La Dolce Vita: Romantic Suspense (Battaglia Mafia Series Book 7)

by Sienna Mynx

  "I know you are angry. You put a hit on me?" Lorenzo asked.

  "Angry? I'm not mad. Tell me where you are. We can talk." Giovanni tried to sober.

  "I didn't kill Patri."

  "Fucking liar!" Giovanni seethed.

  "I was drunk and high. I was joking. If you listen to the tapes, you can hear..."

  "I can hear you put a hit on the only father you ever really knew. I hear you talk about Patri and me as if we were the reasons you are such a fucking loser!"

  "I am a loser. And an idiot. But I am loyal to you. I don't care what Isabella said."

  "Isabella? That puttana is half-dead. I’ll bury you next to her."

  "I want to meet with you. Tomorrow night. Just you and me. No one else."

  "Tell me where you are and I will come to you. And we can talk like men," Giovanni smiled.

  "This is between you and me Gio. Keep the brothers out of it. I have a wife. A kid on the way. I know you can't forgive this, Gio. I know the price of what I've done. But I have a family too. I must protect them. I can't do that and constantly look over my back. Waiting for the day for you to come after me. I can't. Let's settle it. And then..."

  "And then what? You run away with your wife, my wife’s sister, and I'm the one to blame for keeping them apart. No, cousin. The only way this is settled is for you to pay the same way Patri paid for trusting you. It’s the only way."

  "And Marietta?"

  "I'll take care of her. I'll raise your child. Be the Godfather. But you... you don't get a second chance. You don't get forgiveness. You made me into a monster the day I had to watch Patri die. Remember? That was the day. You did this. And you don't get to walk away from it."

  "However it ends, it ends between us," Lorenzo agreed.

  "It ends in blood. That's how it ends," Giovanni said.

  "I will call you this evening. I need to prepare my wife."

  "I'll be waiting for your call."

  ***

  "What are you doing?" Marietta demanded.

  Lorenzo looked back. She stood at the door to the room. She looked horrified. "Why did you call him, Lo? Taunt him? And you sure as hell won't be meeting with him!"

  "Marie..."

  "No! What are you doing?" she shouted at him. "We said we would leave. We would go to Brazil. Be safe."

  "We can never be safe! Gio will never let us go. I can't give you a life on the run. I can't do that to you and our child."

  "So, what is the alternative? You let them kill you? Is that it?"

  "The only chance we have of surviving this is for Giovanni and me to face off. He won't kill me. He thinks he can. But he isn't that man."

  "Bullshit! He is that man. You are that man! He will kill you."

  "He will try. When he sees me, and we talk face to face, he won't pull the trigger. Then he will understand that he has to let us go." Lorenzo walked over to Marietta. "He'll let us go, Marie. I'll agree to his terms, and I will take you and our bambino as far from here as I can. Okay?"

  "No. It's too risky. He'll bring Nico and Renaldo. They will kill you on command. He'll do it! You can't take this risk. Not with your life. Not with our future!"

  Lorenzo hugged her. He spent half the night in her arms thinking of his options. He spent the other half the night checking rooms and peeking out of windows in search of men he knew were hunting him. Giovanni was his brother. He loved him. And he would not run away like a coward. He had to face him. He had to try. As much as Giovanni believed himself to be a monster, to be like Patri, Lorenzo knew the truth. He never was.

  "I will protect us. I swear. Trust me. Please, Marie. This is the best way."

  ***

  It was morning. Renaldo knocked on Dominic's door. There was no answer. He knocked again. He reached for the doorknob to turn it, to check on him, but his wife's voice stopped him.

  "He's not there."

  Confused, Renaldo looked back at Kyra. She stood in the hall in her house robe. She was so swollen with pregnancy the weight gain was in her face, neck, hands. Even her small feet. Still, she was beautiful to him. She wore her hair in long single strand braids that went to her waist.

  "Why are you on your feet? Go rest."

  "He's gone."

  Renaldo looked back at the door. He opened it and saw the bed was made, and the room was empty. "When did he leave?"

  "Not sure."

  "Where did he go? Did he say?"

  Kyra sipped her tea. She couldn't look him in the eye.

  "Kyra?"

  "I love you, Renaldo. As much as Catalina loves Dominic, maybe more if that's possible. If I lost you, I wouldn't want to live."

  "This isn't about us."

  "It's about love. They love each other, Renaldo. And right now they need each other."

  Renaldo frowned.

  "I heard you tell her on the phone she couldn't talk to him. So I called her back. She asked me to tell Dominic to meet her at their new house. To meet her there by sunrise. So I told him. He looked so broken He just lay there staring up at the ceiling. The only time I saw any type of movement from him was when I told him that she loves him. He needed to hear that. So I told him what she said. I hope he is with her now.

  "You stay out of it. Do you hear me? Stay out of it."

  Kyra turned and went back to their room. Renaldo wiped his hand down his face. He felt his beeper buzz in his pocket. He kept it with him always, even though he wasn't officially working. There was one code. Only one that he knew, he couldn't ignore. And in all the years he worked for the Boss it had only been pressed once. That was when Mirabella was presumed dead, and Giovanni decided to destroy the Calderones.

  "Shit!" he said.

  He went back to his room and found his wife in bed. "You're right, cara. I had no right to interfere."

  She looked back at him and smiled. His Kyra could never stay mad at him for long. He eased in bed with her. He loved the way she felt when he pulled her against him and held her. "I love you. With all my heart."

  "Mmm," she relaxed.

  "Something is going on with the Battaglias. I have to leave," he told her.

  "Giovanni said you could stay with me. Until the baby is born."

  "I know. But this is an emergency. Kyra," he lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "I can't ignore this."

  "That's right, just ignore me instead."

  Renaldo groaned.

  Kyra laughed. "I'm teasing. Try to be home for dinner. Okay? Please?"

  "I'll try," he promised. He kissed her cheek. She smiled and relaxed against his chest. Renaldo checked his watch while he held her to his heart. The Boss would have to wait another hour.

  ***

  Dominic heard his beeper over the raunchy rap lyrics blaring in his car. He found that odd. The buzzing black box danced across the dashboard. He swerved to a stop behind Giovanni's Maserati. He reached for the pager. It was an emergency code. All men were to report to villa Rosso. Did Giovanni know about Catalina and Armando? He supposed he did. So now he was expected to come and be humiliated in front of everyone again.

  When he got out of the car, he threw the pager in the bushes. The sun had risen. He was supposed to be here by dawn to see her. But he had to drive and cool his temper before he came. He wasn't sure he could do this. Not this. But the more he thought of her betrayal, the more the question kept playing in his head. Why? She owed him an explanation. He was tired of making assumptions.

  This was supposed to be their home. He had so many plans for them. So much had gone up in flames before they ever got a chance. He went inside through the open doors. The moment he stepped in he knew she was there. Even now his senses could pick out the faint traces of her perfume. Dominic’s head turned and he looked toward the open doors to the outside terrace. He started off in that direction.

  Outside Catalina sat on the edge of the cliff. The design of the villa gave a dangerous open view of the sea. He had intended to put gates around it for when they have children. Something that would never hap
pen now. He dropped his hands in his pockets. He walked toward her. At some point, she heard him. Her head turned, and she looked at him. Her eyes were red from crying.

  "Domi?" she said weakly. "You came?"

  “It’s dangerous to be that close to the edge.” Even now he wanted to protect her. It was in his nature. Catalina got to her feet and walked toward him. There must have been something on his face that halted her approach. The elation in her eyes dimmed and then was cast away.

  "I didn't think you would come," she said.

  "I didn't either," he admitted.

  "Why did you?" she asked.

  "I'm not sure."

  "I didn't sleep with him. I betrayed you. Yes. Because I lied and met with him secretly, but I could not sleep with him. I just couldn't do that because I love you. Only you."

  "I don't believe you," he said.

  "Why? Why not give me the benefit of the doubt? I deserve your trust. After all, we've been through I've earned it!" she shouted at him.

  "I have given you the benefit of the doubt. Many times, Catalina. You lie to protect yourself, never me. You used me to kill Franco and get your revenge, and I told myself it was out of love. But it was because I am weak for you. I have always been."

  “That was a hundred years ago!”

  He frowned at her logic. He turned to leave. He was wrong to bother with talking with her. Not when it hurt so bad to look at her.

  "You love me. That doesn't make you weak!"

  Dominic shook his head. "Giovanni was right; we were not meant to be."

  "To hell with Giovanni!" she spat. "He is cruel and unloving, and full of hate! He has no business speaking on love and loyalty. He doesn't know the meaning of the words. I hate him!"

  Dominic’s gaze shifted, and he glanced back toward her. The sun was to her back, but he could see her clearly. The bruises on her neck were something he initially missed. "He knows? Who did that to you."

  Catalina touched her neck. “The great and mighty Giovanni. He tried to kill me.”

  “He wouldn’t do that.”

  “He did! He threw me out of the house. That's right! I hate him! He knows about us. About what happened. And he tried to kill me! My own brother. It's all because of Rosetta. She set me up. She was working with Armando from the very start. That's how he got close to me in Sicily. Because of her. It was all a setup. It's Lorenzo fault! He betrayed the family. It was Lorenzo who had Giuseppe Calderone kill Papa. Not the Russians. Armando knew. He had proof. He and Rosetta used it to trick me to see him. So they could set me up. To destroy our love."

  "It is everyone’s fault but yours?" Dominic asked.

  "What did I do wrong? I lied yes, but only to protect Gio and Lorenzo. I played the game with Armando to get the tapes. I got them. And I never slept with him. What did I do wrong?"

  "You betrayed me!" he shouted.

  "No."

  "Shut up! Loyalty isn't a word to be divided. An action to be forgotten. If you had any faith in me, the moment you learned of Armando’s lies against Lorenzo you would have told me! Me! But you didn't. Did you? Just like you never told me what Franco was, and what he was doing to you. I'm an afterthought for you, Catalina, and I always have been."

  “Lies? It’s not lies. Lorenzo is responsible for Patri’s death!”

  “Shut up! It is a fucking lie! Patri was a father to Lorenzo. He’d never do it! Never! You’re just too stupid to know it!”

  “I’m not the stupid one Domi. You are. You aren’t listening!”

  “I guess I am stupid. To think you and I belonged together," Domi said.

  "That's not fair. I have loved you all my life. I am allowed to make mistakes, Domi."

  "Funny, how only you make these mistakes. I never have, since the day you became mine. I have never taken you for granted. I have never been with another woman, kissed another woman, flirted with another woman. Never!"

  "But you keep secrets. All of you men do. You keep secrets, and you control my life like I’m property instead of your future wife. You don't care that I flirted with Armando. No. That’s not the real reason. You care that I didn't give you the chance to be the hero. To come in and save the day. I was protecting you!"

  "You never gave a fucking thought of what this would do to me! Armando has been with you. It happened. And my men know it. Giovanni now knows it. What does that make me? The failure they always thought I was. The sicko who wanted to marry his sister...”

  “I am not your sister!”

  “The one who can never hold his own."

  "Not true!"

  "We're done. Forever. Do you hear me? Over. I don't care who you are with or what you do with Armando Mancini. From this moment forward. We're over." Dominic turned and started to walk away.

  "Testa di cazzo! Fine!" she yelled at his back. Dominic stopped. "You remember this day. You remember the day you threw away our love for your pride. You remember, Domi! Because I will never forget. I will never trust you with my heart again!"

  Dominic left.

  "Dooooooommmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiii!" Catalina wailed. She went to her knees in tears. "I hate you! I hate you forever!"

  He was gone.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Broken Hearts

  Sorrento, Italy

  "Donna?" Cecilia whispered.

  She looked up. "There is a phone call for you."

  "Take a message," Mirabella said. She was on her knees changing Gino. The other two kids had already been bathed and dressed for the day.

  "Uh, it's Marietta. She asked for me and then told me to bring you to the phone. She doesn't want anyone to know she is calling." Cecilia continued to whisper.

  Mirabella stood. Gino ran away with no pants on.

  "Marietta is on the phone?"

  "Si, she's upset."

  "Okay. Where’s my husband?"

  "I think villa Rosso. Nico said this morning that there is an important meeting. Every one of them must attend."

  Mirabella’s stomach turned sour. She knew exactly what the meeting meant. "What phone line did she call on?" she asked as she left the room with Cecilia and the children following.

  "She called downstairs, and then had them transfer her to my room," Cecilia answered.

  "Stay with the children." She ordered her. Cecilia had to collect her babies and herd them back into her room. Mirabella hurried. When she reached Cecilia's room, she closed and locked the door.

  "Marietta?"

  "Thank God it's you!" Marietta said.

  "Where are you? Are you okay? Is Lorenzo okay?"

  "No. We aren't okay."

  "I know what happened. I heard. Giovanni knows."

  "He wants to kill my husband!" Marietta said.

  "Does Lorenzo know you are on the phone with me?" Mirabella asked.

  "It doesn't matter what he knows now. He called Giovanni."

  "Why? To apologize?"

  Marietta laughed. "Would your husband accept an apology?"

  There were times when Mirabella felt gullible and naive. This was the worst of times for her. She was still reeling from the night of pain and madness after the fight between Giovanni and Catalina.

  "Why did he call Giovanni?" she asked.

  "He intends to meet him. And Giovanni will kill him. I know he will. You have to stop him. I'm so scared."

  "I tried," Mirabella said, and her voice clogged with emotion. “I tried so hard. Giovanni won’t listen to me. He refused to hear anything I had to say. He's on a warpath."

  "Then he's going to kill my husband." Marietta wept.

  "No. No. We won't let that happen. I won't let it happen. Okay?"

  "You can't stop it."

  "We can. I spoke to Armando."

  "For what?"

  "Listen to me. You saw what happened when we tried to travel out of the state. The Carabinieri will know about Lorenzo. They will take him in. Try to use this against Giovanni. My husband has connections everywhere. They will stop you if you try to leave, and someone will
get to Lorenzo. There is only one way to get out of Italy safe. That's through our brother."

  "He hates Lorenzo. He won't help us!"

  "He will if he thinks it will anger Giovanni. And that's what this stupid game between them is about. Hurting each other. Armando said he would send his men to come for you."

  "He will kill Lorenzo. We can't trust him!"

  "He may hate our husbands, but he does care about you. And you of all people have a stronger relationship with him so you should know this. He came and rescued me from Kei. He will rescue you from this. It's the only chance we’ve got. You have to call him, Marietta. Tell him where you are. Do it!"

  "I don't know where I am. I don't even know what phone number this is. How can I get him here?"

  "What time is the meeting with Gio?" Mirabella asked.

  "I don't know. I just heard him say he will call Giovanni back and give him instructions on where to meet. He's gone now. I don't know where, but probably to find somewhere he thinks they will be safe. I guess."

  "Okay, find out where the meeting is and tell Armando. Giovanni won't come alone. It'll be a trap for Lorenzo."

  "I know!"

  "Then find out where it is and when. Armando can intercept Lorenzo. He'll bring him to where you are and get you both out of Italy."

  "He won't take all these risks. Lorenzo would rather die than..."

  "What other choice do you have? This is it! Do it! Okay?"

  "I'm sorry, I’m so sorry," Marietta said.

  "It's not your fault. It’s Lorenzos!"

  "It is. I've known for years. It's how Lorenzo and I met. Isabella sent me the taped confession from Lorenzo and I met with him. I've always known this secret."

  Mirabella couldn't accept the shocking news. "You knew this was coming? You knew all these years?"

  "I'm sorry."

  "Sorry? You have destroyed my husband!" Mirabella shouted. “Giovanni is... he’s out of control. I can’t reach him. You should have told me.”

  "You would have told Giovanni."

  "Yes! The right way. We could have prevented this! You let Armando and Isabella play games with our lives!"

  "I was protecting Lorenzo."

  "At what cost? Lorenzo brought this on us. The day you knew I was your sister you should have told me. What about us? Our loyalty to each other! What about that?"