Italian immigration officers come to arrest Eva’s Uncle Felix, whose Italian citizenship has been revoked. Felix calmly accepts their arrival and asks to pack a few personal belongings. While he is packing, Camillo and Eva question the officers about Felix’s fate. They assure them he will remain interned in Italy and not be harmed. A gunshot rings out from upstairs. The officer goes to investigate and finds that Felix has died by suicide.

Angelo presides over Felix’s funeral. He hasn’t seen Eva since his ordination, which she and the family attended. After the funeral, Eva and Angelo sit together, and she explains to him the symbolism of shivah, or the seven-day Jewish mourning period. Mourners cover the mirrors, eat certain foods, sit low to the ground to be closer to the deceased, and wear pieces of the deceased’s torn clothing pinned to theirs. Eva says she went into mourning after Angelo’s ordination. Angelo recalls his ordination service, where he took the vows of obedience, poverty, and celibacy. The next day, Angelo leaves for Rome, hoping that Eva can understand his choice.

Camillo takes Eva to the beach for the day since they can’t stay anywhere overnight. He tells her of his plan to go to Austria, rescue Otto, and bring him back to Italy to hide. Camillo has often traveled to Austria for business, which will serve as his cover. Camillo’s friend Aldo has printed fake papers for Otto and is doing the same for other Jewish refugees. Angelo will help them find a way to hide Otto. Eva is frightened that something will happen to Camillo and she will be left alone. Camillo says that Angelo will take care of her, but she disagrees.

Eva writes in her journal in September that though the Americans have entered the war, it’s not over, and Germany has recently invaded Florence. Camillo has gone to find Otto, and they haven’t heard from him, causing Eva to fear that he’s been sent to a camp. Angelo is in Florence but wants Eva to return to Rome with him for her safety and to protect Santino and Fabia. Eva knows there is nothing “safe” about her and Angelo being together.

Mussolini is deposed, and Italy surrenders to the Americans on September 8, 1943, but conditions in the country continue to deteriorate as Germany occupies the country. Angelo uses his status as a priest and a person with a disability to help hide Jewish refugees. Camillo has been gone for three years, and they fear he was taken to Auschwitz. Angelo fears there is nowhere safe for Eva in Italy, and he travels home to Florence to convince her to go into hiding.

Fabia and Santino greet their grandson with tears of joy. When Eva walks down the stairs, her beauty overwhelms Angelo. Over dinner, Angelo pleads with Eva to leave Florence with him for her safety. He knows she has false papers and has been helping other Jewish people hide. He feels it’s only a matter of time before she is arrested and tortured. Eva is angry that Angelo knows of her secret deeds, and she resents his attempt to control her. Angelo retreats to another room for compline prayers and cries out to God for help. He speaks with Eva alone and asserts that she doesn’t fully understand the danger Jewish people face. He’s heard and seen the atrocities firsthand. Eva says if she goes to Rome, she must continue helping Jewish people hide, but Angelo contends that it won’t be safe. Eva claims he doesn’t care about her or the Jewish people, but Angelo knows her anger stems from his choice to be a priest.

Eva writes in her journal that all her extended family has fled to Rome. Her Uncle Augusto believes the Vatican will protect the Jewish people, but Eva worries he is wrong.

Eva boards the train with Angelo after saying goodbye to Santino and Fabia. Eva worries she will never see them again. When they get to Rome, she plans to live with Aunt Bianca, Claudia, and Levi and continue assisting refugees. Angelo gives Eva her new papers, which show that she is his sister. Angelo is confident the fake identification will pass. When they reach the station in Chiusi, the German officer who examines their passes thinks Angelo is a soldier on the run and that Eva is his wife. Angelo shows the officer his prosthetic leg, and they let them pass.

On the train, Eva and Angelo try not to look at one another. Eva writes in her journal about the first time she met Angelo and called him Angelo Bianco, her “White Angel” (127). The memory of them in the beach shack together reminds her of how he was once hers for a moment. She thinks about all they have lost, each losing their mother, and now with Camillo missing. When Angelo asks what she’s writing about, Eva lies and says she’s writing about their family trips to the beach house and how she can never return there.

Angelo also retreats in his memory to their annual beach trips, and to the summer they were twelve and fourteen, when they had their first kiss. It was awkward at first, but they soon got the hang of it until Angelo’s nonna caught them, and Camillo spoke to them sternly forbidding it. Eva lied to him, saying she didn’t enjoy it, and nodded to Angelo to play along. Even though the kiss “was the most amazing fifteen seconds of his life” (132), he lied and said it was like kissing his grandmother. Their family wouldn’t allow them to be alone, so they never tried it again that summer.

Angelo and Eva arrive in Rome. She intends to go directly to her family, but Angelo feels it isn’t safe since they live in a Jewish neighborhood. He has planned for her to live in a nearby convent. Angelo works for the Roman Curia, or “the administrative arm of the Catholic Church” (136), which helps immigrants. Eva agrees to his plan if she can visit her family first.

They arrive by bus at Augusto’s home and are happily greeted by Eva’s cousin, Claudia. Eva’s aunt’s sister, Giulia, is there with her husband, Mario, and their two children. Giulia is pregnant and due soon. Mario was a physician, but he lost his job, and the family subsequently lost their home and are now living in a ghetto. Eva’s family insists that she stay with them, but Angelo refuses, saying it isn’t safe. Augusto and the family should procure fake papers and retreat into hiding. Augusto refuses Angelo’s offer of the documents, as having fake papers got Camillo arrested and sent to Auschwitz. Augusto trusts that the Catholic Church will protect them. Angelo bluntly states, “The Pope is in an impossible position. He holds no power over Hitler. He couldn’t save the Jews in Germany; he couldn’t save the Jews in Poland. He couldn’t save the Jews in Austria. He won’t be able to save the Jews in Rome” (141). As Eva and Angelo leave, Mario asks Angelo to help him get fake documents. As soon as their baby is born, they are going into hiding. He tells Eva to listen to Angelo and not return there.

Angelo takes Eva to her new home at the Church of Santa Cecilia, named for Cecilia, a martyr who became the patron saint of music. The abbess, Mother Francesca, leads Eva to a plain room and informs her that she is expected to attend vespers at six o’clock. Eva says she’s Jewish, but the nun says she is Catholic now.

Eva writes in her journal on September 18, 1943. She struggles to sleep or feel comfortable in her new home. All she can think about is all she’s lost: her home in Florence, her father, and Angelo. She wonders, “What am I being saved for?” (147).

A Jewish woman who has been hiding in the convent dies, and she must be buried as a Catholic with no record of her death. Since beginning his “double life” helping Jewish people hide in plain sight in Rome, Angelo has kept no records of the people he’s helped, as it isn’t safe. Children and men are the hardest to hide. The head of the German SS in Rome orders the Jewish people of the city to donate fifty kilograms of gold, and if they fail, the Germans will deport 200 Jewish people. The Jewish people line up, donating their wedding bands and family heirlooms. Augusto sees the demand as a “good sign.” Despite Angelo’s protest, Eva goes to the synagogue and donates her gold jewelry. There she sees Mario and Giulia, who are donating their wedding bands. Mario gives Eva their photos, along with 10 others, for fake identification. Despite the Jewish people collecting the required amount, the following day, SS officers raid the synagogue and take all their official records, books, and sacred scrolls.

Angelo and Eva travel back to Florence to see Aldo and create the false documents. They work all night to complete them, and Angelo and Eva must scrub their hands to ensure all the ink is gone before returning to Rome. Angelo confesses that he has come to Florence many times and not visited her because of how hard it is for him to see her.

Eva visits Mario and Giulia to complete their documents, but Giulia is in labor. Eva stays through the night until the baby is born. Mario leaves before dawn to join the ration line, while Eva cares for the younger children. She plays the violin for them until they fall asleep. Suddenly, gunshots ring out in the street. The Gestapo are liquidating the apartment building. Eva and Giulia push a large marble table in front of the door, and Giulia and the children hide in the closet. The Gestapo bangs on the door and fires shots through it, just barely missing Eva, who is sitting in front of the door. Mario and Giulia’s neighbor tells the Gestapo that the apartment is vacant because it was bombed. She is taken, and the Gestapo moves on. Mario returns, having left the line, fearing that his family had been taken. He thanks Eva for protecting his family. He declares, “Rome is no longer safe for Jews” (164). Eva leaves quickly to warn her family, promising to return to complete their false documents.