Page 110 of Vita Mia

“I said don’t trust anyone.”

“Where did you hear that?”

Kyra stared at her. “Renaldo. He told me if things were to ever get bad. Really bad. He said it was just me and him. He said not to trust anyone. Sounds like advice you need to hear too.”

Mirabella remembered Giovanni whispering the same words to her before. She nodded. Kyra smiled at her. “If I get Renaldo out of this. When I get Renaldo out of this, we’re going to Cuba.”

“Why Cuba?” she asked.

“You can disappear on that small island. I have a friend in New York that explained to me how it can be done. We’re going off the grid and living there, in peace. I want you to have Giovanni release him. Kick him out of the mafia, give me my husband.”

Mirabella nodded in agreement.

“I’ll get Anissa and Luca. We should leave. It’s a long drive back to Sorrento.”

“Stay? For dinner?”

“I don’t think so. Thanks for offering.”

“Kyra wait, please.”

Kyra paused. “Don’t Mirabella. I don’t want any sympathy or apologies.”

“I’m not going to apologize. I just left that prison. You wouldn’t believe what’s left of my husband in there. If you think for one-second any of this is easy for me or Giovanni then you never knew us at all. We lived the life they were born into and we did what he had to do to survive. I’m not going to feel bad about it, and I sure as hell won’t let you come in here and try to shame me over it.”

“I never—”

“Not out of some superiority, but because I truly understand Kyra. I understand your anger, your fear, all of it. I really do understand. Renaldo needs you. He’s right. You can trust anyone but him. And he can trust no one but you, so you fight for him. Because I’m going to do everything in my power to fight for Giovanni. Just as Marietta did for Lorenzo. I was angry and judgmental of her for shooting Giovanni. Part of me can’t forgive her. But after visiting that jail today I learned there is nothing I won’t do to save him. To the very end. How was my sister any different?”

Kyra stared at her for a moment. She nodded and walked off to get her little girl. Mirabella looked down at Leeza who chewed on the ear of her teddy bear. Her baby girl lifted her arms up to her. “Someone needs a bath too.”

Leeza nodded her head yes.

Mirabella chuckled. She waited to say her goodbye to Kyra and the children. Luca had grown so much. He looked just like Renaldo. She told Kyra she would have the accountants call her. The women gave a parting hug that was void of the feeling and trust they had once shared for years. But Mirabella genuinely wished her well. And then she set aside her sadness and focused on her children. After they were fed and all in bed she found the place too quiet, so she put on a Jazz record and opened a bottle of wine. She sat down at the kitchen table and drank the bottle empty. Then she curled up on the sofa and tried not to dream.

Chapter Nineteen

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