by Sienna Mynx
“You okay?” Dominic asked.
“Huh?”
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Dominic asked.
“No. Not really,” she admitted. “This is hard.”
Dominic put his arm around her and pulled her in closer. She trained her gaze straight ahead and kept it that way. Carlo stepped over to the open grave. He removed his father’s pocket watch and tossed it inside. Ciro’s mother wailed with tears. They had chosen to bury the young man next to Carmine. And when it was over, several grown men were concealing their teary eyes behind dark sunglasses. The day would be a long one of mourning.
After the service –
Carlo sat at his brother’s graveside in a chair he pulled out from under the tent. He’d helped the gravediggers cover Ciro until his arms burned with exhaustion. Now it was done. His gaze volleyed between Ciro’s and Carmine’s graves. He put a hand to his face and wiped away the sweat. The sun was ruthless. It blazed and burned hotter than flames straight from hell. And he endured. Because hell is where he belonged. There were many regrets in his life, but this one, the death of his brothers; he knew their blood was on his hands. This was his curse. No matter his sin, he never suffered worse consequences than the people he loved.
A hand touched his shoulder. His sister had warned she would come after him if he stayed at the grave too long. He wasn’t ready to let go. Not yet. “Go on, leave me,” he said in Sicilian.
“Carlo?” a woman spoke. He turned his gaze and looked back over his shoulder. The sun temporarily blinded him. But her pink hair blew out in the wind, and she stepped between him and the harsh glare. Carlo stood. It was Shae.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
She took another step toward him. He stared down at her in confused disbelief. She looked to Ciro’s grave. She walked past him and put a white lily on the dirt mound. Carlo observed her, unable to speak. Her presence had not only surprised him, it rattled him. Shae leaving him the way she did hurt him more than he thought possible, considering their short time knowing each other.
“Marietta called me last week when you made the funeral arrangements. I had to come,” she said softly.
“Why?” he asked.
“For you, Carlo.” She looked at him again. She reached up and touched his face. “I’m so sorry about Ciro. He was a sweet kid. I liked him a lot. I’m so sorry for your pain.”
“You said you didn’t care.” He turned his face away not wanting her touch.
Shae lowered her hand. “I lied. I care. Don’t be angry. I didn’t come all this way to upset you. Let me be here with you.”
“Until you decide you don’t want to be?” he asked.
“When will that be, Carlo? Before or after you finally see me, and not a replacement for Marietta?” she removed her sunglasses. “If you want to be loved, you’ve got to stop thinking you don’t deserve to be.” She stepped closer to him. “Be angry if you need to be. Go ahead. I can handle it.”
“Leave, Shae,” he turned away from her. She hurried and stepped around him. “I was wrong to up and leave you like that. I was a coward. But today isn’t about me or us. Is it, Carlo? Ciro’s dead. You barely escaped prison for murder. Let me be here, right now, and we’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.”
Carlo put his hands to his head. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut. “I can’t!” he groaned. “I can’t do it anymore.”
“I know,” she said sadly.
Carlo felt weak in the gut and legs. He dropped to his knees in an instant. He grabbed Shae by the waist and pulled her to him. He put his face against her abdomen and held tight to her. “I can’t go through this anymore!”
“Shhh… I know. I know, baby, I’m so sorry.”
He couldn’t cry. He didn’t know how in that moment. He’d spent too many nights feeling his anger, to understand how to release it. But when he held Shae and she allowed him to, he began to understand why he needed her. Why he needed his brothers. And then the tears came. He brought her down before him. He held on to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him. He cried.
“It’s okay, Carlo. It’ll be okay,” she said. She kissed the side of his face and embraced him. “I’m here. I’m not leaving you. I swear it.”
Two Weeks Later –
Mirabella walked up to the doors of Villa Rosso. The work crews were at it today. Finally Giovanni okayed the reconstruction of the villa. She wasn’t told all that happened in there while she was gone. Something had. Giovanni switched his meetings to his office inside Melanzana. The carpet had to be pulled up. The floors scrubbed, and walls repainted. Which meant she could do some remodeling of her own.
The closer she came to the doors of the villa the weaker she felt. She wiped at her brow and shuddered. The medication they gave her often helped. But some days she felt nauseous, fatigued, and on other days she had a fever. The doctors said it was something in her blood. But even they couldn’t quite explain what. For Mirabella it was a constant burn beneath her skin that made her worry as much as her husband.
“Donna, you shouldn’t be here,” Dreco said when she tried to enter the door.
She smiled and stepped back. “Oh hello, Dreco. I only wanted to make sure the painters do as I told them.”
“Yes, but the boss doesn’t want anyone inside. Even you. It’s strict orders,” Dreco said. He pleaded with her with his eyes. She relented. She turned to leave when a man came out carrying a bin of trash. He miscalculated a step and dropped it. The contents scattered.
The men started arguing over whose fault it was. Mirabella glanced down at the rubbish. One thing in particular drew her eyes. She knelt and picked up a smashed VHS tape. The label that said, ‘Play Me’ was caved inward. Mirabella remembered the video recorder next to the bed. She remembered Kei saying he recorded something for her husband. She and Giovanni never spoke of it. Not ever. And somehow she managed to suppress a lot of her memories. It was funny how the human mind found ways to recover from trauma. And even more frightening was how something as simple as a VHS tape dragged it all up to the surface of a person’s memory.
And then there was something else. Since her return from the hospital and all through her recovery, Giovanni hadn’t once tried to make love to her. At first they were both concerned about her health, and the doctors’ inability to explain what Kei had used on her. The next major worry was for Carlo, and getting the family to Sicilia after his release for Ciro’s funeral. Excuse after excuse came for why they were not behaving as husband and wife. Mirabella stared at the tape and began to tremble with cold dread. Her eyes welled with tears.
“Donna? Are you okay?” Dreco asked.
“I-I’m fine.” She wiped her tears. She walked off with the tape. She went inside. She heard the kids’ laughter nearby. Lorenzo and Marietta had stayed behind in Sicilia. Dominic and Giovanni were in a closed-door meeting in his office. She climbed the stairs with no problem now that her ankle was healed. She went in her room and closed the door. Giovanni constantly checked on her, and would return upstairs to check in on her soon. She set the broken VHS tape down next to her and waited for her husband.
**
“That’s not good enough!” Giovanni shouted.
“There is no trace of her, Giovanni. We’ve looked everywhere. She’s vanished,” Dominic said. “I don’t know how, but she has.”
“She hasn’t fucking vanished. She’s retreated. She had this planned all along. And she used the Ndrangheta to help. That’s where we need to strike. Flush her out.”
“You said we had to lay low,” Dominic reminded him.
“That time has passed. I’m not going to wait for her to come after this family again. We’ll take it back to the triangle.”
“Giovanni, after the Calderone war we have been advised to not spill any more blood there. Let me keep working my contacts.”
With a burdened sigh he closed his eyes. His business was suffering, and so was his family. All he could think of now was finding Isabella
and making her pay.
“What are the doctors saying, Gio?” Dominic asked.
“That’s she’s fine, physically. They have her on this anti-viral medication for the next ninety days. She’s nauseous sometimes and runs a fever. But I don’t see anything else wrong with her.”
“He mixed heroine in that shit he gave her for what purpose, Gio? Why was he trying to make her sick?”
“I don’t know. I need to find Isabella. I need to know what was done to my wife!” he said.
“No. Gio, look at me,” Dominic said.
Giovanni lifted his gaze. Dominic stepped forward. “That’s not how we get back on track. What we do is what you’ve always done. Remember when the Russians shot Patri? Remember the chaos, the uncertainty? We have an enemy. She is no different than all of the other enemies we have. We need to get strong. We need to rebuild our defenses. You have us spread thin with the clan bosses. Trafficking. Taking business deals from the Mafiosi. We need to focus on what makes us strongest—family.”
The advice was solid. Part of him knew Isabella wanted him to chase her shadow. He had to find a way to build his family again, and then draw her back out. And this time he would be ready.
“When Lorenzo returns from Sicilia we refocus.”
“I have some ideas, Gio. You’ve tried it Lorenzo’s way. You’ve tried it your way. Now it’s time you let me help. Try it my way.”
Giovanni smiled at his little brother. “Okay, Domi. We’ll try it your way. But there is some unfinished business. I’ve had time to think on it. I want you to be the one to finish it.”
Dominic nodded. “Ask and I’ll do it.”
Villa Mare Blue
The Lagoon
Marietta swam under the clear blue waters. Below her the sand had a crystalized sparkle from the sunrays, and above the waters rippled as she swam to the surface. She emerged at the mouth of the cave. Lorenzo waited for her. He had taken off his speedos and lay on his back, nude. His body was beautifully tanned a dark olive brown from sailing.
“Hi!” Marietta said.
“Hello, beautiful,” he said.
“Shae and Carlo will be back soon. I should start dinner,” she smiled. “You need to cover up, sweetie.”
“Not yet. Stay longer.” Lorenzo groaned. He closed his eyes. Marietta pulled herself up out of the water. She picked up a towel and dried herself. This was supposed to be her second honeymoon. Lorenzo had been gone. She had him all to herself for two beautiful weeks since the funeral, and every night she contemplated the right time to share the news. And every night her courage failed her. Marietta dropped her towel. She looked down at her small belly. The yellow bikini put the swell on display. Lorenzo lifted on his elbow and turned on his side. He smiled at her.
“You’re getting fat, Marie. I like it,” he chuckled.
She should have been insulted, but the way he stared at her hips she couldn’t help but laugh. She shook her head. She had worked out the perfect way to reveal her pregnancy tonight. On the beach after dinner, but she’d waited long enough. After talking to Mirabella earlier that day she decided it was best to just say it.
“Come here,” he said staring now at her tits. They were tender. The most painful part of sex was the way he handled her breasts.
“Lo, there’s something I need to tell you—” she began.
“Lorenzo! Marietta!” Shae called out to them. Marietta looked out toward the canal that led into the lagoon. Carlo and Shae sped toward them in a small white boat. Lorenzo grabbed a towel and covered himself before they got closer. Shae waved and smiled. Marietta smiled and put on her cover-up as well. Her friend was in a strawberry pink bikini. The girl had killer curves on display. When she waved, her large breasts bounced, and the diamond bracelets on her wrists sparkled in the sun.
“What time were you two thinking of coming in?” Shae asked when they coasted in closer.
“Another hour or so. We’ll walk back,” Marietta answered.
Carlo stared at Marietta. They barely spoke to each other now. And though she was happy for him she missed their friendly banter. Either way it didn’t matter. Her and Carlo would never dance so close to disaster again.
“They have several grottos,” Shae said. “Carlo showed them to me. It’s so beautiful out here!”
“I know. See you soon!” Marietta waved. Lorenzo waved. Carlo turned the speedboat in the lagoon and sped them back out toward the sea. She glanced to her husband who stood and tossed his towel. He stroked his dick with that smile of his that she knew meant trouble.
“Do you still want to be a father?” she asked.
He stopped in mid-stroke. He frowned at her. Marietta shed her cover-up. Her bellybutton piercing was a bit protruded. She ran her hand over her tummy. It drew his eyes to her stomach. She walked over.
“See anything different about me?” she asked.
“What are you telling me, Marie?” he asked.
“I’ve been trying to think of a way to tell you. I’m pregnant, Lo,” she said.
“You’re pregnant?” he asked with wide-eyed wonder.
She nodded slowly. “I am, you jerk. So I’m not fat!” she laughed.
“You’re pregnant!” he went to her and touched her belly. “We’re going to have bambini?”
“No, a bambino or a bambina, not bambini,” she frowned.
“Twins!” he exclaimed.
“Lo? No! It’s one baby!”
He swept her up in his arms and she squealed in fright. She held on to him. He kissed her deeply. Marietta laughed and kissed him back. “A baby, a son, our first. We made one the night you came home from jail, and we swore to start over again. Our baby.”
“Our baby!” he laughed. “I love you, Marie!”
“I love you so much, Lo! So much!” she giggled and hugged his neck.
**
The door opened. Mirabella looked up from the floor. Giovanni walked inside and paused. “What is it, Bella? Are you not feeling well?”
Mirabella swore she wouldn’t cry. She swore it. But one look at him and the urge to break down in tears overwhelmed her. She almost couldn’t find her voice. “We need to talk,” she managed to say.
He closed the door. “Talk? What is it? A headache? Another fever?”
“No damn it! No!” she stood and the tears did fall. She pointed at the tape. Giovanni looked at it confused at first. He then recognized it.
“What was on the tape?” she asked.
“Where did you get that?” he answered.
“What was on it, Gio!” she shouted.
“A threat, Bella. Kei sent me a threat.” Giovanni stepped toward her.
“You’re lying to me. Why? Because you don’t want to tell me that he sent you a tape of him raping me?” she asked.
Giovanni stopped. He froze and the word rape forged a wall of emotion between them. Mirabella put her hands to her hair. “We never talk about it. Never! But it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. When you found me, that night I almost escaped.”
“Bella, don’t be upset, let’s talk about it later. First you need to calm—”
“I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT NOW!” she screamed at him. She shook with heartache. “Now, Gio. Now!”
“Okay, okay cara, now,” he said. “If you want to talk let’s talk.”
“I almost escaped. His brother set a trap for me. A man was to help me get out on a boat. But he pulled a gun on me. Kei got there. He killed the man, he killed his brother.” Mirabella paced. The old pain in her ankle that was supposed to be healed surfaced, and she slipped into the memory. She began to limp, submerged in fear and anxiety. “He hit me. He dragged me back inside. He said he was going to make me want him. He injected me with the same stuff he injected me with when he made that tape. I didn’t know if he raped me. He said he didn’t. But I didn’t know! I didn’t know! I didn’t know!”
“Bella, please don’t do this,” Giovanni stepped closer. She stepped back.
“What did he send you, Gio?
Tell me!” she broke down in tears.
“He had a message for me. The video then showed you in bed. He kissed you. And then the tape ended. I swear on the lives of our children there was no rape. Just him threatening us.” He told her.
“And when you found me? Did he rape me? Was I naked? Do you think he did?” she asked.
“No. No, Bella. You were clothed. You were not naked. I got there before anything happened. I stopped him, sweetheart. He didn’t. Please, sweetheart. Believe me. You’re okay.”
“You’re lying!” she said trembling. “Aren’t you?”
“Look at me, Bella. Listen to me. I saved you. He didn’t do it. He’d already injected you, but we got there in time.”
“Then why, Gio?” she asked through her tears.
“Why what, Bella?”
“Why is it you can’t touch me? Why is it you don’t even try to kiss me? If Kei didn’t rape me why is it you don’t look at me like you used to?” she cried. “Why?”
He walked over to her. He pulled her into his arms and held her. She hugged him and cried against his chest. She loved him so much. Nothing for her had changed. She loved and wanted her husband today as much as she did the day before Kei brought the nightmare into their life. But did he still want her?
He lifted her chin. “I was afraid to push you. You had been through so much. Do you think I’m so selfish I would do anything to hurt you?”
“Making love to me is never hurting me. I need to feel loved by you. It’s our way. I want to be your wife again. Don’t you miss me?”
He kissed her tears away. His mouth brushed her quivering lips as an answer. Mirabella was so scared. The kiss was sweet, but awkward. She felt it. Was it her or him? She ran her hands over his chest. Flashes of Kei touching her and forcing her into sloppy kisses seared her brain. But she fought against the nightmare. She had to. She wouldn’t let him win. Her tongue slipped into Giovanni’s mouth and she rose on her toes. She trembled when his hands glided down her back to cup her backside. He squeezed her. He pulled her shirt out of her jeans. And when she dared to touch his dick, she found his erection coiled thickly behind his zipper. Her touch affected him. His kiss became swift and hard, but she didn’t mind. He ripped her shirt open and the buttons popped and fell off. Mirabella chuckled through her tears. He smiled at her when their lips parted. He snatched the shirt down off her arms.
