Lorenzo frowned. “I don’t understand. I thought this tension was because of him.”
“When I say she wants another man, I’m speaking of the man I once was. Not the man I am now. She’s my donna. I knew it then, and I feel it now. If she had slept with him I would see it in her eyes. She didn’t.”
“You are the man she knew.”
“If I were, I would be able to summon forgiveness. I’m unable to. The fact remains, she had another man living the life I should have lived with her. Feeding my bambina his lies about me and watching her take her first steps without me. I should have killed him when I had the chance.”
“Punishing Mira will only drive her further away Gio.”
Giovanni glared at him. “What the fuck do you know about it?”
Lorenzo slumped in his seat. “When you thought she died you turned on us all. You banished me, Rocco, Zia. You shut Catalina out. You retreated. I want our brotherhood back. You have a second chance at happiness. Don’t throw it away for pride.” He glanced over at him. “We are not destined to become our fathers.”
“Leave, Lo.”
Lorenzo rose. He headed to the back of the plane where Mira sat. She looked as if she’d break from fatigue and despair. Her eyes, glittering with tears, lifted to his face and then cut away. She kept her daughter close to her breast.
“If he sent you back here don’t bother.”
“He didn’t. I wanted to apologize to you.”
An old pain surfaced and Mira felt her body grow cold all over. She struggled to keep the tears from her eyes. No one understood her loss. Fabiana was the only family she had in the world. “Not now. I can’t talk about Fabiana.”
“I understand.” Lorenzo rubbed his palms over the top of his thighs. “It tore Giovanni apart when he thought you died.”
“We all suffered,” she said.
“I know you see it. He’s different. Cold. He went dead inside, Mira. He banished me from the family, and he killed Flavio.”
Mira blinked at him stunned. “Killed?”
“You have to help us, he’s destroying this family with his unrelenting anger and bitterness. Many people have lost their lives over the war. If you can get him to trust me again I can put an end to this. I can save lives. You have more influence with him than any of us. You’ll learn that soon enough.”
“Everything okay?” Dominic asked coming to the back of the plane. His interruption made Lorenzo glare with fury.
Giovanni murdered Flavio? The Flavio man was awful, yes, but for him to be murdered because of her was beyond her comprehension. She didn’t want that knowledge. God help her, what had she and Fabiana gotten themselves into when they hooked up with these men?
“Yes. Everything is fine,” she managed to say though her voice croaked with weakness.
Dominic barely took note of her response. Instead he focused on Lorenzo. “What about you, Lo? Voi giusti?”
Lorenzo rose from his seat. He stood several feet taller than Dominic, his head bowed because of the top of the plane. Domi turned sideways to let him out of his seat. “Of course, Domi. Now that I have reunited the lovebirds Giovanni and I are just fine.” He patted Dominic on the shoulder and then pushed past him into the aisle. Dominic took the empty seat next to Mira and buckled his seatbelt.
“She’s really beautiful,” Dominic said.
Mira looked down at her baby. “She’s the best of him, and he can’t even take the time to notice.”
He nodded in agreement. “What did I interrupt earlier?”
“Lorenzo said that Giovanni’s this monster since we parted. He said he’s killing people without remorse. Is that true?”
Dominic narrowed his gaze on Lorenzo and Carlo laughing it up in the aisle. “Did he?”
“He said that Giovanni killed Flavio?”
“Mira—.”
“He’s different, Domi. Mean. Hard. I don’t understand what he wants from me.”