Could you handle living forever, knowing you would watch your friends grow old and die?<br><br>These are questions newly minted Doctor Marco Sartori d’Argenzio must face when he and his partner Danilo Rosati celebrate Marco’s completed residency and Danilo’s most recent PhD with a vacation at Marco’s father’s home in the Duchy of Aragoni. There Marco learns about his family’s legacy: his father is more than two thousand years old, and he can expect to live just as long.<br><br>Marco inherits his uncle’s title amidst adventure and danger, but it breaks his heart to realize that he’ll live only to see the man he’s loved for a decade grow old and die. However, there is hope: Danilo is studying the unique DNA of Marco’s family in hops of discovering the secret -- because Danilo has no intention of leaving Marco alone for what could be forever.

The Path to Forever

“Certainly. If la Signora Contessawill permit, I would like to come to her villa later and take formal statements from all of you.”


“We will be at your service, Captain,” Grandmother said. “If you time your arrival just so, we might even offer you dinner.”


With that, we left the hospital. Driving the big Mercedes through the narrow streets of the oldest portion of Siena was a bit dicey, but no more so than driving a car in many parts of Boston. We dropped Sal off and headed out of town.


When we were out in the open country and I’d collected my thoughts, I decided to express them. “Grandmother,” I said, “I can’t help but feel that what happened is my fault. If I hadn’t brought my mother to the villa, none of this would have happened.”


Chapter 51