La Sposa (46 page)

“
We will go through the contracts,
and then Giovanni’s signatures will finalize the deal. Lorenzo
will…”

“
I will be taking the documents and
the money back to Gio in Capri. He requested I deliver them
personally. After Lorenzo and I agree they are in order, of
course.”

The insult hit him hard. Even if Giovanni made
the request, Santo stating it in front of these men cut at his
balls. Growing angrier by the minute, Lorenzo fixed his glare on
David. Carlo was right. They needed to deal with Santo. But
possibly, this could work to his advantage. After the meeting
concluded, Santo would leave Milan for Capri. He will then have his
chance to set things in order. And he couldn’t wait.

*****

Mira heard knocking in her dreams. It took her
several minutes before her brain registered where the nagging
disturbance came from. Giovanni had rolled to his back and snored
loudly. Sitting up, she frowned at the door. She told them to not
disturb them. Exhausted, she moved the sheet aside and found her
robe to cover her nudity. The knocking persisted. She guessed
they’d only been asleep for less than an hour.

At the door, she opened it with a
frown.

“
Scusi, Donna mia…”

“
What is it? I told Rosetta to not
disturb us.”

Leo nodded that he had gotten the message.
“It’s Gio. He has a call from America. An important
call.”

Mira half- smiled. “Dominic?”

“
Sí.”
Leo nodded.

“
I’ll take the call.” Mira stepped
out of the room and closed the door. Leo frowned and looked to the
door. “Go downstairs and hang up the phone. Giovanni wants me to
speak with Domi. Go!”

Leo turned and obeyed. Mira rolled her eyes.
The men were always terrified of breaking a rule of her husband’s.
It was ridiculous. She hurried to the office that she had stored
their luggage in. Though tired and in need of more of the restful
solitude she found in their bed, she couldn’t wait to hear the
details of what was happening in America with her
company.

She picked up the phone and heard the other
downstairs disconnect. “
Ciao
, Domi!”

“
Mira?”

“
Yes. How are things?”

“
Molto bene,
is
Gio…”

“
Did you meet with the attorneys?
Has Kei agreed to sign everything over to avoid court? Oh and
Teddy? Did you meet with Teddy, because he has some additional
amendments to the contract with Carole Montague?”

“
Sí. Sí.
Everything is in
order. I think in under a month the company will be yours and Gio’s
again.”

Mira grinned. She spun in her chair happily,
getting tangled with the phone cord.

“
Mira, can you find
Gio?”

“
He’s not feeling well. I put him
to bed,” Mira chuckled. “I want to talk to Catalina.”

“
It’s important that I speak
with…”

“
You can say it to me.” Mira said
firmly. “What’s wrong? I hear it in your voice. Is it Carole? Is
she contesting my taking over the company? She has no say in this.
None! I want you to have a call scheduled for us all. I was
thinking it was time my staff heard my voice, my vision. Yes. We
should uh, let’s do it after the honeymoon. You know how Giovanni
can be. But definitely let them know it’s coming. Wait! We can do
it when we finalize the return of the company under us. I might
even do a videotaped message, possibly hire someone to come in with
a camera… or…”

“
Mira?”

“
Where is Catalina?”

“
Catalina hasn’t returned yet. When
she gets in, I will tell her to call you.”

“
Really? She’s still at the
office?”

“
I have to go, Mira. I’ll have her
call you.
Ciao
.”

“
Ciao
.”

Mira hung up the phone. She hated that she
missed the chance to talk to Catalina. She really was on edge with
the burning need to understand all the things going on with her
business. But things were moving along nicely. Soon, she’d have it
all. Charged on the excitement of her company being returned to
her, she completely abandoned the thought of returning to bed with
Giovanni. The folder of documents that Teddy had sent to her
arrived the day of the wedding. She hadn’t had a chance to go
through any of them yet, and she knew they were tucked away safely
in her trousseau. She figured she’d take this time now to read and
catch up. When she and Catalina spoke, she’d be ready to give her
instructions on what to do next.

America –

Dominic paced the floor. He arrived at
Mirabella’s to learn Catalina had left with Theodore Tate for a
late business lunch. He was so damn distracted with the news over
who Mira’s father was, he didn’t dwell on Catalina’s absence. But
after an hour of waiting for her, he was beyond pissed. The door
opened. Catalina grinned, her dark curly hair bouncing on her
shoulders. “Hi, baby.”

“
Where the hell have you been? It’s
after five!”

Catalina’s smile dimmed. “I…”

“
You knew I was here waiting for
you!” he shouted.

“
I was at Mirabella’s then I went
for lunch with Teddy… eh, Mr. Tate, and the traffic. There was lots
of traffic. Domi, I’m sorry.”

He exhaled and sucked in a deep breath. The
problem wasn’t her. The problem was Mancini. There were too many
unanswered questions. Nothing Giovanni believed about Mira was
true. That made them weak, vulnerable. “Pack your shit. We’re
leaving!” He marched to the room. He heard her squeal behind him
with shock. He wasn’t the least bit surprised when she chased after
him to the room.

“
What? Why? What did I do wrong?
Please, Domi, I’m sorry.”

He turned and saw her eyes stretched with
horror. He calmly took her hand. “It’s not you. I’m not angry at
you. We got trouble at home. I need to get back and meet with
Giovanni.”

“
Oh.”

He kissed her hand. “I’m sorry for yelling.
Pack our things for me, okay? I got to make a call to get us a
flight out.”

“
Wait. What about the company? The
meetings start tomorrow. We can’t leave, Domi.”

“
I’ll come back and…”

“
Domi, listen to me. Please. I know
you have business to manage. I understand. But this is important to
Mira and Giovanni too. If you are coming right back why don’t
you….”

“
What?” he narrowed his eyes on
her.

She folded her arms and stood tall. “Let me
stay to deal with the fashion house. I can…”

“
No!”

“
No?”

“
You heard me. No fucking way I’m
leaving you here in this city alone. No fucking way!” He marched
over to the closet and dragged out the suitcases.

Sheer black dread swept through Catalina. The
thought of leaving New York now shattered her. Today had been
wonderful. All of it. And lunch with Teddy was the first time she
tasted true independence. And there was still so much more she
wanted to learn. Tomorrow, he promised her a private tour of the
design rooms, and then she would give input on some of the
selections. She would sit at the table with Carole and be a true
business woman.

“
Pack!” Dominic ordered.

“
Ask Gio,” she blurted
out.

Dominic paused. He looked at her,
confused.

“
Call him and ask him if I can stay
in America without you.”

“
Why the fuck would I ask your
brother for permission to tell my woman what to do!” he shouted at
her. She knew she insulted him but she was desperate, and she
wasn’t good at fighting with Domi. Franco and the others she could
handle. But even disappointing him cut her deep. She did the only
thing she knew to do. She cried. Domi threw his hands up in defeat.
He walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. Together, they
sat on the bed.

“
Don’t treat me this way. I’m
grown. I’m learning something important here. What trouble could I
get into? A week, Domi. All I need is a week, or two, or three and
that’s it. I’ve never asked for anything like this. I just want to
finish what I started.”

Dominic sighed. “Fine. Let me figure out how
to let you stay. I’ll call in the Kimmatores to get you
protection.”

Catalina’s head lifted. “Is there
danger?”

“
I don’t know. But I have to be
careful with you. Not because I want to control you.” He kissed her
tears. “Because I love you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held
on to him. “I love you too.”

Capri –

Giovanni opened his eyes. His breath tasted
chalky and bitter, with the stench of tobacco and stale liquor. The
need to spit overwhelmed him, but didn’t overpower the tight
burning in his gut, possibly from hunger. When he sat up his vision
blurred a bit and his lids sagged, threatening to close.

“
Vaffanculo!”
Giovanni
cursed, placed a hand to his forehead. He’d put on one with all the
drinking yesterday, followed by the lack of sleep and rounds of sex
with Mira. He felt wrecked. And mildly, he suffered a bought of
irritation that she wasn’t in the bed with him. Grumbling under his
breath he stumbled from the bed, and went to the bathroom. There he
pissed and spat in the toilet, then shed his clothes and took a
quick hot shower. The warm jets sobered him. He felt marginally
better. It was only after he dried himself and put on fresh clothes
was he aware of the late hour.
I slept until four in the
afternoon?

Giovanni walked out of the bedroom. He could
hear Eve’s laughter over the blare of the television. He was
starving. He’d ask Mira to fix him something to eat, and while he
waited he’d make a few business calls. Santo should be en-route
with his money and contracts.

Where the fuck was she?

When he entered the room he saw Rosetta
stretched out on the sofa and Eve on the floor with her dolls. She
looked up and immediately came to him. Rosetta shot upright as
well.

“
Ciao, Gio.”

“
Where’s Bella?”

“
Working, she said not to disturb
her or you.”

“
Working?” Giovanni glanced around.
He held Eve in his arms. “What do you mean working? Where is
she?”

Eve spoke up in her tiny voice. He barely
understood her. But his daughter pointed behind him. He turned with
her in his arms and went to the only door on the floor closed to
them. When he opened it, he paused. Mira was at a desk. Folders and
papers were everywhere. She glanced up at him, at first surprised,
then pleased. The smile she gave him was radiant. “Hi, sweetheart.
I see you’re up?”

Giovanni set Eve down and she walked into the
room going to her mother. He slammed the door behind him. “What the
hell is going on?”

“
I beg your pardon?” Mira
frowned.

“
What is this?” He walked over and
picked up the papers before her. He squinted at all the writings
and red pen notes along the margins. Were these his contracts with
the Capriccios? No. He saw Mirabella’s company name as the
letterhead. “Explain this to me!”

“
Lower your voice first,” she said.
She looked to Eve. Giovanni walked over to the door and opened
it.

“
Rosetta!” he shouted. The young
girl ran inside immediately and went for Eve. In the same hurried
manner, she rushed back out of the room, as if the devil were
chasing her. Giovanni threw the door closed again. “This is what
you do? On our fucking honeymoon!”

“
I’m reading
my
contracts,
while
you
sleep off a hangover on
our
honeymoon.”

“
What the hell for? Reading
contracts? Dominic is handling all of this. I was looking for you
and you were gone!”

“
Stop yelling at me!” she shouted
back. “Why are you acting like this? So what, I brought some
paperwork here. I didn’t flip out when you invited that creepy man
here for business.”

“
Creepy man? Who the fuck are you
talking about?”

“
I said stop it!” she stood. “I
hate when you get like this. Shouting and cursing, like I’m one of
your men. Don’t talk to me like that! I won’t put up with
it!”

“
I’ll talk to you any way I damn
well please!”

The stand off between them charged his fury.
Mira’s eyes narrowed to angry slits. Her lips pressed together,
thinly. He was too angry to care about her outrage. The scene he
walked in on irked him to his core. However, contrary to what she
thought of his temperament, he rarely lost his cool with her. He
thought to tell her that, but held back. Giovanni exhaled slowly.
“We talked about this, Bella. You promised me that this company
bullshit would not be an issue between us.”

“
And it isn’t. Christ! I can’t sit
down and read paperwork? Are you so insecure that I have to be at
your beck and call every minute?”