“Oh God. Okay. Calm down. Listen to me sweetheart. Please. Let me find out if it’s true. I can’t live with his murder if you’re wrong. Please! Giovanni, listen to me. I’ll call the F.B.I., and they’ll verify everything.”
Giovanni grabbed her by both arms and shook her. Mira wept hard. Giovanni drew her into his arms and she clung to him. He held her tightly and spoke words that split her in half. “I should have killed him the moment I laid eyes on him. He kept you from me. No man will ever come between us. Ever! He took my bambina and my life with you. I promise you he will be on his knees confessing before the bullet hits his skull. Then you’ll have no guilt.”
He continued to tell her the truth. He held nothing back, and when he was done, she could barely speak. He captured her face and forced her to look into his eyes. He brushed his lips across hers. “You are mine Mirabella. This is who we are. No one will ever come between us again. Read what’s in the file. Understand this man’s crimes are against our family and accept it. Never let me see you shed a tear for him again.”
He let her go. She stumbled back and closed her eyes as he walked out and slammed the door. Mira opened her eyes and looked at the folder on the desk. Slowly, and with a heart of dread she walked around the desk and lowered to the seat. After collecting herself, she opened the folder and drew out the documents. Tears dropped on to thin sheets of paper. Her breathing went deep, and her heart felt like it was in a vice. Her stomach twisted into a pretzel knot. Mira scanned everything. Giovanni even had Kei’s arrest documents from China. She slammed the folder shut. The answers to the questions she’d had over the years about him surfaced. The silent authority he wielded, the people he would never introduce her to. How could she not see this? All her life it felt like she’d walked around with blinders on. Mira clenched her fist, struggling to catch her breath. Her rage seized her, and she shoved everything on the desk off with a swipe of her hand. Screaming in frustration, she dropped her head on the desk into her folded arms and cried. For two years she had lived Kei’s lie.
****
Lorenzo checked the chamber of his gun. This was the final act. He’d deliver the news to Giovanni personally that he’d put an end to Calderone’s tyranny. All the mistakes of the past would be forgiven. Even the ones his cousin will never know.
Their hostage was told to go inside and verify how many were in the mountainside villa. He would not give Bonaduce’s men any indication of trouble. As the personal driver to the family his arrival could be expected. Lorenzo concocted a cover story for him. He would tell whoever answered the door that the Don wanted him to bring Angelo into Bologna for a meeting. Lorenzo had forced their prisoner to recite the story over and over until it rolled off his tongue and sounded like the truth. He even made him clean up and wear a turtleneck to cover the rope burns around his neck. He looked believable.
“Remember, my men are waiting at your sister’s villa. They don’t hear from me in an hour, and they will pay her, the kids and her husband a visit.” He lied.
The poor man nodded his obedience. Carlo and Lorenzo exited the vehicle. They stepped aside and watched as he drove up the single lane road. Its isolation was the cover Lorenzo prayed for. He glanced up to the sky and mentally calculated the hours before sunrise. They would have to make it to the airport and out of Bologna before the bodies were found. Carlo suggested fire. Lorenzo agreed it would be a good cover. The problem was Giovanni wanted this to be clean. Lorenzo didn’t agree. The Battaglia name needed to be carved into the bastard’s chest. So he would do things his way and ask for forgiveness later.
The driver went to the door and knocked. It opened. He entered. Lorenzo waited in the cold forest for fifteen minutes before their messenger reappeared. He waved goodbye, climbed in the car and drove out toward them. Lorenzo kept his gun ready. Maybe he hadn’t put enough fear in the man. Maybe it was an ambush waiting for him inside. Or worse, maybe Don Bonaduce would send men to greet them.
“I did as you asked.”