Page 264 of Vita Mia

Carlo smiled and slapped Lorenzo hand in a shake, grabbed Rocco by the neck and squeezed so the boy squirmed and laughed to be free and then he dropped down on the chair.

“When did you land?” Lorenzo asked.

“Just did. Came here from the airport,” Carlo said and reached for a cigar. A young brown girl no more than their daughter’s age walked over and gave Carlo a drink and then took Dominic’s to refresh.

“W’sup Rocco?” Carlo said. Rocco looked up and nodded at Carlo and then continued to text on his phone. “Had no problem convincing Shae to take this trip. She thought it was a vacation,” Carlo said. “Can you imagine her face when Catalina opened the door?”

“Yep, lied to Marietta too. But Lola called a few days ago asking to go to Sicily. When Marie said no, Lola had one of her tantrums and gave me up. Told her we were all coming to Cuba to see Domi and Catalina. Marietta’s been busting my balls every day about the purpose of this visit,” Lorenzo said.

Dominic smoked his cigar while staring at the sea.

Carlo and Lorenzo shared a look between them. The night before they spoke about the trip. For Carlo it would be the first time he actually was seen with a Battaglia besides Lorenzo in decades and that in itself could be a risk. For Lorenzo the trip was different. It was a convenient way to reach back and truly connect with the family. It had been too long since they were together. He even looked forward to seeing Mirabella and Nico. He and Dominic had started communicating again after Giovanni’s death. But their talks were never too deep or too revealing. All he knew of Dominic was his prominence in the Mafiosi. As the Don of Palermo, he rebuilt the Mafia’s code of silence and shifted his focus from gun trafficking to more global interests. With his son Armando and nephew Gino at his side the three controlled the inner workings of the Camorra and Sicilian Mafia. Lorenzo had to admit to himself that he was a bit jealous of the irony. All this time he had believed Giovanni was the one to be envied. Dominic had taken the crown, the money, the power, and the glory. And even to this day the Anti-Mafia police had so many mimicking what Giovanni and Lorenzo built they started to believe in their success. They now chased low level gangs and migrants who they believed were the threat to the civility. With Gino deciding to go after political power there was no telling how far Dominic’s empire would expand.

“Is Nico coming?” Carlo asked and popped some peanuts in his mouth.

“We tried to convince him. He declined,” Dominic stated.

“Pops? I need to take a piss,” Lorenzo’s son Rocco said. Dominic pointed back to the door and the kid got up from his chair and left the men.

“I don’t understand the boy,” Lorenzo said. “When I was Rocco’s age I was buried in pussy. Nowadays these boys want to play video games and live their lives off of social media on a cell phone. When do they have time to fuck?”

Carlo laughed.

Lorenzo smiled.

“You really are trying to bring the gang together again. Do we have to wait forever to learn why?” Lorenzo asked.

“No. I’ll tell you now,” Dominic sat forward.

Lorenzo sat upright from his slouched position in his chair. He and Carlo both remained silent and impatient.

“This isn’t my home. And this isn’t my meeting,” Dominic began. “We don’t need Nico here to reunite the family. We only need you two.”

“Why?” Lorenzo asked.

“Because Nico already knows what I’m about to tell you.”

“Knows what?” Carlo asked.

“He knows what Giovanni wants. You’re Giovanni’s guests.”

Lorenzo laughed. “Che cazzo?”

Carlo didn’t laugh. And when Lorenzo’s laughter echoed hollowly in the silence his smile faded. Both men stared at each other instead of Dominic and the truth settled in. For years he and Carlo had run the game over and over between them. What if it was all a lie? What if Giovanni faked his death? But years kept going forward and nothing, not even a sighting surfaced to make them think that Giovanni was alive. Lesser men would have a problem believing in a resurrection. Why should they even question the news? Both of them had disappeared, reincarnated themselves into new men. And through it all they kept their noses clean enough to keep the American authorities and Interpol from connecting them to their past crimes. Carlo was dead to everyone now. Only in America did they know him by the name Lucio. Lorenzo used his fake father’s last name instead of Battaglia and for a while (until his daughters’ recent celebrity) that ploy had worked. He went into real estate and never even had a speeding ticket.

“Gio is alive?” Carlo asked.

Dominic gave a curt nod.

“Gio is alive?” Lorenzo wheezed in disbelief. He slumped forward and put his face in his hands as he spoke. “You let me think my cousin was dead. All these years. He’s been what? Here? Where? With you?”

“He’s been around. But yes, all these years this has been his home.”

“I don’t believe it, I heard what Mirabella went through. The entire world watched as she was hospitalized more than once for depression and suicidal thoughts. I know that couldn’t be fake,” Lorenzo said and looked to Carlo. “Could it?”

Carlo shrugged. “It never felt right that Gio was dead and we weren’t. Guess part of me never believed that lie.”

“Where is he?” Lorenzo asked.

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