A Mob Boss's Family (Book 2 Of The New York Mafia Trilogy)

46. A Thanksgiving (Part 10)

Antonio was standing next to Georgio and Alessio as they were wine tasting. He kept glancing at the door and back as he waited for the absent people to return but most of his attention was on Georgina who was dancing with Amaranta, Adele and Georgio's Fiancé Flora as the music band were playing. Antonio wanted so badly to go ask Georgina to dance but he was worried she was going to defy him in front of Francesco's watchful guards. They were going to report her to Francesco and she was going to be in deep trouble if she refused since the Canavaros were not as powerful as the Rosarios and still under Francesco's protection. At the hotel, she had come to him by her own will which he knew was something to do with Adele's advice or so Georgina had told him. But she had a fight with him just the next morning when Antonio had confronted to her about how she shouldn't have hit him and run off the previous night. She was now completely ignoring him and that meant she was going to be difficult. Antonio loved her too much to get her hurt by Francesco for defying him. So he had decided to wait patiently for her to ask him to dance.

Suddenly the wait was over and Francesco returned followed by an anxious looking Costanzo. But there was still no sign of Angelo, Arturo and Anna.

Francesco walked straight towards the ladies and as Adele noticed him she walked towards him not wanting the ladies to be intimidated.

Francesco kissed Adele's forehead and wrapped his arms around her " Are you enjoying yourself sweetheart."

His tone was soft and his touch was gentle. She smiled back " Yes, very much." She looked beyond her shoulders and around the room. " Where is Angelo?"

Adele looked back at Francesco and gulped as she spotted the intense look in his eyes.

Francesco's tone became hard " He will be down here for the thanksgiving dinner. I promised. Didn't I? He will be at the table certainly. Lets forget him and dance. What do you say?"

Adele nodded and they started dancing in silence but not for too long. Francesco started talking in a low and firm tone " I want you to stop asking about your brother. Is he the only thing you think of? What about me? Sweetheart..... I love you and you must know by now I am a very jealous man."

As they were dancing slowly, Adele spoke carefully " But I only asked where he was?..."

Francesco spoke " Excuses. You know where he is. He is in this mansion safe and sound. I don't want to hear his name again. There are others missing in this room. You don't see me asking about them. There is no Anna here. She is like a sister to me. I am not worried for her. See sweetheart. You need to only think of me, your fiancé. Your family...."

Adele voiced her concerns " Francesco you have changed. Why do you speak this way?...."

Francesco spoke " Because as I was forced to attend to certain matters, all I could think of was you and when I come down here, the first thing you ask about is your traitorous brother. New rules sweetheart. From today, you don't mention him. I spared his life but you can't see him from now on except for when you specifically ask me to. This is part of his punishment. Only when you really miss him you can see him. This is a new rule. Do you accept?"

Adele knew that tone. It meant say yes or I will make it worse. So she nodded her head vigorously " Yes. I do." But part of her felt that Francesco was right. He had forgiven Angelo but it must have been hard for him to see Adele caring for him too much. In some ways she knew being away from Angelo was for the best. It meant there was lower risk of him trying to rescue her.

Francesco leaned closer and whispered " Good girl. Sweetheart, I am not trying to hurt you by putting restrictions on seeing your brother but I have difficulty dealing with how he has come between us. He tried to take you away, he betrayed me and I let him live. When I look at him I see a traitor that I should eliminate so he can't have the chance to strike again but also I see you. I see your face. Your tear soaked face when we were discussing what he had done appears in front of me as I stare at him while contemplating maybe I should just kill him. I do believe he deserves to die but of course, I cant satisfy my urges by killing him since I can't do that to you. I thought I could deal with this Adele but it seems like when I see his face my anger and hate towards him is harder to withhold. That's why I am going to keep him locked up scarce until I am convinced he has suffered enough.... in solitude. I know that I can't forgive him and I can't hurt him all because of you. He hurt our relationship and came between us. I just don't want to look at him so I am not tempted to bash up his face and put a bullet through his worthless brain. So it's a compromise to lock him away for now. I also don't want you to get too close to him since I feel we need to work on our relationship that he has badly damaged. I am your fiancé and our focus should be our wedding ceremony. Don't you think?"