Page 233 of La Dolce Vita

"I'm not leaving with you.Vaffanculo--fuck off!"

"Fine. I'll kill you here."

"Wait!" Rosetta put up both her hands. "You shoot me in here and Giovanni..."

"Giovanni doesn't give a damn about me or what I do," Catalina revealed her neck to Rosetta. Even in the dim light, she could see the bruising. "All my life, I've never seen my brother raise a hand to a woman, any woman. Do you know what he said when he did this to me?"

Rosetta shook her head no.... slowly.

“He said he never wants to see me again. And neither does Domi. I have you to thank for that."

"You have yourself to blame. You were the one sneaking with Armando. It’s not my fault!"

Catalina smiled.

Rosetta found her even scarier when she smiled. It wasn’t normal. There was something wicked about how her eyes sparkled in the darkness. Were they glistening with tears or repressed rage? She couldn’t tell.

"Either you come with me or I pull the trigger. I don't care which way it goes."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere special.”

“If I go with you, you’ll kill me. So kill me here.”

“If you go with me and confess to Domi that I did nothing wrong I will spare your life. If you don't, I will blow a fucking hole in your face and then kill myself. I don't want to live with Domi and Giovanni hating me."

Despite the outrageousness of the statement, Rosetta was inclined to believe her.

“Now get up!"

Rosetta eased out of bed. She had done her part. Armando was to do his. Catalina should have been thrown out of Melanzana by now. She should have been banished for her actions. But Dominic disappeared. She wasn't sure what was happening. Slow and easy she dressed. She kept her eye on Catalina who kept the gun on her.

"We can't get out of here. The men won't allow it."

Catalina seemed unfazed. Rosetta wanted desperately to get away from her crazy ass and the gun. She put on her shoes and put her hands up to indicate she was done.

"We are going to the garage. We will take the Maserati. The black one. The tint is dark. It's Giovanni's car. They men won't stop us when we leave." Catalina put on a cap and touched her hair underneath. In the dark, she will look like one of the men.

"You won’t fool them with that hat. We can't..."

"We are leaving. Now!"

Rosetta nodded. Catalina stepped behind her. She kept the gun to her. Most of the villa had settled down to sleep. Rosetta wasn't sure where Mirabella had gone off to. It was close to dawn, so not many of the men would be up and about. Just a few at the gate. The girls made it downstairs and to the garage without a single person glancing their way. Rosetta felt panic swell in her. Half of her mind said she should scream and alert the house to what Catalina was up to. But the other half of her knew that it would cause Catalina to panic and shoot. The only chance she had was to go with her and convince Dominic that it was all a lie.

Once they were in the car, Catalina kept the gun in her lap and her left hand on it. She pulled the cap down low on her head. She drove so fast toward the gates the men didn't have any choice but to open it and get out of the way.

"Slow down!"

The steep cliff side roads that cut through Sorrento were narrow and treacherous to travel at night. Catalina's speed terrified Rosetta. She spent most of the journey silent with her eyes closed. And then they turned onto a single lane road that drove up into a private residence.

She opened her eyes and tried to discern their location.

"Where are we?" she finally mustered enough courage to ask.

"Sant'Agnello," Catalina said. She parked at the gazebo. She picked up the gun from her lap and pointed it at Rosetta's face. "Get out."

"Is Domi here?”

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