“No, Love, she-” Roman shook his head. “That won’t help her now.”
Imani began to shake, her hope-filled eyes now tear-filled and spilling water onto her cheeks.
Roman kept her close, his heart aching for the woman he loved more than life. Attempting to soothe her in a mix of words that fused English and Italian, he carried her downstairs while she cried in his arms like a child.
PART I~Early Tesano~
~1~
Trento, Italy~ 1937
Liam Paolo Tesano hadn’t set out to be a man on his own in the world. It just sort of happened that way. In truth, family was very important to him. He was the middle son in a family of five sons. His parents, Luca and Constanza Tesano met when Luca returned to convalesce in a Venice hospital following the Italian Army’s expedition to China during the Boxer Rebellion of 1899.
Constanza Prezi worked as a nurse in the Venetian clinic. The gunshot wound Luca suffered near the end of the uprising in 1900, wasn’t debilitating. Still, it proved enough of an injury to have him honorably relieved of duty. When the young soldier left for his native Sicily, he took the lovely nurse for his bride.
The newlyweds weren’t long for Sicily however and spent the first 10 years of the marriage as citizens of the world. They returned to Italy with plans to make their home in a part of the old country where their families had not yet put down roots. Trento was that place.
The couple had their first child, Emilio who was swiftly followed by Giaimo. Liam was next, followed much later by twins Toriano and Micalino.
Liam had his mother to thank for his non-Italian Christian name. According to Constanza, she’d selected the name in honor of the Irish priest who had married she and Luca before they left Venice.
Luca Tesano had another theory regarding his wife’s name selection, however. As Constanza was herself a middle daughter of five daughters, Luca believed she’d chosen a name with special significance for her own middle child and as a testament to the adventurous life they had enjoyed before they were wed. He stood by the theory even after his wife pointed out that there was no way either of them could’ve known then that their third son would be a middle child.
Liam liked to believe his mother sensed an adventurous spirit in him as well. He vowed to experience such adventures...one day. Ironically, his brothers had proven to be the travelers. All had gone before him to make their way in the world.
Of course, none of that had happened until senseless tragedy struck their family. Bandits had set upon the Tesano home one night. Luca, ever the soldier, was quick to take up his rifle and engage the thieves. Constanza fought alongside her husband. By the time Liam and his brothers woke, realized what was amiss and raced to help, it was too late. Their parents were dead.
The brothers vowed revenge and there was no diverting their plans. Liam was just as angry but had urged his brothers to practice patience before racing out into potential danger. He implored them to see that their mother and father wouldn’t have wanted them to sacrifice their lives to avenge theirs.
Liam found himself outnumbered and could only look on helplessly as youngest sided with eldest. His brothers were bonded by a single desire-revenge. They set out, entrusting Liam to look after the family home while they saw to their vendettas.
The bleat of a goat in the distance was enough to draw the 17-year-old Liam from his thoughts. He was grateful for the interruption. Pondering family drama always disturbed him. That was about more than his parents’ deaths. Luca and Constanza Tesano had sacrificed a life of free-spirited excitement to put down roots for their children. When they were gone, the children had scattered without a care for the home their parents had bled for.
His brothers had gone to answer an honorable cause and they had found it. If anything, Liam thought, his brothers had proven themselves, skilled killers. He rarely allowed himself to entertain what his parents would have thought of that.
Emilio and the others had never come back. Emilio had written to encourage Liam to join them or to go seek his own place in the world. Liam had refused and it was this part of the drama that disturbed him. His parents had believed in the life they were creating for their children, but the children hadn’t believed in it.
In the end, he supposed he wasn’t the only adventurous spirit Luca and Constanza had birthed. It was a part of them all and it disturbed Liam to know he was the last thread connecting the family lost to the family that remained.
He was the final thread and he was ready to cut it. Would his own family feel the same about what he would leave behind for them in future years? He wondered.
Only time would tell. Maybe he wouldn’t saddle his seed with the chore of tending his dreams once he’d gone to meet his maker. If so, he’d make damn sure his dreams would be worth the effort.
The goat’s bleating pierced the chilly wind once more and Liam ordered himself away from his thoughts. Those ideas were far too ahead of their time for serious pondering anyway. Focused then, he forged on through the field.
Liam mused that few goats in the world drank from waters as fine as the ones found in Lake Garda. He had been watering his herd of 2 dozen along the same area of the bank for as long as he could remember. That day, some unseen force had encouraged him to seek out a new stretch along the lake. Would this adventurous awakening last? Perhaps not. That bleating sounded like an aggravation he didn’t need. Just his luck that he’d lose a member of the herd in an attempt to try new things.
The goat’s cry grew louder, more piercing. Liam knew he was getting closer to the lost buck and shook his head when he spotted his big-horned wanderer in the distance. The buck gave a start upon hearing the soft crush of grass beneath the sole of Liam’s shoe.
Liam waited for the animal to see and hopefully recognize him before he ventured closer. When the buck went back to feasting on whatever it had unearthed at the edge of the field, Liam resumed his approach.
“Corti?” He murmured, noticing the goat’s ears twitching slightly when it caught its’ owner’s voice on the wind.
“What have you got there?” Liam maintained his soft tone as he advanced. “So this part of the field is more to your liking, eh?”
Liam continued, sending an easy stream of Italian into the air. He chatted with Corti in a soft, sing-song manner. Smoothly, he uncurled the rope he’d cinched at his hip before setting off to search for the wayward animal. Soon, he was coming up alongside it. Gently, he slipped one end of the rope through a small hook at the end of the leather collar that was standard for every member of his herd.
Liam knotted the rope. “We best get out of here friend before whoever owns this wheat comes in search of payment,” he said.
Corti didn’t seem to care much about the consequences of his feast and continued to gorge himself.
Liam gave an insistent tug to the rope. “Bestia testarda,” stubborn beast, he muttered and tugged again.
Corti replied with another bleat.
“Why did you call me here, then?” Liam put more strength into the tug. “I’m about to leave you where you are, idiota. You’ll miss me when the time comes to wash all this down. Can you find your own way back to the lake, I wonder?”
Liam thought Corti’s response resembled a resigned sigh and he grinned. “Am I getting through to you now? You’ll thank me when-”
He didn’t register Corti’s next response or the fact that he hadn’t finished his own sentence. His ears and every other part of his body were fully engaged on the vision-the girl-across the field. His eyes were fixed on her and nothing else as she ran...ran toward him.
Liam felt as if his entire body were frozen in place. Well...his eyes were still very capable of movement. They made repeated trips up and down the length of the girl’s body with no indication of growing weary of the process.
She wore not a stitch of clothing. Liam didn’t think he would ever forget the sight of her racing wild and free in the stalks of wheat that grazed the middle of her thighs.
As her mad dash brought her closer, Liam had but a moment to marvel over the beauty of her face. Then, he was frowning in response to the terror that claimed it.
~2~
