by Sienna Mynx
She’d been a fool. And what was worse, everyone expected her to remain one. Her husband constantly demanded she give him the devotion she spread out across the family freely. He demanded she made him first priority—protected and supported him unconditionally. She never had.
Until tonight.
She could tell by the smug looks on Catalina and Marietta’s faces. They were so certain of her kind naiveté. They actually had counted on it.
Not anymore.
She reached for the phone and disturbed Eve’s sleep. She rocked again in the chair while dialing.
“Mommy?”
“Sleep, Eve, rest for Mama.”
“I want Papa,” Eve said. “I want him bad.”
“I know, honey. We will go home to him tomorrow. I promise.”
“Okay.”
She dialed the number from memory. The phone rang on the other end. Mirabella closed her eyes and waited for the answer. “Hi, how are you? What time is it? Am I calling too late?” Mirabella smiled. “Great. Yes, yes, things are very tough for us right now. Giovanni is healing, but it will be a long road to recovery. I’m sorry I didn’t return your calls. Thank you, tell them I said thank you.” Mirabella continued to rock her daughter. “I’m calling because I’ve been thinking about you. The things you said to me. Marietta is in her sixth month of her pregnancy. She’s not doing well. Would you consider coming to Sorrento? You would! That’s wonderful. I’ll book your flight as soon as possible. Oh, yes, I know. We are family. Thank you. Bye.”
Mirabella hung up the phone. A slow smile crept to the corner of her mouth.
“Everything okay, Mommy?” Eve yawned.
“Yes, sweetheart. Everything will be just fine.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
A Reckoning
Palermo, Sicily
“Can you sleep?”
“No,” Marietta said softly.
Lorenzo turned over on his side. “What is it?”
“Seeing her again, it just... I didn’t expect her to be, different.”
“You said the plan worked. You’re going home with her.”
Marietta looked over to her husband. Her heart was heavy. “What if the baby comes early? What if you can’t get to us in time? This plan is a big risk.”
“Hey,” he kissed her lips. “One month. In one month I’m going to be on my feet, and walking back through the doors of Melanzana. Trust me. Nothing will keep me from my baby or my wife.”
“Mmmm...” Marietta groaned and relaxed.
“How was she? You said it was her idea that you come back. You didn’t even have to ask?”
Marietta frowned.
“What’s that look for?”
“She was calm at first. Really calm. She asked about the baby.”
“Okay?”
“But... something was different about her. She wasn’t angry. She didn’t cry, or demand answers. It was... it felt wrong. She reminded me of my adoptive father. That monster.”
“How?”
“When I was little, and he was drinking, or just mean for whatever reason, I could sense it. His eyes would go funny, red like blood. And he’d have this look on his face. You just knew even as a little kid he was dangerous,” Marietta shivered. Lorenzo comforted her. Held her and listened. “But that wasn’t when he was the cruelest. The times he was cruelest were when he was stone cold sober. He’d talk sweet to me, offer me candy, compliment me the way a parent would. And my defenses would go down. I’d let him pick me up, or hold my hand. And in a flash he’d turn on me. Kick me downstairs, or slap my face. Or even worse. He’d lock me in a closet. Leave me there for hours in the dark. It was so confusing for me as a little girl. I couldn’t trust him when he was mean or when he was nice. But it was when he was nicest I was hurt even worse. Because only then did I really want him to be a father to me.”
“I’m glad we killed that motherfucker,” Lorenzo said.
Marietta sniffed.
“What does that have to do with Mirabella?”
“Something about her reminded me of Octavio. The way she turned on Catalina after hugging her.... she was cruel, Lorenzo. Cold.”
“She was angry. Seeing Catalina with Armando pissed me off too.” Lorenzo said.
“It wasn’t just that she rejected her. It was that she accepted her, and then rejected her. She made Catalina lower her defenses so she could hurt her more. Even Domi cared, and it has to be killing him inside to see her with Armando. Mirabella, shrugged it off.”
“Catalina killed Rosetta. You were burying Rosetta that very day. Can you blame Mirabella for being angry?”
“No. No. You don’t understand. This is Mirabella. Remember? She found out that Catalina had Franco killed by Domi, and didn’t waiver in her support. She knows the girls were fighting. She knows Catalina was desperate. It’s not like her to not feel sympathy.”
“You can fix Mirabella,” Lorenzo kissed Marietta’s brow. “She listens to you, loves you. That’s why you have to go home. Convince her to sign over Mancini investments to Armando. I’ll work Armando on my end. Clean up this mess Gio caused with la Cosa Nostra. Then we will have a different alliance.”
“What if Giovanni lives? He’s not going to step down.”
“He won’t have a choice. The only way this works is if I take his place while he is still in a coma. The clan bosses got a taste of the heroin trade. They know I can take them into the future. Giovanni and I will work out our differences, but my time has come. Our time has come. Do you support me?”
“One hundred percent. If Giovanni has to go, then he has to go. I’m with you, Lo. Always.” Marietta turned over to her side and stared into his eyes. He kissed her nose and then her lips. He pulled her closer. “I love you so much, cara. More than life itself.”
“Ti amo.”
***
Catalina paced. She paced so long her feet, legs and back ached. Two hours on her feet crying, cursing, talking to herself, had done nothing to alleviate the stress. It kept mounting.
The door opened.
“Where have you been? Did you talk to my uncles? Did you get another meeting with Mirabella? Just her and me? When is it?”
Armando closed the door. He looked her over as if she’d just come in from running in the swamps. His brow furrowed with concern.
“Stop looking at me that way. Did she agree to the meeting? Should we go now?”
“There will be no meetings, Catalina. My warehouse was firebombed tonight. I just met with my men. I’ve lost thirteen people. And twenty more innocent people who work for me were hurt. We are at war.”
“War? Your war has nothing to do with me!”
“Catalina...”
“No! I want a car. Give me a car. I’m going over there. Mirabella has it all wrong. If I talk to her alone, explain it to her, she will understand.”
Catalina hurried around the room to get her shoes. Armando watched her. She looked for her purse. When she couldn’t find it, she burst into tears. “Where the hell is my damn purse? You hid it from me!”
She dropped to her knees and checked under the bed. She got back up and went for the door. Armando caught her by the arms and forced her to remain still.
“What did I tell you the night you came? What did I say?”
“Noooo...”
“You made your choice damn it. They will not accept you back. Not now. It’s too raw.”
“Mirabella...”
“She said no!”
“She doesn’t understand.”
“She said no, Catalina!”
“She looked at me like... she hates me.”
He pulled her into his arms. He held her to his chest and stroked her hair. Catalina clung to him and wept. “Please, Armando. I can’t lose her and my brother. I need them both. Please help me.”
“I am, this is me helping you.” He cupped her face and held it tightly. “We are at war. I’ve locked down the city. It’s done, Catalina. This is your family now. Marietta will leave with
her. She will work on Mirabella. Lorenzo and I will end this war. Trust me. Okay? Trust that I know what’s best for you, for us. Can you do that?”
Catalina wanted to die.
He kissed her brow. He led her to bed and stood her there. He unzipped her dress and pulled it off her. He undid her bra and rolled off her panties. He put her in bed, and drew up the covers. He turned down the lights. Instead of lying next to her he sat in the chair next to the bed. She turned away from him and cried into her pillow. It was a necessary pain. But he had hopes that once she endured the worst of it, she’d see the other side of things. She’d see her future with him, and eventually grow to want it as much as he did.
Morning -
Marietta had a tearful goodbye with Lorenzo. He was now in a wheelchair, and able to get around Armando’s villa without much issue. Catalina never did come down to say goodbye. She wanted to see her, but Armando suggested she not be disturbed.
She left by car. The Battaglias were confined to Bagheria. Palermo was now the battleground for warring families in the Mafioso. Marietta had to meet the family at the private airport terminal in Bagheria. A small jet waited for her. The moment she saw it, her instincts told her turn and run. To not board the plane. She had a sinking feeling of dread just looking at it. What she would later discover was that this feeling was a panic attack.
Marietta forced down her anxiety. She accepted help from the staff to board the plane.
“Auntie!” Eve exclaimed. The little one ran down the aisle to her. The twins looked up and stared at her as if trying to remember who she was to them. Eve knew. Marietta hugged and kissed her niece.
The reception she received from everyone else was colder than the Antarctic. She sat next to Cecilia, the only one who offered a friendly smile. Mirabella sat to the back of the plane with sunglasses on. She could hear her sister laughing with her kids. It was a calming sound in the midst of the tension. Zia didn’t speak to her. Rocco didn’t look her way. Dominic slept in the back of the plane, or pretended to. Nico played cards with Leo and a few other men. And so it went.
The landing was smooth. She wasn’t invited into the car with her sister. She rode with Cecilia and Nico. She found that odd, but understood. After all they hadn’t talked about any of the things that happened between their husbands. That was a conversation she dreaded.
They arrived at the gates of Melanzana, and Marietta was anxious to get out of the car. Her baby kicked something fierce since leaving Sicily. The little onion missed Papa too.
“Signora Marietta, please follow me.” She looked up to see Umberto and six other men had surrounded her and the car. Confused, Marietta glanced to her sister. Mirabella and the kids were heading up the stone steps to Melanzana. Her sister never looked back.
“Follow you where?” she asked.
“Signora, I will not ask again,” Umberto said and parted his jacket. He revealed the gun to the front of his pants.
“What the hell is going on?” she demanded. The fact that men who once bowed to her husband, threatened her while pregnant was so shocking to her she froze. Two other men began to take her luggage from the car, and instead of heading to the main house, they took the path that lead around the side of it.
Umberto stepped threateningly close to her. The look in his eyes chilled her to the bone. She put her hand to her belly. “Get the hell away from me.”
He sneered.
“Umberto!” Nico barked.
The young man paused. He looked disappointed when he glanced back to Nico.
“What is this about?” Nico demanded.
“The Donna has orders. She is to stay in villa Rosso. Under my gun. No visitors. Donna says we can take her by force if we have too.”
“What? The hell I am!” Marietta shoved Umberto back and started toward the house. Nico grabbed her arm. He did so gently but firmly. “Get your fucking hands off me, Nico. This is between me and my sister!”
“Marietta, you’re pregnant,” Nico said calmly. “You can’t be stressed. I heard you say so in the car to Cecilia. Per favore. Let me go inside and see what this is about. For now, go to villa Rosso.”
“No! Hell no! Why should I?”
“These men won’t disobey an order. Do you want them to physically drag you there?”
“You give them a different order! I am Lorenzo’s wife!”
“Yes, you are Lorenzo wife, and they believe Lorenzo shot and tried to kill their boss. Look at them Marietta. This will not end well.”
She cut her gaze over to Umberto who watched her with his predatory, keen eyes. He was actually smiling at the thought. “Lorenzo will cut your fucking throat for this!” she pointed a finger at him. “Smirk all you want, but you know who the real boss is, you motherfucker!”
Umberto winked at her.
Nico stepped forward and the smile drained from Umberto’s face. In fact, all of the men froze and looked at Nico with caution. The giant enforcer didn’t raise his voice, but there was something steely and meaningful in the warning he gave them. “Do not lay a hand on her. Do you understand? Show some fucking respect. She is Mirabella’s sister,” Nico said. Umberto nodded his obedience, and some of Marietta’s dignity was restored. But only a small portion of it. She was still very terrified. Mirabella had trapped her. And she walked right into it. Just as she did with Octavio when she was too small to understand. What the hell was happening?
“Go,” Nico encouraged her. “I’ll talk to the Donna and have her come see you.”
“Nico, Lorenzo didn’t shoot Giovanni. It’s all a misunderstanding. I swear it.”
He gave her a kind smile. She had no choice but to leave. Umberto led the way. She wasn’t even given the privilege of taking the shorter journey through the doors of Melanzana. Instead she had to walk in the grass around the huge estate. A few times she stumbled, but none of the men offered to help her. They treated her with little to no regard. In fact, they acted as if she were a task, like taking the dog outside for a piss. When she finally made it inside of villa Rosso, she saw a few men go upstairs to deposit her luggage. The others went about ripping out the phones. They dropped them all in the living room. Umberto inspected and made sure that nothing was left. Not even utensils. The haul was taken out in a garbage bag. Umberto dropped a satellite CB radio on the coffee table.
“If anything is needed, you call it in on the transistor radio to the guys. Someone will always be on channel three. Your food will be brought in from the house. Make a list of anything needed like medicine for pregnant ladies. I will make sure it gets to the Donna.”
“Fuck you,” Marietta seethed.
Umberto chuckled and walked out. She heard the door lock afterwards. She went to the window and looked out of it. She saw two men standing there talking. They didn’t have guns, but she knew they had the means to keep her inside. Marietta hurried to the other doors in villa Rosso. There were only two. A man was posted outside of each. She checked the windows, but none of them opened.
The place had been cleaned out from its previous furnishings. Though she’d never truly visited. There was a sofa, a glider, and a television downstairs. The kitchen cupboards had some food, and drinks were in the fridge. She struggled, but when she climbed up the stairs she found a bed and bathroom with the basics.
Other than that, she was alone. Totally. And it broke her heart.
“What are you doing to her, Mirabella?” Zia asked
Mirabella pulled off Gino’s pull-up and pointed to the small toilet he used for potty training. The boy walked over and sat on it obediently.
“I saw them take her out back, to villa Rosso. What is going on?” Zia demanded.
“Nothing to worry about.”
“And my Catalina? Why wasn’t she allowed to come home?”
“Catalina has chosen Armando. That was her doing.”
“Mirabella!” Zia snapped.
Mirabella cast her gaze over to Zia. The old woman must have read something in Mirabella’s response, because
she put her hand to her heart and shook her head sadly. “Please don’t be this way, Mirabella. Please. The family needs to be united. Forgive them. We have to, or we won’t heal.”
“You’re begging me for leniency? Those two conspired behind both of our backs. Catalina killed Rosetta.”
“This is not about Rosie! Don’t use that poor girl’s death to justify your anger!” Zia said.
“Catalina killed her. And Marietta did even worse. I am showing mercy. The same mercy that was shown to me when I was pregnant with Eve. When I had to live in isolation alone. Deliver my baby without Gio, because Lorenzo lied, schemed and blew our love apart. Because of his lies, my best friend died. Before my eyes! What mercy was shown to me?” Mirabella shouted.
Gino stared on at his mother with wide eyes. The same look of surprise and fear that Zia wore. But Mirabella didn’t care. She didn’t blink.
“This is no longer about mercy. This is about justice. You stay away from villa Rosso. And don’t mention Catalina coming home to me again, because the answer will be the same. No.”
Zia turned and left.
Gino stood with his hand on his little member and tears in his eyes. Mirabella softened. “It’s okay, picco. Sit for Mommy. It’s okay.”
Gino sat back on the plastic toilet. Mirabella smiled and blinked away her tears. “Bravo little man. You make me so proud.”
“You’ve been waiting for me?”
Dr. Sera Marchetti turned away from the portrait hanging above the fireplace. Dominic Battaglia stood before her in a dark suit and tie. His hands, shoved down deep into his pockets, split the folds of his blazer.
