Yes, he did. Out of nowhere, like a blowing wind that you can’t see, a renewed enthusiasm overcame him. The passion he expressed, written on those white sheets of paper; the feelings in his heart, and the love deep within him, exploded. Yes, I will use the love within my heart. Will it be enough to heal my memory of Sydney or will it only cause me more pain?
He parked his car in the garage of the office building. Head high, Paolo walked to his office. Matt, the attendant, opened the door for him. “Good morning, Mr. DeLaurentis. How was your vacation?”
“Good morning to you, Matt. Let’s just say my vacation was enlightening.”
“Have an excellent day.”
“You too, Matt.”
“Good morning, Rebecca. Did you miss me?”
“Why, of course I did. How was your vacation?”
“Do I really need to answer that?” Rebecca shook her head no, not knowing what to say. “I know Jim spoke to you.”
“I’m sorry, Paolo.”
“It’s okay. Any messages?”
“Yes, Arnaud has called you several times.”
“Really? He called my cell phone several times too but didn’t leave a message. I’m sure he’s pissed off at me. I left the hotel maid a substantial tip. To be honest with you, Beck, I really don’t want to talk with anyone.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied. “My old boss is back,” she whispered.
“I heard that.”
Inside his office, Paolo gazed out the window. He noticed two men standing on the street corner. They seemed out of place. “Paolo, your son is on the phone.” Rebecca’s voice chirped on the intercom.
“Hi, Giacomo, how are you feeling?”
“I’m doing great, Dad. Shoulder is a little sore but other than that, doing great. How are you, Dad? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Good days and bad days, but overall I’m fine. When are you coming home? Your sister and I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“By the end of the summer.”
“Be careful, my son. I love you.”
“Love you too, Dad.”
Paolo hung up the phone. A tear crept down the side of his face. “Be careful, my son,” he whispered. Paolo pressed the intercom and summoned Rebecca.
She walked into his office. “Yes, Paolo?”
“What is my schedule over the next two months?”
Rebecca, always prepared, had a copy of his lecture schedule. “Next week, April 15, in Providence; April 22, here at Yale; Columbia, April 24; Boston College, May 11; and your last one, NYU on May 17.”
“I guess I’ll be a little busy.”
“Paolo?”
“Yes, Rebecca?”
“Did I ever tell you how much I like working with you?”
A broad smile crossed Paolo’s face. “No, you didn’t, and isn’t that my line?”
“Yes, I thought I’d beat you to the punch.”
“Funny.”
“Anything else?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes, one other thing,” Paolo paused.
“Yes?”
“Rebecca, have I ever—”
Rebecca shook her head and walked out of his office before he could finish the question.
CHAPTER 70
THE UNIVERSITY SPEAKER circuit paid Paolo a considerable amount of money; his fee ranged from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per lecture. He kept up with his philanthropic efforts, and donated fifty percent of the money to various civic causes. The remainder of his fee was given back to that university’s general scholarship fund.
The topic of his speeches was “The declining economic morality of corporate America.” The lectures were an enormous success among the university population. Contrary to popular opinion, the youth of the day wanted answers to the meaning of life. Paolo discussed with the student body the need to give back to society. Paolo stipulated there was nothing wrong with being wealthy, but openly flaunting your financial status only builds upon the greed of society. He told the students: “Your responsibility to society is not to hoard and loathe the poor, the needy, and the sick. Your responsibility is the opposite—to give back to society openly with a true, charitable heart.”
Paolo arrived at his office. Rebecca followed him to his desk. “How did it go today in Providence?”
“It went well. Dean Richards asked me to give the commencement speech next year. I wrote the date down here.” Paolo handed Rebecca a piece of paper with the date and time of the Providence College graduation.
“You must be pleased.”
“I am.”
“Then why do you look so worried?”
“Just something I saw—or I should say, someone I saw.”
“Who did you see?”
“Secret Service agents.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. My best guess is they’re protecting me from being hounded by the media. After the president mentioned my name, he felt bad about the slip.”
“That could be. We’ve been called by just about every news organization out there. Even though it’s been six months, we still get calls.”
“Strange…I guess it kinda makes sense. Can you get me some Advil?”
“Sure, no problem.”
Rebecca came back in the office with a glass of water and the Advil. Paolo looked straight ahead.
“Paolo, Paolo.”
“Oh, thanks, Rebecca.” He took the medicine from her hands and with a swig of water, downed the pills.
“You know you were zoning out?”
“Yep. Has Arnaud called back?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“What was your talk about?”
“For the first time I talked about love and the need to give back to society and how we are a misguided people. I ended the speech by saying you can change the deplorable moral attitude of society with a simple act of unconditional love.”
“That sounds great. What was their reaction?”
“Are you ready for this? A standing ovation.”
“Impressive.”
Paolo swiveled his chair and stared out the window at the New Haven Green. He thought of Sydney. A moment later, his cell phone rang, then stopped. It was Sydney. He didn’t answer the phone.
CHAPTER 71
THAT NIGHT PAOLO sat in his study. The doorbell rang. To his pleasant surprise, his son and daughter had come to visit.
“Giacomo, Rio, what a great surprise.” There was something wrong; Paolo could see it in their faces. Rio had a tear in her eye. Paolo tried to ignore the foreboding sense within him. His son and daughter walked into the foyer.
“Dad, we need to talk.”
“Sure, Giacomo. Come on in—but first, let me take a good look at you.” He hugged his son tightly, then released him, tears in his eyes. “Come, let’s go to the study.” He walked ahead of them, as if he were going to his execution.
“Okay guys, what’s up?”
“Sit down, Dad.”
Paolo sat on the couch. Rio sat next to him. “Is my mother dead?”
“No, Dad…it’s Sydney.”
“What do you mean, Sydney?”
“She never came home from Paris.”
“What! What do you mean?” He jumped off the couch and reached for his cell phone, his hand shaking.
Giacomo reached over and took the phone out of his hands. “Dad, Sydney has been kidnapped.”
“What? By whom? That can’t be—she called me. Look at my phone log—she called me today. Look, Giacomo, look—she called me.” His eyes filled with tears. “She called me.” His voice was somber, almost a whisper. “She called me.”
Rio wrapped her arms around her father. She held back a deep sob. Her lower lip quivered as she said the words. “She’s dead, Dad.”
Paolo slumped to the floor. “No, no, she can’t be. Not my Sydney. No.” He sobbed. His children sat with him on the floor and cried with their father.
An hour went by. Paolo stood and looked out the window
. His children sat on the couches. “Tell me, Giacomo, what happened?”
“Rio got a phone call from Lisa last week asking when you and Sydney were coming home. She had forgotten the date.”
Rio explained, “I knew you were already home and originally not expected to be back until tomorrow. I didn’t know what to say, so I told her tomorrow. Then I called Giacomo and told him.”
“When I put a trace on her name, the customs computer showed she never reentered the country. At the same time, Rami received a phone call from Arnaud Chambery saying that the security cameras at the Meurice had captured Sydney being pushed into a black car.”
“Now I understand why Arnaud was trying to reach me.”
“Yes, he mentioned that. He was extremely upset. Rami told him we would contact you.”
“Were you able to get facial recognition on the kidnappers?”
Giacomo hesitated, “Yes…the man who pushed her was a Middle Eastern by the name of Duman. The man inside the vehicle was Colin Payne.”
“What? Payne? He’s dead.”
“We thought so too, Dad.”
“That son of a bitch.” Paolo’s face was red with anger. “That son of a bitch. Do we know where he is?”
“No.”
Paolo’s voice choked, “Where’s Sydney’s body?”
“We don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“We don’t know. Arnaud and his people are looking for the body.”
A hint of hope was in Paolo’s voice. “How do you know she’s dead, then?”
“We received a picture of her dead body several hours ago.”
“Oh,” his voice trailed off. “She’s not dead.”
“What, Dad?”
“She’s not dead, Rio, she’s not.” He sobbed. “I want to see the picture, Giacomo.”
“Dad, that’s not a good idea.”
“Giacomo.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Any contact with Payne?’
“Yes—a simple untraceable email.”
“What did it say?”
“Nothing, Dad.”
“Tell me. I want to know.” Paolo’s gaze was uncompromising.
“It said, ‘I told you, you have to be careful with whom you associate. You picked the wrong side. You thought you could use your gift against me. Think again.’”
“That son of a bitch. Do we have any idea where he is?”
“No. The DGSE and Arnaud are searching.”
“That’s why the Secret Service agents are watching me?”
“Yes, Dad, as well as Rio. We have deployed BOET personnel around Brewster just in case.”
“Alright. I’m going to get changed, then I’m going to tell Lisa and Andrew.”
“I’ll go with you, Dad.”
“Thanks, Rio.”
“I have to get back to Washington. I’ll be back in a couple of days.”
“Okay.” He hugged his son, “Be careful.”
“Don’t worry about me, Dad.”
Paolo went upstairs and showered.
To Paolo’s dismay, Giacomo shredded the gruesome photo of his father’s true love without showing it to him, for no one should have to bear that much pain. Paolo forgave his son but denied Sydney was dead. In his heart, she was alive.
CHAPTER 72
A MONTH HAD GONE by since Sydney’s memorial service in late April. The body was never found. Paolo still lived in denial. His love for Sydney was real and his heart still ached. The long nights, the absence of her in his life, overpowered him. He continued to write about her; the thoughts and feelings became his lectures. Paolo folded the little white pieces of paper etched with his words. At night, he’d gather them and place them in the fireplace. The bundled papers gathered dust, waiting for the first cold winter night.
Paolo honored his lecture circuit dates and his speeches were a success. The news traveled and his office and agent were inundated with offers for him to speak at universities throughout the country. He longed to spend a portion of the fall season in Ottati, in the mountains of Italy, where the air was fresh and clean and life was simple.
The speaking engagements were Paolo’s way of escaping the heartache. He found himself once again a sought-after commodity—not for his business acumen this time, but for the moral betterment of those who attended his talks. Paolo’s spoken words were published in school newspapers. Word traveled fast. By chance, the secretary-general of the United Nations attended one of Paolo’s lectures. Impressed with the message, he arranged to meet with Paolo. After their three-hour meeting, he invited Paolo to speak before the General Assembly.
“Good morning, Mr. President.”
“Good morning, Paolo, how are you?”
“I’m well, sir. You and your family?”
“Everyone is fine. I want you to know that I support your talk before the General Assembly. Go light some fires, my friend.”
“Thank you, Mr. President, I will.”
Paolo looked out from the podium. It was his last talk before he left for Italy. The members and guests of the United Nations sat before him. The translation rooms filled with translators and assembly members donned their headsets. The room was packed; there was standing room only. Rio sat next to Sergio and the Italian representative. Paolo reached for the glass of water to his right, took a sip, and began.
“I stand before you and I see the people of the world—a world that has gone to hell, a world that we have made, we have manufactured. Each and every one of us has contributed to the pain and suffering of people. We, the inhabitants of this planet—a place where we are only visitors—have succumbed to the subtleties of evil.”
Paolo paused. Unsettled, the audience moved in their seats. “Strong words, yes. They are meant to be. It is time that we as a people, brothers and sisters of this planet, unite and defeat the hatred, selfishness, and greed of humanity. The time has come to stop the evil of the world.
“We must realize that evil exists and that our minds have been influenced over time by tiny lies that have been carried through the generations. Our minds are so confused that we don’t even recognize what evil is. Simply put, evil is the opposite of love. When we destroy, when we disregard the poor, the lowly, and the destitute, when we trample on one another to attain our own agenda, an agenda that hurts and destroys—that is evil.
“If we believe in God, a higher being, whatever you want to call it—for me, God—then this nonsense has got to stop. For what purpose do we exist? To fight God’s battles? No, God is greater than us. He doesn’t need us—we need him.
“We exist to love one another, to forgive, to live in peace, to live a simple life and to love God. I warn you, if we don’t start today to bring peace, share love, and forgive one another, we will destroy our world, our people. A time will come when devastating events will take place that will forever change us. My fear is that the last eulogy of mankind has begun.” Paolo’s voice began to crack and a tear welled in his eye. “The evilness of man is a one-way ticket to our destruction. We must begin to love today, to throw away our history of indifference and begin anew—before God does it for us. Time is short, eternity is forever. There is a hell, and there is a heaven. Where do you want to spend your eternity?” Paolo paused to wipe a tear from his eye. “I love you and ask that the love you have inside of you be released from the prison of evil and given to your fellow man. Thank you.”
A tumultuous standing ovation erupted. For one moment in time, the representatives of the countries of the world experienced love for one another. Paolo’s words touched the members of the one hundred and ninety-two states in a way that forever changed the world organization.
The message Paolo presented was published in the world’s newspapers and drew critical acclaim. His words did not go unheeded by corporate magnates. Increasingly, CEOs began to donate vast amounts of money to help fund society’s needs. Though the liberal media knocked his philosophical talks of love and for
giveness as bunk, one couldn’t dispute that Paolo spoke the truth. Paolo’s lectures were contrary to the syllabus taught in the hallowed halls of the universities. Paolo’s insight about liberalism took hold with the youth of the day. He continually attacked society’s idealism with his message of love. Paolo shared with his audiences in unbridled terms that their era was coming to a rapid conclusion. A period of devastating consequences to humankind would begin. He spoke of the tribulations about to occur. He made sure everyone understood humankind was at fault. Man’s failure to recognize the subtleness of evil, the rejection of God, would be its cause. Paolo was careful not to divulge the tragic consequences that would transpire. He continued to proclaim, not preach. It was too late for a sermon. The priests, ministers, rabbis, and imams of the world had already spoken homilies from the pulpit to the deaf ears of their congregations.
Paolo spoke not of bitterness; instead, he talked of hope, love, and perseverance. The events documented in his journal, though painful, would establish a better earth. Humanity would experience a cleansing, an awakening realization that God exists. Over seventy-five percent of the population believed a new way of life beckoned humankind, if only humankind would open its eyes wide enough to see the meaning of life.
CHAPTER 73
THE LAST WEEK in August was particularly cool. Paolo kept to himself, still driven by the denial of Sydney’s death. He often had lunch with Tony and Steve, and had dinner with Rio on most nights. Sundays he saw his mother, brothers, nieces and nephews. Outside of that, he had become estranged from the world. For the second year in a row, he wasn’t going to attend the pig roast. He gave his apologies. His friends understood. Ottati Consulting would soon become Rio’s business; her desire was to continue in her father’s footsteps and help society. On the first of October, Paolo would venture to Ottati, where he planned to spend some time relaxing.
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