did to me? Do you? You never hit me before... hurt me before. You promised mama you would protect me and the moment I did something wrong you hurt me. You hurt me Gio! I had lost everything. Armando was the only person I had left and you know why. And then you were dying. What am I without you and the family? I’ll tell you what they think, they think I’m prey. But Armando didn’t. He took me in and he showed me love!”
The last of her fighting words was drowned out in sobs. She held her stomach with one hand and covered her eyes with the other as she wept. She didn’t expect anything from her brother, let alone compassion. But he was comforting her. The moment he hugged her she hugged him in return. She felt his love again. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead without speaking.
“I love you, Gio. Why can’t you believe me?”
“I do. I’m here now.”
“Why? Why did you come? To take it all away from me?”
“To ask for your forgiveness.”
Confused, she stopped her weeping and stared up at him. She had wanted for so long to hear him apologize for the way he hurt her. She needed him to be her brother again. Like it was before. When he didn’t say anything she accepted that he may never.
Catalina hugged him.
He hugged her the way he did when she was little. With his arms around her shoulders and his cheek resting on the top of her head.
“It all went so wrong. Rosetta. I couldn’t stop myself. I pushed her and I watched her die. I don’t know who I was then. But I don’t regret it.” She confessed to him everything. Her time with Armando and his death. She even told him about Lorenzo and Alik Yeremain holding her against her will in Spain. She told him everything except where Lorenzo had escaped too. He didn’t say anything. He listened as he would when she was a kid. Catalina lifted her face from his chest and looked up into his eyes. Giovanni wiped away her tears with his thumb. He cupped her face in his hands. He kissed her brow and he gave her a soft brotherly kiss to her left and then her right cheek.
“You’re going to be a mother.” He beamed with pride.
“It’s a boy. Did you know? I’m going to have a little boy. You’re going to be an uncle.”
“How about Godfather? Am I still your Godfather?”
“Yes, Gio. But... I’m not the same little girl you raised. A lot has happened and I had to... grow up.”
“Dominic has told me about these changes. You’re Donna Mancini now, not Battaglia, eh?”
“Armando told me everything, Gio. What you and Lo did to keep us from marrying. You chose Franco for me and look what happened. He was a wife beater. A fraud.” Catalina paced away from her brother. “I don’t care what past you and Armando share, this is my future. I want my house. I want to raise my son here in Sicily as Mancini not Battaglia. And I want him to inherit his father’s legacy. As a son of the Mafiosi.”
“You can have it.”
“I don’t understand?” Catalina turned on him. “The lawyers told me you’ve taken it all?”
“I said it’s yours, piccoletta . The house, the legacy, the money and the status all belong to you, if you want it. Palermo is mine for now. But your son is entitled to his legacy. When he’s ready. He will have my blessing.”
“Thank you,” she said and her voice was full of gratitude.
“Un momento. ”
She paused.
“Don’t you have something for me?” Giovanni asked and clasped his hands behind his back.
“Oh? Yes,” She raised on her toes and kissed his cheek.
Giovanni chuckled. “You know that’s not what I’m seeking.”
“You’ve taken everything. What can I give you?”
“Where is he?”
“Who?”
“Catalina? Non provovare la mia pazienza .”
“I told you all I know. Lorenzo left in the middle of the night. He found out about the Dons turning on him and the Armenians wanted war after you killed Alik. He took Marietta and left.”
“How did he leave? It wasn’t by boat. We were waiting.”
“He left.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is an untruth. After all my forgiveness and trust we are building, are you lying to me?”
Catalina pressed her lips together and considered her next response. She knew to lie to him would cost her everything. A lie could easily be proven when Gio had eyes and ears everywhere.
“He’s our brother, Gio.”
Giovanni chuckled.
“You know the truth. You know he’s our brother.”
“I don’t know any such thing. I know a fairytale that mother conveniently wrote in a diary with missing pages and different handwriting. It doesn’t make it true.”
“Zia confirmed mothers story.”
“And you believe her?”
“You can talk to Zia and understand.”
“You haven’t answered my question. Where did he go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Swear on the life of your child. Swear on the legacy you want me to give him. Swear on your future that I control. Swear it to me.”
Catalina eased her hand behind her back and crossed her fingers. It was a trick she and her friends often did when they were forced to lie to the nuns in primary school. A risk she needed to take to give Lorenzo a chance. “I swear to you, Gio. I don’t know where he went.”
Giovanni stared at her for what felt like an eternity. And then he clapped his hands together. “If you swear it then it must be the truth. Venite .” He extended his hand. She walked over to him. He pulled her closer and squeezed her hand. “Let’s get you home. I’d like to have a conversation with Zia.”
“She’d like to see you too.”
“One more thing,” he said.
Catalina paused with a smile to her face. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry little sister. I am sorry for hurting you, for putting my hands on you. I will never touch you that way again. It’s not the man I am. It’s not the man I want to be. Please forgive me.”
Catalina didn’t know how to respond. Her smile fell from her face. He was apologizing to her for the very first time in her life. A genuine real apology felt so surreal after all the pain and loss they’ve shared.
He kissed her hand. “You deserve respect. You will have nothing but respect from me.”
“Thank you Gio.”
“You’re right. I made a bad choice for you with Franco. I’m not sure I can ever see or understand the bond you had with Armando as a better one. But I respect you are his widow. Forgive me and I will forgive you.”
“I do, Gio. I do forgive you with all my heart.” She nodded.
“Now, will you feed me?” he asked.
She grinned. “With my bare hands!”
He laughed and pulled her in to another hug before they left her attorneys office together.
Sorrento, Italy
“ARE YOU SMILING AT me?” Mirabella chuckled. “Are you smiling... aww, I see, look at you pretty girl.” Mirabella fastened the side of the diaper to her niece. The baby eyes stretched pretty long lashes full of wonder. She moved her little fist and legs as if in celebration over being dry and well fed.
“You are a happy little girl!”
She picked Lorenza up and inhaled the jasmine baby lotion rubbed over her skin after her bath. She stroked her silky dark curls. Though she didn’t know her exact date of birth she knew the little one was growing and changing every day.
“I have an idea.”
Mirabella walked away from the changing table to the crib. She placed little Lorenza down on her baby blanket. She then went and located her camera. Mirabella posed Lorenza the best she could and took photos of her. Several pictures to add to the others. She
had decided for every day that passed where Marietta didn’t have her daughter Mirabella would document the changes in Lorenza. Creating the pictorial daily records made her feel less guilty.
“Mirabella?”
“Come in, Belinda.”
“Hi... I wanted to talk to you.”
“Okay,” Mirabella said and moved the stuff animals around the baby. She wanted to get a picture of her smiling. So she turned on the mobile. Lorenza looked up at the moving stars and moon on the mobile and kicked her feet. She flashed another smile and Mirabella captured it.
“She’s so pretty. Does she ever cry? I don’t think I’ve ever heard her cry.”
“She’s a good sweetie. A happy pretty-girl, but yes, she cries.” Mirabella smiled. “I work hard to keep her happy so she doesn’t cry for long.”
Lorenza stopped kicking and stared up at the twinkling lights of the mobile. Mirabella gave her the pacifier that she had grown attached too.
“What is it? You wanted something?” Mirabella asked.
“Yes. I spoke to Jamie last night. She told me you are doing the show in Milan next year. That you and your team have a new direction and after the baby you might be moving closer to Milan. A place called Bellagio.”
“And let me guess, you want to go sooner?” Mirabella asked.
“I want to be in it!”
Mirabella paused. She glanced back at her cousin. “In what?”
“Model. Jamie said I have the height and sass. She said I could easily do it. She said I could be the next Zenobia.”
“Did she?”
“I’ve been really good lately. I’ve helped with the kids and caused no trouble for Leo. This would be something for me. A chance for me to do something, and become someone. Will you think about it?”
Mirabella reached in the crib and picked up the baby. She held her in the cradle of her arms. Lorenza closed her eyes and snuggled against the warmth and comfort of Mirabella’s chest. Their bond felt unnatural. As much as she had fallen in love with Lorenza she had no right to share that kind of nurturing. It was wrong. She felt regret so keenly she put Lorenza back into her crib and let her rest with the comfort of her teddy bears.