A ruthless yet principled former mercenary whose life finally seems to catch up with him. Born on the lawless streets of Naples and into the infamous Bella Società Riformata, Rocco grew disillusioned with his brother’s authority and left his family at the age of sixteen, angry, damaged, and alone. The life of a mercenary is all he has ever known since, holding back none of his time and energy to complete each assignment with stubborn dedication, which also happens to be his core weakness that less scrupulous individuals eagerly take advantage of.
Rocco Romano never intended to break his promises, but when the burnt-out legendary mercenary refuses to kill a woman named Rosa Leyen, he is summoned to the Goldschild headquarters. After being taught a lesson in obedience, he rekindles with his old flame, Barbera.
The next day, Rocco gathers all his courage and asks Barbara to marry him: To run away and never turn back. Barbera agrees on one condition: that Rocco helps her sister, Camilla, who she believes is in trouble. But in doing so, Barbara gets murdered. In an act of violent interrogation, Rocco finds out Augustin Salvatore del Tore, an old acquaintance, is to be held responsible.
With the untimely death of his beloved wife still bitter in his mouth, Rocco heads to the Wicked Witch and the St. Marx slaughterhouse in search of answers. He is then told Konstantin Goldschild is to be found at palace Belvedere that night.
Blind with revenge, Rocco burns the Belvedere to the ground but is cornered by an old friend, Augustin Salvatore del Torre, due to the enormous price on his head. Someone knocks him out unconscious.
Two days pass until Rocco wakes up, wounded, tortured, and imprisoned in some unknown basement. He is being kept as bait and is dragged into the heart of an internal war of Vienna's secret society, where he finds out Rosa Leyen is still alive.
Severely wounded and drenched in blood, Rocco sets out on a mad journey to rescue Rosa but collapses due to injury. He wakes up at Gottfried's place without his surgically removed left arm. Rosa then tells him about the scheme of the century. Rocco comes up with an idea to turn the tables.
On Sunday, Rocco leads the rebellion to free Austro-Hungary from the tyranny of the clandestine empire.
Learn about Rocco's loved one's.
It’s Sunday the 14th of October, 1888, and in the city of Vienna, where the value of one’s bank account is more important than that of a human life, something doesn’t seem to add up…
Read about the narrative arcRead about the other characters in The Greatest Debt