Dominic swallowed his smile. His bruises on his face and throat had nearly faded away. Mira was happy to see him working with them. Before Rocco was assigned to lights, they had a bit of a moment. Giovanni had discovered that Rocco had taken off the back panel from a floor model flat screen television. The wires and internal circuit boards had been removed. Giovanni almost went into cardiac arrest at the sight of it. Rocco explained he wanted to see how it worked, but the hell raising silenced his excuses. Mira was able to calm everyone. She prayed Rocco would keep his tool belt off the rest of the night.
Under the watchful eye of Dominic, Rocco plugged them in and the multi colored tiny bulbs illuminated red, blue, green and yellow once again. Eve stopped entertaining her daddy and Zia to run straight for the tree. Lorenzo caught her before she got too close, scooping her up in his arms. Giovanni and Zia joined as they watched Dominic and Rocco string the lights on the tree. When it was done, Catalina along with Mira and Zia retrieved the ornaments and began to hang them.
“Where did this music come from Bella?” Giovanni asked, dropping his arm across her shoulders.
Mira passed Lorenzo an ornament so he could help Eve hang it on a branch. “You don’t know Stevie Wonder, the Jackson Five, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson?”
He laughed. “Yes, I know of them but those songs aren’t quite how I remember American Christmas carols.”
“It’s a Christmas CD with a soul. Something you have plenty of even though you don’t realize it.” She winked.
“Oh really?” His brow arched. Giovanni accepted his daughter whose arms were now outstretched for him. He heaved her higher and Eve reached for a branch, taking a swipe at it to make the ornaments bounce. Mira stretched upward to kiss his jaw. Eve pushed her mother’s face away with her little hand then rested her head on his shoulder. “Exactly how do you think we got you missy?” she chuckled shaking her daughter’s foot. Eve kissed her daddy on the cheek, and Giovanni laughed.
“Grazie mia lucciola,” he said kissing her forehead. Opening his arm to Mira he pulled her close. “And thank you too, Bella.”
Mira leaned over and kissed Eve’s cheek and then kissed her man. “I’m here as the reminder. It’s all about family.”
****
“We haven’t had this kind of family time since Papa Tomosino died.” Lorenzo drank a long swallow of Spumante. He faced the fire staring at the flickering flames. Giovanni sat next to him on the same sofa. The decorating and family time ended too soon. Eve began to cry and cling to her mother. Mira said she probably needed her bath and bed. One by one the family filed out leaving him to his thoughts. Everyone but Lorenzo and Dominic obliged him of course. “It feels like we’ve taken many things for granted cousin.” Lorenzo said.
“é la vita, that’s life,” he replied.
Dominic stirred the ice in the bottom of his glass and cleared his throat. Giovanni’s gaze slipped over to him. He was seated on the sofa chair to his right. Giovanni had to admit that he would miss Dominic once exiled. He was the strongest counsel he’s had since his father died. Flavio just wanted to control him, but Dominic seemed to understand him. Giovanni sighed. “Don’t you boys have business tomorrow?”
Dominic glanced up. He nodded. Lorenzo smirked and nodded. Normally he wouldn’t conduct business of this nature on Christmas Eve but the task he’d assigned to them required immediate attention. With Bonaduce’s son dead and the assassin caught, they needed to control every aspect of this before those in the Polizia di Stato decide to sniff into his business again. The old man had the nerve to say that Giovanni set him up. Now any peace between the Cammora and Ndrangheta was done.
Giovanni chuckled at the irony. Where had that man gone who wanted peace? How could he find his way back there again? And with Lorenzo at his side was it even possible?