by Mynx, Sienna
Kei stood on the step beneath her. Because of his height he continued to look her directly in the eye. Giving her body to him wasn’t an option. God knows sex would only complicate things further between them. But she’d have to be inhuman to ignore how handsome he was. He had the silent calmness in and out of his personal life that commanded respect. Mira decided she wouldn’t fight his offer of support. And she was ready to try. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I’m the lucky one,” he said turning his face to kiss the inside of her palm. Mira leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss. It ended. They continued to look into each other's eyes. He finally cleared his voice and spoke. “I love you.”
“I adore you. Thank you, Kei. For everything.”
She turned and went up the stairs. When she reached the top she glanced back at him. He stared up at her with a satisfied smirk. He winked and bounded back to the kitchen. Mira chuckled. Today would be a good day for them all. She could feel it.
****
They arrived. From the back of his chauffeured car Giovanni slipped deeper into thoughts of her. Two days had boiled his anger down to a smoldering calm. He loved her just as much today as the last time he’d laid eyes on her. The thought of rejection left him nervous and doubtful of his decision to confront her. She could slam the door in his face. What right did he have to force it open? She made no attempt to contact him. Did she know he’d attended her fake funeral? Did she know he made everyone with the name Calderone pay, and pay even more for Fabiana’s death?
“How do you want to run this?” Dominic asked.
“I have no plan,” he muttered.
“However you decide to handle seeing her we support you one hundred percent,” Dominic said.
Giovanni nodded clenching and unclenching his gloved fist. He rode the rest of the way in silence. He half listened to Dominic and Lorenzo discuss directions from the map they followed. The drive progressed slowly through hills and snow covered valleys. Giovanni reclined his head and closed his eyes. He slipped in to the drowsy warmth of his memories, good sweet memories of her.
Mira caught her reflection in the restaurant window that faced the street. She couldn’t believe how much she’d changed. Her hair was longer and thicker, her skin paler. She wore jeans tucked in to a dark pair of riding boots, and a thick eggshell white crewneck sweater over a matching turtleneck. Her makeup was light, a brush of lip-gloss and some compressed powder to smooth out the dark circles from under her eyes. The past two days she’d been on edge. At first she attributed it to the talk she’d had with Kei. It did drag up all those old feelings for the man whose name was never spoken between them. Now she had to wonder if she was coming down with something.
“You plan to eat?” Kei asked, sipping his coffee.
The fresh smell of her baked croissant stuffed with crème cheese made her mouth water. However, she hadn’t touched her breakfast. Mira picked up her fork and sliced off a flaky section of the croissant and stuffed her mouth, chewing, swallowing. “Yes. It’s delicious.”
Eve swiped a slice of melon from her plate, and Mira smiled. Eve blinked her large eyes up at her mother as she licked the melon and began to nibble on the juicy center. Her daughter needed to work on her table manners. Mira had chosen a window seat in the restaurant so the snowfall and the people strolling by could distract Eve. Otherwise her little angel would demand release from her highchair to terrorize the other patrons.
To retrieve the melon, which was too large for her to eat, she passed Eve her striped yellow, blue, and green cup with a childproof lid. Her little girl turned up the juice, eyeing the melon placed back on Mira’s plate.
“I was thinking that maybe we’d take Eve skiing? She’s old enough.”
“She’s not even two yet!” Mira laughed.
“We just stand her up on skis and let her go.”
“You are not sending my baby down a hill of ice. No way.” Mira chuckled. When she glanced to the window her smile froze. Two full body, four door Mercedes sedans passed by. The windows were darkly tinted. The vehicles appeared a bit flashy for the small modest town. Nervous energy fluttered like trapped butterflies in her tummy.
“Something wrong?” Kei asked.
Mira’s gaze swiveled to Kei. “Huh?”
“You look grey. Are you feeling okay?” he asked.
Trying to swallow the lump that lingered in her throat Mira smiled. She nodded. The cars disappeared from view. Eve slammed her cup on the table and grunted, pointing at the piece of toast Kei had on his plate. “Let Poppy cut you a slice of melon instead,” Kei winked.
Eve grinned. Mira’s eyes shifted to the window once more. Suddenly all the pleasure of their breakfast outing left her. The cars had the hairs on the back of her nape standing on end.
The Mercedes sedans came to a stop in front of a two story stone white cottage with a red triangular roof shaped like an upside down cone. Opening the door Giovanni eased out of the car. His Italian loafers crunched ice and snow under his feet. He wasn’t chilled in the least. His anxiety and curiosity kept him warm. The other men all exited the cars. Giovanni took a few steps forward then stopped. A curious neighbor stepped out of her home to gawk at the men. Admittedly they looked a sight, with all of them in dark coats and black suits. He glared directly at the woman, and she went back into her cottage.
Lorenzo approached. “Do you want me to see if someone’s home?”
“No.” He continued onward. Dominic told Carlo and Carmine to hang back as he followed Giovanni. Lorenzo ignored his wishes and stepped ahead reaching the door first. He knocked. The men waited. He knocked again. Giovanni’s gaze swept the windows. The place appeared to be empty.
Without provocation Lorenzo kicked the door in. The first to enter was Giovanni. It was her scent that greeted him, followed by her sense of style. The place had a cozy feminine warmth to it that reminded him of his sweet Mirabella.
“Find them,” he said.
Dominic and Lorenzo went in opposite directions to search out the house. Giovanni walked toward the brick hearth staring at the charred wood. Something soft squeaked beneath his foot. He stepped back and looked down. It was a kid’s toy. It looked like a little miniature doll. Giovanni stared at it for a long moment trying to process its existence among Mira’s things. He picked up the little doll whose eyes rolled shut and blinked back open. Squeezing its belly the doll giggled again. He walked into the kitchen and noticed a yellow and white kid’s chair with long legs and a tray to the front of it, pushed up to the kitchen table. There was a baby cup on the tray. Giovanni hadn’t realized it, but he was squeezing the doll so tightly in his clenched fist that the little voice box cracked inside of it.
“Gio, you need to see this,” Dominic said coming around the corner.
Giovanni didn’t move. She had a baby? She left him for this man and had his baby?
Lorenzo entered the kitchen.
“Gio, you need to come with me.” Dominic said more firmly.
He turned and followed Dominic. They went through a back hall. There was a single room with a broken padlock. Dominic had forced it open. “I thought something important would be in this room because of the lock.”
Giovanni walked in slowly, his heart hammering in his chest. He was overwhelmed by what was before him. Some of his angry disappointment evaporated and was replaced by confusion. His Bella had sketched their history in vivid detail. Everywhere were images of their time together. The vineyard, his mother’s cottage, even the bedroom they shared. She sketched Filipo, the errand boy who came to his mother’s cottage to deliver a message to him and a phone. She sketched them on his motorcycle traveling along the coast of the Amalfi. She sketched an intimate portrait of him holding her in his arms.
Lorenzo stepped inside. “What is this?”
Giovanni glanced over. The images of Fabiana were breathtakingly accurate. Lorenzo snatched down a drawing taped to the wall and stood there visibly shaken. “Why the hell did she do this?” he said, his
voice choking on emotion.
Why? If she wanted nothing to do with him and had taken up with another man why paint these? “You said the door was locked?”
“Yes.” Dominic answered.
Disappointed that this was all there was to find he tossed the broken squeeze toy to a drawing table and walked out.
Mira glanced back over her shoulder. Eve blinked and sucked her pacifier. “How long do kids keep pacifiers?” she asked Kei.
“I don’t know. You think little rabbit is too old?”
“Not sure, but she’s growing like a weed and she’s stuck to that thing. I lost it once, and I swear she gave me the blues. Now I pin it to her shirts. You know, to keep the peace.”
Kei chuckled. “Interesting that you have to barter peace with a one year old.”
“She’s almost two, and don’t pretend you aren’t a negotiator as well. Where do you think she got her obsession with cookies?”
He glanced over at her and winked.
“I hope you aren’t upset about the hills. I really wanted to drive up into them to make a snowman. I think it’s a bit too cold for Eve.” Mira said.
Kei smiled. He reached over to squeeze her thigh. “I’d rather be inside warmed by the fire with you.”
Mira chuckled. “Good, then you can make a fresh one as soon as we return.”
The car coasted out of the city to the residential farmlands. Her cottage was located on a shared land of three farm families. As they turned up the single lane road Kei eased on the gas and the car slowed to a stop. Mira glanced up. The cars she’d seen earlier, both of them, were parked in front of their cottage. She narrowed her eyes on the vehicles.
“We got visitors. You expecting someone?” Kei asked.
“No.”
The driver door opened on one of the parked cars, the passenger door opened next. Two men exited the vehicles. One of the men was as tall as Giovanni and the other was slender and of medium height. He appeared to be younger. It was their style of dress and the hard stare they gave them from the distance that sent a chill through her. Giovanni. She knew it as sure as she knew her own name. How did he do it, and why now? They’d been so careful.
“Hold on!” Kei said ready to throw the car in reverse and speed away.
Mira grabbed his arm. “Don’t!” she shouted. Her raised voice stopped him.
“I know where to take you. We can get there before they catch us.”
“No. Not with Eve in the car.”
“Are you crazy? Those men want to kill you.” he said trying to shift the car into reverse.
“No! It’s not Angelo’s men. Look. It’s him. Giovanni.”
Kei’s gaze switched back to the men who now stepped into the street glaring at them.
“We can’t run from him now that he knows I’m alive. I won’t get in a car chase with Eve in the backseat. Just pull into the drive.”
Kei stared at her for a long moment. “Mira?”
“Please, Kei. Trust me. We talked about this. If he was to ever find out I’m alive you’d let me handle him.”
Kei sucked in a breath. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity until Eve started to whine for attention. He glanced back at the baby and shook his head. “We can’t take this risk with Eve. You go in there and it gets bad, what then? I don’t even have my gun. Shit. Shit. Shit!” he pounded his fist on the steering wheel. “I let my guard down. This is my fault sweetheart.”
“It won’t go bad. I never ran from him because I was afraid of him. I was afraid of his lifestyle. I can talk to him. I have to now, Kei.”
He glanced at her with shock on his face. “Did you know he was coming? Did you contact him?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Then why are you sitting there so calm?”
Mira struggled to hide the truth. Part of her knew he would, some day. She was a fucking hypocrite.
“Fuck it!” Kei put the car in drive. Mira touched his hand. She leaned over and kissed the side of his mouth. “Don’t talk to him, okay?” she whispered in his ear. “Let me do the explaining. Whatever I decide you agree to it. Do you understand me?”
“Whatever you decide? Are you saying you’re going to tell him about Eve?”
“I can’t keep it a secret now can I? I don’t know what is going to happen. Just please don’t intervene. He won’t like it. Trust me, okay?”
Kei released a tight breath that almost sounded like a whistle. He drove slowly down the street, wheeled the car past the parked ones in front of their cottage. Mira reached for the door handle, grabbing her arm he stopped her. “I’m with you. Right beside you.”
“Okay.” Mira said, summoning courage she exited the car and went for Eve. Her daughter was bundled up in a pink jumper with a hood. She sucked harder on her pacifier blinking at her mother. Mira knew Eve was excited to get out of her car seat. Eve’s arms immediately went around her mother’s neck when Mira lifted her out of the back of the car. Mira held her close. Kei stood near his open car door glaring at the men watching them. One of them she recognized. She believed his name was Carlo. He smoked a cigarillo, flicked it into the snow before opening his trench and showing the gun to the front of his pants. He winked at Kei exhaling a thick plume of smoke from his flared nostrils.
“Let’s go,” Mira said.
Kei continued to glare at Carlo. She saw his jaw twitch and his eyes narrow dangerously. Was he seriously going to challenge a man with a gun?
“Let’s go!” Mira said again with bass in her voice.
Eve careened her neck to see the men her surrogate father was glaring at. She waved at them both. Carlo smiled and Carmine waved back.
Mira put Eve down and took her hand. She helped her step through the snow and up the steps to the door. She paused a moment to discover it had been forced open. The shoe print stamped at the center of the door made it apparent how.
“The bastards forced their way in.” Kei grimaced.
Mira chewed on her bottom lip nervously, unable to move. Finally she looked over at Kei. “Don’t speak unless he speaks to you. Let me do the talking,” she warned.
Kei frowned. “I’m not scared of him.”
“Eve. Think of Eve. Please,” she pleaded.
“I’ll follow your lead, Mira. Like we agreed.” Kei relented. “But sweetheart, you kept the man’s child from him. Don’t go in there thinking you can talk your way out of this. If it gets bad we do it my way.”
Mira had no idea what ‘my way’ meant. There were times when she considered Kei’s willingness to go up against these gangsters a sign of bravery. Now she suspected something she couldn’t quite name. Eve looked up at them both curious, and Mira smiled down at her baby reassuringly before she pushed the door open. She didn’t see Giovanni. Her heart raced so fast and strong she could barely take a breath. Entering her home she glanced to the left. He was seated near the fireplace watching her silently. At his side stood Lorenzo. Dominic was over near the window. He must have told Giovanni they had arrived.
Mira couldn’t fathom the change in him. Physically he was still a magnificent specimen of a man. The beard was new, and the hard coldness in his icy blue stare hardened features she once found charming. A swath of wavy dark hair fell casually over his brow out of the groomed dark wave of hair that dusted his collar. His well-groomed appearance, dark olive tanned skin and the cynical twist thinning his lips made his presence overpowering with self-confidence. Even Kei stood in silence staring at him. Mira had forgotten how powerfully seductive his eyes were. She lowered her gaze to break the hold he had over her. She needed to keep her emotions in check and show no weakness.
Eve let go of her mother’s hand and hid behind her legs. Her baby was naturally friendly. Giovanni’s hard glare made her instinctively draw away. He didn’t relent. He sat forward and his focus shifted from Mira down to her daughter. It remained that way.
Eve peeked at him. Did he recognize her? Mira always believed that if Giovanni met their child he’d
recognize her as his own instantly. Not because of her eyes, but because of the love they shared when they created her. Staring at him now she wasn’t sure. This man before her seemed so different from the one she knew.
His gaze swung back up at Mira, fiery hot under lowered dark brows. Silently, wordlessly she met his stare, and she knew he realized who Eve was to him. Instead of joy she saw fury. The reality of her true betrayal settled between them, dividing them. Slowly he rose from his seat.
“Ciao, Giovanni,” Mira said softly.
“Ciao, Bella. It’s been too long,” he answered.
She nodded. “How did you find me?”
How dare she let those five words be the first to pass between them. What about the little bambina clutching her legs? His bambina! He glanced down at the baby girl, and she buried her face into the back of her mother’s knee. She looked to be a toddler. He didn’t know much about kids, how they grew, but she stood and walked so she had to be at the very least two years old. His heart hammered so fast in his chest he wanted to grab the child to be sure. But he restrained and resisted his urges. She was after all only a baby and shouldn’t meet a father who had little self-control.
Mira however was a different matter. Look at her. As beautiful as the day he last saw her. She wore jeans, riding boots, a sweater under a matching leather waist jacket. However her up tilted breasts, slim waist that agilely defined her rounded hips, and fine shapely thighs made her body appear seductively feminine. He couldn’t see much of her hair. It looked longer but the knit eggshell white cap with blue stripes was pulled low to her brow.
“Did you miss me?” he asked in an even tone, refusing to let her beauty subdue him.
Mira bit down on her plump rose-colored bottom lip. She blinked long dark lashes at him over honey brown eyes. “I can explain,” came her soft reply.
“Who is the bambina hiding behind you? Explain her.”
The little one stuck her head out as if knowing he mentioned her. She blinked at him, and he got a good look at her eyes. Giovanni was a bit stunned by their beauty. A smile formed on the little one’s face as if she wanted to play with him, but it faded and she sucked on the plug in her mouth. Some of the dark ice around his heart thawed at the small exchange.
