by Sienna Mynx
“I have one last question and then the matter is settled.”
Mirabella exhaled a sigh of relief. “Okay, what do you want to know?”
“Did he touch you?” Giovanni asked. “Like the way I saw him touch you when I woke up from my coma?”
“What are we talking about? I told you Rocco is dying. I told you Catalina is with Armando. That the clans are being arrested and the guns...”
“Did he touch you when you were alone?”
“No. No. He... comforted me.”
“Comfort? How?”
“Words. He comforted me with words of encouragement. What you saw here was a moment of grief. The doctors had told me that you weren’t going to wake up. That I needed to send you to Switzerland. I explained this to you. He... he came here to tell you the good news. About the Licciardis, and we were... we beat them...”
“You’re terrible at this game Bella. That’s why I love you. You’ve never been good at lying to me.”
“I swear it Gio...”
“Let me help you see the real state of things. The Camorrisiti exists to protect us, just like the five Dons protect the Mafiosi. And like the cosche protect the Calabria N’drangheta. Without Licciardi, Racchi, Tacchini, there is just me, Bella. The big bad Don in the Amalfi. A single focus for the Carabinieri, and every enemy you can imagine. What you have done, is exposed us. And Tacchini knows this. He helped you remove all my barriers, and he didn’t do it out of loyalty for me. He did it for you. Because it’s what I would have done, after comforting you when Fabiana died and you had no one left in this world. How do you think I made you mine? Drew myself into your heart? Fate? Destino? By accident? I removed all other choices.”
Mirabella took a step back from her husband but she didn’t look away. Anger she could deal with. His rage he had seen. But the man in the bed wasn’t angry, not the way she knew him to be in the past. And the mistakes she made in trying to save him may very well rip him from her life some day. The ‘state of things’ as he put it, sent her paranoia spiraling downward.
“It wasn’t like that. I did what I thought... he, I only...”
“Now I ask the question again. And I want the truth. Because you are my Bella and you should never tell me lies. Did he touch you, any other time?” Giovanni asked.
She turned to leave.
“Don’t you run away from me, Bella! There is nowhere to run. Stay and face me.”
Her hand froze on the doorknob. Her head was pressed to the surface.
“I didn’t betray you. I swear I never once betrayed you.”
“It’s hard to believe you when you can’t look at me when you say it!”
She opened the door and walked out. She wiped her tears away but they kept coming. And she kept running.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Resolution
Sorrento, Italy
Nightfall covered their arrival. Carlo got out of the car first. He had to take a piss. Several men that worked for him rushed him from different directions. All of them inebriated and shooting guns in the air or aiming them at each other. The fools. He would give anything for a drink, but doctor’s orders meant he could not take a sip while on medication.
“Boss! Boss! Have you heard?”
“Viva Giovanni! Viva Giovanni!”
“Get out of my way,” he shoved aside the young man closest to them, and the others knew he was in no mood. He needed a shower, pussy, and silence in that order. When he entered however, he found that was not to be.
“Carlo, come with me,” Mirabella requested.
He blinked at her unable to mask his surprise. “I need you to take me somewhere.”
“Ah, well... I was hoping to see the boss and...”
“We won’t be gone long. Just you and me need to go.” Mirabella walked right past him without a backward glance. He frowned to Umberto, who shrugged and walked away with Renaldo.
“Shit,” Carlo mumbled.
A car was brought around for Mirabella. She got inside and he was tossed the keys. If Giovanni was awake why was she leaving? And what was the condition of Rocco? He got inside and started the car. They sped off. He found a station he figured she’d like to listen to and adjusted the volume.
“Turn the radio off,” she said.
Carlo glanced up to the rearview mirror and into her eyes. She had a determined look to her face. He turned off the radio and continued to focus on the drive.
“I know you don’t agree with me. With what has been done with Marietta. With how I destroyed the Camorristi.”
“A lot has happened, Donna. I respect your decisions.”
“Yeah, a lot has happened. You respect me because you have too. Not because I’ve earned it. Right? You think I’m a fool. I know what you all see when you look at me. Giovanni’s black American, air-headed wife. All I know is sewing dresses and how to make babies. I built a company from scratch! I had my own before I ever met your boss! I have a fucking brain! I’m capable you know. I can use it! I know...” She put her hands to her face. “I know now I made some mistakes but none of this is perfect. Nothing about you people and this place is perfect. How was I supposed to do any of this with him dying? How? I did not betray him. I love him. With all my heart.”
Carlo glanced up to the rearview mirror several times, but he didn’t speak. He didn’t know what to say.
Mirabella dug in her purse for tissues and wiped away her tears. After a long silence between them she recovered. “The truth is, I love Marietta, Carlo. I still do. She’s my sister. My mother risked her life for us to have each other. It’s a miracle that we even found each other. But... she never loved me. From the first day she saw me, she didn’t like me. She never cared. You of all people should understand. Lorenzo is like a brother to you. Think of what he has done. What he plans to do. How far is too far when the person closest to you betrays you?”
Carlo didn’t think a woman like her would want an answer. She was leading to something, and it was best to let her talk. He glanced up to the rearview mirror and saw her gather tissues from her purse. She was crying and smearing her makeup.
“Take me to the hospital to visit Rocco.”
“Si Donna,” he said. Carlo hit his signal and made the next turn. He at last learned their destination. She thought she had said it before. He didn’t bother correcting her.
“Giovanni is going to recover. That’s a blessing. Marietta needs medical attention I can’t provide, and Rocco, he’s not doing well. That’s not why I asked you to drive me to the hospital. I care about you, Carlo. I care about everyone. You’re like family to me. Everything I did, I did to protect the family.”
“Grazie, Donna, I care about you too,” he finally spoke.
“Marietta told me about Shae. What happened in America. I’m sorry you lost her.”
Carlo tried to shrug it off. He struggled with any mention of Shae, but to hear it from someone that knew of what happened in America made that battle even harder.
“I was glad to see you with Adara.”
Carlo glanced up to the rearview mirror.
“To see you moving on. You care about her?”
“Yes, she helped me when I was at my worst. I care.”
“I know she cared about you,” Mirabella said. “She told me that.”
Carlo glanced to the rearview mirror again. “Something wrong with Adara?”
“Yes. And it’s my fault. I feel like I should be the one to tell you. Take responsibility.”
“I’m listening.”
“Out of everyone in this family you’ve suffered some hard losses. I’ve watched in silence. I never felt like any of it was just. And I don’t want to be responsible for any pain to you. You saved Giovanni’s life. I owe you a debt I can never repay. So I’m sorry for what I’ve done.”
“What have you done, Donna?”
“Giovanni did not kill all the Calderones. He didn’t kill the children. A woman named Arielle, and Don Tacchini helped him hide them away.”
>
Carlo kept driving. He kept listening. But all he could think of was Adara. Was she in trouble? Did she need him?
“They singled a few out. To push them to become... gems.”
“Gems?”
“Adara is the granddaughter of Don Calderone, the daughter of Angelo Calderone. And she works as an agent for the Carabinieri.”
“That’s a lie. She’s a whore I found in...”
“It was a set up, Carlo. All of it. To bring her into the family so Giovanni and Tacchini could turn her. The media, the police, all of it has been orchestrated by Adara through them at first, and then through me.”
“She works for you?”
“Now she does. She didn’t know that Giovanni saved her life. She grew up thinking he destroyed it. She became part of a special recruitment from the Carabinieri to train women to be undercover agents for the Ndrangheta, and Camorra. No male informants or agents ever got close. They believe women would be the clans weakness. It is something even the parliament isn’t aware of. But Giovanni pushed her in that direction. He intended to activate her before he was shot. Tacchini told me about the plan and... I did it. I sent her back in, to help us bring down Armando and Lorenzo.”
“So she was with me, spying? She was using me?” Carlo asked.
“It may have started that way. It changed for her. She said it changed.”
“Where is she?” he asked.
“Gone.”
Carlo glanced up to the rearview mirror. Mirabella lowered her gaze. “The last I spoke to Tacchini he told me that the Generale would want to punish her. Make an example of her. He has her now. We can’t get to her.”
“So when you spoke to her, did she tell you anything else? About me?”
“Carlo...”
“Answer the question please,” he said.
“I’m sorry. She didn’t share anything else. I can only assume that once she got to know you, she wanted to protect you. When I saw her at the hospital with you, I saw how much she cared for you.”
“Forgive me, Donna, but that is bullshit. No one cares. They never have. I’ve learned to live with that truth.” He parked in front of the hospital. Three of his men were outside of it smoking cigarettes. He was grateful for the conversation to end.
“Carlo? Adara never betrayed you. She never really had a chance. She’s helping us now.”
“She’s your problem now,” he said and got out of the car. He walked around and opened the door for her. Mirabella stepped out. He tried not to look at her. She grabbed his arm. She forced him to address her.
“I’ve done things in the past two months that I regret. This is one of them. I know you’re hurt, I’m sorry for that. But I have to believe that this is part of survival. That all of this has a purpose. And one day, whoever she is, a woman will give you the family you deserve.”
“My life does have a purpose. For you and Giovanni. You’re my family. Not that traitor bastard Lorenzo or that secret agent whore Adara. I’m just the Butcher. This is the life for me.”
She hugged him. He allowed it.
“Forgive me, Carlo,” she said and then went into the hospital. Carlo stood there for a minute. That sickening feeling in his gut spread. It turned him inside out. He slammed the door shut so hard the window rattled. He pounded his fist to the roof until it dented. Why did he even bother? Nothing ever changed.
***
Mirabella had dried her tears and straightened her back. She couldn’t let her emotions control her now. She had to repair things fast. After Giovanni processed all that had changed, she was going to do everything in her power to regain his trust and faith in her. The only hope she had left of doing so was with the help of Rocco.
She entered the room and found him awake, but Zia sleeping. The hospital had wheeled in a chair for her. She lay on her side under a blanket. Rocco’s gaze turned to her.
“I was waiting for you,” he said.
“How do you feel?”
“Tired, mostly. Not much pain. They take care of the pain.”
“And Zia?” she walked around and looked at the sleeping matriarch.
“I asked them to give her something to help her sleep. She does nothing but read her bible and pray. No rest. I can’t convince her to leave.”
“Rocco...”
He waved her silent.
“We don’t have time for the rest. I need to know. Did you find it?”
She opened her purse. She removed the journal and the picture. She handed it to Rocco. He took it and inspected it.
“It was where you said. Is that her? Lorenzo’s mother?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“The diary tells everything. I couldn’t read my own mother’s journal but I read Eve’s.”
“I can’t change the past,” he said and glanced to Zia. “I need to help the boys now.”
“After Tomosino died why did you keep this secret?”
“A lie becomes a truth in time. Especially if there is no one left to contest it. The truth was dead wth Flavio, my sister Isabella, Eve, and Tomosino. The truth died with them. Who was I to change the lie?”
“But there is a possibility that Lorenzo is your son.”
“He’s not.”
“There’s a possibility.”
“He’s Tomosinos.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“For the same reasons Zia and I never had another child. It’s not meant to be. It never was. And the math never added up. She was pregnant when I... when it happened. I’m certain. Again my brother came out on top.”
“You sound jealous. After destroying that young girl’s life you’re jealous of your brother?”
“I let Lorenzo grow up feeling like he never mattered. I let Giovanni grow up with the responsibility alone. What could I have said at that point to either of them to change any of it? I knew when Lorenzo started poking in the past with Marietta and Mancini someday the truth would come out.”
“Giovanni is awake.”
Rocco glanced up. “He is?”
“Yes. And he’s not happy with me. I’ve made him more vulnerable, more exposed, and I think Tacchini knew this. I struck a match and now I can’t stop the fire.”
Zia stirred. She didn’t wake. Mirabella sighed. “I need you to help me tell Giovanni about this thing you’ve done to these women, to Lorenzo. He’s angry with me now. But with your help I can...”
“No. You have to do this alone.”
“I can’t!”
“You can. You have to. That’s why I told you the truth. You’re the only person that Giovanni trusts.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“The doctors were here. Talking. They ran their tests when they believed I was sleep.” He reached over and touched her tummy. “One of them told the other they gave you your test results. He said you’re pregnant.”
She couldn’t respond. She didn’t.
“You’re carrying the baby Giovanni didn’t think would happen. The child the doctors told you would never happen. Who else is better to tell him this? Me or you?”
“I’ve made mistakes. I won’t use my baby to cover them up.”
“We all have made mistakes. Children, that’s where he finds his forgiveness. That’s why he wanted more. Maybe if I had had my own I wouldn’t have been such an evil bastard.”
“You can’t die, Rocco. Whatever happens, Lorenzo and Giovanni will need you.”
“Being blood won’t save them. It didn’t save me and my brothers. What will save them is you and Marietta working together.”
“It’s out of my hands. You of all people know that its an unforgivable offense.”
“But you are the Donna Nera. Right? You don’t live in our world so our rules don’t apply to you,” Rocco said.
“That’s just it Rocco. I found that the rules do apply to me. I can’t pretend I’m any different from you any longer. We’re family. And my sister tried to kill my husband.”
“We are all responsible!�
� he raised his voice. Zia opened her eyes. Mirabella put the journal and the picture in her purse. Zia looked over at Mirabella and gave her a weak smile.
“Ciao, Mirabella, how is Gio?” Zia yawned.
“Awake. And strong.”
“Rocco! He’s awake!”
“Yes, I know.”
Zia got up slow and approached Mirabella. They embraced. Mirabella stared at Rocco from over Zia’s shoulder.
“He’s awake! Mio Dio!”
“He wants to see you both. But you know he’s still got to get stronger.”
“Yes. I want to see him. I will see him. As soon as possible.”
“I think I should go now. It’s late. There’s lots of celebrating at home. I will come back tomorrow and meet wth the doctors. How does that sound, Rocco?”
He gave her a nod. “Remember what I said. You and Marietta. That’s important. You have to find a way to deal with this together.”
“I remember everything you said, Rocco.” She walked over to the bed and leaned in. She kissed his brow. “Feel better.”
She left after taking in a few requests from Zia to have her things brought in from home. She returned outside to see Carlo waiting. He smoked a cigarillo and leaned against the car. He looked unchanged, unfazed. Except for the crack in the passenger side window and the dent to the hood of the car. He came forward and opened the car door for her. She got in. The rest of the ride home they sat in the car in silence.
Catalina was helped onto the boat by Armando’s hand. The sea felt as if it boiled all around them it was so turbulent. Waves hit the sides of the boat, making everyone sway. And storm clouds kept the stars and moon hidden. She couldn’t shake the nervous energy. They’d barely made it to the port. And again, Armando insisted they take separate cars for her protection.
“Go below. Wait for me,” he said against her ear.
“You’re coming?”
He smiled. “I’m coming.”
She looked at his men bustling about. Most of them bringing onboard guns. How could they get into Spain and not be stopped by the sea patrols sent out from Naples to cover the waters of Sicily? She heard the men discussing it with concern. If they were caught by the authorities she’d go to jail. Catalina had never seen the inside of a jail before. The concept did terrify her.
