by Mynx, Sienna
At the foot of the path, she stopped. Giovanni was there. He had his back to her staring off into the lake. He wore a dark shirt and slacks. In fact, since she’d met him, the man had worn no other color than black. His hair smoothed back from his face covered his lapel. A curl of smoke lifted from in front of his face before his hand lowered. She saw a half-smoked cigar in between two of his fingers. Her teeth caught the edge of her bottom lip, and she glanced around to see that they were alone. Should she disturb him? She was so excited to find him she ached to do so.
When did he return? Why was he out here smoking alone?
He turned in an instant, and his gaze fell upon her. No wonder she lost her head so quickly with him. One look into his eyes, and she was filled with nervous energy. Fabiana was right. Casual would not be their thing. It had gone beyond that point. “Hi,” she said.
“Morning, Bella. I thought that was you.” He extinguished the cigar with his thumb then dropped it into the front of his shirt pocket without a flinch.
“You knew it was me?” she asked.
“It’s a hidden talent of mine, eyes behind my head.” He approached her. “I had to perfect that skill years ago.” He greeted her with a kiss. She loved the height on the man.
“How tall are you?” Mira asked.
“Strange question,” he smirked.
“You’re tall, and so are your men.”
He chuckled. “Blame our fathers.”
“Did I interrupt you? You looked to be deep in thought.”
“No, I was waiting.”
Mira stepped closer. “For?”
“You. Didn’t want to disturb your breakfast.”
Her smile faded. He had seen her and Fabiana? Did he hear the conversation too? “Okay. So now that you have me what’s next?”
“How about we go for a walk?” He extended his hand.
A shadow moved and she spotted the first of three men who remained close. She glanced around and finally recognized the others. Where were they minutes ago? Had they been there all along? Was he ever alone? The man who was less than two hundred feet away stood silent, observant. Both of them kept a reasonable distance. “Do they have to come?”
Giovanni nodded. “I’m afraid so. You’ll get used to it.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to a man with a gun shadowing me.”
His fingers slid sensually over hers, and she accepted the offer. “Andiamo.”
They continued along the nature path that circled the property and drew them closer to the lake. It had the unreal beauty of a picture postcard. Tall trees and blooms nestled in dewy grass, and the lake before them under a clear sky awaited them. “Italy is so beautiful.”
“I’ve been all over the world, and there is no place like Italia.”
She dropped his hand and slipped her arm around his waist. Naturally, he placed his arm around her shoulder and kept her close. “About earlier. Did you hear me and Fabiana?”
“Debate my worthiness. You ladies were quite passionate.”
“Sorry, it was a private conversation.”
“You have your concerns. I understand. You made me a very happy man by sharing yourself with me. I’ll consider it a gift.”
“And if it’s more?” she smiled weakly. When his gaze lowered to hers she looked away. “Things moved a little fast with us. And I enjoyed it. I really did. I think we should talk about what’s next.”
“Okay?” He stopped.
“Fabiana reminded me of a few facts. We’ll see more of each other, outside of Bellagio. Napoli is a small city.”
“You want to get to know me?” Lightly he traced his finger along the side of her jaw.
“You’re an interesting man. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I have an idea. Let’s go upstairs and re-acquaint ourselves with each other.” He leaned forward to pull her in, but she stepped out of his reach. A frown deepened the lines between his brows. “Something wrong?”
“Feels like it to me. I usually get to the intimacy after I know the man, not before.”
“You came to my bed.”
She glanced over to the men to make sure she couldn’t be heard. “You’re addictive.”
Giovanni laughed. “Addictive?”
“Very,” she smiled. “That means I’ll want more, and I can tell you do too.”
“Of course I want more.” Gathering her into his arms, he forced her to her toes. Her breasts were pressed hard against the corded muscles of his chest. She could feel his uneven breathing and knew he was just as excited as she was. The warmth of his arms encircling her was so male, and bracing.
The hurried beating of her heart when she stood so close to him made her pant a little and lose her train of thought. This, of course, he noticed. There was a sly smile on his face. His blue eyes seemed to go dark as the lake behind him. That was another thing. The man’s eye color could change with the color of the wind. How on earth could she ever back out of this attraction between them? Unlike Fabiana, the idea of turning her heart over to another man terrified her.
“We won’t say goodbye.” His voice held a hint of a challenge and his gaze remained steady on her.
She chuckled and shook her head in disbelief. “Are you kidding? If I want to say to goodbye I’ll say goodbye.”
He grunted and slapped his forehead with his hand. In fact he started to speak hurriedly in Italian. Mira frowned at the animated way he spoke with his hands. “Speak English. I don’t understand you.” she yelled over his rant.
“Why are you so damn confused?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“We discussed this last night. We’ll enjoy each other for as long as I choose.”
“You choose?”
“We choose, I misspoke,” he quickly added.
Mira turned to march away, and he grabbed her wrist dragging her back to him. “There is no stopwatch keeping time on us. Why must you?” he asked.
“Why are men like you so damn arrogant and controlling?” She yanked her hand free. She dropped hers to her hip and narrowed her eyes on him. “My goodness we’ve known each other for a little more than 48 hours and already I belong to you? Until when? You get bored?”
“What do you want Bella? Reassurance?” He sighed deeply. “What is it you need to stop inviting me in and then shoving me away?”
“It’s simple. You don’t decide how long we last, or anything we do. I do for me, and you do for you. I want your friendship. But no thank you on the sex.”
Giovanni laughed. She frowned, eyeing him. He dropped his head back and closed his eyes. A deep groan rumbled in his chest.
“No sex? What does that prove?” he asked.
“I think we can enjoy Bellagio without ripping each other’s clothes off. And the attraction is what we explored. It also makes it easier to understand what’s happening between us. I can keep a clear head when I’m around you. All those pretty words and seductive touches confuse me. Hard to make this light when you make me feel the way you do.”
“Because losing control is a bad thing right?”
She rolled her eyes. “So what! I like to be in control is that so damn horrible?”
He shook his head, smiling down at her like a parent would a child. “Ti penso sempre!”
“English!” Mira demanded.
“I’m always thinking of you. Now it’s worse for me, after touching you.” Giovanni seized her. He lifted her by her midriff and brought her up against him. Mira didn’t resist. She hooked her arms around his neck and held on with her body flush to his. Warm heat captured her mouth as his crashed over hers, and she tasted the bitterness from his cigar. He kissed her hard and strong. Caught up, she found his lips were more persuasive than she cared to admit. Breaking the passionate exchange, he stared directly into her eyes when he spoke. “You feel that?” he whispered to her. “It’s me, and you can’t control me, Bella. Do you understand?” He reclaimed her lips. Soft shivers shimmied up her spine. Mira smiled against his mouth as he
spoke to her with his tongue delving. “And this.” He heaved her up higher, now his hands gripping both halves of her ass, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. “This is us, Bella. You won’t control us. I see it will take more convincing. I am the man for the job.”
Mira turned her face from his mouth and closed her eyes as kisses slipped down the curve of her neck. “You can’t be serious.” She held to him tighter.
“Look at me. Am I serious?”
She returned her gaze and stared deep into his eyes. She swallowed all doubt.
“I’m a man. Don’t treat me like a boy, or one of those that work for you. Deal with me. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
“Then you must give me room to be near you. To have you.”
Confused, breathless, she only nodded again.
He kissed her again. “Approvazione, that means you’re okay with this. Say it.”
“Approvazione.”
He lowered her, and she slid down his large frame to stand on her own two feet.
“Then we will honor this ‘no sex’ rule this evening. I have a condition,” he said.
“What is it?” She fixed her shirt that had come untied.
“You return home with me to Sorrento. Let me show who I am. It’s near Napoli.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t.”
“You can’t or you won’t?”
“I have Fabiana.”
“She and Lorenzo will come as well. My villa has been in our family for close to two hundred years. It’s three times as large as this one. There’s plenty of room. My business calls me back. I can’t stay here more than a day. And I’m… I’m not ready to say goodbye.”
Mira put her fingertips to her temples. Her head literally swam, and breathing was a chore with him bearing down on her. “I need to talk to her first. We’re vacationing. She wanted to go sailing today, and I put her off,” she lied.
“Mira, it’s too late to put the brakes on when we’ve already taken the victory lap. You let me in, Bella.” He lifted her chin. “I’m not going anywhere. You said you wanted to know me. The only way to know me is to let me show you my world. A small part of it.”
“When?”
“I have a business meeting tomorrow, and then we can leave on my jet.”
“What’s in Sorrento that we can’t find here?”
“The opportunity to show you how beneficial being my friend can be if you give me a chance.”
The world was filled with him now. He consumed her thoughts when they were apart, and she desperately wanted to hold on to that feeling a bit more. He touched her again. His hand cupped the side of her face, and his irises were a softer shade of blue. Her mind relived the velvet warmth of his kiss. “Okay. I’ll talk to Fabiana.” Her friend would be game if it included Lorenzo.
Giovanni smiled and lowered his hand to capture hers. “Is holding hands allowed?” he kidded.
She laughed. “As if you need my permission.”
Chapter Seven
Lorenzo craved the sharp burn of whisky to torch his throat. He decided on a bottle of wine from their family’s private stock. He needed to have a cool head. Giovanni didn’t suspect. No one did. And, dammit, he made sure no one ever would. When he returned yesterday, the men didn’t question him. It would be stupid to believe his arrival on a vespa wasn’t shared with his cousin. Lorenzo drank down half the bottle. He exhaled. “Fuck. What the fuck have I done?”
Yesterday -
Lorenzo slowed his car and circled the long front drive of a dilapidated, ugly little cottage deep in the east hamlet of Bellagio. Its forlorn, vacant appearance was a striking contrast to the candy-apple red convertible Jaguar parked in the tall grass to the side of it. Giuseppe Calderone travelled in and out of the hamlets in flashy cars with loud music. The motherfucker wouldn’t know discretion if she sat on his face and gave him a blowjob.
He let go a devilish chuckle. But soon the humor died on his lips, and anxiety cooled his thoughts.
What if Giovanni suspected something and had Lorenzo tailed? How could he explain this meeting? His vision switched to the rearview mirror. Thanks to the overgrown cypress and hundreds of wind whipped trees flanking both sides of the single lane road he travelled in on, a car tailing him could remain unseen. Therefore, he waited.
Nothing stirred. He didn’t expect this meeting to go well. Giovanni was making moves. Battaglia’s would soon surpass all families in the Cammora. How could he anticipate he’d try to expand their operation up through the triangle? The dealings between he and Calderone would have to come to an end.
“Fuck this shit.” Lorenzo threw open his car door and got out. He tossed it shut with a loud slam. Birds took flight from the belly of tangled tree branches. The evening sun blared in the sky making everything around him bright and feverish. Perspiration spread over his brow and trickled down his sideburns. Tucking his gun into the front of his pants, he did another silent sweep of the forests. It would have been wise to clue his best friend Carlo in. To do so would reveal his mistakes, unforgivable mistakes. He had to deal with Giuseppe alone.
As he strolled around the outskirts of the property, he felt the hairs on his nape rise. Uneasy and alert, he kept his vision keen to anything out of order. The front of the cottage was boarded up but the back had been opened for their meetings over the years. And now Lorenzo tired of the side hustles and back door deals behind his family’s back. He stepped through the open doorway with his hand to his gun, still tucked in his waist. Giuseppe waited alone.
“What the hell? I’ve been here for damn near an hour!” Giuseppe Calderone was a plump, five-foot three, well-dressed thug. Spoiled, sheltered, and tolerated by the men of their world only because of his father’s notoriety. The runt had the good fortune to be the only son of Don Calderone. Lorenzo dropped his hand from his gun. Calderone wiped the sweat from his brow with his silk handkerchief tucked in his back pocket. “Well? Why the fuck did you keep me waiting?”
“You’re alone?”
“Aren’t I always?” Calderone sneered. “Ah, I understand now. Your half-breed cousin is in town, and now you don’t trust me?”
Hackles rose to the back of his neck. Nothing made him more furious than lack of respect shown to his family. He took a measured step toward Giuseppe, and the turd actually grinned, too stupid to know how close to the edge Lorenzo actually was. “Disrespect my family again, and I’ll put a bullet in your gut.”
“Whoa, check out the balls on this guy. Bastardo! Baggiano! Since when do you threaten me?” Calderone took a step toward him. Lorenzo didn’t flinch. “I tell you how this works. Or have you forgotten your sins and what it cost your family.”
The pressure in Lorenzo’s temples pounded thickly; his throat grew tight under Calderone’s mockery. The fucker would be wise not to push further. But the young spoiled jackass was just a loudmouth hothead with Lorenzo’s balls in his grip. For years he did the unthinkable to bury his shame. And all of it was unraveling. The raid had opened Giovanni’s eyes. It wouldn’t be long before the dirty secrets of the past surfaced and destroyed his family from within.
“Nothing to say?” Calderone taunted. “Oh don’t blame me. Blame the Russians, like you did before.” Calderone laughed. “Your half-breed cousin spilled so much Russian blood you have enemies you cannot name. And for what? A lie. Our lie. Right Lorenzo?”
“State your business.” Lorenzo ground out.
“I went into this bargain knowing you had no authority. Doesn’t change the outcome. Our deal stands. I have another shipment to unload in Napoli in two days. Same Nigerians as before.”
“I won’t do it.”
Calderone paused. His eyes stretched in their sockets and his cheeks puffed, with nostrils flared like a bull. “Figilo di puttana! What the fuck do you mean you won’t do it?”
“The Albanians were using Francesco to run child hookers through my club behind my back. Then we’re raided? A coincidence? I don’t think
so. More like a distraction to keep Giovanni off your scent. Problem is, you stupid fuck, he has shut me down, permanently, and Francesco is dead.”
“Not my problem.” Calderone shrugged, with a stiff upper lip.
“It is now your problem. I won’t deal anymore with you or the Nigerians. You need to work the transport out another way. The Amalfi is closed.”
“Bullshit! We do it my way!” Calderone pointed a finger up at him. It was almost comical considering his height compared to Lorenzo’s. “My way you stupid fuck!”
Lorenzo had more respect for cockroaches than he did him. If his father wasn’t feared and respected by the Cammora and Ndrangheta he’d have been put to sleep long ago. The bug actually mistook compliance for fear. Giuseppe ran his tongue over his coffee stained teeth, grinning at him. “Let’s not fight. What’s the point? You have no choice but to do what I wish.”
“Fuck you.” Lorenzo removed his gun. “I always have a choice.”
Calderone’s gaze dropped to the gun between them. He let go a loud gust of laughter. “You plan to kill me? Are you fucking insane? Do you know who my fucking father is? He’ll fucking skin you and your fucking half-breed cousin alive and burn what’s left of your fucking family to the ground. Put the gun away before I’m insulted.”
“I’m the nephew of Don Tomosino Battaglia, and you made a big mistake in forgetting that!”
Calderone walked away laughing, his round belly bouncing over his stubby legs like Santa Clause. He returned his oil black eyes to him. “Forget?” Calderone touched his chest. “You are the same man that ordered his uncle’s death? He wasn’t your Don when you came to me, crying for rank, for power. You are that man, are you not?”
Lorenzo aimed, and Calderone’s smile faded. “Don’t be fucking stup…”
One shot to the chest sent the man he’d loathed and served behind his own family’s back, barreling into the wall. Lorenzo marched on him and grabbed him by the throat. If Giuseppe was to die by his hand, this day, this moment, he would do it while looking him in the eye. He wanted to see the dead space fill in and the life drain from the weasel. The bullet had indeed pierced young Calderone’s gut. He spat up blood. Holding him by the throat he made sure they never broke eye contact when he placed the gun to Giuseppe’s heart. “Porca, puttana! For my uncle.” He unloaded and Giuseppe gave a dying squeal before slumping forward. Lorenzo stepped back to let him drop. He stood over him and emptied his clip. Coughing up a wad of phlegm he spat on the bloody stump that was once his nemesis and smiled.
