From the 1950's to early '70's, the Five Families of the Italian Mafia were known for their brutality and strong criminal activities in New York City. Although boasting thousands of members, most were low level thugs known as associates who carried out jobs, illegal in nature, for the capo or other members while maintaining their own rackets. Silvio Marino, until his death in 1996, was an associate in the Gambino crime family. Mere innuendo that he was affiliated with The Family was enough for anyone to take him seriously.

In 1963, when Albert Volpe met Georgann Marino, the favorite daughter of Silvio Marino, he had little awareness of the Mafia. He wasn't that 'kind' of Italian. When Al and Georgann married in 1965, firsthand knowledge of the Mafia and how much it interfered in his family's lives lasted for the next thirty years. Al's story is told in his own voice; the written narrative is by Linda Robinson.