Page 234 of La Dolce Vita

“Get out.”

“What is this place?"

"It's my dream home. Thanks to you it’s my nightmare. Get out!" Catalina commanded. Rosetta opened the door and got out of the car. She looked up at the mansion. The place looked unoccupied, but it was grand. Big and imposing with many dark windows. Silently she prayed that Dominic waited for them inside.

"Walk." Catalina shoved her.

Rosetta climbed the steps. She glanced back at Catalina and saw the gun was still aimed at her. She went the rest of the steps up to the door. Catalina walked around her and unlocked the door. She then forced Rosetta inside. "Over there!"

To her left were tall French doors that led to an outside terrace. The girls headed in that direction. The view of the sea was breathtaking because the end of the terrace dropped down to the cliffs with no barrier. If you stood close to the edge, you could smell the saltwater of the crashing waves wafting up in the wind.

"Our bedroom was going to be up there. Facing the islands. So every morning Dominic and I could see the sun rise. Dominic said we would put the nursery for our kids over there."

Rosetta took a step back. There was plenty of wind, so she had to push her hair from her face to keep her eyes trained on Catalina. There was no escape.

"This was supposed to be my life. Until you decided to destroy it,puttana!"

"It wasn't me. It was you. Always so perfect. Always so spoiled. You betrayed Domi!"

"Shut up!"

"No!" Rosetta shouted back at her. "Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? Well, I don't. I’m trying to survive. To make a life for myself. I don't give a shit if yours is fallng apart. Mine fell apart years ago. When have you ever done something selflessly? When have you ever cared for anyone but yourself?"

Catalina raised the gun and aimed it.

"So, you are going to murder me now? Do it. Do it!" Rosetta raised her arms. "It won't bring Dominic back. It won't make Mirabella love you, or Giovanni forgive you. They will all hate you forever for killing me. They will!"

Catalina squeezed her eyes shut. Her arm shook, as did her hand.Rosetta didn't want to die.She didn't know what to say to live. At this point, all she could do was pray that Catalina was as big of a coward as she was a crybaby, and somehow she’d come to her senses.

To her surprise, her cousin did just that. Catalina lowered the gun. She began to cry. Hard. The gun dropped from Catalina's hand to her feet. The tears consumed her now. Rosetta looked back at the rising sun. This was paradise. But Catalina didn't deserve this happiness. She did. When Dominic returned from licking his wounds, Rosetta would be there to help him heal. God was on her side.

"Are you smiling?" Catalina asked.

Rosetta’s head whirled up and around. Catalina had taken several steps toward her. She left the gun behind, but both her hands were clenched into tight fists.

"You are smiling. Why? You think all of this is going to be yours? That Dominic is going to replace me with you?"

"I think you looked into the mirror and the glass cracked," Rosetta said. "I think the family is no longer going to pretend you are so perfect. I don't want your house, your fake life. I want my life. I'm smiling because finally I will have it and I won’t be your shadow."

Catalina narrowed her gaze on Rosetta. It was Catalina who smiled, but there was something dark and sinister behind it. "Nothing is waiting for you out there Rosie. No life. No future. You did all of this for nothing. Because you will have nothing!"

Rosetta opened her mouth to challenge her, and Catalina shoved the center of her chest. To Rosetta’s horror, she stumbled, and her feet crossed over each other. Her arms extended and flapped. She was dangerously close to the edge. She looked back and knew two more steps, and she would go over. Catalina was before her. She reached out to plead with her for help.

Catalina shook her head no. All of this occurred within seconds; that felt longer and longer. When death was near time stood still.

"No! No! Help me!" Rosetta pleaded.

Catalina shoved her once more, and Rosetta tried to grab her cousin’s arm to pull her forward with her, but her grip slipped. She felt herself going back. And then she went over. Rosetta screamed, and her body flipped in a tumbling summersault as she began to fall at an increasing speed. She could see the jagged rocks washed over with sudsy waves of the sea. She crossed her arms over her face in terror, and kicked her legs, praying she would hit the water and not the rocks. Her body smashed into the side of the edge of the cliffs, and her head hit the pointed ridge of the rocks cracking like an egg. Her death cry for help was cut short.

Catalina walked over to the edge and stared down. Rosetta’s body was twisted into an awkward pose with one leg bent back to her waist. The waves washed over her, but she wasn't pulled out to the sea. She lay there dead. Catalina sat down on the edge of the cliff. She looked up and watched the sunrise. It was her turn to smile.

***

Mirabella didn't sleep. After making sure Catalina was in bed and safe, she went to her kids’ room. She sat in the rocking chair next to her son's crib to watch over them. The scene with She was terrified and worried for her husband. There had to be something to stop Giovanni from self-destructing. Something to protect the family from his rage until she found a way to help him see past it.

The chair stopped rocking. An idea formed that was just as crazy as the horror they were all trapped inside of now. She got up from the rocking chair and went to her room. She sat on her bed and picked up the phone. Mirabella took a deep breath and dialed.

"I want to speak to my brother. This is Mirabella Battaglia calling."

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