by Sienna Mynx
“Calm? Why would she be calm if she’s your prisoner in a mental facility?”
“She’s not a prisoner.” Mirabella waived the comment off. “Everyone is being so dramatic about this. Marietta is sick.”
“Because you say so?”
“Because she shot you! Do you remember when she tried to shoot Lorenzo when she thought he cheated on her? It’s not the first time. You know. She’s a danger to herself and that child. Why do you care how I handle her? You never liked her. And I know what it means that she was your shooter.”
“What does it mean?”
“Oh c’mon, don’t pretend with me Giovanni. The only reason a man in this family hasn’t picked up a gun and blown her brains out is because she’s pregnant.”
“And she’s your sister, that has merit.”
“For who? You? Them? It sure as hell had no merit for her.”
Giovanni stared at her. He didn’t speak at first. He knew she sensed his meaning. “The baby needs to be born healthy. It is the number one priority right?”
“Of course.”
“Send her to the hospital to get the proper care.”
“No. She stays here.”
“Why?”
“I don’t have time for this, I have a meeting...” she said and headed for the door.
“Fuck your meeting. Answer me.”
Mirabella stopped. Her defiance in her silence made him itch to rise from the bed. The fucking world had turned over. And he didn’t like it. His wife was giving orders, seeing other men, taking down his enemies. What the fuck was wrong with her?
“I told you why,” she said in a trained calm voice. “She shot you. She and Lorenzo created this chaos. He did it out of greed. She did it because she’s sick, mentally.”
“I think she’s sane.”
“She’s not! It runs in my family. Bessie Mae was the same way.”
“I think you sending her to a mental ward is your way of protecting her,” he said. “From me.”
Mirabella’s head turned. She looked at him. And then shook her head. “They... she... she’s sick. She came here to turn me against everyone and give control over to Lorenzo. I put her out there in villa Rosso to teach her a lesson. To send a message to them both. Hell, I’ve been through it. All because of him. I had to deliver Eve alone. Or have you forgotten? No one had compassion for me.”
“And you want revenge on Lorenzo, but you want to protect Marietta?”
“Look who’s talking. Do you want revenge on Lorenzo or not!”
Giovanni laughed.
“What’s funny?”
“You’re good, Bella. You’re getting better at this.”
“I don’t know what you are accusing me of. What do you want, Giovanni?”
“All I want is my Bella back. My wife wouldn’t sit back and let her sister suffer for revenge. Not for anything, not even for me.”
“What did you say?”
“You heard me,” he finished.
“You think I’d choose her over you?”
“You have before,” he said. “She shot a boss. She shot your husband. You said it sealed her death warrant. You said you wanted to commit her to an institution but what have you done but play these torture games with her? You like her torment. And when it’s not enough you’re going want to atone for your actions and heal you both.”
“I’m handling it my way Gio...”
He arched a brow.
Instead of tears or meek protests, her look of disappointment dissolved to a stern look of anger. “Maybe your Bella wouldn’t hold a grudge, Gio. But your Donna would. I am only focused on you now. You and our kids.”
“You need to rethink your focus. I can handle the business from here. I will handle your sister from here.”
“Is that what you think? I’m making some kind of power play? I’m doing...”
“I don’t give a fuck what you had to do before, I’m telling you what you will do now. Send her to the hospital. Have her examined. Make sure that baby is okay. Do you understand me?”
“If I do that Lorenzo will come for her. You know he will!”
“He’ll try.”
“Armando will help him storm the hospital to get her.”
“He’ll fail.”
“Let me explain everything, what I’m doing...”
“I don’t want explanations. I want you to say you understand and will do as I ask.”
She put a shaky hand to her head. Then she lowered it. She glanced to him now with tears in her eyes. “No! No! She stays here!”
Before he could remind her of her place, Mirabella stormed out. Again. Giovanni’s eyes stretched. He was more than shocked. He was undone. It was the very first time in his marriage his wife defied him in such a challenging manner. And he didn’t like it one bit.
“Mirabella!”
Giovanni yanked the covers away. He pushed himself to move his legs. When they only twitched in response he grabbed his thigh and forced it to shift. His right leg went over the side of the bed. He grabbed his left thigh and did the same. The exertion pushed him into breathing harder than he had since he woke. But it felt good to be the one doing the pushing. Giovanni slowed his breathing and calmed himself. The goal was to stand. And he wouldn’t reach for the fucking walker some idiot dropped off in the room. He was going to stand on his own two feet. If he could do that much, then the rest had to be easy.
He closed his eyes and waited. Soon he felt his strength gather around his sheer will, and he pushed at the edge of the bed. The bottoms of his feet were flat to the floor, but his legs were still bent. To stand required that he put pressure on both feet while leaning forward, then straightening. All of this to be done at once.
“Do it!” he grunted. “Do it!” he wheezed.
Giovanni pushed down with his feet and relied on his calf muscles. He pushed down with his hands to the sides of him to give him momentum to lift. He leaned forward and then tried to straighten his knees and back. But the combination of actions was too much for his immobile body. He fell forward and landed on his knees and hands. He groaned in agony. But he didn’t break. There were still men, and staff about. If they found him on all fours he’d never recover his dignity.
“Motherfucker!” he grunted. He had to turn and crawl back to the bed. He did so quickly. He grabbed the edge of the bed and squeezed his eyes shut. Before, he didn’t know where he’d been shot in his back. Just that he had been shot many times. But now it was clear. From his shoulder to the center, and lower left side of his back, he felt the bullet holes opening and rupturing. They probably weren’t. But that’s what it felt like. He withstood the pain. This was about more than ego. This was about survival. And like his beautiful wife said, it was about revenge. Giovanni pulled himself up with his arm muscles, and his legs began to find the strength to stand. To his surprise he stood upright. His face was now covered in sweat. His eyes possibly bloodshot red from the strain. But the truth was he was standing. On his own. Victory felt better than anything he could imagine.
He glanced to the door. He wasn’t sure he was ready before, but he was now. It was time to deal with his wife.
Armando walked toward the front of the lower deck. The tinted windows of his yacht prevented him from being seen. But he could see clearly outside and what he saw made him certain of the need of the gun at his side. He considered going back to the room and telling Catalina to stay behind. Or maybe he should stay there and take a stand. Protect her? He paused on what to do next. It was the laughter that drew his attention. Lorenzo laughed. Again, Armando frowned.
Where the fuck were Mario and Ignacio?
With no other choice before him, Armando decided to press on. He walked to the front area of the lower deck, and was seen immediately. He had no choice but to come up stateside. His men, the very best of his men, were on their knees. Ignacio was bloodied. He had tape across his mouth and a gun to his head. In the water floated the dead bodies of men he loved like brothers. Those who were
on their backs had throats cut. He heard the soft rapid gunfire of men being shot and killed in the boats that accompanied his. It was a slaughter.
“I was just coming to wake you,” Lorenzo grinned. He leaned on his crutch. There was another man with a shaven head and long beard. He had the darkest of eyes. A snake was tattooed over his skull. He smoked a cigar. He smiled.
“Armando, meet Alik Yeremian. An old friend of mine, and the head snake of the Akhperutyuns. The Armenians I told you about.”
“Nice to meet you,” the man said in Italian.
“What the fuck are you doing, Lorenzo?”
A gun was handed to Lorenzo. “On your knees.”
Armando looked around. There were four boats surrounding his yacht. They were in the middle of the ocean. Nothing to save him. How had he been so careless? He knew the answer. Since the moment he fell for Catalina, he’d been distracted. He was distracted with the Gambetta plan. He was distracted last night. He’d been led by the nose.
“On your fucking knees,” Lorenzo said.
“Fuck you, you don’t have the balls to kill me.”
“Armando?” Catalina said. “Lorenzo, what are you doing?”
Armando’s head turned. For a brief moment he looked into Catalina’s eyes. And the horror on her face was the proof he needed. She didn’t betray him.
“Lorenzo, don’t!”
The first shot hit him in the chest. He was blown backward. He heard her scream. And then came the next shot and the next. He might have felt pain if they hadn’t hit him one after another. He felt nothing. He heard her pleas for his life before darkness descended on his mind, he managed a smile. He realized the truth. She was worth it.
“Noooooo!” Catalina screamed. “Noooooo!”
She ran to Armando. It was the only reason Lorenzo stopped firing. He’d been shot dead, seven times by the time she reached him. She dragged his bleeding body to her. “Noooooooooooooo!” she wailed. “Please don’t die! Please don’t die!” she wept. “Pleaseeeee don’t!”
The other men were shot. Catalina kissed Armando’s face. She stroked his face. “I love you, don’t leave me. Please...”
And then men grabbed her. She couldn’t see anymore. The tears blinded her from everything. And the shock strangled her. She couldn’t breathe. She was dragged kicking and screaming from the boat. She glanced once final look at Armando before a man kicked his body off the boat and into the sea. He sank under the water.
“Nooooooo!” she fought them.
She could hear Lorenzo laughing with other men as she was taken away.
Chapter Forty-One
The New Nightmare
The Mediterranean Sea
The ocean was vast. First they made it out of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and then to the Mediterranean. It was the Mediterranean Sea where his body was cast. And still they sailed. Catalina lay on the hard surface of the cabin floor. She was confined there now, behind a locked door. She drifted in and out of terrible nightmares. All of them ended the same. Armando was dead.
“Three,” she said softly. Three people had died because of her. First Franco, by Dominic’s hand. Then Rosetta by her own. She knew what Lorenzo was capable of. She convinced Armando to let his guard down and trust her. She might as well have loaded the gun.
There was a knock at the door.
Catalina closed her eyes. She didn’t bother to move. There was nothing she wanted to hear or say. She wanted nothing.
The door opened. She heard the thumps of his crutches. She knew immediately who it was. Catalina pushed herself up from the floor. Her gaze lifted up to Lorenzo. He towered over her. He leaned on his crutches. He still had Armando’s and his men’s blood on him. She had Armando’s blood on her.
“You ready to talk about your disloyalty?”
She shuddered with rage. She blinked away her tears. She didn’t want to cry in front of him. She didn’t want him to see an ounce of her pain. She knew he didn’t care either way.
“I told you I would handle him. I would get us out. And I did.”
“You are an evil bastard. You have no soul. Just emptiness inside of you. I will never forgive you.”
“For what? For killing the man that made you his whore?”
“He was my husband!” she shouted.
Lorenzo laughed. “Your husband? Two months ago you were engaged to Domi. Remember him? Remember!” he shouted at her. She jumped. He glared down at her. “I don’t know what Armando said to you to get into your head, but get over it. He was our enemy. Get the hell up and clean yourself. And then join me topside. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
Lorenzo smiled. “Good. Because you and I will work together to get Marietta back.”
He turned to go to the door.
“Giovanni is going to kill you. He will. And when he does I won’t be there to tell your child make believe stories about how you were a good man, a good brother to me. I’m going to tell that child the truth. That you are burning in hell, where you belong.”
Lorenzo shrugged and left.
Catalina drew her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. She stifled the scream in her head by pressing her lips shut. She then looked at her wedding ring. Lorenzo was right. Two months ago she was a different person, in love with another man. But that was two months ago. She was no longer that girl. She was his. And he was gone.
“Wake up.”
Marietta opened her eyes. She heard a voice. She caught movement, from her peripheral. Mirabella paced at the side of her bed. She was upset. Marietta was cautious to even breathe. She had a painful night of cramping. She feared every second of the day for her baby’s life. And she knew Mirabella could not be trusted to help her.
Mirabella stopped pacing. She looked at Marietta and it was clear that all her fears were right. Her sister had been crying.
“It’s my fault,” Mirabella began. “All of it. Pretending everything could be okay. Accepting everyone and anyone, just because my heart wanted to. I can’t forgive you. I want to. I tried hard too. But I can’t. And now I’m having a hard time forgiving myself.”
“I know the feeling,” Marietta said sadly.
“I don’t want you to die. I thought I did. And maybe if Giovanni had died, I would hate you enough to want to kill you. But everyone has a line they cannot cross. That’s my line. Death and destruction. I can’t cross that line anymore.”
“Then help me. Or at the very least help my child. Get me out of here.”
“Giovanni is awake. He knows the whole truth. And he’s not angry. Do you know what that means? After everything that’s happened the past two months he isn’t acting out in anger. Which means you are in greater danger than either of us can conceive. I know my husband. The moment he’s out of that bed, he’s going to settle all matters. You, Lorenzo, me, none of us have any control. He wants you to go to the hospital to get medical care but I know you are plotting with Lorenzo. You have to promise me that you won’t do anything. You will stop with the schemes with Minnie and do exactly what he says.”
“Even if I tried to escape he will hunt down Lorenzo and kill him. Then what? I raise my child alone? No. I will do whatever you suggest. I promise.” She sobbed. And then her sister touched her hair, smoothed her curls. Before long Mirabella was holding her, allowing her to cry in her arms. Together they clung to each other. Tighter than they possibly ever had since they left their mother’s womb. Mirabella cried too. They both knew it without saying it. This was the end.
If Giovanni kept his promise to protect her child he’d never let what she and Lorenzo did go unpunished.
“I love you, Mira, I swear on my life I do. I tell lies, even to myself, but that’s the truth. Please find a way to forgive me.”
“I will do my very best to have Giovanni spare you and your baby,” Mirabella said. “You will go to the hospital and get the checks you need. We start there.”
“Can Minnie come with me? Please? Just until I’m settled in Pale
rmo.”
“No. Stop using Minnie. She cares for you. She trusts you. I’m sending Minnie home. She doesn’t belong here. Does she?”
Marietta lowered her gaze. “No. She doesn’t.”
“I will come to the hospital once you get settled in. Okay?”
“Thank you.”
Mirabella gave her another nod and left.
Carlo received a page to return to Melanzana. He was headed south along the Amalfi coastal highway. He almost ignored the summons. He was glad he didn’t. When he arrived, Umberto was the first to greet him and share the news. Giovanni wasn’t just awake, he was out of bed and ready for a meeting. He asked for Carlo directly.
The house was quiet when he entered. Carlo noticed the subdued atmosphere immediately. He went in search of his boss and found him on the second floor. Carlo tapped twice on the door and entered, though he knew his boss was behind it. Giovanni sat at his desk in his dark robe. Seated before him were Dominic and a red-haired woman that looked familiar.
“Come in, Carlo. We’ve been waiting.” Giovanni said.
He noticed that the Donna was not among them. He closed the door behind him and stepped forward.
“How are you, boss?” Carlo asked.
“Better than I was yesterday,” he smiled.
Carlo smiled.
“I hear I owe you my life?” Giovanni said. “Any idea how I should repay the debt?”
“A pack of beer and a few days off should settle it.”
Giovanni chuckled. “Well, the beer is on me. But looks like I need another. An important one.”
“Don Battaglia,” Sera spoke. Carlo’s attention averted to her. “I know we discussed this. I know what you expect. But your wife, she was acting out of concern for her sister. What you want to do... I’m not comfortable with this. She’s a pregnant woman in need of medical care.”
“And we’ll make sure she has it. You’ve been very helpful, Doctor. I expect you to do as I ask without question.”
