Francesco spoke ” Follow me Adele. Last warning.”

Adele carried on sobbing hard but complied and followed Francesco upstairs as he was holding her hand. He unlocked a door and Adele followed him. There was a large king size bed, a library, a coffee table, sofas and a desk.

Francesco spoke ” I am going to leave you here. My uncle said I should leave you in a guest room but there is no way I would do that. Someone may hurt you somehow. Guest rooms are accessible by all. But no one dares to enter my room. I have built a reputation in the past month. I will leave you here but I will be back in a few hours. While I am gone try to stop crying Adele. Your tears won’t save your family and your beautiful eyes shouldn’t be clouded with salty tears for something you can do nothing about.”

Adele spoke in between sobs “How can you .... speak so casually.... about all this? My family could die. ..... Your uncle could kill them... .... How can you let this happen?”

Francesco spoke “Its not my fault. Nobody forced your father to attend that FBI meeting. Your parents were both told what would be discussed in that meeting. Your mother didn’t attend but your father did. Its all his fault. My uncle has the right to defend himself against FBI spies. Now if you promise to do everything I tell you I can .... make a promise to you to keep your family safe.”

Adele was listening “I would do anything. Keep them safe for me. Please Francesco.”

Francesco spoke “I can’t promise that your family won’t be hurt but ..... I give you my word that I will oppose any decisions by my uncle to .... kill Angelo and your parents which is what he is intending to do after he gets the information he wants from other doctors. My uncle likes to send messages out to his enemies that he doesn’t forgive. I will try my best Adele. It won’t be easy. In return I want you not to try to cause any trouble while you are in this mansion. Don’t try to run away or scream or do anything that gets the attention of my uncle. He would be looking for an excuse to send you down to that cellar too. He was so reluctant to let you go. Please promise you wouldn’t do anything to anger my uncle. Just be good and let me handle everything else.”

As Adele nodded, Francesco leaned over and kissed Adele’s forehead “Stop crying beautiful.” He then left without another word and locked the door to his room and walked downstairs to the dining room.

Uncle was eating slowly as though nothing had happened. But Costanzo was playing with his food on his plate with his fork while looking down deep in thought.

Francesco sat down opposite of his uncle which caught his uncles attention “Did you do as I asked? Which guest room did you lock her in.”

Francesco spoke sounding irritated “Of course I didn’t do as you asked uncle. I made it clear that I love her. I locked her in my room of course. There is no way I would lock her in a room where your guards and everyone else in this mansion would have free access to her.”

Piero didn’t sound pleased at all “You are too young Francesco. You will find another girl. Let go of her. You are hardly 15 years old.”

It was Costanzo who spoke “I have to be forward uncle. You say Francesco is too young to fall in love at 15. But you think his age does not make him too young to torture people or kill. You don’t believe someone at Francesco’s age is too young to be hurt or killed either. Angelo is only 14, yet you sent him down to that cellar to be hurt. I think your words contradict each other. Why not be truthful uncle about your beliefs?”

Francesco gasped and frowned at his brother “How can you speak to uncle that way. Apologise now.”

Piero gave Francesco a smile “Don’t upset yourself Francesco. He doesn’t need to apologise. It is too late for that.” He then got up from his seat and grabbed Costanzo’s collar of his shirt and pulled him out of his seat “Would you like to repeat what you just said to me Costanzo? Were you trying to imply that I am a liar?”

Costanzo spoke ” I meant every word. You do contradict yourself uncle. On the surface you are a kind and loving man but on the inside you are heartless. My father is not like you. He only has one personality. He is cold. He doesn’t show any loving side to anyone. He doesn’t go to church and he doesn’t say any prayers at meal times. So Why not drop the act uncle and be a cold and detached killer like my father. But let me tell you what bothers me the most. I am used to watching my father and his men torturing and killing adults but I have never seen him hurt any children in all my years i have lived with my father. Ever. I can’t believe how you can bring yourself to hurt Angelo. He is the same age as me. Its one thing for you to expect us to take part in torturing and killing adults who cross you but how can you expect us to watch the cruelty and ruthlessness of you and your guards towards an innocent child like Angelo.”

Piero narrowed his eyes and let go of Costanzo. Just when Costanzo thought his uncle was calming down, Piero pulled his hand back and slapped Costanzo hard. Costanzo lost his balance and felt dizzy as he hit the floor. But Piero was no where near finished with him. He walked towards him with rageful eyes. Costanzo knew not to react or defend himself. Putting his hands up to shield himself or hitting his uncle back meant a faith worse than death. No one was allowed to disrespect a mob boss in any way especially no one was allowed to raise their hand on them. Costanzo remained motionless on the floor and waited for his uncle to give him the beating of his life. He closed his eyes and waited for the blows to come but none came. He opened his eyes and saw his brother shielding him by standing in his uncle’s way.

Piero gritted his teeth “Get out of my way Francesco. I need to teach your brother a lesson. I don’t want to give him to my guards to punish in the cellar. Oh no. I want the pleasure of beating him and hearing his cries as he begs for forgiveness. Nobody insults me this way with no consequence. Maybe he must experience pain at my hands and then he will realise why my guards fear me so much.”

Francesco didn’t move an inch “Wait uncle. Costanzo opened his big mouth since he is close friends with Angelo. He didn’t mean anything he said.”

Piero spoke “I don’t wish to hear excuses for him. I must teach your brother a lesson he would never forget. Get out of the way Francesco.”

Francesco spoke “If you attack my brother now he won’t leave this room conscious. Uncle let me take him outside and ...... I would teach the lesson you wish to teach him myself.”

Piero looked thoughtful and after he remained silent for seconds he spoke”I like how you look out for your brother. It looks familiar. I accept your request since I believe you will do as you said. I know you would teach him a lesson that I was about to teach him in your own way. Very well. Take him outside. Do what you have to do as quickly and effective as you can and then bring him to the cellar. I want both of you to be witness to how I interrogate my enemies. We would be there for the rest of the day as my guards would bring the traitor doctors that Ricardo names. All this may help toughen up your brother. Now leave. I wish to have some wine before I go to the cellar.”

Francesco nodded and turned to Costanzo and roughly pulled him up from the floor and dragged him to the door. When they were outside the room, Francesco didn’t stop. He continued to drag Costanzo forcefully to a room that was used for storage. He pushed him inside and locked the door behind him. He then turned to Costanzo who was taking steps backwards. He stuttered “Francesco ..... What .... are ... you going to do?”

Francesco walked slowly to his brother “What do you think I am going to do you idiot? You heard uncle. I am supposed to teach you a lesson so you remember it so well that you won’t insult our uncle again this way.” He then punched his brother on his left cheek and didn’t let him fall. He helped his brother stand up again and punched his right cheek. This time he let Costanzo fall to the floor from the force.

Francesco spoke as he was towering over his brother who was holding his painful cheeks. “Do you have any idea how close you came to getting beaten to a bloody pulp at uncles hands. Do you think he cares if he breaks your arms or legs like how he does to his guards who fail him? He always makes it clear almost on daily basis that we are not his sons. He couldn’t care less about us. We are just here because father asked him to keep us safe for a while as he is attending to his enemies. How could you forget all the stories father told us about uncle? If you repeat your behaviour you did back there, there is no guarantee I can save your backside. Who is to say that I would even be there the next time you insult him.”

Costanzo spoke as he stood up ” Don’t tell me you don’t agree with me. Uncle is going too far. Why involve a family? Father never did that. He just went for the one at fault directly and that was the end if it. It’s ironic really how uncle boasts about importance of family and he goes to church and says prayers at meal times yet he sinks so low to hurt innocent people who never have done anything to cross him. I would have understood if he was just bringing Ricardo here. But his family? Seriously. How come you are not outraged?”

Francesco punched his brother again on his left cheek and right cheek and didn’t let him recover as he pushed him against a wall with his face forward. Costanzo’s face hit the wall while Francesco held his hands in a painful grip. Francesco pushed Costanzo further to the wall ” Listen here. I take orders from those above me. So should you. At the moment uncle Piero is the mob boss we follow. In case you didn’t know he just doesn’t rule this small town. Alot of mob families and gangs all over different states take orders from him. He has a bigger empire than you think and it’s ever expanding. He could crush you with a snap of his fingers. You are unimportant to him. Now tell me Costanzo, have you learnt your lesson yet or you want more. I intentionally hit your face repeatedly to form visible bruises there so uncle gets satisfaction and believes that I have beaten you up badly. Answer me.”

Costanzo replied ” Yes. I have learnt my lesson. I won’t insult uncle again.”

Francesco sighed and let go of his brother. Costanzo turned around and looked at his brother ” Why did you hold back? I know you always kicked my backside whether it was in boxing lessons or during our own fist fights and wrestling at home. You could do much worse right now and you know it. You are way more stronger than me and always have been. So tell me why didn’t you beat me up as badly as I know you are fully capable of.”

Francesco sighed ” I think you know the answer already.” He then looked at his brother in a way that made Costanzo look away.

Costanzo hated it when his brother looked at him that way with protectiveness. Their mother had asked Francesco to swear that he would protect his little brother from getting hurt after she had been forced into signing divorce papers and forfeiting the custody of her two sons. While they were saying their goodbyes under the watchful eyes of their father. She had embraced her sons one by one and had whispered into Francesco’s ear that she believed that he was the stronger sibling and he must take responsibility to defend his brother against all harm that living with their father could bring. Francesco had vowed to Costanzo that day that he would honour their mothers farewell request with his last breath.

Francesco whispered ” It’s hard for me to hurt you Costanzo. It really is. Don’t ever put me in a situation to have to defend you again. Next time uncle attacks you, I may not be able to convince him to stop. I am sure you know what it would mean, if that happens......I would have no choice then. I would be forced to kill him to keep my promise to our mother. Do you really want that?”

Costanzo looked at his brother with wide eyes. He knew his brother meant every word.