A nun is violated. Twelve years later, a young Roma girl is also raped.
Both violations result in pregnancies. The nun, twin boys; the young girl, a boy – Manfri. The villain in both cases is the same man – a priest, Vittorio Alonso Orsini, years later to be appointed Archbishop of Milan.
The Orsini are a powerful family with close ties to the Vatican. They are hopeful that Vittorio will one day become Pope. Already, there have been two Orsini popes. They are anxious for a third.
But Vittorio has a dark side to him. He is a rapist.
We follow both victims over the next several decades.
Ultimately, the young Roma girl takes her revenge.