I put my favorite pearl earrings on. What I love most about them? They go well with everything. I bought them when I visited Paris. I fell in love with the pair as soon as I set my eyes on them. They reminded me of a pair my mother had but never wore. They sat at the bottom of her jewellery box, but sometimes I'd catch her staring at them. I never gave it a second thought; I never thought that they were valuable. Where would she even get the money to buy a real pair of pearl and diamond earrings? Now, I figured that they were probably gifted to her by my father. So much has happened since I left Italy. I settled down in Lisbon, until I decided I could no longer stay. It was a beautiful city, and I loved the food more than anything. But there was something missing, and that was something Lisbon had in common with every city I traveled to. They were marvelous in all aspects, but they just didn't feel like home. That all changed when I met Eric.He was an American living in Vienna. We
Eighteen Years BeforeVenice, ItalyFrediano Giaccobbe was on his knees in front of Giotto Puglia. There was a huge gash on his forehead and blood trickled down his pale face, and there was a bullet wound on his side. He was dying and he knew it. Giotto pointed a gun at him and his finger rested on the trigger. "You smell like a dead man, Frediano."He suppressed the urge to laugh. He couldn't speak, he could only shake his head and wheeze. Already his vision was blurry. There was no more pain. He could only think of his family.Vivia, his beloved wife, and his little girls, Chiara and Amalia. The thought of never seeing them again broke his heart to pieces. The realization that he would die without holding them one last time brought tears to his eyes. He recalled briefly the last conversation he had with Vivia, to keep the girls safe and leave Venice. He begged her to leave and never return. To hide somewhere Giotto would never find them. He did not know where they would go, he asked
Eighteen Years LaterSomewhere in Basilicata I take a deep breath through my nose. There's nothing like spring. The scent of flowers is in the air and I can't get enough of it. Mother loves flowers, so I grew up knowing how to care for them and loving them with all my heart."Chiara, get in here!" I hear her say. "It's time for the soap opera."I drop the watering can and I wipe my hands on my apron. Amalia is already seated on the couch popping olives in her mouth and Mother takes a seat next to her. She turns to me. "Tonight's the grand finale. We'll find out if Carlo and Flora will marry.""Of course they will," I roll my eyes. "The protagonists always end up together." Lia throws an olive at me. Lia. I’ve always called her that. "Don't ruin it for us. Just because you don't believe in love, it doesn't mean we don't.""Amalia, don't talk that way to your sister,” Mother warns. Lia and I always bicker. It's inevitable. We just have different views on everything. She rolls her eyes
"Shut your mouth!" He tells me and reaches to pull my hair. He holds a huge chunk of it between his fist. "Or I'll blow your brains out right here." He points the gun at my neck and I have no choice but to remain quiet. I think of mother and Lia. Where are they? Who is this man? Is he a burglar? We don't have anything valuable here. My mother doesn't own a single ring. She sold her wedding ring to pay bills. We don't have anything. What could he possibly want from us? He drags me out of my room and ahead of me, I see another strange man dragging Lia. I scream her name and the man pulls harder on my hair. "Last warning, bitch." Despair overtakes me. No, this can't be happening. Who are these people? What do they want? I’ve never been sworn at before, not like this. Mother is already in the living room. She's on her knees, and a third man has a gun pointed right at her face. "No!" I shout. "Leave my mother alone!" The man taps the gun against my head, but I am beyond caring. This is
I wake up with a head splitting migraine. I wish I could say that I don't remember a thing that happened. That I didn't see my family, my sister and my mother, killed right before my eyes. The image is so vivid, so suffocating that I could scratch my own eyes out. Sobs wrack my body and the pain on my side worsens. It won't stop. The memory keeps replaying over and over in my head. I can't believe they're gone. I can't believe they're dead. Killed by mongrels. There's a hole in my chest so big I'm surprised I'm not dead yet. How can I live with this? How can I live with the fact that they died and I lived? That my life was spared by some criminal. Lia was supposed to have lived, not me. I can't live with this. I'm not strong enough to take this.I should be dead.I think I'm in the trunk of a car, because I'm in a moving vehicle and it's very dark. Some light is seeping through, so I know it's daytime. My hands and feet are bound, so I can't move. At this point, I don't care what they
Darkness. I open my eyes and once again I can't see a thing. There's light seeping through the holes in the trunk, and the car is still on the move. At this point, I don't know how much time has passed, or worse, where I'm even headed to. Everything feels like a hazy dream I'll never wake up from. When I think of Giotto Puglia, my blood boils, and my blood pressure spikes. I grit my teeth so hard I think I chip a tooth. That man, who does he think he is? How could he have ordered my entire family killed? At this point, I wish I was dead. I wish I hadn't been alive to live through this. They'll force me to marry that capo, the one who was there when my family was killed. As if I was nobody. I don't know how, but I'll make that man pay for what he's done to me and my family. He will not go unscathed. He ruined my life, and one day, I will ruin his. It feels like an eternity and a half has passed. The car stops occasionally, but I don't dare scream for help anymore. It's not amounting
I wake up with a start. The room is much lighter than before, so it's safe to assume it's daytime. I note that the door is still closed and that is a small comfort. But anyone could have walked in while I was sleeping. I didn't wake up once. I couldn't sense anything, I was out like a light. This thought haunts my peace of mind, so I brush it aside for now. I don't know what to do, so I start by washing my face. The t-shirt I wore yesterday is crumpled, so I change it to a darker one. I sit back down on the bed and stare at the closed door. Now that I got the chance to rest, I can think more clearly. I don't want to go back out there, but what choice do I have? I can't stay in here forever. Eventually, this haven I've created for myself will crumble to pieces, and I'll have to face whatever awaits me behind that door. I think of that Enzo and how I'm supposed to marry him. It makes me sick. How can I marry that man? He's a criminal, a killer. My first task will be to prevent that f
Fabrizio is in the living room watching another documentary. I can't focus enough to figure out what it is. Last night, I was so certain and confident that my plan would work and that I would have the courage to see it through, but now that I'm awake and he's on the other side of the door, I'm nervous. What if this doesn't work? I can't afford to fail. I have to try. And if I happen to fail, I'll try again. This can't be the end. This isn't how I end up. Someone has to avenge my family and that's me. The authorities will help me with that. I just need to get to them first. I keep my door on the knob and I urge myself to open it. When I do, the door swings open and I lose my balance but I manage not to fall to the floor. Fabrizio is on the couch but he doesn't even look up. I see that the food he brought yesterday is still on the counter, so that facilitates things. I walk to the kitchen and grab the can of tomato soup. I open one of the cupboards and I find a small pot. I open some