Page 265 of Vita Mia

“He’ll be here soon.” Dominic said. “And he’ll answer your questions.”

“Wait,” Lorenzo shook his head. “Gio left you the Camorra? And he left you the Mancini Mafia? He left it all on the table... for you?”

“That’s what you really can’t swallow,” Dominic smiled. “You think you missed out on something by not being Don? You got your wife and children. You got your own life in America. What he gave you was far more valuable than what he left me.”

Lorenzo dropped back in his chair. He wiped his hand down his face and cleared it of sweat from the heat now radiating from his body instead of being generated by the sun. “I’ll be damned. Marie was right about you all?”

“Right about what?” Dominic asked.

Carlo chuckled. “All these years, after Gio’s death, Marietta said he wasn’t dead. That you and Mirabella were full of shit and trying to fool everyone. That if he was dead she would have taken her life and you would be nothing more than a drunk, not head man in charge. She said he was out there, waiting, just waiting, and then someday he’d come for us. Make us pay. Finish us off. Eventually. Is that what this is? Giovanni’s final revenge? Give us a taste of freedom to come back and snatch it from us?”

“How would he do that?” Dominic smiled. “He’s still a wanted criminal. He was set to go on trial when he died. Why would he do it?”

“Then why are we here?” Lorenzo asked.

Dominic picked up his drink and stared down finished what was left. He only had to extend his hand with the empty glass before the young girl appeared to make him a fresh drink. “You’re not going to like his reason.”

***

“IT HAS BEEN A LONGtime,” Shae said. She hugged Catalina. She looked past Catalina’s shoulder while locked in the embrace.

“It’s good to see you. How is Jewel?” Catalina asked. “And Carmine?”

“They’re adorable. Carmine graduated from Texas A&M last year. And my Jewel wants to apprentice with Eve. She’s move to L.A. with Lola and MiaBella.”

“That’s awesome. Geovani will graduate from college next year. He goes to Oxford. Come have a sangria with us,” said Catalina.

“You have a daughter too? I thought Lorenzo said you had three kids now?”

“Dominica. Yes, she’s my baby.”

“Awe, I hope I meet them all. Hi Marietta,” Shae said as she followed Catalina to the covered cabana next to the pool. A table fit for twenty to thirty people was prepared to receive a meal. The ladies gathered in the blue and white stripped loungers on the other end of the cabana closest to the pool.

“Did you know?” Marietta asked when Shae leaned in and kissed her cheek. “That they wanted us to have a little family reunion out here?”

“I found out when we drove up to the house,” Shae smiled.

“We aren’t supposed to be meeting up like this. Especially now. Lola is all over the internet and in the press. They see us all together like this and someone takes a picture of Carlo then what? I’ll tell you. Those gossip rags will have us on CNN. It’s too risky. What are Carlo and Lo thinking?”

“It’s safe Marietta. I promise,” Catalina said. “It’s been safe for years. I think this is good for us and the family. If not for us then for the kids. They found each other, after all the attempts we made to keep them apart. Shouldn’t we try to solve our issues the way they have blended this family?”

Shae glanced from Catalina to Marietta. Her friend Marietta shied away from the sentiment. Instead, Marietta sipped her sangria. After a long pause Marietta managed to speak to Catalina without bitterness stealing away the calm in her voice.

“I haven’t seen Eve in years,” Marietta admitted. “I would like to see her again.”

“She’s a remarkable woman.” Catalina said. “And I just met Rocco, for the first time. He’s so handsome. I was surprised Lorenzo gave him... Rocco’s name?”

“After Gio’s death, Lorenzo let depression hit him hard. I swear Gio and this family is just as much a part of my husband as it was twenty years ago. He could never let any of you go. When Gino showed up on our door a few years ago you should have seen my Lo. You would think Gino was his long lost son. The poor baby had to stay with us a week and spend time fishing and hanging out with Lorenzo. But yes, we chose to name him Rocco. No country we’ve lived in, no life we created changed the pain for Lorenzo. We had time to try to heal. I stopped my crazy paranoia about you and my sister, and Lo accepted a lot of things about himself and the family that he couldn’t before. He told me of the moments with Rocco when he was a boy that weren’t terrible but nurturing. And the more Lo thought about it Rocco was there in his life like a Dad. I didn’t even know that it was Rocco who saved Domi’s life from his abusive father. And it was Rocco who saved him a few nights from his own mother’s rage. It was Zia who took care of him as a small boy when Isabella disappeared on one of her long trips. I guess there was good in them both.”

Marietta heaved a sigh. “Listen at me, I sound... never mind it. Lorenzo wants his family back. He always has, I’ve always known he would find a way to reunite someday. He needs it. So I agreed to let him name my baby boy Rocco. I hated the name at first. I dunno. I can’t explain it. I love it now.”

“Well, I’ll ask since no one has said it so far. Is Mirabella coming with her kids? Will we get to see her?” Shae asked.

Catalina stared at Marietta. Catalina remained wrapped up in the emotional beauty of hearing forgiveness in Lo. When Shae spoke she pulled away from the sentiment and tried to focus on her job. The one where she prepared the ladies to spend time with Mirabella. She came out of her memory of them and smiled at the ladies. “Mirabella can’t wait to see you both. Yes, she’s coming.”

“I guessed that,” Marietta mumbled. “Lola and Leeza are very close.”

“Leeza? No one calls her that,” Catalina laughed. “She’s not fond of the name.”

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