CHAPTER TWENTY
The Pain That No One Noticed
Sorrento, Italy
“BEE! BEE! BUMBLEBEE wake up! Please,” Eve shook Belinda’s shoulder. Her cousin groaned. She turned over and frowned. “We have to get up. I need to be ready.”
“Ready? For what, Eve? What time is it?”
“Morning.”
“Eve! It’s eight in the morning! Go back to bed!” Belinda flipped to her other side.
“No! You have to get up. I need you to do my hair and make me ready. I want two braids. Okay? Two. I pick out schools today. It’s important.”
Belinda frowned. “Get out of my room now! Now, Eve!”
Eve bottom lip quivered and tears welled in her eyes. She walked out of Belinda’s room and closed the door. She wiped her eyes and went back to her parent’s room. Though she had checked there first she hoped that her Mommy and Papa had returned. She went inside to find the room empty.
“Eve?”
She turned and saw Zia. It was then the tears spilled. She ran to her beloved aunt in full heartbreak. Zia stooped low to hold her. “What is it?”
“Where is Mommy?”
“She’s not here Eve, hush now,” Zia said.
“I have school today. She said we would go visit three schools and I could pick one.”
Zia stood straight and took Eve by the hand. Eve did her best not to cry too much. She wasn’t a baby. But she felt so sad she didn’t know how to hold in her pain.  Zia led her down the stairs and into the kitchen. Eve was picked up by one of the servants and brought over to her favorite chair. There was a lot of business to the kitchen that morning as others prepared for meals no one would eat. Mama was gone. Papa was gone. Eve sat there observing as her aunt as she fiddled with the sweet pastries for her to eat. Zia’s solution to her tears had always been to feed her.
“Where is Mommy?” Eve asked the staff.
No one answered.
Zia brought over a plate and a glass of milk. She kissed Eve’s cheek and walked away. Eve sat there staring at her food. When her misery became too much she scooted down from her chair and walked out of the kitchen. No one noticed.
MIRABELLA TIED HER robe and slipped her feet into her house slippers. She walked out of her room to the en-suite. When she fled Sorrento for Napoli she was forced to bring the baby with her. Leeza was too small and dependent on her to be left at home. The men had to watch the infant while she met with Carlo in the prison, but even then she hurried the visit to not be away from her for long. Now with her little one fed and changed she left her sleeping between pillows. She found Arielle at the table with a cup of coffee. Nico paced on the phone by the television. It was only eight in the morning and already both had dressed and prepared for the day.
She turned to go back to her room to do the same when Arielle spoke. “Donna?”
Mirabella glanced at her.
“Have you seen this?” Arielle said. Her eyes were red and puffy from a night of crying. Her hands shook from how much coffee she must have consumed. Mirabella realized that Arielle hadn’t dressed, she slept in the same clothes she wore the day before. The woman was a complete emotional wreck.
“What is it?” Mirabella asked.
“The police report. Nico got it late last night. It says that the killer is Armenian. Do you think Lo did this? That he sent an assassin to kill my Adara? He was with the Armenians. It could be his fault.”
Mirabella joined her at the table. She took a seat. She accepted the report. She scanned the information. None of the names registered. How Arielle was able to ascertain that the assailant was Armenian was beyond her understanding. “I don’t know, Arielle.”
The woman began to cry. “She’s dead. My sweet girl. She’s dead. And the baby—”
“I spoke to Zia last night. The baby is safe with us.” Mirabella took her hand. “You have to shower, dress, eat.”
“No!” Arielle snatched her hand away.
Mirabella glanced to Nico who ended the call.
“Were you able to reach Giovanni?”
“No. He’s, uh, out of range. But I’ll continue to try.”
“Did you learn anything?” Mirabella asked.
“I think the attack was by one of Tahvo’s kids,” Nico told her.
“Who is Tahvo?” the women asked in unison.
“Carlo went to America to visit his woman and got into trouble with the Armenians. Lorenzo fixed the situation. I don’t know much else about it.”
“See! Right there!” Arielle pointed at Nico. “He said it. It was Lorenzo. He did this! He did this!”
Mirabella didn’t discount the coincidence. But in her gut she felt there was more to the story. “Arielle. I’ve asked one of my men to take you back to Sorrento.”
“What? I’m not going anywhere! I want justice.”
Mirabella took her hand. Arielle allowed her to hold it but struggled to stay focused. She ran down a litany of offenses done to her kids by the Battaglias and this being the worst. Mirabella had to withstand all the accusations and blame that her husband should have suffered, and his father before him. But as his wife, she heard the grievances and acknowledged it. When Arielle was exhausted from her speech Mirabella spoke. “You have to go back and see to baby Carmine. He’s an infant. Arielle. Look at me. Look at me!”
She did. Her weepy stare was so full of agony Mirabella could barely maintain her own composure. She really did like Adara. Her death pained her deeply.  “Shower, get dressed. I swear to you the moment Carlo is released we’re coming home to join you. But that baby boy needs love and protection now. You’ve proven to me that you’re the only person who could give him both.
”I have to know that we will get justice.”
“We have to help Carlo. First,” Mirabella said.
Arielle nodded that she agreed. She was slow to stand. She staggered away like an inebriated woman. However, it was the pain and grief that made her stumble about unsure of herself. Mirabella waited until she was gone to address Nico.
“Have you contacted Giovanni’s people?”
Nico nodded. “The authorities are not moving. The Generale is now handling Carlo’s case personally. He’s been after Carlo for some time, and Adara worked—”
“I understand,” Mirabella said. “They have no weapon. It was clearly a murder. They can’t pin this on him.”
“They can keep him. Plus, they are adding charges. Apparently the Santoro’s were arrested. They could be trouble. They could talk.”
“Not possible. They’re Camorra.”
Nico shook his head no. “It is very possible.”
“Why are the Santoro’s in this?”
“Don Santoro is here.”
“Here? Where? In this hotel?”
“In the lobby with his men. He wants to meet with Giovanni. I tried reaching Domi. Waiting on him to call back.”
“Arrange the meeting.”
Nico frowned. “Giovanni—”
“Isn’t here. And we can’t reach him. We have to contain this since the Generale is on the war path. Arrange it and I’ll buy us some time as the dutiful naive American wife. It’s what he thinks of me.” She stood and started toward her bedroom before realizing the most important thing they hadn’t discussed.
“We need to send her body to Sorrento. Where is her brother?” Mirabella asked.
“He’s on his way back from Turkey. I wasn’t sure where Carlo would want her buried.”
“Oh, that’s right. Where is her father buried?” Mirabella asked.
“I’ll talk to Arielle. Find out.”
“Yes. Let’s move fast on this Nico. You saw him. He can’t stay in there. We have to get him out.”
“COME HERE BOO-BOO,” Eve said. She held the door open for her puppy to walk in and join her. Boo-Boo kept sniffing around the floor. It was as if her nose had discovered a crazy rainbow of smells. “Come inside now.” Eve commanded.
Her puppy happily pranced in with her. Eve closed the door. Her favorite place to go in her house now was the storage closet. No one ever found her there. And she knew no one ever looked. She sat on the floor and pulled her knees up to her face. She wrapped her arms around them and cried. Boo-Boo came over and sat next to her watching. She didn’t even know where her Mommy had gone, or why she had decided not to take her to school. It hurt her feelings that no one in the house cared.
Boo-Boo barked.
Eve looked up with tears clouding her vision.
“I hate them.”
Boo-Boo nodded. Eve got up from the floor and walked over to her secret hiding place. She had a pail full of burnt out match sticks. She kept them hidden so the staff wouldn’t discover what she had done. She found her matchbox and got on her knees. Eve pulled out the side compartment and removed a match stick. She swiped it along the box and the flame ignited. Once again Boo-Boo backed away while transfixed by the flame.
“It’s okay. It’s just fire. See?” She held the flame out for the puppy. Boo-Boo barked a warning at Eve and before the matchstick burned down to the tips of her fingers Eve tossed the flame. It blinked out before reaching the floor.
She smiled. “It’s magic!”
Boo-Boo sat on her hind legs and watched with concern as Eve made fire, over and over and over again.
“DON SANTORO, THANK you for waiting.”
“Where is your husband?” The old Don barked.
Mirabella gave him a gracious smile and took a seat at the table without answering. They’d agreed to have their meeting in a small cafe across from her hotel. The Don looked less than pleased over her late arrival.
“My husband isn’t in the country. I came personally from Sorrento to address your concerns.”
“I don’t care if you flew in from Alaska! I want Giovanni.” The Don insisted.
Nico took a protective step forward. Mirabella put up her hand to indicate that she was not insulted. 
“I’ve been told that both of your sons were arrested. We are speaking with our contacts. It’s clear that they were outside of our agreement when they were detained by the Carabinieri.”
The Don smirked. “Agreement? I told Giovanni from the beginning I am not his lap dog like the men of the Camorristi. My clan belongs to me. This is Neapolitan territory; your empty promises mean shit. My boys are to always be protected. That is the deal.”
“Not if they are stealing from my family, and from the Russians,” Mirabella retorted.
The Don slammed his fist on the table. 
Mirabella continued before Nico was forced to throttle the old man and his entourage with his bare hands. “The evidence is clear. They went to that bay and received a shipment of contraband that should have never breeched the shores of the Amalfi. That is why they were caught. That is why they rot.” Mirabella held his stare. “My husband will deal with you and the theft. I am only here to protect the alliance until it’s no more. Are you saying the alliance is over?”
The old Don said nothing. He continued to leer at her.
“In two days my attorney will contact you with details of the hearing to have your sons released. In two days you and your wife will appear before the courts to pay the fines, and agree to whatever mandates they hand down. And in a week Giovanni will convene with you and the clans to discuss all grievances, including his own. Settle it with him then.”
Nico put a paper down on the table. The Don looked at her and then Nico. He picked up the paper and read it. His eyes stretched. He laughed. He passed it to the man behind him. “You think I’m going to turn over my territory to you? You’re out of your fucking mind, puttana! ”
“If the deeds aren’t signed before the two days you can go before the court as Puglia not Camorristi. And your sons fate is their own.” Mirabella stood. The Don glared at her from his seat. “As I said, in two days this can all go away. We wish it so.”
“Tell Giovanni I knew this day would come. He is nothing but a turncoat rat. He eats his own. Tell Giovanni I am prepared for whatever comes next.”
Mirabella smiled. She nodded to him and the men behind him who looked at her with hate. She left with her entourage. Nico was at her side. He stopped to open the car door for her to slip inside. He came in with her. Her baby was between them in her carrier.
“Are we going to war, Nico?” she asked.
“With the Puglia’s?” Nico asked. “Possibly. Giovanni knew of this possibility and prepared. It’s why he wants the territory. He will use it to protect us.”
Mirabella had spoken to Dominic before she left the hotel and was briefed on what to do to handle the Don. Her heart wasn’t it. It never was. She hated dealing with the men from her husband’s world. She did what she could. She looked into the baby carrier. Her daughter slept peacefully. She ached in her breasts to feed her.
“We have to get Carlo out of that cell. Today. I don’t care who we have to pay or how much. I need him out of there.”
“Working on it.”
EVE STOPPED ON HER bike. She glanced back and squinted because the sun was in her eyes. Belinda smiled. She waved from the top step in front of her house. Eve turned the wheel and rode her bike back up the drive. Several of the men who worked for her father, men she called ‘Uncles’, encouraged her to keep going. Eve managed to ride all the way without having to stop for balance.
“Are you hungry?” Belinda asked. She came down the steps to greet her.
“No. I eat later,” Eve said.
“I was thinking you and I can go for a swim today. What do you think?”
“Is Leo gone?” Eve asked.
“No. He can’t join us but he can take us for a drive later if you want.”
“No thanks! I rather make fire!” Eve spat.
Belinda frowned. Eve didn’t care. She turned her bike and rode it away. She would ride to the gates and back. If no one wanted to be her friend then she didn’t want friends. She didn’t need them.
“Signorina Belinda, there is a phone call for you inside.”
Belinda watched Eve for a moment. The comment about starting fire was so out of place she wasn’t sure how to respond. Eve rode into the bushes and two of the Battaglia men ran over to her rescue. She was helped upright and the other gave her instruction on balancing.
“Signorina ? It’s the Donna. She’s on the phone for you.”
“Oh? Okay. Can you make sure Eve comes inside soon? It’s time for her lunch.”
Belinda walked back into the house and went straight to the parlor where a phone would be left for her. She had plans to go for a drive with Leo that afternoon but she hadn’t seen him yet. She picked up the phone and sat down.
“Hi?”
“How is everybody?” Mirabella asked.
“We’re okay. There are some ladies here to help. Not sure who they are?”
“Yes, yes, it’s a lot I know. Is Eve around?”
“She’s outside riding her bike.”
“Is she okay? I was supposed to take her to visit some schools today. I just remembered. Was she upset?”
Belinda remembered Eve waking her that morning asking about school. It made sense why Eve was upset with her now. But she didn’t want to worry Mirabella. “She hasn’t mentioned it. She’s fine. How is Carlo and Adara? Kyra and I have been waiting for news.”
“I’ll explain when we get back. Arielle should be there this afternoon to see baby Carmine. Make sure you tell the staff that if she wants to take the baby, she can.”
“Okay. Will do. When will you be back?”
“Soon. Tell Eve I’ll call her and her brothers tonight.”
“Ciao ,” Belinda ended the call. She looked up to see Eve marching inside holding the hand of one of the servants. “Eve?”
The little girl stopped. She looked at Belinda expectantly.
“Your Mommy called. She said she will probably be home tomorrow.”
“I don’t care!” Eve shouted and walked off.
Belinda smiled and shook her head.
“Little brat.”