In 1898, driven by dreams of fame and fortune, adventure, and true love, three brothers left their beloved Calabria and all of its economic woes--including the dreaded Mafia--behind. First stop is Marseille in France and then to the United States, where the brothers hope to achieve their dreams.
Life in this strange new world is a huge challenge to the brothers, and they find that even in their new home, even worse demons pursue them. The Pittsburgh Sicilian Mafia, known as the Cosa Nostra, relies on deadly and brutal punishment to maintain complete control over the Italians there. The Cudoni brothers, together with their cousins, work together to carve out a new, peaceful, and prosperous life, but their vow to never pay the Cosa Nostra extortion money comes with high consequences.
One of the brothers, Filippo, is torn between his homeland and his new home with a new love. In America, he loses his heart to Angelina, a tall beautiful Italian girl. Their love is hot, passionate, and intense, but when her father learns of his plans to marry her and possibly return to Italy, he forbids the marriage taking place. Angelina is devastated that Filippo's wish to return to Italy is stronger than his love for her.
Filippo leaves Pittsburgh and throws himself into work and into the arms of his boss's daughter, Tracy. Meanwhile, Angelina, now a heartbroken mess, promises to marry Bruno Curcio. When Tracy, gets serious, Filippo cools this affair and, returning to Pittsburgh, has a secret stand with Angelina just before her wedding to Curcio, a coward at heart, who was nearly killed by the Cosa Nostra a few months earlier. Filippo attends the wedding but promises Curcio he will not interfere with them as he will be returning to Italy.
He renews a short relationship with Tracy but soon finds himself back in the arms and bed of Angelina, and after a fight with Curcio and the Cosa Nostra, he returns to Italy.
In Italy Filippo meets Rosina, a soft-spoken beautiful "twin cousin" to Angelina. They fall in love, and he promises her he will come back from the US and marry her, but the Mafia in Calabria want him dead before he is able to leave.
