La Sposa (60 page)

“
Gio? Learning about her sister may
not be stressful; it might be good for them both. Marietta really
needs to know about her mother and what…”

“
I don’t give a shit about
Marietta! Fuck the
puttana
! This is my wife we are talking
about! Take her away. Eve’s birthday is in two weeks. See me then
and I will tell you how we deal with this! Do you
understand?”

“
Yes. I understand. I promised to
take her to Bellagio. We’ll leave in the morning.”

Giovanni ended the call. He heaved a deep sigh
and stared up at the crescent moon. The right thing to do would be
to tell his wife everything. Give her the chance to make a decision
about whether or not she wanted a life with a man who was tied to
her mother’s death. But that would mean putting his family, the
love of his life, and their future at risk. Taking a chance, when
history had shown she’d ran from him in the past for less. He
stuffed his hands down into the pockets of his robe. He had to
think of something else. There had to be something he could say to
explain that the women are sisters without sharing the truth about
Mancini. In two weeks, he’d come up with something. He’d talk to
Dominic. They’d figure out something.

“
Hey you! Keeping me waiting?”
Marietta said. Lorenzo set the phone down. He turned and looked at
her. She wore nothing but a towel and a smile. “I was thinking that
maybe it’s time you wash my back.”

“
My pleasure.” When she turned to
go back to the bathroom, he caught her hand. She stopped and cast
her gaze back at him. “You do know that I feel awful that I
couldn’t find the answers for you in Sicily,” he said.

She returned to him and touched his face.
“Don’t. In a matter of weeks you have changed my life. I am
beginning to believe that the past is not my friend. But you,
Lorenzo, you are my friend. You’re becoming more than a friend to
me.” She let the towel drop and cupped his face. “I’m okay with
what comes next.”

“
Good,” he said, feeling over her
curves. Damn woman had the body of a goddess. He smiled as he
pulled her up against him with both halves of her ass, crushing her
breasts into his chest. “We will return to Milan tomorrow to sign
your paperwork for the courts to release your money. Then, I’m
taking you to Bellagio.”

“
Really?” Marietta gasped. “What
about Carlo?”

“
I’ll make sure the boys take care
of him here. He’ll be fine. You care?”

“
About Carlo? No. I find him
interesting though. You and him make a strange pair.”

Lorenzo lifted her by her ass. Marietta’s arms
went around his neck and her legs circled his waist. “So you are
taking me to Bellagio?”

“
Yes. I never take anyone there,”
he lied. “It’ll be special for us. We will sail and eat by the
lake.”

“
It’s cold this time of year there.
Isn’t it?”

“
I’ll buy you a mink. I’ll buy you
two.”

Marietta smiled. “Why, Lorenzo? Why are you
becoming my prince?” she joked.

“
Because I’m falling for the
princess!” He scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the
bed.

Epilogue

La Fine
– The End

Two Weeks Later

“
Are you nervous?” Giovanni
asked.

Mira held his hand. His long calloused fingers
intertwined with hers. She had been nervous every day since her
miscarriage scare. But she worked hard not to think about it. And
the past two weeks had been so sweet between them. Giovanni was
attentive, supportive; it was as if that awful fight they’d had
never happened. And planning Eve’s party, had brought them closer
as well. He actually tried to give her ideas and took out his tools
and ordered planks of wood to build her a new princess house for
the gardens. He painted it pink, white, and yellow and finished it
last night. Wherever he went that day a few weeks ago, whomever he
saw, it changed him. Brought him back around to being her guy. She
now felt confident that they could move forward and leave the past
behind them.

Today was the big day for their daughter and
for them as parents. Eve turned two years old. And Mira would
finally learn more about the health of the baby she carried. So,
yes. She was nervous.

“
No. I’m okay, Giovanni. I hope
everything is going well at the villa. We have guests arriving in
three hours.”

“
Don’t you worry, Zia and Rosetta
have it under control.” He took her hand and kissed it.

“
How are the Battaglias today?” The
doctor entered. Mira and Giovanni both looked up. The older man
with a smile walked in carrying a folder. Mira’s heart leapt to her
throat at the sight of it.

“
We’re ready for some good news,”
Giovanni said. Mira nodded in agreement.

“
Well, let’s take look.” The doctor
walked over to the sonogram machine. Mira pulled up her shirt to
her breast. Giovanni assisted by unbuttoning her pants. He lowered
the zipper slowly and smiled at her. She blushed and slapped his
hand away. The doctor didn’t notice. He was punching in something
on the sonogram’s keyboard.

“
Have you seen the baby?” The
doctor asked.

“
Yes, in Capri. We heard the
heartbeat. We were told to wait two weeks before the next
appointment. Was that the correct advice?” Mira asked sitting up.
“Is something wrong?”

“
Lie back,
Cara
, its fine.
Right, doctor?” Giovanni forced her to recline and
relax.

“
Yes. Unless the cramping and
spotting has returned?”

“
It hasn’t. I’ve felt tired, that’s
about it.”

“
Good.” The doctor squeezed gel
over her lower tummy and picked up the wand to rub in the gel. It
was so cold, it tickled. She stifled a giggle. “Aha! Here we are,”
the doctor said.

He turned the monitor for them. They could see
two jellybean formations with a fluttering in the center. The black
and white image didn’t look like much of anything other than that.
Giovanni had her hand. He squeezed it and blinked at the screen,
focused hard on the life they’d created.

“
Well, this is a surprise.” The
doctor said.

“
What? What is it?” Giovanni
asked.

“
Twins.”

“
What!” Mira exclaimed. “Did you
say twins?”

“
Yes! We have two. See here….” He
pointed to the tiny mass and then to the other. “And here… two
bambinos
. Congratulations.”

Mira glanced to Giovanni and he looked as
stunned as she felt. “The doctor didn’t say twins in
Capri.”

“
Typically, you can’t really be
certain until after you’re ten weeks. I assure you my diagnosis is
correct. You are having twins and they look to be fine. I have your
blood work.” He removed the wand and handed her a tissue as he
asked her a few questions. She answered them and he nodded, and
said she was doing well.

“
Signor
Battaglia, may we
speak a moment while Mira gets dressed?” The doctor walked to the
door.

“
Are you okay?” he asked, kissing
her brow.

“
I don’t know. Twins? Do you have
twins in your family?” she asked.

“
No.” Giovanni smiled. “My boys
will be the first.”

“
Me either. It’s weird that we’d
have two babies at once. I can’t believe it.”

“
It’s not weird, Mira. It’s our
blessing.” He kissed her lips and she grabbed his face and kissed
him back.

“
Yes! A blessing!”

Giovanni walked out with the doctor. He had
requested any news that wasn’t pleasant be told to him first. His
heart hammered in his chest. Could there be danger with the babies.
Two babies! He could never imagine such a blessing.

“
What is it?” he
demanded.

“
She’s healthy and the twins look
good.”

Giovanni exhaled. He wiped his hand down his
face. “Then why did you ask me to step out?”

“
Signor,
her blood work
indicates a hormonal imbalance. Her pressure is a bit elevated too.
It might have been the cause of the premature cramping she
experienced early in the pregnancy. Has she been under a lot of
stress? Moody? Restless?”

“
Planning my daughter’s party has
kept her active. But before that, she was planning our wedding so
yes, she has had stress. What does this imbalance mean?”

“
Think of hormones as chemicals
that transport information throughout your wife’s body. They affect
the way her organs function and how her body develops the baby
throughout the pregnancy. In this case, after conception, the
balance of hormones changed in your wife. Now that she is having
twins, you have to be aware of her development. Increased doctor
visits, and her diet needs to be monitored as well. More
importantly, less stress.”

“
Anything else?”

The doctor smiled. “She’ll have some mood
swings, be fatigued, and the imbalance could work to the positive
or negative, meaning it could increase or decrease her sex drive.
She may cry for no reason, or be overly happy, energetic. I want
you to be prepared so you aren’t too alarmed. She will start to
notice a change in her body and behavior, considering this is her
second pregnancy; and she’s aware of how things should develop.
Make sure she stays on her pre-natal vitamins.”

“
Will she lose my sons?”

“
Sons?” the doctor smiled. “We
don’t know if they are boys. I will be able to give you that
information in a few weeks. I think each day, she grows stronger. I
suggest you see me weekly for now. I want to monitor her
pressure.”

“
Grazie, dottore.”
He shook
the doctor’s hand.

“
Congratulations to you
both.”

Giovanni returned to the room. Mira was on her
feet. “We have to get back. I want to get changed and there is so
much to do. Did the doctor say anything else?”

“
Only that I should take really
good care of you.”

“
You have!” Mira walked over and
threw her arms around his neck. “My big strong husband, you take
good care of me. Can I tell you something else?”

“
Tell me,” he smiled, rubbing his
hands down her backside.

“
I’m so horny, Giovanni!” She
reached between them and grabbed his groin, giving it a hard
squeeze. Giovanni chuckled. “I’m telling you, I can’t stop thinking
about sex. I dreamt about it last night. Isn’t that
strange?”

He kissed the side of her neck and squeezed
her to him. “I like this change!”

Bagheria Sicily –

Mancini rose from his chair. He’d been in the
garden for close to an hour, but the temperature hadn’t warmed as
he’d hoped. Today, the season of winter was bitterly felt. He wore
a heavy wool sweater and still felt the cold to his bones, which
made the arthritis in his knees coil tighter. He’d go back inside
and make some calls. He had learned that Capriccio had indeed
claimed to have a daughter named Marietta and David Capriccio was
dead. The woman was said to have fled Italy after filing for her
inheritance. He had hoped to track her down. It might take some
time to convince Giovanni to work with him and let him have access
to his Mirabella. He needed to do this cautiously so he didn’t
alienate his girls, or his son. But he could definitely find
Marietta on his own.

“
Il mio cuore è solo tuo.
My
heart is yours. It’s the first thing you said to me when you
accepted me into the family.” A woman’s voice spoke behind
him.

Mancini’s head turned. Isabella appeared. She
smiled the charming smile that reminded him of her mother. In this
light, her auburn brown hair and eyes were so much like her mother,
he had to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. He hadn’t seen
Isabella in close to two years.

“
What are you doing
here?”

“
Is that any way to greet someone?”
Isabella smiled. “You always told me your door was open to
me.”

Mancini didn’t have the strength to continue
standing. He lowered back down to his chair. Isabella walked over.
Her dainty pointed heels clicked on the rocky surface of his
gazebo. She wore an all winter-white pantsuit with a nude colored
blouse underneath. The rose color to her lips matched that of her
cheeks. Though Isabella was closer to forty-five, she could easily
be mistaken for ten years younger. She tossed her hair off her
shoulders and sat with the cross of her legs. Her rich perfumed
fragrance muted that of the flowers in the garden. “Do you remember
when I was twelve and escaped the convent? That day Rosa, your
wife, found me right here in these gardens. I was scared, hungry,
and determined to meet the man that the nuns whispered was my
father.”

“
Why are you here,
Isabella?”

“
Isn’t it funny how many of us
wayward daughters get lost until you find us?” Isabella smiled at
him.

Mancini shook his head. “You know I’m not your
father.”

“
That’s right. And there’s the
irony!” She laughed. “It’s okay. You did me a great favor when I
was twenty-three. You introduced me to my real father. The years I
spent afterwards with him made up for the horrors I experienced as
a child, begging for kindness from sadistic nuns who hated the
bastard I was born to be.”