La Sposa (59 page)

“
Where is Marietta?” Mancini asked,
almost in a begging voice.

“
Gone. She’s gone back to America.
You and I are done.” Giovanni picked up the bracelet and
necklace.

“
Give them to me!”

Giovanni kept walking. Mancini, in his feeble
state, couldn’t capture his arm in time and dropped back in his
chair. “Where is Marietta? I have done many bad things in my life.
But loving my daughters to seek peace between us was not one of
them.”

“
You are sick as Tomosino. You
don’t even know what happened to Melissa Ellison. You never even
tried to protect her. Who put her on drugs?”

Mancini blinked. “I’m not sure…”

“
Who ordered the hit on her after
your return to Sicily? The one that gunned her down in
Chicago.”

“
She wasn’t shot.” Mancini said.
“They killed her another way.”

“
Who? Did you ever try to find out
who?”

“
It was a different time. We had
enemies everywhere. How was I supposed to know which one went for
my weakness, my Lisa?”

“
Then I’ll tell you, you old fool.
It was Caruso Capriccio who killed her.”

“
No. He wouldn’t dare.” Mancini
wheezed through a coughing fit. “He knew what she meant to me! He
wouldn’t dare!”

“
You turned her over to her
murderer. That’s why she ran from Chicago. She knew Gemma and
Caruso were going to kill her. And you didn’t bother to lift a
finger to help her!”

“
No!” Mancini clutched his
chest.

Giovanni felt his lips curl in a snarl. “She
was sixteen when you trapped her in your hell. You destroyed her.
Do you think that I would sit back and let you destroy my wife?
Never!”

“
Mirabella will learn the truth!”
Mancini shouted at him. “And if you keep me from her she will hate
you for the secret. Give me a chance to make this right with my
daughters and I swear to you, no harm will come to her.”

“
Save your swears. I’ve already
shown you how far I’ve gone to protect her. And that’s what makes
me different than you. It took me a week to uncover this story, and
after twenty years you haven’t learned shit! If you do or say
anything to tell her who you are, I’ll consider it an act of
war.”

Giovanni turned and left the garden, leaving a
wheezing Mancini shouting after him. When he marched back into the
villa, Armando was the first to greet him. “We’re
leaving.”

“
So soon?” Armando asked, looking
him over. Giovanni ignored him. He gestured to Lorenzo and Dominic.
They both walked out of the Mancini’s home to their cars after
having their guns returned to them. Armando didn’t see them out of
the gates.

“
Is it true?” Lorenzo had to
ask.

“
Yes. She’s his daughter. I have no
doubt of it. But I do have good news. Mancini doesn’t know shit. He
doesn’t know that Tomosino turned him in to his father, or that
Tomosino had Caruso keep tabs on Mira’s mother and kill her. I’m
sure
Patri
did this to make sure Mancini never returned to
America for her. All these years, the truce between them has been
one of ignorance over a stupid mafia war with the republic. Mancini
didn’t bring Bella to Italy to undermine me—he wanted to be
reunited with her before he died,” Giovanni smiled.

“
This makes you happy?” Dominic
asked.

Giovanni nodded. “It does. Bella will never
know of him. None of it. And more importantly, she will never know
my father had her mother killed.”

“
What about Marietta? They are
sisters.”

“
Oh, and yes, there is more.
Mancini believed Marietta died with her mother. If I think on it,
Caruso backed down from having to kill the children. It’s not the
way of the Mafiosi. He has tried to bury the secret of their
existence by changing their birth certificates so Mancini and
Tomosino both never discovered the truth. This is what makes Rocco
so afraid. If we open the Pandora’s box we reveal a conspiracy that
dates back to the first mafia war. And we go to war with Mancini.
Something that Armando has been itching to do since I’ve taken more
control over the
Camorra
.”

“
But they are sisters, Gio. Surely
you believe they should be reunited?” Dominic asked.

“
No. Not yet. I’ll decide on it
later. For now, Bella is to not know any of this!”

“
Giovanni, I have to tell Marietta
something,” Lorenzo said.

“
You tell her nothing,” Giovanni
said. The finality in his voice was clear and concise. “You have
royally fucked the entire Capriccio incident up. I still haven’t
had a full accounting of how Carmine died on your watch, and where
the fuck is Carlo? You are in no position to make any requests of
me.”

Dominic cleared his throat. “I understand your
way of thinking. Telling Mira that her mother died indirectly, or
directly because of Tomosino, puts your marriage at risk. Gio, you
tipped your hand to Mancini. He knows that both Marietta and Mira
are alive. What’s to stop him from coming forward? You can’t
control the Mafiosi.”

“
Can’t I? Mancini is doing this
behind his son’s back. He is still the coward who denied her
existence and let her mother die. He won’t go public. I think we
should wait until after Eve’s birthday. Bella has another doctor’s
appointment. Afterwards, I will make a decision on when and how the
sisters will be reunited. Understood?”

Lorenzo and Dominic both agreed.

Giovanni relaxed. For the first time since the
entire ordeal began, he found the situation manageable. He would
make sure the secret of Melissa Ellison’s death stayed buried with
her. And he’d succeed. No one would ever come between him and his
wife. Not even his dead father and her dead mother.

Sorrento Italy –

Marietta lifted the tray carefully. She
carried it out of the kitchen, balancing its weight. A man sat on
the sofa, playing cards with himself. His gaze lifted. She believed
his name was Antonio. She wasn’t sure. He rose and hurried over to
help. “I have it. No worries. I have it.”

He looked at her and then the door to Carlo’s
room. He walked over and opened it for her. She walked inside with
the dinner she prepared. Carlo sat up in the bed. The television
blared with some Italian talk show. He switched it to a sports
channel and tossed his remote. The bruises to his face looked worse
by the day. She guessed that was a sign of healing. What was once
reddish- yellow swelling around his eyes and jaw, had now turned
blackish purple. And one of his eyes was still swollen
shut.

“
I brought you something to eat,”
she said. She put the tray down over his lap. Carlo frowned at the
food and then her.

“
Don’t look at my cooking like
that! You ate it yesterday just fine.”

“
I’m not into American food!” he
snarled.

“
So what? You need to eat. Beggars
can’t be choosy.”

“
I’m no beggar!” Carlo frowned. “I
didn’t ask you to make it.”

“
Oh, it’s a joke. Eat the damn food
or flush it down the toilet. What do I care?” She started to the
door.

“
Wait!” Carlo said. Marietta
paused. “It’s been a rough week. Have a seat and join
me.”

Marietta considered the invitation. She’d
rather watch paint dry than sit and talk to this guy. But waiting
for Lorenzo to return was killing her. She desperately wanted to
learn the truth about her parents in Sicily. He said he’d explain
it all to her. Soon, she’d have the answers that had escaped her
all her life. And it was because of Lorenzo. Crazy as it seemed to
her, she was falling hard for him.

Taking a chair from under the desk, she
brought it over to the bed and sat on it. He ate, slowly chewing on
one side of his mouth. His gaze returned to the television and he
seemed focused on the sports show broadcasting. He didn’t address
her at all.
Why the hell did he want her to sit in the room with
him?

“
Why is it Lorenzo doesn’t want me
alone with you?”

Carlo stopped chewing. His gaze slipped over
to her. “Is that what he said?”

“
Yes,” she nodded and crossed her
arms over her breasts. “Gave me the impression you were
dangerous.”

Carlo took another bite. He chewed slowly and
then swallowed. “I can be.”

“
To women?”

He lifted his gaze back to the television. He
didn’t answer. Marietta changed the subject. “Who beat your
ass?”

“
Beat my ass?” he
frowned.

She pointed to his face. “Yes. Did that to
you. Who?”

“
Your boyfriend,” Carlo smirked.
“Maybe you should check to see if he is dangerous.”

“
Oh, I know he is,” Marietta sassed
back. She parted her lips to say more when she heard the door open.
She looked to the living room through Carlo’s door and soon Lorenzo
appeared. He was damn handsome in his dark suit and brooding
scowl.

“
What are you doing in here?”
Lorenzo asked, his tone sharp with disapproval.

“
She cooked for me.” Carlo said
with a sly smile.

Marietta stood. “You’re home. I, ah, I just
fixed him something to eat. Since he can’t move around. Hi.” She
went to him and gave him a kiss. He squeezed her ass. Marietta hit
him playfully and broke free of his embrace.

“
Go upstairs and wait for me,” he
whispered in her ear.

Marietta nodded and walked out. She was barely
through the door when Lorenzo closed it on her. His voice rose
loudly behind it. He yelled at Carlo to stay away from her. It was
strange. She glanced over to the man on the sofa who had stopped
playing cards with himself. He looked her in the eye, shook his
head, and then he resumed his game. Marietta started up the
stairs.

“
Yay!” Mira cheered. Eve grinned
and stood up from the tiny toilet she sat upon, bottomless. She
clapped with her mother. Mira knelt and encouraged her to sit back
down. Eve did.

“
Mommy is so proud of you. You go
pee-pee?”

Eve nodded.

“
After we are done with the
pot-pot, we are going to get rid of your pacifier.”

Eve blinked at her and continued to suck on
her pacifier.

“
What’s going on in here?” Giovanni
said, behind her. Mira’s head turned and she was surprised to see
him standing behind her. “You’re home?”

“
She’s going to the toilette now?”
Giovanni asked.

“
She did. I’m so proud of
her.”

“
Brava, Lucciola!”
Giovanni
clapped.

Mira picked her daughter up and wiped her
butt. She then located her diaper and put it on her. “So glad you
made it back in time for dinner.” Mira said, unable to look at him.
The fight they’d had the night before still hurt. She tried not to
think of it, only to focus on the sweet call he’d made this
morning. But seeing him again, her disappointment in him was
there.

“
It’s almost after eight, you
haven’t eaten?”

Mira washed her hands. “Oh we ate. You haven’t
eaten. And I’m going to make sure we all sit down to together. Eve
and I would like to join you to make sure you are properly
fed.”

When she turned, he was directly in front of
her. He now had Eve in his arms. “Bella?”

“
Yes?” she smiled, looking up at
him.

“
Have I told you that I love
you?”

“
As a matter of fact you said it
this morning in the note you left for me on the pillow, and when
you called me from the plane,” she smiled.

“
I love you,” he repeated again.
Mira rose on her toes to kiss him. Eve pushed at Mira’s face to
stop the kissing. She and Giovanni chuckled. “I’d like to sit down
and have dinner with my girls. And then tonight, I’d like to make
up with my wife.”

“
Good, because your wife needs
you.” She wrapped her arm around his waist and they walked out
together.

Later –

The ringing phone brought Lorenzo out of the
bathroom. He snatched it up, putting it between the side of his
face and his shoulder.
“Pronto?”

“
It’s me.” Giovanni walked out of
the bedroom to his balcony. He closed the door behind him. Mira was
in the bed resting. Eve slept peacefully in her arms. The dark robe
he wore protected him against the chilly night. “Can you
talk?”

Lorenzo glanced back to the bathroom.
“Marietta is waiting for me. She had a lot of questions, Gio. I
told her that we hit a dead end in Sicily.”

“
Good call. Because we
did.”

“
What?”

“
I want you to take her away for
the next two weeks. Just get her the hell out of Sorrento. I don’t
need Mancini locating her with you. Not yet.”

“
For how long?”

“
Two weeks. Mira has her doctor’s
appointment. I want to hear from the doctors how she is with the
baby before I introduce stress into her life.”