Page 220 of La Dolce Vita

"What are you talking about?" he grabbed her by the arm. Not forcefully. He did it to stop her from pacing.

"Armando! He must have told Giovanni."

"How would Armando know?" Lorenzo released her. "How?"

Marietta couldn't speak through her sobbing. Lorenzo pulled her into his arms and hugged her. He tried to calm her, but the panic she felt was too much. Her tears turned to hysteria. He walked her out of the kitchen to the sofa at the front of the villa. He sat her down and knelt before her. "What did Armando do?"

"Isabella gave him the tapes. He was trying to blackmail Catalina. We were going to stop him. But she must have failed, and he told Gio. I tried, I tried to fix it!"

"Blackmail? You should have come to me." He grabbed Marietta's face. "You should have come to me the moment you knew he had the tapes."

"I'm so sorry; I did this. I ruined it."

"No. It's not you. Gio has Isabella. He found her, Marie. That's why we came back home. What did Armando do to Catalina? How far did this plan go? Wait? Catalina knows what I’ve done?" Lorenzo asked.

Marietta nodded. She wiped her tears. "Armando played the tape for her. She was so upset. She wanted to tell Mirabella. I couldn't let it unravel like that. So I convinced her to set him up. To play like she was interested. He... they were to meet in Paris. But I don't know what happened from there."

"Damn it, Marie! Why didn't you trust me?" Lorenzo got to his feet.

"I'm sorry..."

"Sorry? Do you know what he is going to do to her? What a man like him is capable of?"

"I'm married to a man like him!” she shouted. “Yes, I know what he is capable of! And she knew the risks. She did this for you, for our family. I'm so sorry, okay?"

He paced. "Go to the phone. Call your brother. Find out what is going on."

"Where is the phone?" she asked looking around. Lorenzo stormed out. He came back for her. He brought her into the kitchen and handed her the phone. She looked at him while she dialed. "It's Marietta Battaglia. I need to speak to my brother. Tell him it's important."

When she was told he wasn't home, she didn't bother to say anything further. She hung up.

"What are we going to do?" Marietta asked.

Lorenzo glared at her. She lowered her gaze. The accusations in his stare were too much. Her heart was hurting. And now she had to deal with Catalina being in danger. It was her fault.

"I need to find Carlo. You stay here. No one knows about this place. You're safe."

"No!" she chased after him. "Wait!"

Lorenzo didn’t.

"I messed up, but so did you! Big fucking time. Now you drop me off here. Lo, I can't... I need to sit down," She stopped and held her belly. He paused and returned to her. Her vision blurred. He caught her before she dropped to the floor.

"Marie!"

He picked her up. She held on to his neck. "Don't leave. It's not safe. If Gio knows then, Carlo knows. He won't protect you."

"Calm down."

"None of them will. They will side with Gio. This is different, Lo. There is no way out. It's different. Please don't leave me. Don't. Please!" Lorenzo took her to the bedroom. There was one downstairs. It was small so Marietta knew it wasn't the master. But it would do. She was mentally and physically exhausted. She needed his love desperately. To her relief, he understood her fear. He put her to bed and joined her. She held as tight to him as she could. She fought against her fatigue and tried to stay awake. But her body eventually won out. Before she could control it sleep claimed her.

Things were far worse than he thought. Catalina was in trouble. He had to speak to Carlo. Lorenzo left the room silently. He went into the kitchen. The first person he wanted to call was Giovanni. If he could talk to his cousin and explain his side of things he might be able to barter some kind of truce. Rocco was banished for breaking his sacred vow. Could this be the same? Banishment? He could live with that. He'd find a way to do it for his family.

In the dark kitchen, he picked up the phone and dialed his friend.

Carlo answered on the third ring, his voice heavy with sleep. "Yeah?"

"I need you... to, ah, meet me, now," he said.

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