part0013

Giovanni pulled Mirabella’s hand to his lips and brushed them across her knuckles. He had no intention of letting any of the deception go. But he didn’t need to tell her that. Not when he was so close to having everything he wanted. He needed a little more time. He needed to make sure his daughter was born healthy and Mirabella was ready for the new life he would make for them.

“Thank you for always being in my corner,” he said. “Let’s focus on you. How are you feeling?” Giovanni asked.

“We don’t have much time left. I’m feeling really pregnant.”

“I was thinking that we could settle into Bagheria. Send for the kids and Zia in a few days.”

“Before we settle in to Bagheria tonight, can we visit Catalina?”

“You want to go to your brother’s house?”

“It’s hers now,” she replied.

“Technically, it’s yours.”

“Mine? Why mine?”

“Marietta never appeared in court to contest the judge’s ruling. You are now recognized as the sole heir to the Mancini fortune. It’s all yours, ours.”

“I don’t want it.”

“Catalina does. She wants the house and money,” Giovanni said.

“Then give it to her.”

The car slowed to a stop. What greeted them was the burnt infrastructure of their home. It was charred by a raging fire that melted walls and glass. So little was recognizable.

“My God. Look. That’s Villa Mare Blu?” Mirabella asked.

“What’s left of it.”

The car door was opened for him and he eased out. He waited to offer assistance to his wife. Her hand in his she emerged with a look of shock and disappointment on her face. Her eyes glistened with tears. He felt it also. The feeling of stepping into a nightmare.

“I’m told it burned for a full day. Spread to the forest and the gardens before the they could really get it under control.”

“Your mother’s grave?” she asked.

He took her hand. Together they walked up the path that once was lined with flowers. Nothing living remained. “Careful, be careful of your step. Go there.”

She nodded and took her time stepping over the wood chunks to a more secure landing. Giovanni had hoped to see something familiar, but his men were right. He recognized nothing. He could smell the flame damage, smell the loss and devastation.

He glanced behind him. Mirabella had stooped and picked up a doll, or what was left of it. “Eve left this behind the last time we visited. It almost survived. One of her favorite toys.”

“I remember. Let’s head to the gardens, I need to see the grave.”

“I don’t think I want to see anymore,” she sighed.

Giovanni gave her a patient nod, and waited for her to decide for sure. She walked over to him. He put his arm around her waist.

“Do you really want to see her grave, find it like this?” Mirabella gestured around her. “What’s the point?”

“It’s my mother grave. I need to move it. I’m having her buried next to Patri.”

“But? I thought you said she couldn’t be.”

“I have influence in this territory now. She can be buried at his side. She will be.”

“Maybe that’s the one good thing to come out of all of this.”

Together they left out the way they arrived hand-in-hand they took the long walk around the villa to the paths that led deep into the forest. Or what was left of the forest. The fire must have raged to the point of madness. The beautiful landscape of trees, hundreds of years old were charred, chopped or knocked down after the arson. Some of his men had already started work to make it easier for them to clear the paths toward the beach. Still Giovanni kept her close and was careful of his steps and hers. She hadn’t realize they reached his mother’s garden until he stopped. The gravesite looked nothing like she remembered it. Where the gravestone once stood there was nothing but smashed and broken blocks of concrete.

“The fire didn’t do this,” Mirabella said.

“This was Lorenzo. He did this,” Giovanni agreed.

“I don’t understand. Everything I know from Marietta about Lorenzo and from you is that Lorenzo loved your mother. Thought of her as his own. Why would he do this?”

“He destroyed it because he knew.”

Mirabella rubbed her husband’s back. “What did he know?”

“My mother’s protection wasn’t real. She was just like the rest of them. She knew he lived a lie.”

Mirabella stared at the gravesite and then the rose bushes that were nothing but burnt shrubs and twigs. Beneath it all Eve rested in what she hoped was peace.

“He’s not your brother. Is he?”

“He’s Rocco’s son?” she asked.

“Yes,” Giovanni said.

“And he did this because he knows?”

“He did this because like I said, he knows my mother kept the truth of his past from him. He still believes the lie.”

“Did she cause this?”

He glanced over to her and stared. “Why do you ask that question, Bella?”

“I dunno. I think it’s because of the way you are... here... now. Cold and unfeeling. The way you stare at her grave. Why aren’t you angry? Sad? Depressed?”

“I have feelings.”

“Sweetheart I know you do.” She hugged him. He hugged her in that tight, comforting way she had grown to love. There were two Giovanni’s in her life. The good man is what Madre Eve saw in her son and tried to protect. It was the man Mirabella married and hoped would be hers forever. The other man is the one that was one hundred percent his father’s son. Was the man she and his mother kept denying existed. She was learning to love both sides of him. And in that moment she knew his mother had never been able to. What broke her heart is that Giovanni knew it too.

“Let’s go,” she said.

“Riposare in pace .” He made the sign of the cross before him and said ‘rest in peace’ to his mother. She took his hand and they walked away.

CATALINA HAD A VERY enjoyable routine when she and Zia were left alone to run and manage the Mancini estate. Her morning meetings with the staff were the same. She’d give them instructions on how she wanted the household tended too, hear updates on the staff changes and performance issues, give her approval for some of the decorating projects she needed to make before the baby arrived. It was her routine, and she resented like hell that Zia had been replaced by Dominic who now encroached on her authority.

“Who are you?” Dominic asked one of the men.

“Sono stato un giardiniere per oltre 20 anni, signore .”

“Twenty years? A gardener for twenty-years deserves retirement.”

“Domi—” Catalina interjected.

Dominic continued. “We have gardeners in Bagheria. I will have your replacement here by the end of the week. You tend to the transition and the Battaglia’s will compensate you for your years of service.”

“Domi? Can I speak with you?” Catalina tried to interject respectfully.

“When I’m done,” Dominic informed her. He stepped to the next staff member. Again he asked the questions and decided if the person would be fit for her home or to be let go. All of it done with no regard to her wishes. And she was powerless to stop him. Being defiant to him in front of her staff wasn’t done in their family. Giovanni could take it all from her with the snap of his fingers. She also had Lorenzo and Marietta to protect. If she did anything to upset her brother, his and Dominic’s wrath could be swift and deadly.

With tears in her eyes she observed until she could take it no more. She was too hormonal and dejected for the real fight. She turned and left the morning meeting in search of relief. She stopped in the library and went to the chair closest to the windows. It was one of Armando’s favorite chairs. She sat in it and calmed her breathing. Her hands rested upon her belly were a sense of comfort too. She kept her hands there until she felt life inside of her and all thoughts of desperation passed. Catalina wished she could reach her feet. They were swollen and hurt constantly. She eased them out of her ballerina slippers and rubbed them together to abate the numbness.

It didn’t take Dominic long to find her. He was surprised, however, when he did. She sat on a chair meant for reading near a window. The sun rays were brightest there. Catalina eyes were closed. Her hair had drifted enough from her face to reveal her profile to him. He’d imagined so many times her pregnancy with their child. How beautiful she would be. Even his love and imagination couldn’t conjure such reality.

“Get out,” she said softly. Her eyes never opened, but she knew it was him. “You may be able to tell the staff what to do but you don’t control me.”

The dull disinterest in his rise to power in her life resonated in her tone and cut through him. The heat from her rejection flared from his heart and warmed and flushed his face. Dominic’s jaw locked on the counter argument that he could easily hurl at her. If he wanted to, he could drag her into another un-winnable fight and force his will on her. But it would make him more of a monster to her than he already was. What he wanted was her forgiveness, her heart. There had to be some part of her that still belonged to him.

She rubbed her feet together. His poor Catalina’s feet had swollen so badly her ankles were near gone. Her toes were plump pink stubs. How did she manage to get around on them without pain he didn’t know? When he neared her, Catalina eyes opened. He stared down at her feet when he spoke.

“No,” she sighed in defeat. “I don’t want to fight, Domi. I’m tired.”

“Then stop resisting me.”

He sat on the edge of the chaise while lifting her feet. Catalina tried to move but he stilled her with his hold on her calf. She settled back against the chair pillow.

“You know I’m good at this.”

He ran his hand over her foot and squeezed the heel. Her long lashed blue eyes never left him as he applied pressure with thumb to the center of her foot and moved his thumb in circular rotation. The relief was instant for her. He could see the stress drain from her face as her lashes slowly lowered and her eyes shut. Dominic, too, relaxed. He touched and cared for her feet in the way he wished he could the rest of her body. No words passed between them. He didn’t want to ruin her tranquil state, and he knew his presence didn’t give her comfort. He just shared her space and focused on the love he still had for her.

Catalina wished for peace, the lasting kind. She truly believed she could only have it alone. Dominic’s magic was upon her again. His hands, his presence, his resolve. She felt safer than she had in months. All of the fatigue in her limbs drained and she began to drift. Did she sleep? When her eyes opened he had stopped, maybe long ago. He sat and stared ahead, not at her.

“Ah? Thank you, Domi,” she managed to say.

“You need to get dressed, Catalina,” he said in the driest tone. She noticed he had a mobile phone in his hand. When did he take a call? She must have drifted to sleep.

“Dinner guests. They’ll be here soon.”

He moved her feet so he could ease out from under them. He took a pillow and used it to prop her feet for comfort. She watched him do these things and said nothing. The less they said to each other the better she felt. Dominic left without explaining who the dinner guest would be. He didn’t need too. Giovanni was near. She could tell in the way his mood had shifted. Tonight would be for him. That moment he gave her, that brief moment of care was all for them. Catalina sat up and planted her feet to the floor. She put her face in her hands and willed herself to be strong. Giovanni believed she was hiding Lorenzo. What could she do to convince him otherwise? How far should she go?

THE PACE LOOKED AS it did the last time she visited. And that time felt like a lifetime ago. Mirabella held Giovanni’s hand as they walked through the hall. The staff that greeted them regarded her with open stares and forced politeness. She understood. Her presence in Marsuvio Mancini’s home without a living Mancini made her feel a sense of regret closer to shame. When Armando was alive she refused the relationship he begged of her. Marietta at least made the attempt. The only time she ever reached out to her brother was when she wanted to use him. And now there was no making up for it.

“Questo posto ti va bene, Bella ?” Giovanni asked.

“I’m fine.” She forced a smile to his concern.

“Buona. We will stay the night.”

“What?” she paused. “I thought we’d be back in time to put the kids to bed. I have Lorenza...”

“Zia is there. She will see to the kids.”

“Zia is an old woman. She can’t handle it all by herself.”

“Cecilia, and the staff will help her.”

Before he could explain, Dominic appeared. He arrived from around the corner and greeted Giovanni with a smile she hadn’t seen him give in a very long time. The two men embraced and then Dominic hugged and kissed her cheeks.

“You’re early. Catalina is still getting dressed. But dinner is prepared. Come.” Dominic gestured.

Giovanni and Dominic walked off. She hesitated for a moment then followed. The dining room had been set for a nice sit down dinner. Fresh flowers and the finest cutlery was on display. It looked like a celebration. Immediately Mirabella recognized some of the staff. These were the servants who worked for her in the past in Mondello and Bagheria.

“How is she?” Mirabella asked while trying to recall who each servant was. Dominic smiled instead of answering. She took that as a positive sign. Though the good news on Catalina’s health didn’t do much to ease her anxiety about seeing her again. After all it had been months. Giovanni pulled out her chair and Mirabella accepted her role in the dinner meeting. She observed her husband as he and Dominic spoke as if things were normal. For them they may have been. But for her the ghosts of her father and brother both sat at the table with them. They watched her with hurt filled eyes. It chilled her. Mirabella eyes scanned everything about the dining room. And then her hearts wish took over her imagination. She imagined Marsuvio Mancini and her mother dining in the room. Her mother was pampered and served by servants like she was in Melanzana. All the while Mancini adored her. And her imagination extended to her sister. She and Marietta were in high chairs. Beautiful brown little baby girls dressed identical with golden bracelets that dangled from their wrists. They were Don Marsuvio Mancini’s daughters. And they were showered with affection from everywhere. Of course the dream evaporated under the hash glare of reality. Her mother never came to Sicily, and certainly wasn’t afforded the luxury of the title Mirabella now held. Her sister never had a family of love and trust. Still a part of her couldn’t help but see a different past and future for herself if things had been different.

“There she is,” Giovanni pushed back from the chair. Dominic stood as well. Mirabella’s head turned. Catalina entered the room. She wore a powder blue long dress and her hair pinned from her face. Her tummy was smaller than Mirabella’s but her pregnancy could not be denied. Their eyes met as Giovanni hugged his sister and kissed her cheek.

Mirabella pushed back her chair. Catalina stared at her with no trace of expression. She walked over and Mirabella was the first to reach out to offer a hug. Catalina returned the affection. She kissed both the left and right cheeks of Mirabella and let her go.

“You look beautiful; the baby will come soon?” Catalina asked. “Eight months?”

“Yes,” Mirabella found her voice after a brief awkward moment. “Catalina, I—”

“I’m six months. Time moves fast when you’re pregnant,” Catalina said. “I hear Carlo is having a baby any day now?”

“Adara, yes... she’s pregnant, close... ah, soon.” Mirabella said.

“So many babies at once, what does it mean, Gio?” Catalina glanced to her brother.

“I bambini portano fortuna, felicità. ” Giovanni said with a wink.

“Yes. Good fortune and happiness, that’s what it means.” Catalina grinned. “All of our kids will grow up together. Be stronger because of their closeness in age. That is a true blessing.”

Catalina walked over to her chair before it could be pulled out by Dominic. Still, he managed to offer her assistance she didn’t want before she took a seat. Everyone joined her. And on cue, the staff brought in dinner. Mirabella faced Catalina during the meal. The pleasantries weren’t forced. Not from what Mirabella could tell, but she knew the bond they once shared was absent. She did her best to not show how much it hurt.

“We visited Mondello today,” Giovanni announced.

Catalina looked up from her meal. Giovanni stared directly at her when he delivered the news. “There’s nothing left. Madre’s gravestone is destroyed. So are the gardens. All of it. What Lorenzo couldn’t burn he smashed to dust.”

“I had no idea he would do that,” Catalina mumbled.

“I believe you,” Giovanni said and sipped his wine. “It does puzzle me.”

“What puzzles you?” Catalina asked.

“Why you continue to defend him. Knowing what he has done. What destruction he has caused. Your baby is a bastard because of him.”

“Gio!” Mirabella shouted.

“I have not defended him, Giovanni. Not once. My child isn’t a bastard. I resent you saying so. We were married. Legally. And I loved my husband.” Catalina turned the words on Dominic who didn’t react. Giovanni smiled. He said nothing. He ate his meal as if to dismiss the denial and Mirabella’s objection.

Catalina turned her attention to Mirabella. “How is she?”

“Zia?” Mirabella asked.

“No. Marietta’s baby girl. Lorenza,” Catalina asked.

“She’s adorable. The sweetest baby. Zia’s with her now. It’s the only reason why I left her behind. She looks just like—”

“Armando was generous with his wedding gifts to you.” Giovanni interrupted. “Did the lawyers tell you about all the fancy things he left behind? Everything from cars, jewels, planes, islands ?”

No one at the table spoke. Giovanni took another sip of his wine. “He has a cargo shipment company he put in your name, two planes, and a few islands near Spain and Greece. All of it was put in your name. Were you told?”

“Yes Gio, you know I was,” Catalina answered.

“Then why wasn’t I told?” He looked up at his sister.

Dominic cleared his throat. “I’ve looked into this. Not profitable, and the islands are so small in Greece nothing could live on them. Nothing there, Gio.”

Mirabella saw how Catalina looked at Dominic with surprise. The two were lying and they were doing a terrible job at it.

“Gio,” Mirabella spoke up. “She married Armando. I want her to have the house, and whatever he gave her as a gift. I’ll sign it over if you need me too.”

“That’s so very generous of you, Bella.” Giovanni glanced at her and then to Catalina while he forked food in his mouth. He chewed and stared at his sister only speaking after he swallowed. “I’m missing a plane, and a pilot. He hasn’t been seen since... Lorenzo and Marietta left. You know anything about this Catalina?”

“No, Gio. I swear I don’t.”

Giovanni slammed his fist down on the table and all the cutlery shook. He gripped his fork tightly and narrowed his eyes on her. “You’re lying. Again.”

“Gio, can I speak—” Dominic said.

“No!” He aimed the fork at Dominic. “You knew about this plane, you knew and you didn’t speak when you should have so shut your fucking mouth now.”

Dominic nodded his obedience. Giovanni turned his attention to his sister. “I told you not to lie to me. I warned you.”

“Giovanni.” Mirabella cut in.

His jaw clenched. He then switched his glare to Mirabella.

“Please don’t. Let’s have dinner and be a family tonight.” When he didn’t soften she continued. “You know the answers to the questions you’re asking. Is there anything either of them could say that would make you less disappointed? Why don’t we stay the night like you suggested and talk again in the morning? When tempers have cooled.”

Giovanni sat back in his chair. He ran his tongue over his teeth and then lowered his gaze to his half eaten meal. “Dominic, we’ll discuss everything after dinner. My temper is fine.”

Catalina glanced to Mirabella and gave her a wan smile of gratitude. They finished the meal in silence. Dominic spoke a few times to give Giovanni updates on his meeting tomorrow with the Dons of Sicily. He listened without comment. Mirabella let go the breath she had been holding when her husband wiped his mouth and left the table. Dominic got up soon after and followed. It was just she and Catalina while the staff cleared away the plates.

“Grazie, Mirabella ,” Catalina said.

“Don’t thank me. You know that you can’t lie to him, Catalina. It never works.”

“Lie? I’m trying to save lives. Don’t you see that?”

Mirabella didn’t answer.

“Are you sure you want to stay here? In this house? Armando and Marsuvio’s house? For the night?”

Mirabella glanced around. “If it means you and I can have a talk. A real talk. I’ll gladly stay. What do you say?”

“What is there to talk about? Babies? Husbands? What?”

“Us. You and me. Where we left things.”

“Is where we left it. I don’t blame you for anything.”

“Of course you do.”

Catalina shook her head to refute the suggestion. “When I met you I knew you would be different than any other woman my brother had been with.”

“Even Stevie Wonder would see that difference,” Mirabella joked.

Catalina didn’t smile. “That’s not what I mean.”

“Oh, I was just being silly, I meant— “

Catalina put her hand up and shook her head for Mirabella to stop. “Let me finish.”

“I’m listening.”

“I was worried that you couldn’t understand him, or our life. I was worried that you would try to change him and make him weak, or something my mother wanted him to be. And at first that’s exactly what you tried to do,” Catalina’s voice choked on emotion. She batted her eyes and did away with her tears. “Being weak for even a second can cost you your life in this family. It almost cost Giovanni his. When he was hurt you protected him, even from me. I know why and I don’t want you to apologize for it.”

“I’m not apologizing, Catalina. I said you blamed me. I did what I had to then. I’m doing what I want to now. I want your forgiveness for hurting you so badly. For leaving you to this... there was another way, a better way, I wish we had found it together.”

“No. This was the only way. I killed her Mira.”

“Let’s not discuss it.”

“I did it. And even now I can’t make myself feel sorry for it.”

“It was an accident,” Mirabella tried to reason.

“No, it wasn’t. I did it. I took her there and I pushed her off the cliffs. I did it and I felt nothing.” Catalina lowered her gaze. “Lorenzo is our brother. Armando is my dead husband. The world is nothing like I thought it was. I’m a murderer. That’s my sin, but I’m going to be a mother. I can only atone this way. I want to stay here, raise my son here. I want to find a way to be the woman I am without Giovanni or Dominic controlling me. This is my way.”

“It’s the right way.”

“So you agree with my decision?”

“We can’t change the past. The future feels different too. I’m proud of you, Donna Catalina. Not of your mistakes but for how you’ve learned from them. It would be my pleasure to stay in your home tonight if you will have me.”

Catalina pushed back from the table and Mirabella stood. They met each other half way and embraced. Mirabella felt her daughter’s kick and so did Catalina.

“Oh!” Catalina said with a laugh. “Feel! He’s kicking her back!”

Catalina put Mirabella’s hand to her stomach. The little taps of the little one inside of Catalina vibrated against her palm. She shook her head in amazement. “This is our future. The one that matters,” Catalina said through fresh tears.

“It’s about time.”

“Help me make Giovanni believe in forgiveness. Lorenzo and Marietta are gone. They won’t come back, Mira. Not even for their baby girl. They’re really gone. Can he just let them live?”

“I can’t control this. I’ve tried to reason with him. I’ve tried.”

“Marietta confided in me before she left. She was broken. She... said after the baby was delivered Giovanni had the doctors butcher her. She said they made it so she couldn’t have kids anymore.”

“What? He didn’t do that,” Mirabella said.

“He did! He is going to kill them. If not her, he will kill Lorenzo. We have to stop him. You can stop him. You have before.”

Mirabella paced away. She gripped the back of her neck and tried to release the stress she felt centered there and spreading to her spine.

“You still love them don’t you?”

“My sister? Lorenzo? Do I still love them?” Mirabella repeated.

“They almost killed Giovanni. Every bit of love I have for them feels like a betrayal. I have tried so hard with this family. Tried to be the scale to balance the greed, the deceit, the secrets, the lies. I have.”

“I know,” Catalina said. She wiped her tears. “We needed you these past five years, and we need you now.”

“When he was shot, and in a coma, I used to climb in the bed with him naked, and just press my body against his.” Mirabella closed her eyes and remembered her sorrow and fear. “I remembered every mistake I made, every secret I kept. I remembered every time I failed him. I made a promise to God. A solemn vow. My soul for his. Because I love him so much Catalina, I’d give anything to protect him. That’s why I can’t help. No matter how much I want too. I can’t. I have to trust him this time.”

They both cried. But neither of the women approached each other. Catalina recovered first wiping her face with a dinner napkin. “I’m sorry. I was taught that the responsibility of the Donn is to be involved at the family level. At all cost.”

“Maybe it is. But ask yourself. If God gave you Armando back, how far would you go to protect him and your son? What bargains would you make with God?”

Catalina eyes stretched with awareness. She averted her gaze in shame. Mirabella nearly opened her mouth and shared with her the hard cold truth of what she learned by being a mafia wife. But what would be the point? She’d learn those lessons soon enough. So she walked away. A few steps toward the exit and she felt light headed from the stress.

“I’m doing too much. I think I want to lay down. Get off my feet.”

“Can I show you something first?” Catalina asked.

Catalina smiled at her and extended her hand as a gesture of peace. Mirabella accepted. They walked out of the dining hall to another room. A large parlor furnished for greeting and receiving guests. “I’ve decorated and changed some things. But some things haven’t been changed.”

Mirabella gaze lifted to the oil painting of Marsuvio Mancini that hung in the room. It was at least eight feet tall and six feet wide. “I wouldn’t let Lorenzo destroy it. I couldn’t. He looks so much like Armando. He looks like you too.”

Her father stared down at her from his seated position. He had a deep ruthless look of power in his eyes. He was younger in the image. She guessed his age to be his late thirties. And he was strikingly handsome. He took the picture alone.

“Armando told me a few stories about him. How different his parents were after his final trip from America. How he never remembered his father smiling for long.”

“The old man dying in the bed that I met didn’t have much liveliness left to him.”

“I don’t remember him, either. I guess I may have been in his presence as a child. But I can’t recall.”

Mirabella took a step closer.

“Do you see it?” Catalina asked.

Mirabella stared up into eyes that pierced her soul.

“You see it, don’t you?” Catalina asked. She walked over and put her hand to her sister in-law’s back. “He looks a lot like you. More like you than Marietta.”

“He does. We have the same eyes.”

“I knew you’d see it.”

“Has Giovanni seen this picture?” Mirabella asked.

“No. He wouldn’t give it a second thought.”

“Gio never said I looked like him. Ever.”

“You know men; they see what they want to see.” Catalina chuckled.

“Thank you for showing me this. I don’t know why but I needed to see him. This way. The way my mother did.”

“Come on, let me show you the room I’ll have for you. Tell me about Mondello. Is it really all gone?”

“We can rebuild.” Mirabella said and walked with Catalina hand in hand. She glanced back at her father whose eyes in the portrait never left her. That look on his face said it all. He had failed them. Her brother, his only son, was dead. Her sister, if what Catalina said was true, had been tortured and half of her mind was lost. All that was left was her and she belonged to another clan, far from the Mancini legacy.

“I can explain, Gio.”

“Explain? Do you owe me an explanation?” Giovanni asked as he paced back and forth like a panther ready for the hunt. His blue eyes had darkened with rage.

“I was going to coerce her to tell me the truth about the islands. I wanted to gain her trust again. You said to take my time. I didn’t think—”

“Coerce? This a game to you, Domi?”

“Gio, you said you wanted him to suffer. Right? Eh? You wanted him to run. To be stripped of everything. You never gave me an expiration date on the chase.” Dominic reasoned.

“This is why you couldn’t be a good consigliere.”

Dominic blinked at and blinked again. He looked as if he were hurt.

“My wishes are to come first. First! I gave a fucking order! Did you miss it? Did you not understand it? Because I was fucking clear! How can you be my counsel if I can never trust you to follow through!”

“That is not what a consigliere is for! I am to think of the family at all times. And even the things you wish can be wrong. I’m to give you the best options. It’s what Flavio taught me. It’s what Patri taught me. It’s what you taught me! And I have. Everything I’ve done since I was a boy has been to serve this family. I’ve taken nothing for myself!”

“You took Catalina when she was too young to know what sex with her brother could mean to her life. Was that for the family? Or was that for you?”

Dominic shook his head. “I’ve been punished for that sin. I’m still being punished. Whether I’m consigliere or underboss, I am loyal to you and her. No one cares more than me.” Dominic stood his ground. He didn’t drop or lower his gaze. He held his position ready to face whatever came next. Giovanni felt a measure of respect for him.

“Where is he?” Giovanni asked.

“Greece, possibly, I’ve checked. There are only three islands that he could be on. And there is only one big enough to land a plane. I’m sure he’s there. We’ll find the pilot. I think they’ve moved him to Spain—he’s being kept there until Lorenzo needs him to fly him out. I’ve checked with the airport in Barcelona. We have our plane’s manifesto being sent to us. I should have it before the end of the week.”

“Find the pilot, the plane and put them both on ice.”

“I have some other unfortunate news, Gio.”

“Carlo called.” Dominic wiped his hand down his mouth and chin. “He’s killed Umberto.”

Giovanni brows lowered. “He did what?”

“He killed Umberto. He said Umberto had interfered in his private life. Kept that American woman Shae from him. Not sure what he was going on about but he sounded upset. Very. He wants a meeting with you, and you only.”

“Arrange it,” said Giovanni.

“Umberto was capu . Carlo did this in front of your men. His death was not approved. He should have brought the problem between them to you.”

Giovanni smirked. “Carlo is to obey me, but you don’t have to?”

“Gio, I only meant—”

“I guess Lorenzo isn’t the only pretend brother I have to teach respect to. You want this? You can have it. Transfer all of my affairs to my attorneys. I don’t need your fucking counsel anymore, Domi. Stay here. Play house with our sister. Raise another man’s child. Stay the fuck out of my way.”