Ti Amo (30 page)

“That’s what she says,” he answered dryly.

“Ironic,” she said.

Giovanni shrugged. “Irony seems to be the foundation this family is built upon. It doesn’t matter. The damage is done. Anything I do will just make me a monster to her, and to you.”

“I would never think of you as a monster.”

“Just the other day you all but called me one.”

“I hated what you did but I understand why. You love Domi. Please at least admit that.”

Giovanni rested the side of his face between his thumb and index finger. “I don’t know him, and though he will keep his life, I want him out of mine.”

“Don’t say that.” She took his hand and forced him to rise. Together they went to the sofa in his office and sat down. He leaned back into the sofa cushions staring up at the ceiling. “Do you know that the Minettis were supposed to come here for the holidays? Can’t wait to have the conversation with Franco’s father explaining what happened to his son.”

Mira ran her hand over his then placed it in her lap to hold it. “This is hard, and I know you are trying to make sense of it all, but it’s still Domi, Giovanni. Does anybody around here care it’s four days before Christmas? I want my Christmas. Our Christmas. We have our baby to think about. She has grown so close to you so fast. She deserves her family Christmas too.” Mira brushed her lips over his and stroked the side of his jaw. “Can we have the family Christmas we both want?”

“So now the fate of Christmas rests upon my shoulders?” The cynicism in the remark grated her.

Mira ignored the bitterness in his voice. “You’re the head of this family. Our fate always rests in your hands.”

“You’re asking me to pretend that my
consigliere
hasn’t knocked up my recently widowed sister?”

“Forgiveness, Giovanni. Have you not heard anything I’ve said to you? We’re a family. That includes Domi. As your
donna
I’m making my request. I don’t know or care how you handle your business but when it comes to this family I have the final say. Domi stays, and we celebrate Christmas together. All of us.” She braced for his reaction.

“I’m ready to make you my wife.” The press of his lips to hers was such a soothing sensation. Parting her lips she moved in on him and welcomed his tongue into her mouth with lovely swirls of her own. His touch elevated her pressure and spiked the adrenaline coursing through her blood. She felt herself reclining as he positioned himself over her on the sofa.

“Marry me Bella.”

“We will be married Giovanni. I promise. Let’s just wait until some of this all settles. A few months and we deal with my resurrection from the dead,” she chuckled nervously.

“You are so beautiful. The world only makes sense when I have you with me. We will get married.” He kissed her nose, lips, chin, and then brushed lovely kisses over her neck. Mira sighed, raising her arms above her head to grip the edge of the sofa as his weight crushed her into the cushions. Mira smiled as he began to unbutton her pants. She lifted and moved each way he instructed as he undressed her, no matter the madness. Being with him she felt complete, just as Fabiana had told her she would be in her dreams.

****

“Gio, can we speak for a moment?” Dominic approached from the opposite end of the hall.

“No. I mean we were about to go upstairs,” Mira said quickly.

I’ll join you in a few,” he kissed her brow. He patted her on the butt and gave her a gentle shove to leave them. She walked away.

She glanced back once and addressed Giovanni. “Don’t make me wait too long, I want us to have lunch with Eve.”

Giovanni winked at her then turned to head to the family room.

Dominic left Catalina’s side after she finally agreed to lie down and get some rest. He wasn’t sure of his role  in the family now, but until he was told otherwise he would do what was expected of him. Walking inside he saw the seven-foot tall Christmas tree still tied up by rope. Giovanni was facing it as well.

“I have some bad news.”

Giovanni looked back over his shoulder, his gemmed eyes piercing with distrust. “More news huh? This day keeps getting better and better.”

“Kei Hyogo is alive. Our American cousins failed.”

“You were supposed to make sure that didn’t happen. Lorenzo did as I asked. Angelo Calderone is dead. Must you fail me in everything?”

Dominic averted his gaze. “I have an idea. Send me.”

“You? That’s your idea?”

“I’ll go to America and handle this personally. I won’t return until you are ready, if you wish me to return. I can see to our affairs in America.”

“And leave my sister to raise your bastard alone?” Giovanni sneered.

“I’m not convinced she’s pregnant.” Dominic admitted.

“Neither am I.” Giovanni sighed.

Dominic glanced at him. “Then why—”

“Because you have the woman I love, both of the women I love, fighting for your life. I can’t touch you.” Giovanni paced away, he shot him a look. “Yet.”

“I’m grateful, Gio. Not just for this, for everything. You’ve taught me everything I know. You’ve raised me. I’ll do whatever it is you wish. I’m truly grateful.”

“Don’t thank me.” He glared at him. “Bella, believes I approach things with violence too often. It’s my weakness. But violence is what we know. Right, Domi?”

Dominic nodded.

“I agree, having you here makes it difficult for me not to do what is in my nature.” Giovanni’s gaze narrowed on Dominic’s young face. He felt not a sliver of compassion for him now. “After Christmas you will go to America. I want the Asian dead by your hand. And in time I will process your betrayal. I’ll determine your fate. Stay out of Italia and Sicilia until I do so. You have no home anymore.”

The wounded look in Dominic’s eyes made Giovanni’s contempt deepen. He looked away to keep from wrapping his hands around his already bruised neck. “Is there anything I can do in the meantime? Anything you need to be done?” Dominic asked, his tone hollow and resolved.

There was something that Dominic could handle for him, and he wished it done immediately. “Bella.” Giovanni smiled. “Call the press. Leak that she is alive. Do it the day after Christmas. Before you leave. It’s Eve’s first holiday with the family and her mother wants peace. So the fuck do I. But I also want her to be my wife, and she is shy on making this happen. See to it that she has no choice or excuse to deny me what I want.”

“Consider it done.” Dominic nodded.

Lorenzo walked into the parlor. Giovanni didn’t stop speaking instead he addressed them both. “Dig up Franco. Wherever the fuck you put him. Take him to our undertaker. Have him cleaned up, then put on ice.”

“I can help.” Lorenzo offered. Dominic didn’t trust the generosity. With Lorenzo he suspected there was more to his offer than what he’d freely admit. “What of the snake in our garden?” Dominic asked again. “Nico says he saw him briefly, but we haven’t been able to turn up who or where he is.”

“That presents a problem. He’s from the Triad, Gio.” Lorenzo warned. “They are sneaky fuckers. He could be anywhere lurking to take a shot.”

Giovanni nodded. “Then we have to wait until he strikes. He will soon. All of our men who have no families need to be here during the holidays.”

“So we failed?” Lorenzo asked. “In America?”

No one answered.

Dominic wanted to present his ideas but he refrained. It wasn’t the time to play advisor. He just waited and listened. Giovanni’s attention returned to him. “Send the jet to Palermo and pick up Franco’s father. Make sure all of his brothers are brought to me as well. The women should not come. Tell his father we have unfortunate news he would want to spare his wife.”

After the order Dominic left without questioning him. Giovanni watched him go. Lorenzo nodded his way and turned to leave.

“Stay.”

Lorenzo glanced back.

Giovanni stared at the bound tree leaning against the wall. “I received a call from Bonaduce. He wants to meet tomorrow. Here in Campania. Don’t you find that interesting?”

Lorenzo nodded. “Very. Gio, I know you aren’t pleased at how messy I left things in Bologna. We had no choice.”

With a wave of his hand Giovanni dismissed the excuse. He didn’t care to debate Lorenzo’s actions. Even if they were unclean and undisciplined, they delivered. He had to consider that Lorenzo was indeed his brother who should be his left hand. He was the only man standing in this family he could trust. “Bonaduce wants me dead. I know it, and he knows I know it. To kill me in Bologna would be unwise. It has to go down here. Napoli, on my turf. He wanted me to extend an invite so I obliged him.”

“We can call in the families and address the problem, keep your hands clean.”

“The time for negotiating has passed. I take full responsibility for the Cammora being split amongst the families now. This is our problem, and we will solve it our way. Make the arrangements for the meeting. I suspect the snake in our garden is the weapon of choice for Bonaduce. Let’s draw him out. I’ll be the bait.”

“And Domi?”

“He’s not invited to the party.” Giovanni turned and walked past his cousin.

“Gio?”

“It’s as much as I will address today. Domi knows my wishes for his future.”

“He’s our brother, Gio. He screwed up, but he’s one of us. We should consider this.”

Giovanni walked out. He was going to make the most of this situation. He owed it to his girls. His sweet
bambina
would have her first Christmas without the spilling of blood.

****

Sleep didn’t come easy. He only had two or three hours before he received word of visitors. He slipped on his robe to leave the room when he heard his daughter speak. Eve stood in her crib. She wore a lilac purple sleep jumper with the feet attached. She blinked clear blue eyes at him and put her pacifier back in her mouth. Giovanni smiled. Often times when he was young his father would take him from his mother’s arms and bring him along when he conducted business. He sometimes wondered why, other than to school him. Now staring at Eve he understood. She was his anchor, his tie to his humanity. He needed her love as much as she depended on him to be strong and provide for them.

Giovanni went to her crib. His daughter’s arms were outstretched for him. He heaved her up into his arms, and she rested her face under his neck. She smelled of powder and lavender baby lotion. He began to hum her favorite nursery rhyme to her as he carried her out of the room and through the dark halls. They entered a reading room on the lower level where Franco’s father and brothers waited. It was barely morning. The men gathered paused on conversation and stared at Eve. Several came over to kiss the baby. She eventually turned her face away not wanting the attention. Giovanni chuckled. His daughter kisses were reserved for him only.

Careful of her anxiety, he waved off those trying to greet her and approached his desk to have a seat. His daughter rested in his lap with her face pressed to his chest.

“You summoned us early. We had plans to arrive Christmas day.” Caesar Sr. said with a nervous smile in his voice. “Your men, none of them will tell us why we were brought here.”

“Papa, stay calm.” Caesar Jr., the eldest son said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He was a tall lean Sicilian man of about twenty-eight years old. He worked as a schoolteacher in Palermo. The older man looked visibly shaken. However, he had a controlled manner that Giovanni respected. He nodded his head as a show of respect and waited for Giovanni to speak. Caesar, had eight sons, and all of them except Franco were present. Giovanni’s chest tightened with pangs of regret over the injustice.
When did his family spiral so far out of control?
It felt as if he’d been living in a fog of chaos for two long years. He needed to bring them all out of the darkness or there would be no future for his daughter. He cut a steely gaze to Dominic who stood in the corner of the room, watchful, expressionless.

“Franco is missing,” Giovanni announced.

The men began to speak at once. Eve sat up in his arms and looked around at the confusion, Giovanni calmed her by rocking his chair a bit, and she rested her head on his shoulder. She did so for a brief moment, but Eve curiously looked back at the others, openly observant.

Franco’s brother Octavio stepped to Giovanni’s desk. “How long? What do you mean missing?”

“That is why we’ve summoned you. Do you remember Mira Ellison? She was the fashion designer out of America? The one we believed died.”

Several of them looked to Eve then to Giovanni.

Caesar Sr. answered, “Yes.”

“She’s alive. I’m sure you are aware of this. This is my daughter Eve.”

“We heard from the family that she was returned to you.” Junior said.

“Well my enemies know. I believe they are plotting against me, us, the family. That is why I’m worried that we haven’t heard from Franco in twenty-four hours. Not since he left for work. I need to know if you’ve spoken to him. If any of you have had contact. I also need to know where you think he would go if he were in trouble.”

“What about his wife? Wouldn’t she know?” Junior asked. He grabbed his brother Octavio by the shoulder and pulled him back.