brother” bomb was dropped.
“You
noticed that Luca and I are not alike, in looks or manner, didn’t you?”
“Well,
I do know your mother and Luca’s were not one in the same,” Gaby said
shyly. She was eager to know, but their
friendship was still too new and fragile for her to come right out and ask what
made Luca lose his temper so severely about his mother.
Carmina
looked down at her coffee cup and played with the spoon. “I guess not being from here you don’t know
the gossip or history of the Manetti’s.”
Placing
her hand on top of Carmina’s, she could tell it was obviously not a story that
held much joy for her in repeating. “Carmina, you don’t have to tell me.”
“No,”
she replied looking up into Gaby’s eyes. “In fact, by telling you, you may just change your opinion of my brute
of a brother; for the pain was more his, than mine. You see, Luca’s mother was not a good
person. According to our Nonna, her disappearing from Luca’s life
was a blessing –although sometimes I’m not so sure. For good or bad, she was his mother.”
“She
died when he was four?”
“Yes. And unfortunately our Nonna has not been exactly silent when it comes to keeping her
opinion to herself with regard to what happened.”
Carmina
began to tell her the complex and agonising story. Luca’s mother had been American. She was a young model and actress who came to
Italy to star in a second-rate TV movie and had met the late Count Manetti when
the Villa was used as a backdrop for one of the movies party scenes.
It
was love at first sight, a whirlwind romance of the most passionate and
optimistic kind. The tabloids went
haywire. And within two months, the model turned actress, Lana Rogers, became a
Countess, a high society hostess, and… an expectant mother.
It
was all too much for a twenty-two year old to handle. She said she was homesick; she missed her
friends and family. Within weeks of having Luca, she insisted on a solitary
trip back to Los Angeles to supposedly visit family. Her trip became more and more extended and
very soon she abandoned all pretext of ever wanting to return.
Stories
of all night partying and adultery made their way back to Italy, larger than
life and in full color via the very tabloids that had called their pairing “the
love affair of the decade”. When at last
the Count gave her an ultimatum and demanded she come home, Lana had
refused. She didn’t want to be a
Countess, a wife, or a mother. She
wanted to be a star. She wanted to be free of him and Luca.
Her
wild ways continued. Drugs, alcohol and
the wrong people invaded her world. It
was only a matter of time till one or the other would end her existence. Her life was ended at twenty-seven; dying by
a former lovers’ hand in a murder-suicide.
Carmina’s
mother had come into the Count’s life a few years later. She was the complete opposite of Lana. Older, kinder, unselfish to a fault; she
loved the Count with all her heart. The
fact that she was divorced with a small child was a moot point. Everyone knew what the Count’s first wife had
been like, and wished him the best.
Carmina
was Luca’s sister in every way but blood. Her mother had given him all the love his own hadn’t, and he grew from a
sullen and withdrawn child into an outgoing and charming teenager under her
tutelage. After the Count lost his
battle with cancer, she died within months of him. They were partners in death as in life it
would seem.
Luca’s
disdain and anger towards his own mother remained intact through the
years. Sure, he hid it well behind his
smooth exterior, and those who knew him socially saw nothing of the pain and
heartache. But his hatred for all things
American ran deep. As a little boy he believed that America had stolen his
mother back, corrupted and killed her. As a man, he knew better, but couldn’t come to grips with the fact
“You
noticed that Luca and I are not alike, in looks or manner, didn’t you?”
“Well,
I do know your mother and Luca’s were not one in the same,” Gaby said
shyly. She was eager to know, but their
friendship was still too new and fragile for her to come right out and ask what
made Luca lose his temper so severely about his mother.
Carmina
looked down at her coffee cup and played with the spoon. “I guess not being from here you don’t know
the gossip or history of the Manetti’s.”
Placing
her hand on top of Carmina’s, she could tell it was obviously not a story that
held much joy for her in repeating. “Carmina, you don’t have to tell me.”
“No,”
she replied looking up into Gaby’s eyes. “In fact, by telling you, you may just change your opinion of my brute
of a brother; for the pain was more his, than mine. You see, Luca’s mother was not a good
person. According to our Nonna, her disappearing from Luca’s life
was a blessing –although sometimes I’m not so sure. For good or bad, she was his mother.”
“She
died when he was four?”
“Yes. And unfortunately our Nonna has not been exactly silent when it comes to keeping her
opinion to herself with regard to what happened.”
Carmina
began to tell her the complex and agonising story. Luca’s mother had been American. She was a young model and actress who came to
Italy to star in a second-rate TV movie and had met the late Count Manetti when
the Villa was used as a backdrop for one of the movies party scenes.
It
was love at first sight, a whirlwind romance of the most passionate and
optimistic kind. The tabloids went
haywire. And within two months, the model turned actress, Lana Rogers, became a
Countess, a high society hostess, and… an expectant mother.
It
was all too much for a twenty-two year old to handle. She said she was homesick; she missed her
friends and family. Within weeks of having Luca, she insisted on a solitary
trip back to Los Angeles to supposedly visit family. Her trip became more and more extended and
very soon she abandoned all pretext of ever wanting to return.
Stories
of all night partying and adultery made their way back to Italy, larger than
life and in full color via the very tabloids that had called their pairing “the
love affair of the decade”. When at last
the Count gave her an ultimatum and demanded she come home, Lana had
refused. She didn’t want to be a
Countess, a wife, or a mother. She
wanted to be a star. She wanted to be free of him and Luca.
Her
wild ways continued. Drugs, alcohol and
the wrong people invaded her world. It
was only a matter of time till one or the other would end her existence. Her life was ended at twenty-seven; dying by
a former lovers’ hand in a murder-suicide.
Carmina’s
mother had come into the Count’s life a few years later. She was the complete opposite of Lana. Older, kinder, unselfish to a fault; she
loved the Count with all her heart. The
fact that she was divorced with a small child was a moot point. Everyone knew what the Count’s first wife had
been like, and wished him the best.
Carmina
was Luca’s sister in every way but blood. Her mother had given him all the love his own hadn’t, and he grew from a
sullen and withdrawn child into an outgoing and charming teenager under her
tutelage. After the Count lost his
battle with cancer, she died within months of him. They were partners in death as in life it
would seem.
Luca’s
disdain and anger towards his own mother remained intact through the
years. Sure, he hid it well behind his
smooth exterior, and those who knew him socially saw nothing of the pain and
heartache. But his hatred for all things
American ran deep. As a little boy he believed that America had stolen his
mother back, corrupted and killed her. As a man, he knew better, but couldn’t come to grips with the fact
Similar Books
