Chapter 11

Our daughter was born on a Tuesday in November, in the private medical wing of the Calabresi compound. I named her Valentina Serena Calabresi. Valentina—not for Luca's family, but for the word itself. Valor. Strength. A name that belonged to her and no one else. My mother held her first. Then my father, who cradled her with hands that had done terrible things and whispered, "You will never know fear, little one. I promise you that." I called Marco—not Luca—and told him the baby had arrived...