Adele and Francesco were holding each other on the dance floor once more moving slowly to a song. They had come back to the party after their proposal and their engagement was announced by one of the Hollywood stars of musicals. In the honour of engagement lengthier dance time slots were input into the schedule and more champagne was served at tables.

Adele whispered " I can't believe we have the centre of the dance floor to ourselves. No one comes close into our circle."

Francesco chuckled " Firstly they should know better than to mess with my private moments and its a security breach if someone gets too close anyways. Besides that, we are the engaged couple. They should keep their distance while they dance. They shouldn't listen to our conversations. We can get as intimate as we want now when we talk. Its true. You can talk about anything now with me with out blushing now that you have promised to be my wife." He then leaned close and planted kiss on Adele's lips gently and pulled away looking into her eyes lovingly.

Francesco's response caught Adele's attention. She spoke " You mean we can talk about anything and you won't get angry."

Francesco nodded " Sweetheart, you were always allowed to say anything but you know what I am talking about." He then winked.

Adele gasped " Francesco ..., don't be like that. It's too soon."

Francesco leaned close and touched the tip of his nose to Adele's and smiled " Don't be shy baby. It's only a matter of time before .....".

Adele sighed and pulled away " Francesco don't start".

Francesco grinned " I get it. You don't want to talk about it before our wedding night. I was just teasing you. To answer your question, things change between us from tonight. You just agreed to a marriage with me. That's a covenant you won't break. Many would break their vows but I know you won't. Now it's made me truly believe that you won't ever leave me or rather I hope you never leave me more than I did before. There will be highs and lows in our lives in our future lives. Now that I know you will be holding my hand throughout everything that would happen to me, I feel so overjoyed. You can't even imagine.... So sweetheart, you can say anything you want and I won't assume anything. To put it simply, I would know that no matter what you say, at the end of the day, you are still with me and you won't .... betray me or I hope you won't. So there will be no consequences for you or anyone else no matter what you say or do since I know you just promised yourself to be mine."

Adele was looking at Francesco with surprise " But ..., I thought you didn't believe in marriage........".

Francesco sighed " I don't... But I believe in our marriage. When you said yes to me, I felt like I became ... bonded to you. When you said yes,... I felt like that from that moment onwards there was some unseen force tying us together that nothing and no one could break. No wonder they call it tying the knot. Now were are promised to each other and on our wedding day, we complete our wedlock amongst many other things... So sweetheart, we can talk to each other like nothing holds us back with no consequences since now that our loyalty and love is sealed to each other... Especially talk about our wedding Night. Feel free ...."

Adele spoke " Francesco .... Don't go there..."

Francesco smirked " I won't .... unless you do... Now lets keep the jokes apart. Was there something you wanted to talk to me about? It sounds like there is something heavy on your chest. Tell me sweetheart. What is it?"

Adele bit her lip. "Was she this obvious?" She thought to herself. She then decided to speak her mind no matter what the risk was. She had to try. So she cleared her throat " It's about Costanzo."

Francesco spoke " What about him?"

Adele spoke carefully "I want you to ..... I want you to ... let him choose his partner in life."

Francesco raised an eyebrow "Sweetheart. Costanzo is already allowed to befriend any woman he wants...."

Adele was slightly getting nervous. She tried to shake off her fears of upsetting Francesco and most likely causing Costanzo to get hurt at his hands. So she chose her words as cautiously as possible to keep Costanzo out of it as much as possible. She took a deep breath and spoke "Some ladies upstairs told me about what happened with .... Elize..."

Francesco interrupted "which ladies sweetheart. You spoke to dozens of women upstairs as I watched you mingling. Why don't you name names so I can .... answer your question better."

Adele spoke dismissively "It doesn't matter Francesco. Alot of women up there knew about Costanzo's love life. They told me about Elize and how much Costanzo loved her."

Francesco spoke "Loved. Exactly the right tense to use. Its all past tense sweetheart. Costanzo loved her. Not any more. That girl has moved on and so has Costanzo."

Adele murmured "You made sure of it of course." Her eyes then widened as she realised what she had said and Francesco's changed expression didn't help calm her and put her mind at ease either.

Francesco spoke in a low tone "What do you mean by that sweetheart? What do you know about what I have done? Did those ladies tell you anything about my involvement?"

Adele knew it was too late to take it. She was just hoping that Francesco didn't trace her knowledge source to Costanzo and wishing that Francesco assumed that one of the ladies upstairs told her about this. She was less confident now as she spoke "I was told that... I was told about how.... you know .... you stopped their wedding. I mean, I heard that you stopped by at Costanzo's and Elize's wedding and took Costanzo away at gun point. Is this true? I couldn't believe it when I was told about what you did. Why would you do that?"

Francesco looked thoughtful. He looked at Adele silently for seconds and then broke the silence between them "Its true. I did that. But I did it to protect Costanzo. Does that answer your question? I really don't think there is any more to this issue."

Adele spoke as her voice became hardly a whisper "But why? How could that protect him?"

Francesco was sounding irritated "Stopping that wedding was a business decision. Not a personal decision. I don't expect you to understand sweetheart how I protected him."

Adele spoke " Try me. Explain to me and I might understand."

Francesco sighed " You are stubborn sweetheart. Fine. I tell you. I stopped Costanzo making a mistake that day that could potentially ruin his life. I stopped that wedding because I didn't want to ever be forced to hurt my brother if that woman ever betrayed him."

Adele was surprised " What do you mean by saying if she betrayed him? But they were in love from what I have heard."

Francesco nodded " They looked like they were. But I couldn't be sure. I couldn't let Costanzo take a risk sweetheart. I don't trust anyone in the law and order system or close to them. I never trusted Elize and I still don't."

Adele spoke " But why?"

Francesco spoke " We have been through this before sweetheart. You have heard me say that I don't trust law makers and law enforcers many times before. Elise's father is a senator....."

Adele spoke " But Elize isn't."

Francesco spoke " But ..... the risk of Elize betraying Costanzo back then and spying for her father was too great. Do you know what that would have meant if I let my brother marry a potential spy? Do you?"

Adele shook her head waiting intently for Francesco's further explanation.

Francesco spoke in a serious tone " Any betrayal to my organisation is a death sentence. A painful death sentence that normally the person closest to the accused has to carry it out if the accused happens to have any loved ones in my organisation. That's right sweetheart. If Elize married my brother and turned out to be a spy then I would have had to order my own brother to kill his wife. I know he would have refused. Then I would have been forced to hurt my brother. Don't get me wrong. I would never kill Costanzo ... unless of course he tried to hurt you which is unlikely. But still Costanzo would have been punished painfully as well as losing his wife at my hands. That way I would have lost part of my family. So see Adele. I stopped his wedding for a reason. I stopped it to avoid him making her pregnant and forcing me to accept her as my sister in law."

Adele was confused " I am lost. I don't understand how you can not accept her just because she could by some chance become a spy. Anyone could become a spy. Even someone like Sancia could become a traitor if your family had agreed to her staying with Costanzo all those years ago when they started dating or even Georgina flirting with Antonio could be a risk. couldn't it? So Sancia and Georgina are potential spies too?"

Francesco shook his head " No sweetheart. They are different. They are part of the Italian and Irish underground mafia. They are bound by omertà, the code of silence. They have been raised to play by the rules. If they don't, there will be consequences for them and their criminal families. Other mafia families would go after them if they spy for the state.

Adele wasn't sure if Francesco liked to hear this " What about me? I could be a spy."

Francesco smiled to her surprise " Sure you are. You would be one sexy spy too. You cant compare yourself to others sweetheart. You are mine..... Besides normal people with no protection from authorities can't do anything to a mafia organisation. They must have connections somehow to pose any threats. But I haven't found any connections within your affiliates, your family members to the state and haven't seen any suspicious activity. I have read the files of all your living and non living family members which was made available by my contacts in my private investigation units around the country. There was no one within your family whom I had to be wary of or had to get rid of before re- uniting with you."

Adele frowned " You did background checks on my relatives? But what were you going to do if they were connected to the police or the law."

Francesco shrugged " I would have banished them and if they refused, i would have killed them."

Adele gasped " No."

Francesco laughed " Sweetheart, I take potential threats seriously. Spies wont ever destroy my organisation but they can weaken it. They pose threats. Even though court cases can be won by bribes, it can damage my reputation to some extent amongst my peers if I fail to spot spies. Then Rosarios won't be one of the most powerful.

Adele spoke " I think I don't want to hear any more. This is getting very unbearable for me to discuss. ...... So lets get back to Costanzo's topic..... I don't see how someone like Elize is a threat. Why can't you trust Elize and lift the restrictions for Costanzo to be with her?"

Francesco spoke "Sweetheart. As I said, Costanzo does not love her any more. When I pulled him out of his wedding, I interrogated him for days and weeks. He lost all signs of his feelings for her. She is in the past."

Adele insisted "But if you lift these rules about dating law makers and their relatives, Costanzo may become interested in her again. You never know."

Francesco was losing patience "Sweetheart. Elize is out of question for Costanzo. Their romance is over. Even if it wasn't the case and Costanzo still wanted her which I think he doesn't and if I let Costanzo be with someone like her, he wont take the option. He knows what i would do to Elize if she turns out to be a traitor or double agent."

Adele spoke hopefully " But Elize may never turn out to be a double agent."

Francesco spoke " But Elize is a trained special agent working for the army. Some kid by the name of Johnny who works for me and studies at MIT spotted her amongst visiting special forces at his college. Johnny also made the special effects on the Empire Estate Building possible. I told him, I want it earlier than midnight but he had problems. But he managed it in the end."

Adele couldn't believe it " Elize is in the army???"

Francesco spoke " A division in army or special forces that get deployed to different missions as undercover agents. I haven't found out what her specialism is yet since classified information takes longer to get a hold of but it don't matter no more since she is no longer my family's problem. She wasn't a special agent when she met Costanzo but she now is. I think she must have been training on part time basis back then to have graduated by now. One of the reasons her engagement broke apart with the British businessmen she was going to marry was because she was assigned to travel to different targeted places. She loved pursuing her career and her future husband wasn't so supportive.. I don't know exactly where she is heading off now. It's classified. Her plane out of this country is booked tonight. So forget Elize. Sancia was always technically the more eligible one to be Costanzo's girl and that says alot coming from me who can't ever accept Sancia as family. That's an impossibility. Especially now that it was uncovered how her husband is still alive on a life support machine as the O'Neils are waiting for him to recover from his coma. I heard this morning. Here you go. My brother can move on truly now if he was in any doubt as Elize is leaving the country for good to do heavens knows what in Eastern Europe and Sancia's husband is fighting for his life."

Adele didn't think Francesco know. She spoke " You knew about this? One it the ladies upstairs told me about this."

Francesco narrowed his eyes " I think I don't want you to spend too much time at the ladies floor next time we attend a Hollywood ball. Sweetheart, it's not worth thinking about all those rumours. It's just opening old wounds when we discuss the past. We should think of the present. We should think of what's happening now. Do you know what I have on my mind? Let me tell you." He then leaned closer and whispered huskily in Adele's ear " I am thinking of tomorrow when you go swimming with me."

Adele pulled away " What? I don't like swimming."

Francesco had a mischievous glint in his eyes " Hm.... Let me think.... Can you refuse? .... No... I don't think so baby. Remember when I let you go to the ladies floor when Georgina interrupted us? You told me you will make it upto me. Here we go. You will come swimming with me tomorrow and ... much more to make it upto me." He then leaned close and kissed Adele's lips gently.

At the other side of the room, Costanzo was sitting alone on a table and was looking at Adele and Francesco as he was sipping his vodka and was deep in thought.

Anna whispered " Can I take a seat?"

Costanzo nodded " Go ahead. Tell me how I let my beloved slip away."

Anna sat down on an empty chair opposite him and spoke " I am sorry. I shouldn't have judged you about your relationship with Elize since I didn't know the whole story. Antonio told me off when he saw I upset you. He told me more about your situation with Elize and how you are protecting her by keeping away...... I can't believe how Francesco terrorised you for days and weeks by non stop interrogations about if you had feelings for her. I had no idea of the explicitly detailed threats Francesco has thrown your way for not even think about Elize. I don't understand why Francesco hates elize to this degree and forbidding you to ever mention her name or face ..... watching her get hurt. It must have been very hard all this time to hide your true feelings for her to protect her."

Costanzo looked at Anna " No. that wasn't hard at all. What's hard is falling in love with a woman and not being able to be with her when the rest of the world can and I can't. The hard part is when I hear she has signed upto be a special agent and she could get hurt. The hard part is watching the woman I love, following a path that could endanger her and ..... I can't follow her ...... Through her dangerous path to watch over her, to take care of her. to hold her and protect her. The hard part is ..... loving a woman who's path in life is further apart from me.
The hard part is ...... how I keep falling in love with women that I can't have."

Anna spoke " I know. It's like as though love is in the air and you can't breathe it in to save your life."