La Sposa (54 page)

“
Lorenzo! Stop! It’s the door,”
Marietta said.

Dazed, out of breath, he kept moving. Kissing
her face and neck.

“
It’s the doorbell,” she said,
pushing at his shoulders.

“
Shit!” he cursed. Withdrawing from
her tight heat, he struggled to capture a breath. He found his robe
and covered his naked sweaty body. “Don’t move,
Cara
! Stay
just like that,” he said to her.

Marietta blew him a kiss from the bed and
rolled over. He shook his head, smiling. Damn woman had his nose
wide open. The doorbell stopped ringing. Now some stupid bastard
pounded on his door with his fist. “Who the fuck is it?”

He glanced at Carlo’s room and saw him
reaching for his gun. Lorenzo had left his upstairs. If it was
someone stupid enough to bring a weapon, then why ring the
doorbell? Lorenzo reached the door and snatched it open. Before
him, stood Santo and two of his men. Santo looked him over and then
gave a snide smirk. “Can I come in?”

“
Fuck no. What the hell do you
want?”

“
Giovanni is returning from
Florence. He wants to see you.”

“
I’ll call him!” Lorenzo made to
slam the door in Santo’s face, but Santo’s hand went up.

“
I’m to bring you in personally.
And the woman.”

Lorenzo paused. “Woman?”

“
She’s here isn’t she? You smell of
pussy,” Santo chuckled.

“
It’s fucking close to ten at
night.” Lorenzo seethed.

“
He wants you there. The both of
you. Shall I wait outside or come in and join?”

“
Out!” Lorenzo shoved the door and
Santo’s hand dropped. He closed the door in his face. Carlo
staggered out of his room, holding on to the doorframe. “What is
going on?”

“
Go back to bed. It’s too soon for
you to be on your feet.”

“
What the fuck is going on?” Carlo
growled.

Lorenzo looked up at Marietta, who was coming
down the stairs with her hair wild about her head. She tied her
robe tight. The damn woman didn’t listen to anything he told
her.

“
It’s Gio. He wants me to come
in.”

“
And he sent Santo?” Carlo frowned.
“What the fuck is that about?”

“
I don’t know. I intend to find
out.” He turned his gaze back to Marietta. “He’s requested that I
bring you.”

“
Me? Why?”

“
Get dressed. It’s not a request we
can refuse.”

“
In the middle of the night?
Lo...”

“
Do it, Marietta! Just do it, damn
it!”

She frowned at him and then turned and hurried
back upstairs. Carlo watched her as well.

“
So, Gio knows about Carmine and
Capriccio. His patience has run out. Is he pissed because you kept
her instead of seeing to business?”

“
Looks that way.”

“
How do you want to play it?” Carlo
wheezed, leaning against the doorframe. “Should I get dressed and
come with you?”

“
No. He sees you in this state and
it will only further piss him off. I’ll have to deal with it
alone.”

“
You sure about that? Sending Santo
is a bad sign.”

Lorenzo shrugged. “As sure as I can
be.”

*****

Mira sat up. She carefully drew aside the
covers and left the comfort of her bed. This night had proved to be
quite lonely. Eve was with Zia sleeping, and Giovanni was gone. She
walked over to the window to open the drapes and allow in the
moonlight. Sometimes the moon helped her sleep. She thought of
sketching the full moon that greeted her and decided against it.
She would have to go upstairs to fetch her pad and pencils out of
her sewing room. Instead, she’d try a book to put her to
sleep.

Before she turned away, she glanced down to
the front of the estate’s circular drive. That’s when she saw cars
arrive. Two. The first to get out of the car, was the creepy man
named Santo. Why she didn’t like him she wasn’t sure. It was just a
feeling she got whenever he was in the room. Out of the next car
exited Lorenzo and a woman. Mira stared down at the woman, a bit
confused. Once the stranger looked up at Lorenzo and her face was
bathed in moonlight, she recognized her. It was the black woman
from the wedding.

The trio all walked towards the doors to her
home. At this hour? With Giovanni gone?

Visitors this late made no sense. She turned
to get her robe to see what it was about, but stopped herself. She
promised Giovanni she would stay off her feet for the next couple
of days. The doctors said it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted. She
believed his little show of carrying her into the house and up the
stairs to their room was his attempt to limit her
activity.

Mira smiled. She loved her man, but he could
be a challenge. She walked back to the bed and got under the
covers. She turned off the lamp. In the morning, she’d greet
Lorenzo’s friend. Now she would claim sleep.

*****

“
They’re here.” Dominic
announced.

“
Bring her in.” Giovanni turned
from the bar. He’d only arrived a few minutes ago. He expected them
to already be here. It pissed him off that Lorenzo saw no hurry in
honoring his request for a showing. Disciplining his cousin would
come after he sorted out the mess he now faced. Part of Giovanni
remained unconvinced. His wife was a black American woman. Not some
bastard child from a Sicilian Don. It was ridiculous. Giovanni’s
glass froze half way to his lips when the woman who could be his
wife’s sister entered the room. She was the same height and build
as his Bella. Her skin was lighter and her hair darker, curlier;
but they shared an undeniable likeness about them.

“
Gio, this is Marietta Leone
Capriccio.”

“
Ciao,
Don
Battaglia
,”
Marietta said.

“
Marietta. Have a seat.”

She did as he asked. Lorenzo chose to stand.
Giovanni walked around to his desk and sat on the edge of it. He
swirled his wine in his glass. “So, you’re American?”

“
I am,” she said.

“
But you speak Italian?”

“
I learned it from my parents.”
Giovanni’s brows lifted. Marietta corrected herself. “From my
adoptive parents.”

“
I see. And how do you know
Lorenzo?”

“
Gio?” Lorenzo
interrupted.

“
I asked the lady a question. Let
her answer it.” Giovanni cut his gaze up to Lorenzo.

“
We met because of David
Capriccio.”

“
I hear he’s dead.” Giovanni took a
sip from his glass. Neither of them spoke. “I saw you at my
wedding. Did Lorenzo invite you?”

“
Yes. He asked that I come. It was
a, uh, beautiful ceremony. You have a nice family,” she said,
glancing to Lorenzo as if her answers were rehearsed. Lorenzo gave
the woman a nod of encouragement. It set Giovanni’s teeth on
edge.

“
My wife is American. Do you know
her?” Giovanni lowered his glass. Lorenzo put a hand to Marietta’s
shoulder and it seemed to soothe her. She forced a smile when she
spoke.

“
No. I’ve seen her on the news. I
don’t know every American, ah, there are many Americans here in
Italy.”

“
I have a question for you,
Marietta. I will need you to be honest with me. I will only ask it
once. If I later find out you were not truthful to me, I will be
displeased. I’m not sure if Lorenzo has explained what it means to
displease me.” He glanced to his cousin. “Does she
understand?”

“
She knows who you are, Gio,”
Lorenzo answered.

Giovanni smiled. He touched her chin and
lifted it with a single finger. She didn’t turn away; she boldly
met his gaze with her own. Giovanni studied her face and saw more
of his Bella in her. “Good. Then you will answer me,
truthfully.”

“
Okay.” Marietta asked. “What’s
your question?”

“
Did Marsuvio Mancini send you to
Italy to fuck my cousin and distract him so you could get closer to
my family?”

Both of them went still. He sensed their
trepidation as a predator would when stalking his prey. He waited
for Marietta to respond, her wide-eyed stare never breaking from
his. “I fucked your cousin because I wanted to. I don’t know any
Marsuvio Mancini.”

“
Grazie,”
Giovanni said.
“You may go.”

She rose. Lorenzo smiled at the woman and
whispered something in her ear. She nodded and walked out.
Giovanni’s heart felt so heavy, he had to walk around the desk to
find his seat.

“
Gio, I know I owe you an
explanation. I didn’t want to trouble you with the Capriccio and
Carmine affair until we were sure Mira was well…”

“
Bullshit!” Giovanni
shouted.

“
Okay. It’s bullshit. The truth is,
I wanted to help her. And I did. Capriccio tried to kill her. He
was stealing from you. Carmine got caught in the crossfire. I can
explain it all. Rocco’s paranoia about Mancini is
ridiculous!”

“
And you will explain yourself.
Tomorrow on our flight out.”

“
What?” Lorenzo frowned.

Giovanni put his face in his hands. He could
hear Lorenzo take a seat. He was so damn tired, he didn’t have the
energy to go through it all again. But he had to. Dominic entered
the room and Giovanni glanced up.

“
What is going on? Can someone
please tell me?” Lorenzo asked.

“
The woman you have with you is
Mancini’s daughter.” Dominic answered.

Lorenzo didn’t look shocked. Giovanni narrowed
his eyes on him. “So you knew?”

“
I suspected.” Lorenzo
said.

“
Why?” Giovanni asked.

“
Rocco mentioned his name. She
has…”

“
This.” Dominic held out the
bracelet that belonged to Mira. Lorenzo accepted it. He stared at
it for a long moment. Then looked up to Giovanni.

“
Yes. She wears it as a necklace.
The clasp on the chain broke. But it’s hers… wait, this says
Mirabella?”

Giovanni nodded. “Mira is Mancini’s
daughter.”

Lorenzo laughed, smiled, and then looked
around at them both for the punch line. “Are you sure?”

“
No. That’s why we’re going to
Sicily. To be sure. Get the necklace from her. Leave her at your
place until we…”

“
I can’t. I can’t leave her behind,
Gio.”

Giovanni frowned. “And why is
that?”

“
Carlo is staying at my place. And
I promised her I wouldn’t.”

“
Then you will break that promise.
We leave in the morning. Do it.”

“
Are we sure? Could this be a
mistake? They can’t be sisters.”

“
We don’t know for certain.”
Dominic answered. “We will go to Palermo and find the answers. She
is not to know any of this, Lo. Do you understand?”

“
I understand. Gio, I had no idea.
But you must know that Capriccio worked hard to keep her from
uncovering who her father was. We don’t know if Mancini is aware.
If we go there and tell him, we could be getting ahead of
ourselves.”

“
He knows. Mancini was why Mira and
Fabiana came to Italy. That motherfucker has been plotting this day
for a long time. It’s time for us to understand why.”

*****

Dominic left
Villa Rosso
and headed for
his room. He hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours. Every minute
of wasted sleep was coming down on him. As he turned the corner,
thinking of what tomorrow would bring, someone in the dark called
his name. Dominic looked back to see Rosetta smiling. She was in
her robe and night dress. She hadn’t bothered to tie it so the thin
material revealed her voluptuous curves. Even her dark nipples
peeked under the fabric.

“
I thought that was you. I heard
you were back. Is Catalina here?”

When she stopped before him, Dominic closed
her robe. He brought the belt around to tie it securely. “Why are
you walking around at night exposed? Cover yourself.”

“
Oh, I just wanted to get something
to eat. No one saw me.” She blushed, but stepped even closer to
him. “I was looking to talk to Carmine. Do you know if he came back
to
Melanzana
?”

Dominic sighed. He rubbed his eyes, deciding
to spare Rosetta the news. “Go to bed.”

“
You look tired, are you okay?” She
put her hand to his chest.

“
Go to bed,” he mumbled turning and
she caught his hand. Dominic cast his gaze back down to
her.

“
If you need anything, Domi, my
room is down the hall from yours. A coincidence huh? Just let me
know okay?” She smiled sweetly. “Good night.” She squeezed his
hand.

He stared into her eyes and she backed away
from him. “Oh, and when you see Carmine, tell him to call me!” she
giggled. He shook his head and started back to his room. He’d tell
Giovanni to send Rosetta back to Palermo. He didn’t need her type
of energy around the men. It was a disaster waiting to happen. He
should know. Many nights like these, a young Catalina tempted him
in the same way. He was weak, but grateful. The thought of Catalina
made him smile. Once behind the door to his room, he went to the
phone and dialed her hotel room.