The Venetian Daughter: Incredibly gripping World War Two Italian historical fiction by Ella Carey

Author:Ella Carey [Carey, Ella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781835256787
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2024-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Jack insists on coming with me to my family’s palazzo once the sun is fully up in the sky. We stick close to each other as I lead us home on instinct. When we come to the back entrance, we hide. But there is no Nazi standing guard, and after a while, we move forward, only to come to a stop. There are voices coming from the garden inside the boundary wall. They are speaking German. One of them is the blue-eyed Nazi’s voice. I recognize it as it seems to be imprinted in my memory.

The other voice is one that I would know anywhere. My heart sinks, and I close my eyes. It belongs to my eldest son.

“Lina,” Jack whispers and catches me when I almost trip over at the edge of the alleyway. Anger, guilt, sadness and wretched tears are all fighting for first place in my heart and mind. Clear as day, the voices belong to the Nazi and Nico. They are laughing! I fight down the bile that wants to course up my throat.

Jack pulls me into the shelter of a small park.

“Lina, can you keep moving?” He lowers his voice even further, holding me close. “Would you like to get some coffee? Can you make it around the corner?”

I close my eyes to steady the colors and the pulsating noises in my ears. “I am sorry. This is…”

“Don’t apologize. Never, to me.”

Would Nico have turned out like this if Arturo had lived? How am I supposed to look after Talia and Mario, when I’m not capable of raising my own?

All my instincts tell me to go back to the palazzo and speak to my confused, misguided son, but he is with a Nazi. Clearly enjoying himself. As a mother, I want to talk to him, sit down with him and explain what he is doing. All those young men who have lost their lives in the name of war, and my son is profiteering instead. I bow my head in shame. Thank goodness we got Talia and Mario out before he arrived.

Overhearing Nico and the Nazi comes on top of the dreadful news that I heard on the BBC this morning, doubling down on what feels like an impossible situation. The British have called off the American assault on the Bernhardt Line here in Italy, following heavy casualties from the fierce German resistance, and the Japanese have sunk an American submarine in the South Pacific.

And, as if on cue, the air around us, and the ground beneath our feet begins to rumble ominously.

A formation of aircraft fly over Venice. Jack and I stand in silence, waiting until the din dies down. We shade our eyes and look upward and when we do, we see the dreaded swastika painted on the side of the planes.

Jack turns to me once the aircraft have gone. “Lina, the war is going to go on regardless of what Nico chooses to do. I know it’s going to be difficult, but you must push what he is doing aside, and focus on what you can achieve.

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