“This is war. There are always risks,” José responded. “The Austrians aren’t defending the city; the bulk of their force is up here in the north. They won’t expect us to have the grandi coglioni to take the city.”

“Grandi coglioni, ma sei pazzo? This is madness. I am not going to lead my men into a battle that they will surely lose.” His eyes swept over the map. “Rome is impenetrable. It’s been protected for centuries. The walls are too high.”

“But it has its weaknesses.” José pointed to the map. “Here and here. All we have to do is break in and it’s ours.”

“Peppino, this is madness!” Medici exclaimed. “Even if we are to find a way in, how are we going to convince the Vatican to unify?”

“We don’t have to,” José responded. “By holding Rome, we hold the power. We can show Austria and the rest of Europe that we are a force to be reckoned with. We will not be bullied any longer.”

“It’s foolish,” Medici countered. “You only want to go to Rome because you want to expel the pope.”

“And what’s so wrong with that? The Papal States are undermining everything we are doing.”

“We need more troops.”

The men stared at the map. “Peppino does make a valid point.” Paolo had kept so quiet during the exchange that everyone, me included, had forgotten that he was there. “We need Rome. That is for sure; without it, we can never become a unified country. Rome is the heart of Italy. We can’t have one sovereign nation within another.” He looked at the men. “And taking it now is a power play. If we can take Rome, we can take the rest of the peninsula.”

Medici huffed. “Just because we can take it doesn’t mean that we should. I doubt we’ll be able to hold it; we don’t have enough men.”

“I can get you more men,” Paolo said.

“How?” Medici eyed him under the messy dark curls that hung over his eyes.

Everyone followed Paolo’s gaze, which landed on me. “Her.”

I squirmed in my seat. “I don’t think I can be of much assistance.”

“No,” Paolo responded. “When you spoke in Genoa you moved the people into signing up. You were our best propaganda.”

“But you don’t need me for that. You have José.”

Paolo looked to his commander. “Think about it, Peppino. You can speak to the people, you can rouse them, but they expect that. Let them listen to your exotic wife talk of your adventures and they will be falling all over themselves to sign up.”

“Exotic?” I looked to Paolo.

“Yes.” Paolo turned to face me directly. “The people of Genoa are still talking about you. The gossip is spreading all over Italy. You are the American they all want to see.”

I struggled to find words.

“She’ll do it,” José said from behind Paolo.

“José—” I began to protest.

“Everyone needs to do their part, and you, tesoro mio, will be responsible for recruitment.”