Chapter 46

GENOA, ITALY

Then

The night after his fight with his father, after his fight with Giovanna, Vincenzo woke to the sound of his mother screaming. “He’s not breathing! He’s not breathing!”

Before he even understood the words, before he even checked the time, he felt the panic in her voice and went running. “I’m coming, Mamma!” he shouted as he threw off the blanket and raced down the hall.

By the time he got to his mother’s side, he knew that his father was gone. The conte’s face was entirely still. His chest wasn’t rising and falling. His skin was waxy and pale.

“He’s cold, Vincenzino, he’s cold,” his mother said through her tears.

Vincenzo wrapped his arms around her, and she wrapped hers around him.

All Vincenzo could think was that this referendum had killed his father.

And maybe he had, too.