La Sposa (48 page)

*****

“
What’s happening? How is she?”
Giovanni asked, with his heart pounding wildly in his chest. He
braced for the news with dread. The nun walked hurriedly toward
him. The church ran the
ospedale
. It wasn’t the best, but
the only one within miles. He should have flown her out to Napoli
in his private jet. But that would take too much time. They’d have
to sail out of Capri back to Sorrento. The waiting game was killing
him. They’d had her for over an hour and no one had told him
anything on her condition. Giovanni paced in front of the nun like
a caged animal. Ready to tear into her throat if she unleashed news
that would break his heart.

In a quiet voice, she spoke calmly. “She is
with the
dottore
. He’s examining her. He will send for you
afterwards.”

“
I want to see her now. I have to
be with her. She’s terrified.”

“
Signor Battaglia, keep calm. You
need to have faith. It will be the greatest salvation for your
unborn child. The
dottore
will send for you
soon.”

“
I need to know something now!” he
seethed.

“
Boss, she’s right. We have to be
patient and let the doctors take care of her,” Leo said. Giovanni
paced away. He could still hear her weeping and pleading with him
to do something. How could their world be coming apart? And what
the fuck did Dominic mean that Mancini was her father? It was
impossible. Nothing in the world made sense right now, except his
love for her. This was his fault. What did he care if she played
CEO with her company and read stupid documents? He had no right to
treat her that way. He ripped into her and still didn’t know why.
Had he caused her to lose the baby?

“
Signor?
” The nun returned.
Giovanni braced for the worst. “Now. I can take you to her
now.”

He hurried along the
ospedale
corridor.
It felt as if his heart beat in time with his fast steps. When the
nun pointed to the room, he shoved the door open and charged in.
Mira’s face was wet with tears. He went to her immediately, holding
her. “
Ti voglio molto bene.
It’s okay. It’ll be
okay.”

“
They won’t tell me anything. He
asked me lots of questions but didn’t say anything. I’m so scared.
This is my fault, Giovanni. We should have come to the doctor
sooner.”

He cupped her face in his hands. “Listen to
me. It is not your fault. We are not losing our child. It’s not
going to happen. You hear me?”

She nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut and
wept some more. He held her to his chest. This was one promise he
couldn’t keep. But even now, he wouldn’t accept death. He had been
arrogant with God. Demanded a son, thumbed his nose to all the
things that made this child special; and thought of nothing but his
legacy. He had many sins but Giovanni considered this his worst
offense. He would be punished. Silently, he said a prayer taught to
him by his mother. The hurried words were soothing to her and him.
He could feel her relax. She took his hand and brought it down
under the covers to press against her lower stomach. They stayed
that way until the
dottore
entered.

He paused at the sight of Giovanni with Mira
and then nodded a hello. He walked in with a file and all the air
seemed to evaporate in the room. Giovanni couldn’t take a single
breath. He sensed that Mira struggled with breathing as
well.

“
How do you feel now?” The
dottore
asked.

“
Better, no spotting I think, and
no cramping.”

“
The baby? Is the baby okay?”
Giovanni asked.

“
Don Battaglia, you should have
brought her sooner. She tells me she’s had cramping for over a
week. And a bit of nausea.”

Stunned, he looked down at Mira, who turned
her eyes away. He brought her face around by the chin. “You’ve been
in pain and didn’t say anything?”

“
I’m sorry. I wanted to make my
dress and we had our wedding. When I was pregnant with Eve, I had
some cramping too. It’s normal, right doctor?”

The
dottore
gave her a sad smile of
disagreement.

“
Oh God, what have I done? You were
right. I shouldn’t have tried to get Mirabella’s back. This is
my…”

“
Stop.” He pinched her chin gently
to make sure she stopped speaking. “You did nothing wrong. If I
hadn’t been such a bastard about everything you would have trusted
me to tell me.”

“
No, Giovanni…”

“
It’s true. We will communicate
better. Understand better. I will never take your feelings for
granted. I swear, Bella.”

“
Ahem.” The
dottore
cleared
his throat. “You haven’t lost the baby. The next forty-eight hours
are critical. It’s a matter of time and for nature to decide. We’ll
need to keep you here and closely monitor you. Six weeks pregnant
and we should be able to hear the heartbeat. We will try again.” He
nodded to the equipment in the room that looked old and outdated.
Giovanni again considered moving her.

“
Why was I cramping? Was it because
of stress, something I did? I need to know.”

“
It happens. You said yourself, you
felt cramping in your last pregnancy. The blood is normal too.
Minor spotting is not enough for us to be too alarmed. But we will
need to wait and see.”

She nodded.

“
I’ll make sure you are
comfortable. Don Battaglia?”

“
I’m staying,” he said, smoothing
back Mira’s hair.

The
dottore
turned and walked
out.

“
See. Look at me, Bella. I told
you. Our child is okay.”

“
Our son.” She smiled and
nodded.

He shook his head. “Whether it’s a girl or
boy, I don’t care. I just want our baby, and you. Forgive
me.”

She lifted her gaze to his.

“
For the things I said, the way
I’ve been about this baby. I struggle sometimes to be humble. With
you and our children, I will remember to be.” He leaned in and
kissed her forehead. Mira closed her eyes. A tear fell.

“
I made a promise to you, Giovanni,
that we’d put the baby and family first. I’ll do that. I swear. I
only wanted to…”

“
Be with you.” He nodded. “I
understand. We’ll figure it out. Reading a contract isn’t the end
of the world.” He tried to joke, but the sting of his words to her
earlier was still between them. The joke fell flat. Giovanni
exhaled again. “Are you comfortable?”

She moved in the twin bed further to the
right. Giovanni lowered the side bar and got on top with her. It
was a forced fit but with her turned to her side he managed to find
comfort. He held her to him and kissed the back of her head. As
soon as she was well he’d take her home and make sure she stayed
that way. Dominic was mistaken. There was some explanation as to
why Mancini was connected to his wife. And later he’d sever that
connection and keep her safe.

America –

“
Domi? Everything okay?” Catalina
placed her hand to his shoulder. She’d waited for him to come to
bed and he never did. He was working on the second bottle of scotch
he had brought up to their room.

“
Go to sleep,” he muttered, before
taking another drink in the dark.

Dinner tonight had been uncomfortable.
Catalina tried her best to get Teddy and Dominic into a lasting
conversation. But her loving fiancé only grunted his replies and
glared at Theodore each time he tried to interject some levity.
Everything went south after the call he made to Giovanni. And of
course, she knew he wouldn’t share why. Still, she wished she could
help him.

She turned and found the switch on the tall
standing lamp to cast some light into the room. Before she turned
away, he pulled her down to his lap. Face to face, she was now
witness to the sadness and fatigue in his eyes. “What do you need
me to do? I’ll do it. If you want to go home we can go. Okay? I’ll
go with you.”

Dominic smiled. Catalina stroked the side of
his face. “Was that Gio? Was he upset with you?”

“
I can handle Gio. And you know
what, Catalina? You can handle New York. I will leave in two days.
First, I need to make sure you are okay; I’ve already paid for
Romero and Cheno to come here. After they arrive and are here with
you, I’ll go back and meet with Gio to take care of
business.”

“
Really? So I can stay?”

“
You aren’t done here. And I’m sure
you will need to learn more for when the company moves home.
Right?”

“
Oh, Domi. I am so blessed to have
you. I swear, sometimes I can’t stop pinching myself over how lucky
I am.”

He kissed her.

She stopped the kiss. “What is it? Why are you
upset?”

“
I want our family strong. Whether
Gio acknowledges it or not, it’s my job to keep us strong. Right
now, we are vulnerable, but we won’t stay that way.” He touched her
face. “I promise.”

“
I believe in you, Domi. I always
have.”

Milan –

He’d waited for an hour before the door to
David Capriccio’s office slowly opened. Carlo, with his gun raised,
pushed it wider and their eyes met. Lorenzo sat back and waited for
him to enter. He did. Carlo noticed David on the ground by the
overturned chair. His blood and brain matter splattered over the
wall behind him.

“
Is it Capriccio?” Carlo started,
then his voice trailed off when his head turned. The gun he carried
slowly lowered and he went still at the sight of Carmine. Lorenzo
expected his friend to react. After all, the kid was his favorite.
But what happened next pulled the floor out from beneath him. Carlo
dropped his gun and went to his knees. Lorenzo sat up. He’d seen
his friend upset. The death of his mother and younger sister years
ago broke him. He had only one sister left, and a father who he
hadn’t spoken to or seen in years. A low tortured groan escaped
him, as he crawled to Carmine and brought his lifeless body into
his arms.

“
I, I found him like that. Carlo?
Carlo?”

Lorenzo stood. “The kid was supposed to wait
for me. Keep Capriccio down. I walked in and they were in a
struggle. Capriccio shot him and I knocked him to the chair. He
went for his gun and I killed the bastard. It all went
wrong.”

Carlo wiped the blood from Carmine’s face.
Lorenzo had planned the entire scene. To kill David Capriccio
without Giovanni’s consent, would ensure his cousin’s wrath. He
wasn’t sure how to stage it until backed into a corner with
Carmine, knowing his secret.

“
David was hiding things from
Giovanni. Carmine discovered it. Those papers over there are money
deals he kept off the books. They are tied to Bonaduce and
Calderone. You would have been proud of the kid. He did a good
job.”

Carlo struggled to rise with Carmine. “What
the fuck are you doing, Carlo?”

“
Get out of my way!” He yelled at
him.

Lorenzo had to stop him. “You can’t take him
out the front fucking door. Leave him. We’ll send the boys to
collect him. Bring him back to Napoli where we can deal with it
properly.”

Carlo dropped Carmine and charged Lorenzo.
Taken by surprise, Lorenzo was thrown back into the wall. Carlo hit
him hard under the chin and then the gut. Unable to recover, he was
pinned with his friend choking him. Lorenzo struggled to break free
but madness and grief had a strong hold on Carlo. He hit him in the
side three times hard and fast, causing some of his strength to
break. Lorenzo managed to toss him off.

“
What the hell is wrong with you?”
Lorenzo shouted at him, holding the sore area of his throat. Carlo
went for the door and was out of it. Shocked, Lorenzo looked to the
dead body of Carmine, then back to the door. He couldn’t figure it
out.

*****

“
Signor
, we have a bed for
you now.” A nun whispered in his ear. Giovanni lifted his head from
the pillow. He had been so emotionally wrecked, he fell asleep with
her. The cramp in his neck expanded to his spine, when he sat up to
see one of his men had brought in food. He hadn’t eaten and his
stomach was twisted into a tight pretzel knot with hunger. He
nodded his thanks to the nun.

“
I need to make a call, to America.
Is there a phone I can use?” He asked, setting his feet down on the
side of the bed.

“
Yes, I can take you.”

“
Giovanni?” Mira turned over. She
reached for him. Her hand gently went down his back.

“
You feeling okay?”

“
I’m hungry,” she
admitted.

Rising, he picked up the carton from the
dresser and brought it over to her with silverware. Pasta and what
looked like fish. She sat up as he eased the tray on wheels to her
to eat off of. “Eve? Have you checked on her?” Mira
asked.

“
Not yet. I’ll go get her in the
morning and bring her here. That’ll make you worry
less.”