Page 275 of Vita Mia

“And I heard what you went through with the Russians,” Giovanni added.

“What if we had just kicked each other’s ass in that church, before Marie shot you? Just fist to cuffs. You think all this bullshit could have been avoided?” Lorenzo asked.

Giovanni chuckled. “I doubt it.”

“Yea me too,” Lorenzo smiled. “I was so pissed at you for dying. Now I’m pissed you’re alive and I didn’t know. Pissed and happy. Pissed and happy. Pissed and happy. That’s the story of my life.”

“I made a lot of mistakes, but I’m going to make up for them.”

“And the Anti-Mafia police? The ones that still study your case. You really think they aren’t going to come to Cuba and drag your old ass out of here?”

“There is no extradite treaty between Italy and Cuba,” Giovanni winked. “And when my son, Gino becomes the Prime Minster of Italy, I’ll be back to dining with Kings.”

“You do think of everything, Gio.”

They both laughed.

“I know you got a lot going on in America. Been keeping my eye on you. There are some areas where Gino might be useful to you.” Giovanni said and sipped his drink. “Maybe you can consider moving here, or visiting us more often.”

Lorenzo looked back over his shoulder. “I think our wives are deciding that for us.”

Giovanni looked back over his shoulder. Up above on the rooftop Marietta and Mirabella sat in the deck chairs holding hands under a full moon. He took a sip of his drink and a small smile touched his lips. There were some things he couldn’t give his wife. Fabiana was one of them. But this, this came close to making up for some of the pain he caused her. He felt grateful.

“Think you can out swim me?” Lorenzo asked and nodded to the ocean.

“Bum leg,” Giovanni said.

“Yeah, I got high blood pressure,” Lorenzo confessed.

Giovanni choked on his rum. He coughed and looked at Lorenzo who hit him on the back laughing. “Then why did you ask me?”

“See you on that cane and dragging that leg around. I’d still like to kick your ass at something.”

“Give it time, you’ll think of something,” Giovanni said and the two of them started back toward the house.

“Maybe pool?”

“No.”

“How about Chess?”

“No.”

“Got a gun, I learned a few tricks from the Russians on how to use bullets.”

Giovanni shook his head smiling and laughing with his cousin. “Show me.”

***

“YOU’VE BEEN AVOIDINGme, Eve,” he said.

A sudden stillness froze the air and paralyzed her breathing. It was as if the rest of the world had dissolved into a hazy mist just from him saying her name. Eve turned from the buffet table that was brought inside for the guests. A plate stacked with her favorite meats and cheeses was in her hand.

Stefano walked into the room further. He had his hands in his pockets. His crisp linen suit jacket parted to reveal his broad chest. Those beautiful eyes of his lost the gleam of superiority and dominance he exuded over his opponents. They had become something pure, undiluted, humble and pleading. Stefano wasn’t a man to beg, but she could sense he had come to reason with her heart.

When she arrived she saw him, and during their meal and talk with her parents he kept a respectable distance. But he was there. Watching. Waiting. And with Nico also present she felt pressed between the constant stares of both men. What was her father thinking of inviting them both to his home?

“I wasn’t avoiding you. I just came in to fix me a plate.”

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