A Mob Boss's Dominance (Book 4-About Tristan)

42. Sadness

O'Neil was finding it hard to contain his rage, confusion and worries. This was the worst that could happen to Francesco and he blamed himself for it. He wished he had anticipated it. He wished that he could foresee what his so called godson was going to commit to. He had trusted Vincenzo. He had trusted him and he had messed up. He knew this boy was going to learn the hard way that if he made his father chase him, he was going to go down. Francesco had told him to back off. No one got away with saying no to Francesco. Not even his own son. Even he didn't feel so confident saying no. Francesco now had gone after his son to bring him home only for his son to lead him to one of the places Francesco didn't have good memories of.

O'Neil recalled the days he slept over at Francesco's house. The best days were when his father wasn't home. The house was a lovely and huge place. It had its own rooftop garden where they slept on in the summer. He recalled sleeping on the roof top watching the stars. It was just them. They were teenagers. So they were still quite close. That was the closest he had gotten to Francesco and what went on in his mind. It had become harder to read him. Right now he didn't know what Francesco was going to do but he could take a good guess. It wasn't going to be pretty.

O'Neil was looking at his watch waiting for his son to bring Adele down as his memories of that old house came back to him. On that roof top if anyone saw two teens chilling out and sleeping they would have thought it was a dream. They could have anything they wanted. Paulo only bought the best and hired the best. But no one knew of the pain his sons endured. Francesco endured it the most. He was the eldest. He woke up in the middle of the night with nightmares. O'Neil wasn't a heavy sleeper so at times he stayed awake just checking the star patterns and trying to remember their names and count the shooting stars when Francesco woke up all shaken up.

"What is it?" He recalled asking. He didn't know why he bothered asking. Nightmares were part of his life.

Francesco gave him a look "What do you think?" He then went to wash his face at the water fountain while whispering under his breath "I wish he dies. Why can't he just die?"

O'Neil had followed him "Just kill him. Why not? Then the Don comes to collect of course and you fear that he might kill your mother or rather make me kill her. But I would speak to my father. He can protect your mother. If you make him swear it he won't break it... O'Neil's don't break their words. Ever." O'Neil was the only one beside Constanzo who dared mention Francesco's mother. His mother was sacred to him. He knew she was the main reason he put up with the beatings and emotional abuse at the hands of his father. He wanted to protect others but not himself.

Francesco had chuckled "Sure. Your kind kind keep their word but you make it sound like there is many of you... There is only one O'Neil family. Your kind are exterminated."

O'Neil had argued "I have distant cousins... We are not extinct. Come on. I will help."

Francesco was drinking his water while shaking his head "I want him to die but ... I can't kill blood."

O'Neil could see it. Francesco was a man loyal to family. His father was blood unfortunately. O'Neil had asked "What if they do something really bad? Blood deserve to die if they betray you..."

Francesco had argued "You know. Death is freedom. Death is too merciful on a traitor. Don't you think?"

O'Neil didn't think he agreed. He didn't want Francesco to put up with the monster at his house. Francesco always had bruises. His father beat him to a bloody pulp some days that made O'Neil's blood boil. He was witness to it once. Constanzo running his mouth again and Francesco shielding him making O'Neil's heart break to pieces. Francesco had pushed him inside a cupboard to wait while he dealt with the issue and had locked O'Neil inside. Once Paulo was gone, only Francesco had limped to open the door. O'Neil had a fear of confined spaces so he had panicked and hadn't managed to break the door. That was why he had added the box exercise in the survival camp rule book so at least his kids learnt to break a cupboard door it locked inside. He had trained himself months later and had over come the fear with Francesco's help of course.