La Sposa (41 page)

“
Oh,” she said, trying to keep her
true emotion from her voice. She rarely thought of Kei’s betrayal
and her own. To think of his predicament she had to accept the bad,
with all the years of friendship and love lost between them. Did he
disappoint her? Yes. Did he deserve to be cast out of society? No.
Deep down, Mira knew her abandonment of him was wrong. How could
she ever explain this to her husband? Loyalty was something he
demanded in their love. And for Giovanni, there could only be one
love in his woman’s heart.

“
Bella?”

“
If you are going to give me
swimming lessons, we need to teach Eve as well,” Mira said, to ease
them into another discussion. “Don’t you think?” She turned to her
side and drew the covers up. Giovanni smiled across the bed at
her.

“
I do.”

“
Good night,
sweetheart.”

“
I love you.” Giovanni
said.

*****

After an hour of sleep, Giovanni rolled to his
back awake. He couldn’t completely relax in their vulnerable state
out at sea. He didn’t think his enemies would dare try something.
However, his protective nature over Mira and Eve made him sensitive
to the probability. And there was another matter that nagged the
edges of his mind.

He drew the covers aside and cast a look over
to his sleeping wife and child. Neither stirred. Giovanni found his
pants and put them on over his boxers. He picked up his gun from
the nightstand and walked out of the cabin. Checking the lower
deck, he found nothing out of the ordinary. He climbed to the
middle deck and the moon cast the lounge area in silvery blue
light. He continued up and went to the navigation room. From there,
he had a perfect view of the sea from all four angles. He set the
gun down and dropped in the chair. Reaching over to his satellite
phone, he began to make calls.

In a matter of minutes, he discovered where
Lorenzo was, and dialed his number.

“
Yes?” A groggy voice answered on
the line.

“
What are you up to?” Giovanni
asked.

“
Gio?”

“
I’ve sent you to Milan for a
simple task. Now I hear you are causing trouble with Mancini?
Why?”

Lorenzo expelled a frustrated breath. “Not
true, Gio. The old man is out of his head. I visited him to ask a
few questions about the past between Capriccio and the family. It
was he who brought up Mancini.”

Giovanni listened.

Lorenzo continued. “Rocco said that Capriccio
was chased out of the Mafioso by Mancini. He said Capriccio had no
legitimate ties to the Sicilians any longer. This information I
needed to ensure our business with David concludes with no issues.
We already have
Ndrangheta
on our hands.”

Lorenzo’s answers made sense. Still, he
couldn’t forget the anger in Rocco’s voice. It took a lot to push
his uncle to anger and disrespect. And Santo did share information
with him during their visit. “My warehouses. How are they?”
Giovanni reclined.

“
In order. Tomorrow paperwork will
be signed and…”

“
In order? With drugs from the
Nigerians polluting the place!” Giovanni shouted.

“
I can explain.”

“
No need. I’m sending Santo to make
sure the Nigerians are out of our business and all the drugs are
dispatched.
Capisce
?”

“
Wait. Don’t! Giovanni, that’s an
insult to my authority. Give me two days and I…”

“
It’s done.”

Lorenzo sat up in bed when the line went dead.
“
Figlio di puttana!
Shit!”

Marietta stirred. She clutched the sheet to
her breast, sitting up. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“
Nothing. Go back to sleep.” He
snatched off the sheet and picked up the phone. Before she could
stop him with her questions he stalked out of the bedroom, dialing
Carlo. After three rings, his best friend picked up. “I have
trouble.”

“
What is it?” Carlo asked, his
voice clear, despite the late hour. Carlo lived for the night. He
was probably just arriving or about to leave his villa to hit the
streets of Napoli when he called.

“
That fucking bastard Santo is
making a move on me. He told Gio about the marijuana in the
warehouses.”

“
You should have told Gio.” Carlo
answered dryly. “Everyone knew the Nigerians were sucking
Calderone’s dick. Of course they had drugs there.”

“
I was handling it!” Lorenzo
shouted. He paced, thinking of how fucked up everything would be if
Santo arrived and the pictures and tapes were out there beyond his
reach. David Capriccio could give them to Santo next and he’d be
fucked.

“
I warned you about Santo. I told
you he was making moves, plotting against us. Giovanni thinks cause
the fucker went to prison for the family, that his sacrifice is a
seal of loyalty. It’s a seal of bullshit! Santo serves no one but
himself. And get this…” Carlo took a drag of something he was
smoking, possibly marijuana. He spoke with his breath held. “He had
his cousins in America blind the China man. Renaldo said he
delivered the bastard’s eye to Giovanni as a personal gift.” Carlo
exhaled. “Fuck. I would have done it personally if I had the
chance. Now Gio thinks the motherfucker is a prince. Like some type
of fucking gladiator. We need to do him. End him. Give me the word
and I’ll pay his entire family a visit tonight.”

“
Shut the fuck up!” Lorenzo
snapped. “We can’t end him you stupid fuck! Then what? Break
omertá
? Betray the honor code and have to deal with Gio? We
have no proof that he is scheming against us. No proof.”

“
Then what the fuck do you want me
to do?” Carlo nearly snarled into the phone.

Lorenzo scratched his brow. “Stall Santo. I
need twenty-four hours and I can deal with him. Just twenty-four
hours. And after we settle this Capriccio mess, we deal with Santo
once and for all. Expose him to Giovanni. Deal?”

“
Stall him how?”

“
I don’t fucking know. Figure it
out!”

“
What about the
cugine
? Are
you taking care of him?”

“
Who? Carmine. Fuck Carmine, he’s
working… it’s what you wanted right?” A
cugine
was a lower
ranking member of the family. A man who hadn’t taken the vow of
omertá
. Carmine had killed, and upheld some of the territory
extortion jobs, but nothing to garner him a real rank in their
family. Why Carlo kept pushing to make strays into men aggravated
and confused Lorenzo.

Carlo hesitated before he spoke. “I need you
to keep an eye on the kid. He gets excited and overzealous. Just
keep him straight.”

“
Whatever….”

Lorenzo ended the call and reentered his room.
Of course, Marietta was up and alert, waiting for his return. He
put the phone back on the lamp table. He sat on the edge of the
bed. He had half a mind to storm out into the night, find the
bastard Capriccio, and feed him the dead man’s end of his
gun.

Marietta crawled over to him. She dropped her
arms around his neck and hugged him from behind. The side of her
face pressed against his. “Whatever it is, you can’t do anything
until the morning. Let me make you feel better.”

The request sobered him. His anger dissipated
a fraction. He turned and she pulled him down on top of her.
Lorenzo rested against her breast and between her legs. She stroked
his head and said nothing. Her silent acceptance of his frustration
brought him more comfort than sex could. His eyes closed and the
exhaustion of the day overcame him. He’d get the photos and tape,
get her justice, and he’d do it all before anyone knew better. With
Marietta at his side.

Chapter Eleven

Storia
- History

From my enemy let me defend
myself;

but from a pretensed friend Lord
deliver me. – Italian Proverb

New York was unlike any city in the world.
Catalina marveled over the diversity of the moving crowds, traffic
jammed streets, and flashing neon lights advertising soda pop,
fashion ads, and celebrities. Even more overwhelming were the tall
buildings that she was certain touched the sky.
Did the people
at the top floors open their windows and clouds floated in?
Giovanni told her the first time he brought her to the American
city while he was on business, that Hong Kong was even grander. She
doubted it. No place on earth compared to New York.

The driver arrived early. Dominic paced while
she fretted over which suit to wear. She was so nervous, so
anxious, she could barely apply her makeup with a steady hand. But
now they were headed to Mirabella’s and she worked on calming her
nerves. The office was located in lower Manhattan between buildings
that looked less posh than she imagined, very un-glamorous. She and
Dominic were buzzed in at the door. They walked down a narrow
hallway to an elevator that looked as old as the surface of the
building. Her disappointment was climbing by the minute. When she
looked over at Dominic, he seemed unfazed. Catalina pouted. All she
could think of was the cramped sewing rooms in Milan with fabric
rolls and weary factory workers. If this was more of the same, then
screw New York. Dominic lifted her chin and kissed her. She
adjusted her attitude and waited for the slow climb of the elevator
to bring them to the twentieth floor—House of
Mirabella’s.

The elevator stopped. The doors opened. All of
the polish and refinement neglected on the surface was reserved for
the interior of the twentieth floor. They were greeted by two large
glass doors with Mirabella’s signature name spelled out on the
surface, in cursive salmon-pink lettering. A man was inside beyond
the glass, talking to another who appeared to be scrambling the
dictation in a hurried manner. The man’s attention turned toward
them, as if sensing their arrival. Immediately, his stare latched
on to her.

This was Mira’s ‘teddy bear’? He looked tough,
lean, and serious—like the businessmen who dined with the Prime
Minister, then slipped away to visit her brother’s gambling houses.
He approached with nonchalant grace and she couldn’t look away from
his hazel green eyes. His classically handsome features were muted
by the serious dent between his brows. Maybe in another life he
could have been a prince, but Catalina had seen enough bad guys in
her life to know he wasn’t. He wore a dark grey suit with a
pinstripe grey and white tie. An expensive watch gleamed from his
wrist. He had thick tawny-gold hair with a swath that lay casually
against his brow. Catalina walked at Dominic’s side. She wondered
if he noticed the look the stranger gave her. If he had, it was
dismissed. Dominic had been distracted since the phone call he
received that morning.

“
Welcome!” The man said, throwing
open the glass doors to Mirabella’s. “Dominic, right?” he shook
Dominic’s hands.

“
Yes. And this is Catalina,”
Dominic answered.

The man again turned his attention to her.
“Ah, yes, Catalina. We spoke yesterday. I’m Theodore Tate.” He took
her hand and kissed it. Catalina smiled and immediately removed her
hand from his. “We are all so anxious to meet you. Dominic, the
attorneys arrive within the hour. Let me give you both the
tour.”

Catalina looked to the receptionist. She was a
black woman with very polished dark skin and strikingly beautiful
brown eyes. Her hair was in a curly natural style that looked like
a black halo on her head, but it matched her chic attire. She
smiled at Catalina, and Catalina smiled back. This was Mira’s and
Fabiana’s business. Where they created the magic that Catalina used
to drool over in magazines. As they walked down the hall and
Theodore spoke to Dominic, Catalina absorbed it all in. They passed
walls with large portraits of some of the most revered celebrities
dressed in exquisite gowns and outfits on the red carpet of varying
events, designed by Mira. Each one dated for the season and year
she created the masterpiece.

It didn’t end there. She looked in at the
offices and saw so many people of color, it became overwhelming.
Black, brown, yellow, Mira had a multicultural mix of employees
that were all young, fashionably trendy, and extremely busy.
Catalina had met her share of Latins, Asians, and blacks in Italy.
Most of them tourists and her conversations were always brief. Now,
she would have to work side by side with them. Her world was really
changing.

“
Teddy! Teddy, I want to talk to
you right now!” A brown woman with a deep French accent, long
flowing silky hair, and flawless makeup stalked toward them. They
all paused. Catalina remembered her photo in the folder that Mira
gave her. Mira had clipped it from a magazine that showcased the
designer’s line under her fashion house. With a red ink pen, Mira
drew horns on the woman’s head and wrote the word
bitch
on
the picture. Catalina stifled a chuckle. This had to be Carole
Montague.

“
What is it, Carole?”

“
Who are they?” She turned up her
nose to Catalina particularly, and then cut Dominic an interesting
look.

“
Meet Dominic and Catalina
Battaglia. They are family to Mira. She sent them to meet with us
about the House of Mirabella’s transitioning back under Mira’s
control. We spoke of this after Kei’s arrest.”