Chapter Four

The baby’s mother said that she was screaming to be fed when the little boy quieted the baby after she had woken them all up in the early hours. The two women had tried everything to calm the raging baby but all it had taken was a gentle stroke of his small hand and the soft words from his lips and the baby had fallen into a deep peaceful sleep. He had smiled up at her Mama and said confidently,

‘No, non un angelo, ma io sono il suo protettore e lo sarò sempre’ [No not an angel but I am her protector and I always will be]

The elderly woman had crossed herself at the matter-of-fact way the little boy had spoken somehow, deep in her heart, she knew the lives of these two tragic infants were inexplicably joined forever.                        As the weeks passed the little boy grew closer to the baby girl spending all his spare time near her, chatting away as if she could reply and anyone watching would have seen the little girl follow him with her eyes keeping him in view at all times. As she developed he was by her side helping her to sit up when she rolled over, helping her to stand when she was ready holding her hand and walking behind her when she took her first steps.                                                                                                                                               ‘Such beautiful children.’                                                                                                                             Anna smiled as Romero helped little Juliette to her feet for the hundredth time and she was right they were truly stunning children. Romero with his rich chestnut curls and amazing blue eyes and Juliette with her stunning red/gold hair and flashing emerald eyes that would turn to gold when she got angry. They were such unusual eyes that people in the village would comment on them asking Anna where the child had inherited them from but she would just smile and say she had no idea. She knew where those incredible cat's eyes had come from and she prayed to God every day that he would never find out because if he did he would come for her baby and she could not bear the thought of that. Anna knew she had no choice if she wanted to keep her little girl safe from the creature who had created her. It would break her heart but the knowledge that she was safe from his clutches kept her going and she made the arrangements secretly not even telling the old lady of her plans.                  

It was a week after her first birthday when the strangers appeared at the cottage and Romero could only watch in heartbroken horror as Anna handed over her daughter without a backward glance. He was too young to understand why she had had to do it all he knew was the girl he loved with all his tender young heart was gone.  Born out of such an act of violence Juliette would not see her birth Mother again until she was almost an adult but she would know her story. For all the sacrifice she made by giving up her daughter Anna would not be able to prevent the monster who created her from finally meeting his daughter.

Romero had a quiet childhood growing up in his grandmother's cottage in a little village on the coast of Sicily. He loved his ‘Nonna’ dearly and never questioned the whereabouts of his actual parents, he figured he was clever enough to understand she would tell him when she was ready, she never kept secrets from him. He went to the local school and grew up smart and popular, he knew who the Mafia were but they had no impact on his early life all he cared about was playing out with his friends and eating his Nonna’s amazing cakes. He roamed the woods and the coast growing strong from the healthy simple food that she prepared with such love and he always shared whatever she gave him with his friends. Not all of them had families who could provide the luxury baked goods his Nonna made, the village was poor with few men earning regular money. They were simple fishermen going out on their small boats in the early hours of the morning to catch their fish but they were not always successful and when they came home empty they did not get paid and everybody went without. His Nonna did what she could, her income was not dependent on the vagaries of the sea, and when she learned there had been no catch she got up in the early hours of the morning and baked bread and huge pots of nourishing stew. While the people of the village slept wondering how they would survive until the fishermen caught again she would make sure each of those families had a pot of stew and a loaf of bread so they would not starve. Romero never went without, birthdays and Christmas beautiful presents appeared as well as designer clothes Nonna ensured he got what he was owed from his family, she was not afraid of them they had all been babies she had cared for. They knew she hated the Mafia and all it stood for, she would be entering her ninetieth year soon but was still as sharp and active as a woman half her age.        

Romero was a stunningly beautiful child with dark chestnut curls and brilliant blue eyes along with a natural charm that made him many friends of both sexes. He was kind and caring, if he saw bullying at his school he intervened, he hated seeing the scared frightened faces of those children. It made him even more popular, all the girls in his class told their Mamas they wanted to marry him when they grew up. He studied hard wanting to make his Nonna proud of him, the sight of her beaming face when he won awards for coming top of the class made  his little heart swell.  He never kept secrets from Nonna, there was no point, she could see into his heart she told him and he believed her but there was one thing he buried so deep inside Nonna would never find it.