La Sposa (42 page)

The angry indignation that flashed over the
designer’s face made Catalina narrow her eyes and go tense. She
waited for the haughty bitch to say something against Mira.
Anything. But the woman bit down on her tongue and turned and
sashayed off. “See me when they are gone!” she tossed back over her
shoulder.

Theodore chuckled. “Forgive her rudeness. She
and Mira, well, they have history. I was surprised when Kei chose
her to represent Mirabella’s but after hearing all that Mira went
through in the past two years, nothing should surprise me,” he
smiled. “Please, we have much to discuss. I want to review the
business plans for this year with you, before you meet with the
attorneys.”

“
I will need to use a phone first,”
Dominic said. It was the first time he spoke. Catalina knew her guy
and he was just as uncomfortable as she was, but possibly for
different reasons.

“
Of course. You can use this
office. We will be down the hall in the conference room, waiting
for you.”

Dominic left her side. Catalina hesitated,
feeling she should wait.

“
Come with me.” Theodore put his
hand to her arm. They continued down the hall. “Above us is a
design room, sewing rooms, and a showroom,” he said. “Below us are
business offices. In Virginia, we have two factories that make all
of Mirabella’s collections. Mira and Fabiana were insistent that
her clothes be made in America. Ironic that they were looking to
abandon that rule and move to Italy, isn’t it?”

“
I guess.”

“
After we meet with the attorneys,
I can give you a peek at next year’s collection.”

“
Do celebrities come here to be
fitted?” Catalina asked, looking around at the models congregating
near one particular office. There were statuesque women of all
shades. In the middle of the chaos was Zenobia, Mira’s featured
model. The girls were gathered listening to something she was
telling them. Her eyes met with Catalina and she nearly fainted.
She loved Zenobia.

“
This way, Catalina,” Theodore
again touched her, this time at her lower back to steer her toward
the door. “Now to your question. Do celebrities come here? Many do.
Depends. Mira, when she and Fabiana ran the fashion house, insisted
on them meeting with clients in her private design room. After we
believed she died we sealed it off, and her office. It was too hard
for the staff. Those doors are never opened. Carole prefers to see
her clients in their homes.”

“
She wants me to use it as my
office. While I’m here.” Catalina announced.

Theodore’s brows shot up in surprise. “Does
she? Okay. It will be arranged.”

“
So, you were saying?”

“
Mira was most creative in her own
space. ‘A creature of habit’ is what Fabiana used to
say.”

“
You three were close?”

Theodore nodded. “It was my idea that Fabiana
relocate them to Italy after I returned from Sicily.”

“
Oh, you’ve been to
Sicily?”

His smile broadened. “Met interesting people
there. Even a business contact that helped us get settled in
Napoli.”

“
Who?” Catalina asked.

“
Marsuvio Mancini.”

Catalina stopped. She blinked, surprised. Don
Mancini was many things but a man of fashion, he wasn’t. Odd that
he would offer to assist without expecting something in
return.

“
Fabiana and I travelled to Italy.”
Theodore continued. He opened the door for her and waited until she
walked in before he entered. “After our trip, we both agreed Italy
was the future. To convince Mira, we put together a solid
transition plan. I still believe she only agreed to leave the
States after she and Kei… uh, her ex-boyfriend broke up. She was
very pragmatic back then. I hear she’s changed.”

Catalina paused. They were in the conference
room alone. “What do you mean she’s changed?”

Theodore chuckled. “Something to
drink?”

“
Coffee would be nice,” she said,
shrugging off her coat and dropping it on the chair. “What do you
mean changed?”

“
Well let’s see. Mira never wanted
kids. But now she’s a mother, with another on the way.”

“
Mira loves Eve!” Catalina
said.

“
Oh, yes, of course. Eve is her
daughter, right? I’m sure she does. But the Mira I knew was never
comfortable with children. Diane, one of her apprentices, brought
her baby in to work one day. Mira was so upset, she made her
assistant take the child to another floor so she wouldn’t hear the
crying. Said
it
distracted her. Referred to the child as
‘it’ instead of the baby’s name.”

Catalina frowned. “That doesn’t sound like
Mira.”

Theodore poured himself something that looked
like scotch out of a crystal decanter. He picked up the coffee mug,
his drink and hers. “Exactly my point. She’s changed. I hear you
just left her wedding? The news stations announced she married
Giovanni Battaglia.”

“
It was beautiful, she was
beautiful.”

“
Mira and Fabiana were two of the
most beautiful women in New York.” Theodore smiled. “However, her
getting married is the biggest surprise.”

“
Let me guess, she didn’t want to
be married either?” Catalina rolled her eyes and sat.

“
She and Kei fought constantly over
his desire to marry her. She once told me she never believed in the
little girls’ fantasy of marriage, baby carriage, or the white
picket fence. She liked her life as is—independently free. Though
Mira often contradicted herself. Kei was very possessive of her,
and territorial. How carefree could she really be with a
millionaire boyfriend bankrolling her company?” Theodore
chuckled.

Confused, Catalina sipped her coffee and
stared at Theodore. Mira had given up a lot to become the head of
their family. But she did it willingly. And though her priorities
had changed, the power she wielded over these people in New York
was not that different from the power she would have over the
Battaglias as their
donna
. Glancing around at how controlled
and straight-laced Mira’s life once was, she felt a pang of envy
and sympathy. Mira was definitely better off with them. She
secretly vowed to help Mira reclaim her business in any way she
could.

“
Enough gossip, beautiful, tell me
about you. What do you know about the fashion business?”

“
First, my name is Catalina, not
beautiful.” She tossed back at him. Theodore gave a nod of respect
but didn’t apologize. She feared he was flirting at first, now she
was sure of it. If Dominic picked up on it, their newfound
friendship could become problematic for Mr. Casanova. Nervously,
she touched the diamond Faberge egg pendant he gave her for
Christmas. “I helped Mira design and make her wedding dress.”
Catalina volunteered. Theodore appeared impressed. Catalina went on
to tell him about her love of clothes and accessories and some of
the top fashion events she’d attended in Milan.

Dominic walked in. They stopped talking. He
approached the conference table and shed his coat. “I will have to
leave in three to four hours. We need to begin now. First, I want
to review the financial reports. Please get them. Also, present
whatever court documents we need to file to transition control of
the company to Giovanni Battaglia.”

Theodore sat back. “Giovanni Battaglia? But I
thought full ownership would revert back to Mira?”

“
Mira is his wife. He represents
her on all business matters,” Dominic said in an even but
uncompromising tone. “Now. Please see to it.”

Theodore Tate nodded and rose. Catalina waited
until he walked out before addressing Dominic. “Everything okay?”
Catalina asked.

He winked. “It will be.”

Capri –

Mira felt movement. A low drumming softly
vibrated through the mattress and her body. Eve soon felt it too.
She woke crying for her mother in the dark. Sitting up in the cabin
she reached for her daughter and put her to her breast. Mira found
her pacifier in the sheets and gave it to her. Eve settled down in
minutes. She waited for Giovanni to return but he didn’t. After ten
minutes of waiting, she kicked off the covers and scooted to the
edge of the bed. A wave of dizziness smacked her to the front of
her forehead, as soon as she tried to rise. The nausea had replaced
the cramping. It was becoming more and more frequent.

“
Ma-ma?” Eve said, patting her
breast with her tiny hand and talking with her pacifier in her
mouth.
“Ma-ma aqua?”

“
Give me a minute,
baby.”

She tried again to stand and was steady on her
feet. She found Eve’s diaper bag and located one of her drink cups.
Holding Eve, and wearing a shirt that barely covered her hips, she
walked out into the cabin. She had to climb to the upper deck to go
to the refrigerator. Inside, she found a plastic container of fruit
juice. She managed to fill Eve’s cup while balancing her on her
hip. Her daughter was bouncing with excitement for it. She took it
from Mira before she could pass it over. Eve spit out her pacifier
and turned the cup up. Mira noticed again they were alone. Instead
of returning to bed, curiosity drew her to the stairs that led to
the captain’s deck. And soon she found Giovanni. He was at the
navigation console, steering the boat back toward their private
beach and docks. “What time is it?” Mira asked.

His head turned. He looked surprise to see
them. “It’s a little after three in the morning. Go back down and
I’ll join you.”

“
Why are we heading back in? I
thought we would stay the night out at sea?”

“
I’d rather we be closer. My men
will be on the docks to greet us. We can stay onboard but I won’t
sleep with us alone out at sea. I thought I could. I
can’t.”

She chewed on the inside of her jaw. Eve’s
head rested on her shoulder and she drank. Mira knew she was
sleepy. Deciding she was too, she turned to leave.

“
Bella?”

She stopped.

“
Don’t go. Take a seat with her. If
my girls can’t sleep, then let’s do another night tour of the bay
under the stars. Sound nice?”

“
Sounds perfect.”

“
Papa!” Eve said, lowering the cup.
She held it out to offer him some when Mira sat in the chair next
to him. Giovanni chuckled.

“
I need something a little
stronger,
bambina
.”

America –

The meeting was informative and productive
once the attorneys arrived. Three hours into the discussion a young
woman named Sheila came for Catalina, supposedly to take her to her
new office. Dominic noticed how Catalina pranced out with her chin
tossed upward. She was truly enjoying herself. He’d hoped the place
would entertain her a bit more while he dealt with
business.

Theodore Tate agreed to a dinner meeting to
finish the business he had with him after a call came and he was
summoned to the street. A car waited for him. He climbed in without
question and rode out of Manhattan to Riker’s Island. Once he
arrived at Ricker’s Island, he was told he had to take a van ride
to the visiting center. The Kimmatore men informed him they would
wait for his return.

Dominic wasn’t inclined to trust these men.
Where Stefano Kimmatore showed respect for the
Camorra,
these men acted as if he washed up from a third world country. He
was keenly aware of their shifting stares and snide smirks. None of
it intimidated him. He’d dealt with tougher bastards than them. He
boarded the van and rode side by side next to women with crying
babies, and old ladies holding their purses in their laps. All of
them determined to see loved ones locked away from society. And
when the van delivered them to the visiting center, he was soon
after greeted by the warden and two guards in uniform.

“
Dominic Battaglia?”

“
Warden Glenn?” He shook the hand
of the tall Irish man. The warden gave one of the guards a look and
he stepped to Dominic, patting him down from front to back. The
other man gave him a clearance badge.

“
Come with me, son.” The warden
walked him away from the others. Once they were in the hall alone,
he spoke. “Here is how this works. You get an hour with James
Walker. And fifteen minutes with Kei Hyogo. Both men will be
brought to you here. Do or say anything that will make me regret
this gift and you won’t make it out of Riker’s. Do we understand
each other, Sicilian?”

Dominic nodded.

Glenn’s smile spread across his face, wickedly
white, and absent of humor. “Now, James doesn’t spend many hours
out of his cell. Besides a shower break, he is on 24 hour lockdown
until his trial.”

“
Trial? For?”

“
He killed a guard with a spoon. I
hear he was pissed over the missing dessert on his tray. He’s a
vicious son of bitch. Big one too. He’ll be shackled, but he’s
known to break a few. I insist that three guards attend your
meeting at all time.”

“
I need privacy. This
matter…”

“
It’s non-negotiable, son. Those
are my rules.”