by Sienna Mynx
“Questo posto ti va bene, Bella ?” Giovanni asked.
“I’m fine.” She forced a smile to his concern.
“Buona. We will stay the night.”
“What?” she paused. “I thought we’d be back in time to put the kids to bed. I have Lorenza...”
“Zia is there. She will see to the kids.”
“Zia is an old woman. She can’t handle it all by herself.”
“Cecilia, and the staff will help her.”
“But—”
Before he could explain, Dominic appeared. He arrived from around the corner and greeted Giovanni with a smile she hadn’t seen him give in a very long time. The two men embraced and then Dominic hugged and kissed her cheeks.
“You’re early. Catalina is still getting dressed. But dinner is prepared. Come.” Dominic gestured.
Giovanni and Dominic walked off. She hesitated for a moment then followed. The dining room had been set for a nice sit down dinner. Fresh flowers and the finest cutlery was on display. It looked like a celebration. Immediately Mirabella recognized some of the staff. These were the servants who worked for her in the past in Mondello and Bagheria.
“How is she?” Mirabella asked while trying to recall who each servant was. Dominic smiled instead of answering. She took that as a positive sign. Though the good news on Catalina’s health didn’t do much to ease her anxiety about seeing her again. After all it had been months. Giovanni pulled out her chair and Mirabella accepted her role in the dinner meeting. She observed her husband as he and Dominic spoke as if things were normal. For them they may have been. But for her the ghosts of her father and brother both sat at the table with them. They watched her with hurt filled eyes. It chilled her. Mirabella eyes scanned everything about the dining room. And then her hearts wish took over her imagination. She imagined Marsuvio Mancini and her mother dining in the room. Her mother was pampered and served by servants like she was in Melanzana. All the while Mancini adored her. And her imagination extended to her sister. She and Marietta were in high chairs. Beautiful brown little baby girls dressed identical with golden bracelets that dangled from their wrists. They were Don Marsuvio Mancini’s daughters. And they were showered with affection from everywhere. Of course the dream evaporated under the hash glare of reality. Her mother never came to Sicily, and certainly wasn’t afforded the luxury of the title Mirabella now held. Her sister never had a family of love and trust. Still a part of her couldn’t help but see a different past and future for herself if things had been different.
“There she is,” Giovanni pushed back from the chair. Dominic stood as well. Mirabella’s head turned. Catalina entered the room. She wore a powder blue long dress and her hair pinned from her face. Her tummy was smaller than Mirabella’s but her pregnancy could not be denied. Their eyes met as Giovanni hugged his sister and kissed her cheek.
Mirabella pushed back her chair. Catalina stared at her with no trace of expression. She walked over and Mirabella was the first to reach out to offer a hug. Catalina returned the affection. She kissed both the left and right cheeks of Mirabella and let her go.
“You look beautiful; the baby will come soon?” Catalina asked. “Eight months?”
“Yes,” Mirabella found her voice after a brief awkward moment. “Catalina, I—”
“I’m six months. Time moves fast when you’re pregnant,” Catalina said. “I hear Carlo is having a baby any day now?”
“Adara, yes... she’s pregnant, close... ah, soon.” Mirabella said.
“So many babies at once, what does it mean, Gio?” Catalina glanced to her brother.
“I bambini portano fortuna, felicità. ” Giovanni said with a wink.
“Yes. Good fortune and happiness, that’s what it means.” Catalina grinned. “All of our kids will grow up together. Be stronger because of their closeness in age. That is a true blessing.”
Catalina walked over to her chair before it could be pulled out by Dominic. Still, he managed to offer her assistance she didn’t want before she took a seat. Everyone joined her. And on cue, the staff brought in dinner. Mirabella faced Catalina during the meal. The pleasantries weren’t forced. Not from what Mirabella could tell, but she knew the bond they once shared was absent. She did her best to not show how much it hurt.
“We visited Mondello today,” Giovanni announced.
Catalina looked up from her meal. Giovanni stared directly at her when he delivered the news. “There’s nothing left. Madre’s gravestone is destroyed. So are the gardens. All of it. What Lorenzo couldn’t burn he smashed to dust.”
“I had no idea he would do that,” Catalina mumbled.
“I believe you,” Giovanni said and sipped his wine. “It does puzzle me.”
“What puzzles you?” Catalina asked.
“Why you continue to defend him. Knowing what he has done. What destruction he has caused. Your baby is a bastard because of him.”
“Gio!” Mirabella shouted.
“I have not defended him, Giovanni. Not once. My child isn’t a bastard. I resent you saying so. We were married. Legally. And I loved my husband.” Catalina turned the words on Dominic who didn’t react. Giovanni smiled. He said nothing. He ate his meal as if to dismiss the denial and Mirabella’s objection.
Catalina turned her attention to Mirabella. “How is she?”
“Zia?” Mirabella asked.
“No. Marietta’s baby girl. Lorenza,” Catalina asked.
“She’s adorable. The sweetest baby. Zia’s with her now. It’s the only reason why I left her behind. She looks just like—”
“Armando was generous with his wedding gifts to you.” Giovanni interrupted. “Did the lawyers tell you about all the fancy things he left behind? Everything from cars, jewels, planes, islands ?”
No one at the table spoke. Giovanni took another sip of his wine. “He has a cargo shipment company he put in your name, two planes, and a few islands near Spain and Greece. All of it was put in your name. Were you told?”
“Yes Gio, you know I was,” Catalina answered.
“Then why wasn’t I told?” He looked up at his sister.
Dominic cleared his throat. “I’ve looked into this. Not profitable, and the islands are so small in Greece nothing could live on them. Nothing there, Gio.”
Mirabella saw how Catalina looked at Dominic with surprise. The two were lying and they were doing a terrible job at it.
“Gio,” Mirabella spoke up. “She married Armando. I want her to have the house, and whatever he gave her as a gift. I’ll sign it over if you need me too.”
“That’s so very generous of you, Bella.” Giovanni glanced at her and then to Catalina while he forked food in his mouth. He chewed and stared at his sister only speaking after he swallowed. “I’m missing a plane, and a pilot. He hasn’t been seen since... Lorenzo and Marietta left. You know anything about this Catalina?”
“No, Gio. I swear I don’t.”
Giovanni slammed his fist down on the table and all the cutlery shook. He gripped his fork tightly and narrowed his eyes on her. “You’re lying. Again.”
“Gio, can I speak—” Dominic said.
“No!” He aimed the fork at Dominic. “You knew about this plane, you knew and you didn’t speak when you should have so shut your fucking mouth now.”
Dominic nodded his obedience. Giovanni turned his attention to his sister. “I told you not to lie to me. I warned you.”
“Giovanni.” Mirabella cut in.
His jaw clenched. He then switched his glare to Mirabella.
“Please don’t. Let’s have dinner and be a family tonight.” When he didn’t soften she continued. “You know the answers to the questions you’re asking. Is there anything either of them could say that would make you less disappointed? Why don’t we stay the night like you suggested and talk again in the morning? When tempers have cooled.”
Giovanni sat back in his chair. He ran his tongue over his teeth and then lowered his gaze to his half eaten meal. “Do
minic, we’ll discuss everything after dinner. My temper is fine.”
Catalina glanced to Mirabella and gave her a wan smile of gratitude. They finished the meal in silence. Dominic spoke a few times to give Giovanni updates on his meeting tomorrow with the Dons of Sicily. He listened without comment. Mirabella let go the breath she had been holding when her husband wiped his mouth and left the table. Dominic got up soon after and followed. It was just she and Catalina while the staff cleared away the plates.
“Grazie, Mirabella ,” Catalina said.
“Don’t thank me. You know that you can’t lie to him, Catalina. It never works.”
“Lie? I’m trying to save lives. Don’t you see that?”
Mirabella didn’t answer.
“Are you sure you want to stay here? In this house? Armando and Marsuvio’s house? For the night?”
Mirabella glanced around. “If it means you and I can have a talk. A real talk. I’ll gladly stay. What do you say?”
“What is there to talk about? Babies? Husbands? What?”
“Us. You and me. Where we left things.”
“Is where we left it. I don’t blame you for anything.”
“Of course you do.”
Catalina shook her head to refute the suggestion. “When I met you I knew you would be different than any other woman my brother had been with.”
“Even Stevie Wonder would see that difference,” Mirabella joked.
Catalina didn’t smile. “That’s not what I mean.”
“Oh, I was just being silly, I meant— “
Catalina put her hand up and shook her head for Mirabella to stop. “Let me finish.”
“I’m listening.”
“I was worried that you couldn’t understand him, or our life. I was worried that you would try to change him and make him weak, or something my mother wanted him to be. And at first that’s exactly what you tried to do,” Catalina’s voice choked on emotion. She batted her eyes and did away with her tears. “Being weak for even a second can cost you your life in this family. It almost cost Giovanni his. When he was hurt you protected him, even from me. I know why and I don’t want you to apologize for it.”
“I’m not apologizing, Catalina. I said you blamed me. I did what I had to then. I’m doing what I want to now. I want your forgiveness for hurting you so badly. For leaving you to this... there was another way, a better way, I wish we had found it together.”
“No. This was the only way. I killed her Mira.”
“Let’s not discuss it.”
“I did it. And even now I can’t make myself feel sorry for it.”
“It was an accident,” Mirabella tried to reason.
“No, it wasn’t. I did it. I took her there and I pushed her off the cliffs. I did it and I felt nothing.” Catalina lowered her gaze. “Lorenzo is our brother. Armando is my dead husband. The world is nothing like I thought it was. I’m a murderer. That’s my sin, but I’m going to be a mother. I can only atone this way. I want to stay here, raise my son here. I want to find a way to be the woman I am without Giovanni or Dominic controlling me. This is my way.”
“It’s the right way.”
“So you agree with my decision?”
Mirabella nodded.
“We can’t change the past. The future feels different too. I’m proud of you, Donna Catalina. Not of your mistakes but for how you’ve learned from them. It would be my pleasure to stay in your home tonight if you will have me.”
Catalina pushed back from the table and Mirabella stood. They met each other half way and embraced. Mirabella felt her daughter’s kick and so did Catalina.
“Oh!” Catalina said with a laugh. “Feel! He’s kicking her back!”
Catalina put Mirabella’s hand to her stomach. The little taps of the little one inside of Catalina vibrated against her palm. She shook her head in amazement. “This is our future. The one that matters,” Catalina said through fresh tears.
“It’s about time.”
“Help me make Giovanni believe in forgiveness. Lorenzo and Marietta are gone. They won’t come back, Mira. Not even for their baby girl. They’re really gone. Can he just let them live?”
“I can’t control this. I’ve tried to reason with him. I’ve tried.”
“Marietta confided in me before she left. She was broken. She... said after the baby was delivered Giovanni had the doctors butcher her. She said they made it so she couldn’t have kids anymore.”
“What? He didn’t do that,” Mirabella said.
“He did! He is going to kill them. If not her, he will kill Lorenzo. We have to stop him. You can stop him. You have before.”
Mirabella paced away. She gripped the back of her neck and tried to release the stress she felt centered there and spreading to her spine.
“You still love them don’t you?”
“My sister? Lorenzo? Do I still love them?” Mirabella repeated.
Catalina nodded.
“They almost killed Giovanni. Every bit of love I have for them feels like a betrayal. I have tried so hard with this family. Tried to be the scale to balance the greed, the deceit, the secrets, the lies. I have.”
“I know,” Catalina said. She wiped her tears. “We needed you these past five years, and we need you now.”
“When he was shot, and in a coma, I used to climb in the bed with him naked, and just press my body against his.” Mirabella closed her eyes and remembered her sorrow and fear. “I remembered every mistake I made, every secret I kept. I remembered every time I failed him. I made a promise to God. A solemn vow. My soul for his. Because I love him so much Catalina, I’d give anything to protect him. That’s why I can’t help. No matter how much I want too. I can’t. I have to trust him this time.”
They both cried. But neither of the women approached each other. Catalina recovered first wiping her face with a dinner napkin. “I’m sorry. I was taught that the responsibility of the Donn is to be involved at the family level. At all cost.”
“Maybe it is. But ask yourself. If God gave you Armando back, how far would you go to protect him and your son? What bargains would you make with God?”
Catalina eyes stretched with awareness. She averted her gaze in shame. Mirabella nearly opened her mouth and shared with her the hard cold truth of what she learned by being a mafia wife. But what would be the point? She’d learn those lessons soon enough. So she walked away. A few steps toward the exit and she felt light headed from the stress.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m doing too much. I think I want to lay down. Get off my feet.”
“Can I show you something first?” Catalina asked.
Catalina smiled at her and extended her hand as a gesture of peace. Mirabella accepted. They walked out of the dining hall to another room. A large parlor furnished for greeting and receiving guests. “I’ve decorated and changed some things. But some things haven’t been changed.”
Mirabella gaze lifted to the oil painting of Marsuvio Mancini that hung in the room. It was at least eight feet tall and six feet wide. “I wouldn’t let Lorenzo destroy it. I couldn’t. He looks so much like Armando. He looks like you too.”
Her father stared down at her from his seated position. He had a deep ruthless look of power in his eyes. He was younger in the image. She guessed his age to be his late thirties. And he was strikingly handsome. He took the picture alone.
“Armando told me a few stories about him. How different his parents were after his final trip from America. How he never remembered his father smiling for long.”
“The old man dying in the bed that I met didn’t have much liveliness left to him.”
“I don’t remember him, either. I guess I may have been in his presence as a child. But I can’t recall.”
Mirabella took a step closer.
“Do you see it?” Catalina asked.
Mirabella stared up into eyes that pierced her soul.
“You see it, don’t you?” Catalina asked. She walked over and put her
hand to her sister in-law’s back. “He looks a lot like you. More like you than Marietta.”
“He does. We have the same eyes.”
“I knew you’d see it.”
“Has Giovanni seen this picture?” Mirabella asked.
“No. He wouldn’t give it a second thought.”
“Gio never said I looked like him. Ever.”
“You know men; they see what they want to see.” Catalina chuckled.
“Thank you for showing me this. I don’t know why but I needed to see him. This way. The way my mother did.”
“Come on, let me show you the room I’ll have for you. Tell me about Mondello. Is it really all gone?”
“We can rebuild.” Mirabella said and walked with Catalina hand in hand. She glanced back at her father whose eyes in the portrait never left her. That look on his face said it all. He had failed them. Her brother, his only son, was dead. Her sister, if what Catalina said was true, had been tortured and half of her mind was lost. All that was left was her and she belonged to another clan, far from the Mancini legacy.
“LOOKS LIKE YOU TWO are back in sync again,” Giovanni said.
“I can explain, Gio.”
“Explain? Do you owe me an explanation?” Giovanni asked as he paced back and forth like a panther ready for the hunt. His blue eyes had darkened with rage.
“I was going to coerce her to tell me the truth about the islands. I wanted to gain her trust again. You said to take my time. I didn’t think—”
“Coerce? This a game to you, Domi?”
“Gio, you said you wanted him to suffer. Right? Eh? You wanted him to run. To be stripped of everything. You never gave me an expiration date on the chase.” Dominic reasoned.
“This is why you couldn’t be a good consigliere.”
