“Fuck!” Giovanni shook his head. He stood. He paced. “Why didn’t you tell me that she was sleeping with someone else?” he asked angrily. Mira looked away and Giovanni processed it further. “Was she a virgin when she married Franco? She had to be! She was barely eighteen.” He stopped pacing. “Who would dare touch my sister? Who?”
Mira stared at him. “There’s more, but I can’t tell you when you’re like this. You promised to listen to me.”
“Tell me who it is!”
The demand hammered her hard. She rubbed her eyes and exhaled a deep breath. “Franco discovered who it was, and he hit her.” she blurted.
Giovanni blinked at her, shocked. “He wouldn’t dare.”
“The other night at the table when the men teased her about her makeup. Do you remember? She wore makeup to cover the bruise.”
“You said she and Eve were playing in her makeup.” He narrowed his eyes on her. Mira understood his memory was as sharp as ever. The man never forgot a thing said or done.
“That’s right sweetheart. I didn’t know at the time. I just knew that she was uncomfortable and trying to conceal something. I lied to protect her. Later I confronted her. We went up to Franco’s job and discovered who he was sleeping with.”
Giovanni closed his eyes shaking his head. “Wait a got damn minute.”
Mira kept going, ignoring his objections and questions. She had to get it all out before he completely lost it. “Turns out that Franco actually had a bigger secret; he was gay.”
“Was?”
“After we learned the truth, Catalina became upset. She couldn’t get past him being gay. To her it was a greater sin than anything she’d done. I wanted to talk to them both before we came to you, but you told me about Kei and things got crazy.”
“Was gay? What the hell does that mean? Either he is or isn’t?” Giovanni paced before her.
“I’m trying to explain.”
“Try harder!” he shouted.
She flinched. Mira exhaled slowly. “Catalina told the story to Domi. She showed him the bruise. Domi became angry. This morning Dominic and Lorenzo were fighting. It’s when we learned the truth. Domi killed Franco.”
Giovanni laughed. He threw his hands up. “Of course he did, because no one in this fucking family does anything they’re supposed to! Except disobey me.”
Mira saw the mixture of emotions cross his face and prayed that the one for compassion was the final one to remain.
“All of this was done because Catalina was afraid to tell you she’s in love with another man. She’s afraid of what you would do. I understand now why you hate secrets and lies because they are so destructive. But now you have the power to make this right, to put the family back together.”
“Now I have power?” Giovanni chuckled.
“You know what I mean, sweetheart.”
The humor drained from his face. “Catalina married a man that hit her and Domi murdered him without my approval. All of this done because she was afraid to talk to me?” He lowered and fixed his blue steely gaze on Mira. “What is it you’re not telling me?”
“I can’t,” she shook her head.
“Oh yes you can, Bella. What is it you’re not telling me?”
Mira met his gaze. “Will you promise to listen?”
He gave her a sweet smile. He seemed pensive, not disturbed or angry. Was this the calm before the storm? She had to see it through. No matter the consequences.
“Fine. You want honesty? Here it is. Family is your strength but it’s also your greatest weakness. You ordered a hit on Kei in the blink of an eye because he threatened our family. For all I know he’s dead right now, Giovanni, and I accepted it. I did that because I’ve accepted this life. But what I won’t tolerate is you turning that anger in on us. If you rush off without all the facts, more harm than good could be done. So for Christ’s sake let me tell the story the way I can. And really listen to me!”
“How could you know all of this and keep it from me?”