Surviving Venice

by Anna E Bendewald

  Unexpectedly, far from going stir-crazy, Gina had found plenty to do in the fairy tale palazzo with the family, not the least of which was exercising with Juliette. Gina was learning some old martial art that women did with fans instead of weapons. It was elegant, so Gina wanted to do it well. She tried to emulate Juliette’s long graceful lunges and fluid low kicks, which were slow and precise but made Gina’s legs and arms ache after only a short session. A few times when Juliette sped up a sequence of moves to show Gina a transition, Gina was so impressed she could hardly contain herself and redoubled her effort to learn. Each day she’d be drenched in sweat only from moving at a stately pace. Maybe part of the exhaustion was from intense mental focus, but clearly Juliette was a badass.

  “How long have you been doing these travail d'épée exercises?”

  “Since I was five. But before then, I ran around hitting everything with my toy sword.”

  “I’d imagine no one messes with your family.”

  “No, we are descendants of Mark, or his Greek name, Martkos, meaning consecrated by the god of war. My family founded the Knights Templar. We protected people on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land.”

  “Wow. All I can say is…wow. Mark, like as in Saint Mark?”

  “Sì. And while lineages are important, I am particularly partial to my own which you are carrying. Now, raise your fan and begin again or you will never be ready for the rigors of childbirth, or a sword for that matter,” was how that topic was closed.

  Now Gina looked around her laboratory at Juliette’s carefully potted herbs in the greenhouse and got back to work. The headmaster of Ca’ Foscari University had agreed to let her do a special lab project for full credit, and she knew what she was working on would wow her instructor. She took the beaker of spearmint essence off the warming rack and inserted a clean thermometer: 40 degrees Celsius. She withdrew the thermometer, inserted a pipe, drew out six drops of liquid, and transferred it to a transdermal patch where other compounds were cooling. She peeled off the backing and then applied the patch to her arm.

  This was the best of all worlds, getting credit toward her degree while working on her own line of natural products. As an added benefit, this patch contained spearmint’s powerful limonene, dihydrocarvone, and cineol to cure her nausea and suppress any excess hair growth that pregnancy may bring.

  The OB-GYN that she, Raphielli, and Benny were now seeing was a trusted cousin of Porto delle Donne’s manager, and the first visit had put all three of them at ease. Benny’s child was conceived first and had a strong heartbeat. Raphielli’s embryo was a bit further along than Gina’s, but both looked good and their hormone levels were perfect. The doctor had gone over everything they could expect, and all three groaned when they’d learned about hair changes during pregnancy. Raphielli had squawked, “I’m going to get it on my belly? I’m hairy naturally! I’ll be a gorilla!”

  With the fresh-scented patch firmly in place, Gina made more for Elli and Gina before sealing her beakers and making notes in her school book. Then she checked her other project, an herbal ingestible tincture called ‘shrubs.’ She poured a shot of shrubs into a tall glass and headed to the kitchen to add cold water and ice.

  She was just taking a sip of the puckery-yet-refreshing drink when Juliette appeared in the kitchen looking outraged. “Presto, vieni adesso! My dear, you must stop your work and come.”

  “Certamente.” Gina was getting used to big things happening in the household and handed her the drink to try.

  Juliette took a sip and said, “Il Comitato di Venezia is coming over to hear the news. I am livid!” Then her expression changed, and she stared at the glass. “Assolutamente delizioso! More of your shrubs?”

  “Uh-huh. It’s apple, cardamom pods, dried peach, vinegar, and honey.”

  “You must send some to Yvania. Use that warehouse address Daniel gave us. I will ask her to use it in a sauce.” Then she refused to give up the glass. “Bring this batch with you. We can make a pitcher for il Comitato to enjoy. Just because we have bad news to share does not mean we cannot be gracious hosts.”

  Then she turned to her cooks, who had flown into action behind them. “Ah, grazie, plenty of little sandwiches. And Ivar has requested you make salads we can eat without a fork, something on an endive leaf.”

  When the now-familiar group of the Vitalis, the Petrosinos, the pope, and Raphielli had joined her, Ivar, Leonardo, Vincenzo, and Juliette in the family parlor, everyone began sipping their drink and smacking their lips in pleasure as Juliette stood and began to pace.

  “Ivar has just received a formal notification that our Verdu Mer accounts have been frozen. We are being audited for criminal transactions!”

  “Negrali!” the pope said angrily.

  “The notice demands a halt to all work and our books be turned over to the IOR!”

  Raphielli made a face. “Ee-yore?”

  “Instituto per le Opere di Religione—the Vatican bank. We’re being accused of embezzlement!”

  Ivar said, “Cardinal Negrali has planted seeds within the European Housing Authority that Verdu Mer is a money-making scheme with no plan to honor its promise to the original residents!”

  “He’s getting bolder,” Gio said. “And when you confront him now, Sua Santita, I’d keep your head of security…”

  “Alberto.”

  “…Alberto between the two of you. Negrali’s after everything he can grab: Verdu Mer, your crown, Raphielli’s estate.”

  The pope nodded and looked at Ivar. “This audit is ultimately a challenge to me, Ivar. I am the one who directed Vatican funds to Verdu Mer.”

  “Negrali paints Juliette and me as your henchman who are stealing at your behest! I am not handing those books over to anyone,” Ivar said with real venom in his tone. “That little cardinal will learn what happens when you slander a Ukrainian.” He eyed his drink. “I love this, but right now it could use a shot of vodka.”

  As Vincenzo headed behind the bar to oblige, Raphielli said, “Well, now this sounds petty, but Cardinal Negrali stole two paintings from my home.”

  Everyone but Zelph and Alphonso turned to stare at her.

  Don Petrosino and Primo asked, “How?” in unison.

  “The whole place is a bit of a…well…circus what with preparations for the ball being such a big production.”

  “She’s not kidding,” Zelph said. “Marilynn Bergoni and Domina are installing huge party fixtures, furniture, twenty-meter pillow pits, and they’re stringing a matrix of invisible fiber optic webs for lights and visual effects all across the four-tiered theatre with a fifth story balcony that has become the party space.”

  Alphonso nodded. “They’ve had temporary generators installed for the party and a temporary motor house for a motorized submergible head out in the canal. Not to mention the pyrotechnic barges on either side of the palazzo and the stunt barge.”

  Raphielli joined in. “The new shelter dorms are temporarily being slept in by a troupe of circus performers, riggers, and stunt safety team.”

  This news upset the don, and no one wanted to see that. “Fuck the ball! Those crazy broads are gonna get Raphielli kidnapped or killed! Not to mention Benedetta who they’re tasing police trying to get to! How many unexplained boat fires have you Veronas had in the past four weeks?”

  Gina shuddered, recalling two close calls when Vincenzo and his bodyguard came home blackened from smoke and they’d lost a driver who was still in the hospital.

  Raphielli countered, “I am safe. The theft happened when I was at the shelter. Ghost and Mister Fox had to disrupt my security system when the new generators were installed. It was for an afternoon. Cardinal Negrali had been seen near the property. He’s been quite a pest stopping by with ridiculous excuses.”

  “What?” The don glared at Alphonso and Zelph, then softened as he looked at Raphielli. “That guy wants your money and he’d prefer you disappeared or dead.”

  “Then it’s good I haven’t seen him. Dante tak
es messages and puts him off. Our best guess is that he saw the commotion as an opportunity to make off with some art. My security system is back up now.”

  Gina asked, “How do you know it wasn’t some of the masquerade people?”

  “The masquerade crew are over in the theatre wing. They can’t even get to the wing I live in from their side—it’s locked. And the two paintings are by Caravaggio that I’d caught Cardinal Negrali’s staring at while he was on his phone describing them. The police art expert is trying to determine their value.”

  Ivar raised his now fortified glass. “To the return of your art and may we all celebrate the cardinal’s downfall soon.” Then he downed it in one long gulp.

  “Così sia.” They all raised their glasses.

  Then don Petrosino said, “Doctor G won’t be playing God anymore. He died recently.”

  Gina literally shivered at the news so casually offered in that heavy Sicilian accent.

  The pope said, “We will not ask how you know that.”

  “Best not. But I can tell you he believed the Catholic Church was the ultimate evil and the Veronas were some supernatural papal enforcers who needed to be stopped. He’d been planning to poison Giselle and Gina’s babies the same way he’d done with Juliette. Said Gina’s baby would be fine because she needed about four more shots to be effective.”

  “Grazie a Dio!” Vincenzo and Leonardo cried. Gina felt a free-floating relief.

  “He also believed to his dying breath that Salvio’s children will save the world,” he finished.

  “Children, plural?”

  “Yeh, he believed Benny and Raphielli were both carrying Salvio’s children. Unfortunately, the doctor died without giving up a single name of another Alithinían. He had some deep reserves of mental strength. Didn’t crack.”

  “Like the saints who disappeared into their faith as they were killed?”

  “Yeh,” he said and seemed impressed in spite of himself. “Just like that. The police will find an Ecclesia Dei pin in his closed fist.”

  Now it was Gina’s turn to smile in spite of herself and she saw a look of triumph settle onto Juliette’s face.

  “Would Benedetta know of any more rogue Alithiníans?” Primo asked.

  “She said all the ones she knew are caught or dead. Short of taking her out into the calles in disguise to stare at passersby in the hopes of spotting someone she’s worshipped with—which is no plan at all—there’s little hope of identifying any others.”

  “How do we stay safe if powerful Catholics and some rogue Alithiníans or some hit men Salvio hired want to kill us?” Gina asked the committee in general.

  Raphielli said, “And don’t tell us to stay alert and close to our bodyguards. Salvio struck twice while guards were present.”

  Don Petrosino soothed, “We’re not saying not to live your life, Raphielli, but keep alert. You and Benedetta have Alphonso and Zelph, plus for extra coverage you have me and Primo. Gina, you have professional security, and when any of you are near the pope, you’ve got his security contingent headed by Alberto, so…let’s stay vigilant. Now you all know what it feels like to be me,” he said and took a sip of his drink. “If you stay on your toes, you’ll be ready to strike the instant you see them coming, and seconds before they expect it.”

  As Raphielli left the Verona’s, she felt Gio’s hand on her arm. “In light of recent incidents with the Verona’s boats, how do you make sure no one plants an explosive on your boat?”

  “Well, when I’m here, the Verona’s attendant watches it, and when we’re out, Zelph hires someone.”

  Alphonso and Zelph stood listening and then eyed the boat Gio and Primo had been using since they came to the islands. Drea, the cool blonde driver, stood at the wheel looking capable, and yet somehow managed to blend in with all the other Venetian pilots.

  “I’m suggesting you hire a trusted driver who stays in the boat,” Gio said. Then in a nod to civility, said, “Not that you’re not trusted, Zelph. You’ve got a lot on your plate overseeing the security of her home.”

  “No offense taken,” Zelph said.

  With that, she let Zelph and Alphonso guide her to her boat while Gio and Primo hopped down into theirs. Drea gave her a little salute.

  Raphielli had been pulling away from both of the men in her life for the past several weeks, pouring herself into shelter work and preferring to spend time with Benedetta and Paloma in the evenings. Her emotions and hormones whipsawed her head and heart in two directions. She would no sooner make a decision about her future, when the next moment she wouldn’t feel that way at all. Just this week, Gio had called her on it when she’d refused his invitation for the umpteenth time.

  “What is it? Have you had your fill of me?” His voice was soft and unguarded.

  “Wuh-no! I…”

  “What then?”

  She looked at her bracelet. “Gio, I don’t know if the baby is yours or Alphonso’s.”

  “Oh.” He didn’t say anything for a beat. “I knew he was nuts about you, but I’d taken you for the kind of girl who wouldn’t do that.”

  “You took wrong.”

  She was surprised when he’d laughed and said, “I didn’t take wrong. You’re a good girl and that baby’s mine. I know it, and I know how I feel about you. I’m here until you and our baby are safe.”

  “You’re not thinking of killing Cardinal Negrali are you?”

  “It’s not just Negrali. Those Alithiníans want our baby, so while they don’t want to kill you, they’d kidnap you in a heartbeat.”

  “I feel like one of those Hollywood actresses with stalkers.”

  “I’ll be keeping an eye on you. Let me know when you miss me.”

  “Grazie, and I do miss you. I…it’s complicated.”

  “Not for me it isn’t. Are you still sleeping with him?”

  “No. I’ve been putting you both off.”

  “I don’t like to be played with, so don’t mess around.”

  “I won’t,” she’d said. As she disconnected the call, she felt like she’d made him a promise not to sleep with Alphonso, which she hadn’t meant to make.

  Now, as Zelph pulled into the palazzo’s water garage, Alphonso asked her, “You’re off to find Benny, right?”

  “No. Can you come to my suite?”

  A flicker of anticipation flashed across his face before he read her expression, and then it was gone. “Certamente.”

  When they got to her private living area, she ignited the fire and joined him on the couch. “Alphonso, I’m not sure the baby is yours.”

  He looked crushed. “What?” His face fell and he shook his head in disappointment. “The don. I knew he wanted you, I just didn’t think you’d succumb.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I’m crazy about you, and you’re sort of my best friend…”

  “But you don’t know if you love me?”

  “I’ve been all messed up in the head. I even tried to get my marriage annulled. I’d have lost my estate. I must have been in shock.”

  “Evasion…answer my question.”

  She looked at him, uncertain of what she should say, and feeling a bit resentful at having to defend her actions. She was, after all, a modern woman who didn’t need to be married to have sex.

  He said, “I don’t doubt that you’ve been out of your mind. But I assumed none of this was you.” He waved his hand around to indicate the palazzo. “I figured you’d come live with me, you’d keep running your shelter, and you’d fundraise like a normal person. Not be this power player you’ve become.”

  “I feel like I’m doing what I was born to do.”

  “Speaking of being born, I was born to parents who had no business getting pregnant. I was raised by my nonna and aunt. I don’t want our child to be…” He seemed to be in terrible pain, and for such a big man, it was hard for her to witness.

  “This baby would be raised by the Dour Doublet over my dead body.”

  “No, I know that. Well, I
want to thank you for being honest with me. And I don’t know what’s going to happen between us, but these short months I’ve spent with you have been no ordinary time.”

  Just then her phone pinged with a text message from Marilynn:

  URGENT! POSEIDON TESTS UNDERWAY IN FRONT CANAL.

  BOAT CAPTAINS FURIOUS IN TRAFFIC JAM.

  WE SHOULD OFFER THEM GIFTS! HOW MUCH CAN I SPEND?

  Alphonso stood. “I know you’re busy.”

  “What’re you going to do now?”

  “You’re the mother of my child. Until you’re safe, I’m going to stick by your side and try to keep the Catholics or Alithiníans from getting you.”

  She walked him to the door where Paloma, who looked transformed in a tailored suit, intercepted them. She had her hand-held device and the slick folio of paperwork that went everywhere with her now. “Elli, there you are. Can I get you to go over the staff picks? We’re less than a month from opening and I’d like to notify our hires in the next day or so.”

  “Shoot,” she said as Alphonso stood his ground at her side, clearly not wanting to leave their conversation as it was.

  “Kate and I thought you’d want the same staff-to-woman ratio at the new shelter.”

  “Sì, that sounds right.”

  “And Signor Tosca just confirmed we can accommodate one hundred live-in residents.”

  “Correct.”

  “So, the only question is what kind of coverage you want to achieve with your personal household staff?”

  “It’ll just be you, me, perhaps Benny, and the baby living here. We don’t need much staff,” Raphielli replied. She felt Alphonso’s interest pique with that statement.

  “Dante has some suggestions,” Paloma said.

  “I defer to him. Come in, we can sit down at my desk.” She waved Paloma past Alphonso and then stepped closer and hugged him.