Page 113 of La Dolce Vita

Armando chuckled.

Catalina glanced to Marietta who nodded that she could continue.

"What do you want for it?"

"Ah, that's a better question. I think I should give you the answer in Paris."

"What?" Catalina gasped.

"You're going to Paris. Right? Big show in a few days. It's all over the island. The press. They say you are going to represent my sisters. Right?"

"You want to meet me in Paris?" Catalina repeated.

"Alone, and I'll bring the tapes. Every copy," he said.

"This is a trick. I can't trust you."

"True. But what if you can? What if I am willing to risk my empire to give you what you want?" Armando asked.

"Me? That makes no damn sense..." Marietta elbowed her, and Catalina corrected her tone. "If we are at war with you, then my brother may not agree with me going to Paris."

"Figure it out. Meet me in Paris or I send Giovanni a special gift."

The phone line disconnected.

"He hung up," Marietta said.

Catalina dropped the phone as if it were crawling with spiders. "What kind of game is this?"

"He wants you."

"To sleep with him? Hell no! Never!" Catalina got up from the bed. "I won't betray Domi. I won't sneak behind his back with Armando. It's disgusting. The fucking bastard! Disgusting!"

"Calm down!" Marietta pleaded.

"No! I won't do it!"

Marietta got up from her bed and grabbed Catalina by the face. "Look at me."

"Let go of me!" Catalina tried to yank her hands down from her face.

"Listen! Stop and listen damn it! Lorenzo's life is on the line, and so is Domi's. He'll be caught between Lorenzo and Giovanni. He'll be trapped between them. The nightmare will never end for any of us. Mirabella, think of what this will do to her, to their marriage. She's got to see a head doctor. She wakes up in the middle of the night screaming from nightmares. Catalina, think of my poor baby." She grabbed her hand and put it on her belly. "My baby won't have a father. I can't go through life alone. I can't lose him. Please, Catalina. If there is anything you can do to stop Armando, do it. Please!"

"I dunno what you're saying."

"You do know. Armando is fixated on you. Turn him. Use him. We'll destroy him together. I swear it. I swear it. But right now we play his game. Until Lorenzo can find Isabella and stop her. We play his game."

"It could cost me Domi. Do you understand what you are asking me to do?" Catalina backed away from her. "I've loved Domi since I was a little girl. I finally have him. All of him. We're getting married in November. We're going to have our own family. Even Giovanni has blessed us."

"Yes, I know but..."

"Domi trusts me. He loves me like nobody else."

"Of course, he does," Marietta said.

"And if I hurt him? What then? If I hurt him, I'll lose him forever."

"Stop. I get it. I do. I'm not talking about you and Domi. I'm talking about this family. Think of the secrets we have to live with. Think of the prices we have to pay to keep our families safe. Domi has had to do things he will never tell you about. Ever. So has Lorenzo. He's done things I'll never know."

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