La Sposa

by Sienna Mynx

  Still, this was his fuck up and he had to right the wrong. A simple apology wouldn’t work this time. And he would not be turned away from their bed tonight. He decided the best idea was a nice dinner, for them to talk.

  To appease her and make up for his behavior, he had a private dinner arranged for them on the open terrace. The night wind had lessened in the evening. And being a coward over rejection, he told Rosetta to inform his Bella to meet him upstairs at 7. Now he sat before a candlelight dinner, waiting for her to arrive. The sun was nearly setting and she hadn’t come up. Exhaling a stream of smoke, he glared out at the violet orange sky. It dawned on him as his dinner and hers cooled, and the sun sank into the sea, she wasn’t coming.

  He’d fucked up.

  “Boss?”

  “What is it?” he asked sourly.

  “Phone. Dominic.”

  Giovanni sighed. He rose from the table and walked back inside. He went to the phone and snatched it up, rubbing the stress from his brow. “What’s the news, Domi?”

  “I need to come back to see you. The things I’ve learned can’t be said over the phone.”

  “Just fucking say it. I’m in no mood for this bullshit.”

  “Marsuvio Mancini is Mira’s father.”

  Giovanni froze. He actually felt his heart stop beating in his chest.

  “Mira’s father? Where did you hear such bullshit?”

  “Gio, it’s a long story…”

  “It’s bullshit! What the fuck do I pay you for? I send you there to get answers, not some ridiculous lie about twin babies separated at birth, and my wife being a Mancini.”

  “This is why I needed to return to explain. Gio, I wouldn’t dare say it if there was no truth. I’ve started looking into it. She’s a Mancini.”

  The truth hit him hard and sent his pulse spinning. Ever since he’d laid eyes on that bracelet, he’d grappled with the possibility that Mira may have some ties to Sicilians. He wanted to take her to Sicily and show her how beautiful it was. Maybe have her fall in love with the culture as she did with Italy. But Mancini was not a man he wanted associated with his Bella in any way.

  Suddenly, he remembered something he had long dismissed. Mira arrived in Italy with Mancini as her sponsor. And the old man’s interference with his business didn’t make sense two years ago. And it sure as hell didn’t make any fucking sense now. Could it be true? Did she know Mancini? Did she lie to him? What the fuck was going on?

  “Gio? I…”

  He snatched the phone from the wall. He threw it across the room. Angrily, he stormed downstairs into their bedroom. He expected to find her in their bed. But she wasn’t. “Mira!”

  “Giovanni!” she cried out in terror.

  He raced into the bathroom and threw the door open wide. She was bent over at the sink, obviously having just stepped out of the shower. Her brown skin was moist, her hair tucked in under a shower cap. She looked at him with horror in her eyes. She showed him blood on her fingers. “I think I’m losing my baby. I think I am.” She broke down, going to her knees. He rushed to her, snatching her robe from the hook to cover her. He then swept her up in his arms. Mira’s emotional state crumbled and she wept hard. “I don’t want to lose my baby. I don’t. Help me.”

  “I got you, sweetheart. Leo! Renaldo!! Leoooo!!!” he yelled, sweeping her up in his arms. The men rushed into the room, not daring to come further unless requested. “Get the car. We have to get her to the hospital now.”

  *****

  Lorenzo pulled down the black glove tight to his right hand. He crossed the street, stopping cars in a mad dash. He knew the place well. Giuseppe had conducted a business meeting with him twice here. Why he didn’t think to search out the old places his nemesis was held up in, was beyond him. Capriccio had to be stupid to play this close to fire.

  Throwing the door open, he climbed the stairs to the building that once held a few boutique stores. The office Giuseppe brought him to was on the second level. It was the same office Carmine called him from. And, as he expected, David Capriccio was forced to a seat with a gun on him until Lorenzo arrived. He closed the door behind him and removed his gun as well.

  “Why am I here? I’ve told your man I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “Stupid bastard said more than that, Boss. He’s been spreading lies. Says things about you and Giuseppe. That you had Don Tomosino killed. He’s lucky I didn’t put a bullet in him before you arrived. First The Fish said this shit, and now this one here. Lies!”

  “You’re right, Carmine. It’s a lie.”

  Carmine smacked David to the back of the head with the gun and the man slumped forward. Lorenzo spared no time. He began to turn out drawers to cabinets and ransack the place.

  “I have done nothing wrong. Tomosino’s death was told to me by Giuseppe. I never believed it. I never breathed a word of it to anyone. If you say you didn’t have him killed then it’s the truth. I’ll swear to it, Lorenzo. I want no trouble.”

  “Oh, you aren’t innocent. Take for instance the lie you gave me about some bitch named Isabella that wanted access to Giuseppe’s offices.”

  David’s nose bled. He shook his head in confusion.

  “Where is it?” Lorenzo shouted at the man.

  “I don’t know what you want.”

  “The fucking tapes, the photos you sent to Marietta. Where are they?” Lorenzo put the gun dead center to David’s forehead. “Talk!”

  “I swear to you, I don’t know anything. Isabella, whoever the fuck she is, she does exist. She’s tall, looks to be in her early forties with dark hair. I think she’s Sicilian. She sounded Sicilian. She wanted access to Giuseppe’s offices, and I let her because she paid me. Giuseppe’s debt could not be liquidated from assets in the time you gave me. How the hell do you think I was able to raise the money I paid to Gio? We’re broke! That’s the truth.”

  “Liar! You think I’m fucking stupid?” Lorenzo asked.

  “There’s a safe, Boss. I found him covering it up when I came in. Over there, behind the picture of the horse.”

  Lorenzo turned around. He walked over to it. David kept begging for his life in Italian. Lorenzo lowered the picture. He saw the keypad and his heart beat faster. “What’s in this safe?”

  “Money, contracts to land deals that belong to my father’s legacy. I came here to get the papers so I could try to salvage what’s left for the family. That’s all that’s in there. Check for yourself.” David gave him the combination. Lorenzo keyed in the digits. He dropped the handle and drew the steel door open. At first, he pulled out exactly what David said he had. A few contracts he wanted to hide from Giovanni, but nothing incriminating.

  “See, that is all I have! I swear it to you. She’s real. I never lied to you. It is Isabella you want.”

  Lorenzo looked deeper in the safe. An envelope was pushed all the way to the back. Lorenzo reached inside and withdrew it. Inside, were the negatives and two cassettes. “So she’s real. You weren’t lying? Explain this.”

  Carmine and David both stared. Lorenzo folded the contents and tucked them to the back of his pants under his trench coat.

  “The money you have is from the Nigerians, for the drug pushing you did for the Calderones…”

  “No!”

  “You created Isabella to throw me off.”

  “No!”

  “You wanted to use me as your gun to kill Marietta Leone.”

  “No dammit! I swear. I don’t know where that envelope came from. I don’t even know what’s inside.”

  “Did he have a gun on him when you arrived?” Lorenzo asked Carmine. The kid didn’t answer. He stared at Lorenzo with a strange look of suspicion. He’d heard and learned too much. Lorenzo remembered that look. It was the same look Carmine gave him when The Fish accused him of committing the same sin the Capriccio rat had.

  “Please, Lo. You know me. Why would I have you kill my father’s daughter? It was his dying wish that I protect her. That she never looked to meet Mancini.”<
br />
  Lorenzo frowned. “What did you say?”

  “He wanted her to take the money and go back to America. To not ask any questions.”

  “Why Mancini?”

  “I don’t know. My father worked for him. He feared if she didn’t get what she wanted from us about her mother, she might seek him out. He was adamant that I protect her. I’ve been trying to help the bitch!”

  “Liar.” Lorenzo fired three shots from his gun. Two to the chest and a kill shot between the dumb bastard’s eyes. Pap, pap, pap, they went off, rapid fire. He, however, never took his eyes off of Carmine. The kid opened his mouth to speak and Lorenzo fired three more shots. Dropping Carmine where he stood. In a matter of minutes, both men were dead.

  He looked upon his bleeding body with pity. Lorenzo made the sign of the cross before him. He really did like the kid and his bad jokes. He would have made a valued asset. But there could be no witnesses, no loose ends. The truth about Tomosino’s death would end here. He stuck the gun to the back of his pants where he tucked in the evidence. He put his foot to the center of the chair; David’s dead body slumped over and kicked it back so he was now flat. He then went over and turned Carmine’s body so the gunfight looked plausible. Retrieving Carmine’s gun from the floor, he put it closer to his hand. It took him several minutes but he found a gun David had stashed in the office. The scene would not fool the cops. But he prayed it fooled one man. Lorenzo took a seat. He removed a pack of cigarettes, firing it up. He dragged on the smoke and waited for Carlo to arrive.

  *****

  “What’s happening? How is she?” Giovanni asked, with his heart pounding wildly in his chest. He braced for the news with dread. The nun walked hurriedly toward him. The church ran the ospedale. It wasn’t the best, but the only one within miles. He should have flown her out to Napoli in his private jet. But that would take too much time. They’d have to sail out of Capri back to Sorrento. The waiting game was killing him. They’d had her for over an hour and no one had told him anything on her condition. Giovanni paced in front of the nun like a caged animal. Ready to tear into her throat if she unleashed news that would break his heart.

  In a quiet voice, she spoke calmly. “She is with the dottore. He’s examining her. He will send for you afterwards.”

  “I want to see her now. I have to be with her. She’s terrified.”

  “Signor Battaglia, keep calm. You need to have faith. It will be the greatest salvation for your unborn child. The dottore will send for you soon.”

  “I need to know something now!” he seethed.

  “Boss, she’s right. We have to be patient and let the doctors take care of her,” Leo said. Giovanni paced away. He could still hear her weeping and pleading with him to do something. How could their world be coming apart? And what the fuck did Dominic mean that Mancini was her father? It was impossible. Nothing in the world made sense right now, except his love for her. This was his fault. What did he care if she played CEO with her company and read stupid documents? He had no right to treat her that way. He ripped into her and still didn’t know why. Had he caused her to lose the baby?

  “Signor?” The nun returned. Giovanni braced for the worst. “Now. I can take you to her now.”

  He hurried along the ospedale corridor. It felt as if his heart beat in time with his fast steps. When the nun pointed to the room, he shoved the door open and charged in. Mira’s face was wet with tears. He went to her immediately, holding her. “Ti voglio molto bene. It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

  “They won’t tell me anything. He asked me lots of questions but didn’t say anything. I’m so scared. This is my fault, Giovanni. We should have come to the doctor sooner.”

  He cupped her face in his hands. “Listen to me. It is not your fault. We are not losing our child. It’s not going to happen. You hear me?”

  She nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut and wept some more. He held her to his chest. This was one promise he couldn’t keep. But even now, he wouldn’t accept death. He had been arrogant with God. Demanded a son, thumbed his nose to all the things that made this child special; and thought of nothing but his legacy. He had many sins but Giovanni considered this his worst offense. He would be punished. Silently, he said a prayer taught to him by his mother. The hurried words were soothing to her and him. He could feel her relax. She took his hand and brought it down under the covers to press against her lower stomach. They stayed that way until the dottore entered.

  He paused at the sight of Giovanni with Mira and then nodded a hello. He walked in with a file and all the air seemed to evaporate in the room. Giovanni couldn’t take a single breath. He sensed that Mira struggled with breathing as well.

  “How do you feel now?” The dottore asked.

  “Better, no spotting I think, and no cramping.”

  “The baby? Is the baby okay?” Giovanni asked.

  “Don Battaglia, you should have brought her sooner. She tells me she’s had cramping for over a week. And a bit of nausea.”

  Stunned, he looked down at Mira, who turned her eyes away. He brought her face around by the chin. “You’ve been in pain and didn’t say anything?”

  “I’m sorry. I wanted to make my dress and we had our wedding. When I was pregnant with Eve, I had some cramping too. It’s normal, right doctor?”

  The dottore gave her a sad smile of disagreement.

  “Oh God, what have I done? You were right. I shouldn’t have tried to get Mirabella’s back. This is my…”

  “Stop.” He pinched her chin gently to make sure she stopped speaking. “You did nothing wrong. If I hadn’t been such a bastard about everything you would have trusted me to tell me.”

  “No, Giovanni…”

  “It’s true. We will communicate better. Understand better. I will never take your feelings for granted. I swear, Bella.”

  “Ahem.” The dottore cleared his throat. “You haven’t lost the baby. The next forty-eight hours are critical. It’s a matter of time and for nature to decide. We’ll need to keep you here and closely monitor you. Six weeks pregnant and we should be able to hear the heartbeat. We will try again.” He nodded to the equipment in the room that looked old and outdated. Giovanni again considered moving her.

  “Why was I cramping? Was it because of stress, something I did? I need to know.”

  “It happens. You said yourself, you felt cramping in your last pregnancy. The blood is normal too. Minor spotting is not enough for us to be too alarmed. But we will need to wait and see.”

  She nodded.

  “I’ll make sure you are comfortable. Don Battaglia?”

  “I’m staying,” he said, smoothing back Mira’s hair.

  The dottore turned and walked out.

  “See. Look at me, Bella. I told you. Our child is okay.”

  “Our son.” She smiled and nodded.

  He shook his head. “Whether it’s a girl or boy, I don’t care. I just want our baby, and you. Forgive me.”

  She lifted her gaze to his.

  “For the things I said, the way I’ve been about this baby. I struggle sometimes to be humble. With you and our children, I will remember to be.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. Mira closed her eyes. A tear fell.

  “I made a promise to you, Giovanni, that we’d put the baby and family first. I’ll do that. I swear. I only wanted to…”

  “Be with you.” He nodded. “I understand. We’ll figure it out. Reading a contract isn’t the end of the world.” He tried to joke, but the sting of his words to her earlier was still between them. The joke fell flat. Giovanni exhaled again. “Are you comfortable?”

  She moved in the twin bed further to the right. Giovanni lowered the side bar and got on top with her. It was a forced fit but with her turned to her side he managed to find comfort. He held her to him and kissed the back of her head. As soon as she was well he’d take her home and make sure she stayed that way. Dominic was mistaken. There was some explanation as to why Mancini was connected to his wife. And la
ter he’d sever that connection and keep her safe.

  America –

  “Domi? Everything okay?” Catalina placed her hand to his shoulder. She’d waited for him to come to bed and he never did. He was working on the second bottle of scotch he had brought up to their room.

  “Go to sleep,” he muttered, before taking another drink in the dark.

  Dinner tonight had been uncomfortable. Catalina tried her best to get Teddy and Dominic into a lasting conversation. But her loving fiancé only grunted his replies and glared at Theodore each time he tried to interject some levity. Everything went south after the call he made to Giovanni. And of course, she knew he wouldn’t share why. Still, she wished she could help him.

  She turned and found the switch on the tall standing lamp to cast some light into the room. Before she turned away, he pulled her down to his lap. Face to face, she was now witness to the sadness and fatigue in his eyes. “What do you need me to do? I’ll do it. If you want to go home we can go. Okay? I’ll go with you.”

  Dominic smiled. Catalina stroked the side of his face. “Was that Gio? Was he upset with you?”

  “I can handle Gio. And you know what, Catalina? You can handle New York. I will leave in two days. First, I need to make sure you are okay; I’ve already paid for Romero and Cheno to come here. After they arrive and are here with you, I’ll go back and meet with Gio to take care of business.”

  “Really? So I can stay?”

  “You aren’t done here. And I’m sure you will need to learn more for when the company moves home. Right?”

  “Oh, Domi. I am so blessed to have you. I swear, sometimes I can’t stop pinching myself over how lucky I am.”

  He kissed her.

  She stopped the kiss. “What is it? Why are you upset?”

  “I want our family strong. Whether Gio acknowledges it or not, it’s my job to keep us strong. Right now, we are vulnerable, but we won’t stay that way.” He touched her face. “I promise.”

  “I believe in you, Domi. I always have.”