PROLOGUE
CIRO – 5 YEARS OLD
Mamma whispered on the telephone,trying to hide her anger. But I knew she was upset with Papà because he wouldn’t give her permission to take me into town for lunch.
“Alessio. My love. It will only be a couple of hours. We’ll be home before you.” She smiled at me and held her finger up, telling me to wait.
I nodded and spun the wheels on my car. Maybe I shouldn’t have begged to go out. It was my fault they were arguing.
But I never got to go anywhere with only Mamma. Papà went places for work alone, and he took us out when he was home. I didn’t like feeling like a caged animal and needing protection.
“We’ll have protection, Alessio. You don’t need to worry. We’ll be just fine.” Mamma took her handbag off the desk and her sunglasses. “Yes, my love. See you soon, amore mio.” She hung up the phone.
“Can we go?” I asked, my heart filled with hope and excitement.
“Sì, Tesoro. We can go.”
I jumped up and down, clapping.
Minutes later, we were in the sedan with our driver and bodyguard in the front seats. I sat on my knees peering out of the window watching the countryside pass. The sky was blue, not a cloud in sight.
“Are you happy, Ciro?”
“Sì, Mamma. Is Papà angry with you?” If he was, I would feel guilty. I didn’t like it when they argued, which wasn’t often.
My parents were very much in love, always hugging and kissing in front of me. I made faces and pretended I didn’t like it, but I did. Papà treated Mamma like a queen. He adored her and she adored him, and they both adored me, their little Italian prince, Ciro.
I was an only child. For reasons I didn’t understand, Mama never had another baby. I wished she would because I would like to have a brother and a sister.
“No, he isn’t angry. He just worries about us because he loves us very much.” She caressed my cheek, The way her brown eyes sparkled reminded me of the chocolate truffles Papà would bring back from his trips to France.
Papà was a very busy man and traveled the world a lot. Before I was born, Mamma would go with him, but after she had me, Papà wanted her to stay home to keep me safe.
“Is the world dangerous?” I asked her.
“That is an interesting question.” She considered me a long moment. “There are bad people, but there are a lot more good people in the world. You should never be afraid.”
I sat on my bottom. “Papà is always worried about us.”
“Because he doesn’t want to lose us.”
“Why would he lose us?” I didn’t understand how we could get lost if we had Placido and Roberto with us. They followed Mamma and me everywhere.
“You’re too young to understand, Tesoro. But when you love someone as much as Papà loves us, fear of never seeing that person again will consume you. He doesn’t want us to die.”
“I won’t die!” I shouted. “You won’t either, Mamma.”
“That’s what I tell him, but still, he worries.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted. Papà shouldn’t think about us dying. That seemed very bad to me. He should only think happy thoughts.
“Signora,” Placido called to Mamma. He sounded weird.
“What is it, Placido?” Mamma leaned forward to see what was ahead of us.
“Looks like car trouble,” he replied.
“Well, help them.” She sat back and took my hand. Her scent embraced me like a soothing hug. She was the most beautiful woman with dark brown hair like mine. Her favorite colors were orange and pink because they reminded her of sunsets.
