Page 212 of La Dolce Vita

"I'm not perfect, but I'm your father. And I am going to do everything in my power to protect you. Because I love you.Tu sei il sole del mio giorno--you are the sunshine of my day.Per sempre."

Marietta smiled. He looked up into her eyes, and he kissed her. "That goes for you too.Sei il mio incantesimo--you're my enchantment. I don't want you to worry. About anything. I am going to protect us. Believe in me."

"I know, sweetheart. I've never doubted you."

Lorenzo removed his sunglasses and kissed her again. This time deeply. She had to touch his face to slow down his passion. It felt a bit desperate.

"Eeeew stop it!" Eve said from the back seat.

Marietta laughed. She looked back at her niece. "I will kiss you if you keep complaining."

Eve’s nose wrinkled. She went back to combing the hair of her doll. Lorenzo relaxed again. This time, he didn't seem as tense. But all the love and affection did make Marietta wonder.

ChapterThirty-Two

Betrayed

Sorrento, Italy

Dominic woke. He winced against the glare of the sunlight. The night spent in the car had put a cramp on the back of his neck, and the pain numbed his spine. He sat up and looked around. When he was a kid, he used to have blackouts.MadreEve told him it was God's healing, and soon the nightmares of his torturous existence as a boy would fade. Eventually, the love of his adoptive mother and new family gave him faith and made him completely forget the pain of the past. And just as she promised, the blackouts stopped. He healed.

He could no longer rely on that remedy.

Alcohol would suffice. Dominic reached over to the seat and picked up the paper bag with the empty bottle. He'd drank two pints of whiskey. And he was still thirsty. Dominic checked the time. It wasn't too early.

Dominic grabbed his gun. He got out of the car and walked across the street. Nothing moved. He knocked three times on the door with his gun and then he waited.

The door opened.

"Domi? What is it... what's wrong?"

He opened his mouth to speak and couldn't.

"Renaldo! Domi's here!" Kyra said.

Within minutes Renaldo appeared in a white t-shirt and shorts. Kyra stepped back with her hand to her swollen stomach. Dominic realized he must have looked a state. Eyes swollen shut from tears. And the gun in his hand.

"Come in, come in," Renaldo pulled his arm and forced him to do so. Kyra turned and took the hand of Renaldo's son, leading him to one of the rooms in the villa.

"I didn't mean... to upset her," Dominic said and looked at the gun.

"What's happened, Boss?" Renaldo forced him to sit. He took the gun from him. "What can I do?"

"Can I stay here? For.... until I... for now," he sighed.

"Do you want some coffee, Domi? Something to drink?" Renaldo's mother said.

"No, I shouldn't have come here," Dominic tried to stand, but the boozing made him drop back down.

Renaldo gave his mother a look and she left. "You need coffee and lots of it. Stay put."

Dominic looked at the gun. He had the choice of flying into Sicily or returning home to Sorrento. In the end, he took a one-way trip. And then the thought of seeing Catalina again after what she had done was too much for him. He spent the night drinking and driving. He had nowhere else to go.

"Take it," he said.

The coffee mug was hot, the liquid scorching. He didn't mind the burn. It helped clear his head. The pain was now focused on his tongue and not his heart.

"Is it Giovanni? Has something happened?"

---