Costanzo stepped outside the shower and dried himself up with his towel. His mind was everywhere as he was dressing himself up. He thought back to the events that had happened. He had lost Elize. But had found Amaranta. He was determined to make it work with her but he wasn't sure if he was going to get the chance. She was a hostage and her faith was in Francesco's hands. He wasn't sure what Francesco had planned for Amaranta and that worried him. He was hoping to speak to Francesco about Amaranta but just had to find the time. But again he wasn't even sure if he wanted to push Francesco. Afterall, it wanst just Amaranta who was on his mind. Francesco had issued Costanzo with an ultimatum to come up with how he wanted to take revenge on their parents. He didn't look forward to talking about the topic with Francesco at all. He didn't look forward to that day at all actually. thanksgiving day brought back dak memories. He felt lonely on every thanksgiving morning he ever remembered.

But part of him was reassuring him that this thanksgiving was going to be different since unlike the previous years, there were going to be more people. Last year it was just him, Antonio and Francesco at the table but not this day.

The Thanksgiving afternoon that Francesco had planned was a long one since Francesco wanted to be best even at hosting an event he hated. It was going to be a cheese tasting and wine tasting reception starting at noon unlike any other year. There were going to be a variety of choices of cheese and wine all made by Francesco's own companies in the afternoon followed by music and dance. Then it was dinner time of course.

Now that Adele was here, coincidently the people around the thanksgiving table had multiplied and he was hoping that the people present were going to make this thanksgiving memorable. The memories of all thanksgiving dinners with his father and uncle haunted him. It was always like any dinner. Hardly any words were spoken and he couldn't wait to get out the dining room since all he could think of was memories of his mother and her empty place at the table. Thanksgiving dinners were meant to be spent with all living family. His mother was alive but was never invited or she was going to be tortured and killed by his father. So in many ways Costanzo was thankful that his mother wasn't around for his father to torment and safely protected by their uncle.

Costanzo couldn't help wondering that only if ..... Francesco found it within him to forgive his father then the thanksgiving dinner could even be merrier. Their father was intending on re-marrying their mother. Their uncle was being reunited with his run away wife too. Everything had changed so suddenly. Only if Francesco was thinking more about forgiving his family rather than taking revenge on them, everything could be simpler. He had no idea of Francesco's plans now that they were informed by Amaranta in her interrogation that Paulo Rosario was in Sicily to marry his mother, Mariana. He cringed at the thoughts of possibilities of Francesco going on a revenge mission that Costanzo knew his brother was planning all his life.

As Costanzo dressed up he walked out of the bathroom. He then was frozen in spot as he saw non other than Francesco waiting for him. Francesco was standing at the window looking outside.

Francesco didn't turn around turned and put his hands behind his back as he spoke " Good morning or rather should I say, good afternoon. It took you long enough to get out of the shower. Have you thought about my question? You must know why I am here."

Costanzo knew what he was referring to. The one thing he still didn't want to think about. He cautiously walked to his brother and spoke " Happy thanksgiving brother...,."

Francesco surprised his brother by laughing bitterly "You are always the one to dodge questions. When are you going to stand up and face your challenges."

Costanzo stood a step behind his brother but looking outside the window like him. He spoke "I am sorry. What are you looking at?"

Francesco sighed "Again. You are trying to distract me. But you may get away with it this time. I am not here just to collect what I want to hear and leave. I am also here to share with you some interesting information I heard from Alessio Voltolini that could change the personal situation we are in. My personal vendetta against our father and uncle has taken a twist. I went to see Alessio last night. By the sounds of it,.... our father has developed a conscious."

Costanzo gasped "A conscious?... Why would you think that?"

Francesco spoke further and gave Costanzo the exact account that Alessio had given him. Costanzo was shocked.

Francesco spoke "It sounds impossible. Doesn't it? Just when he thought he was about to die, he said words we never thought we would hear."

Costanzo couldn't tell what his brother was feeling. Francesco's back was to him and he couldn't see his expression. Not that it was easy to read his brother.

Francesco continued " You know when I look outside, I see everything that I always wanted. When I look around my compound, I see men who work like their life depends on it. I see men who I have put the fear of god into that are loyal, deadly and unstoppable. They are my men..... I have achieved so much not just in expanding my workforce but in my assets too. I now own billions of dollars in company shares, land and much more in the country and abroad. I have wealth and power. I manage my businesses effortlessly by the disciplined system I have in place that I learnt to master through years of training. I have the top graduates and top experts in every field working for me. My business empire is ever expanding. I have basically achieved what our father wanted me to achieve and much more. I have fulfilled all our father's dreams. Come to think of it, I have become him. He made me who I am but at great costs. He gave me ...... he gave me traumatising memories..... I still see nightmares from my childhood... I am sure you do too. I have been able to hear you sometimes in sleep over the years when you call his name, beg him to stop, you shout and scream...... The nightmares are not there as often now for either of us. You have learnt to let go and move on too just like how I have..."

Costanzo whispered "But I wasn't raised by him. You were. I didn't experience half the things you did...."

Francesco turned around and looked at his brother. His eyes looked cold but there was some emotion in his expression that Costanzo couldn't interpret.

Francesco spoke "I am not talking about the years after we were separated. I am talking about my childhood memories. A child has no self defense against an adult especially one like our father. He hurt me and he hurt you. There was nothing any of us could do. We were just children and we were treated so harshly and brutally. I think you remember every time he attacked you for mentioning our mother. I think you remember every time he beat you up just for not getting a perfect score in your fitness training, in boxing in your grades..... So do I. We were pushed to breaking point. But we got through it. All these years, I dreamt of making him suffer. I dreamt of making him confess to his sins. He finally has confessed, it seems, after all these years and none of us were there to hear his confessions...."

Costanzo spoke "Still, you had it tougher than I did. I lived with our uncle after that. It got better....."

Francesco spoke "Our uncle. Of course. I haven't forgotten at all about him. He kept our mother safe only to throw her into our father's arms in the end. We had a deal. He was meant to keep her location to himself. He broke his word. I dreamt of making him suffer too for taking you away to raise. He raised you as his second son rather than first as he had intended. He saw his own son as his main heir so he neglected you and made you .... like you are now. He left you alone and here you are. If you were left with father, you could be strong enough to make your own decisions. Father would have made you stronger...."

Costanzo spoke "But he hurt you...."

Francesco spoke "That's right. I know I hate father for hurting us but ....... he made me who I am in years of my training when you weren't present alongside me. He made me strong. I now realise it fully..... But .... if I was to give him a verdict, I was going to say his highest crimes were not committed just involving you and I. I would say they were committed involving the woman in my life. He hurt our mother and he has just convinced her to marry him again. How messed up is our family? The woman was thrown out of her own home, threatened and blackmailed. She still takes him back. Our father always gets what he wants. That is his talent..... Then again that's not all. He separated Adele from me and I lived in fear of losing her all these years. I was afraid she was not going to love me after I took over from our father. But of course, Adele didn't forget me. So you see, our father took so much from me but he couldn't force Adele to forget me..... So he controlled every aspect of my life except the woman I love."

The truth of Francesco's words hit Costanzo hard. He was aware of everything he said but it stung to hear it in Francesco's words. he whispered "Yet after what he has done. You come to me to ask for my view of what to do with him. Why? Why not just give him a verdict? Why is my view on any matter?"

Francesco gave him a worn out smile "Because you are my brother. My closest blood relative..... So after hearing the new revelations..... You must tell me what you think I should do to father, uncle and of course our mother to serve justice? But I don't even know why I bother asking since I know your real view. You believe that I should forgive and forgive the past. Right? That's what you have been telling me always. You want to forget. You always say you do. But that is not enough for me. I want to make them suffer. So is this it then Costanzo? You have nothing else to say except remaining peaceful and neutral? Tell me if this is still what you really want?"

Costanzo spoke in a whisper "Yes brother. It is." He spoke his words and awaited a drastic reaction from his brother. But Francesco surprised Costanzo by putting his hand on his shoulder and remaining calm. Costanzo cringed slightly. He actually had thought that Francesco was going to hit him for defying him and not answering his question in a way that he wanted.

Francesco spoke " You baffle me sometimes. I am giving you the opportunity to have your say and you are wasting it by holding on to your forgive and forget policy. Very well then. So be it. You are lucky I am not in the mindset to talk some sense into you right now. I have Adele waiting for me in my bedroom. I need to be taking care of her. She wont like to see her brother in law in pain. So this is your lucky day to avoid my questions...."

Costanzo spoke carefully "What are you going to do to them?"

Francesco spoke "I don't think I have to disclose anything to you about what I think should happen to them to serve justice since you don't believe in revenge bringing us closure. You lost the right to have a say or know anything. But to be honest, even if I wished it, I wasn't going to go into too much detail about this issue.... What matters to me the most is Adele. As I said, I don't have too much time for anything else but taking care of Adele. She is quite fragile right now after the shock of knowing how close her brother was to dying at my hands...."

Costanzo actually became concerned "Is she getting better? How was she last night?"

Francesco spoke " Don't worry about Adele. She is mine to protect. She is a delicate flower that has no thorns to protect herself. I am the thorns. The question I have for you is...... Where is your delicate flower Costanzo? You may need to act as thorns or someone would chop her off the ground and take her for themselves. Actually it could be even worse. Someone could step on that delicate flower that is meant to become yours and would crush it with force if you don't act. So man up brother. Being a peace keeper is nothing to be proud of in our world. Just look at Angelo and Anna. Learn from them. I have decided to exempt Angelo from physical and mental tortures but Anna has to do the ultimate sacrifice and give him up. Arturo Agostini is coming here today. Lets hope they hit it off. It was her choice amongst the options I gave her."

Costanzo looked horrified. He couldn't believe his brother was capable of forcing Anna to marry a man of Francesco's choosing "But ...... you shouldn't force her.... Its not her fault. Angelo betrayed you .... Not her."

Francesco spoke " She doesn't have thorns to protect herself. If her father was my equal, he could protect her. But he works for the Rosarios. He has no say and neither does our aunt Patricia. I am the head of the Rosario family. What I say goes. Remember that. Like I said ... Don't think about flowers that are not your responsibility. Think of your own one..."

The threat behind Francesco's words were obvious. Amaranta could be at risk if Costanzo made the wrong choices. Costanzo could understand that. He looked at his brother silently with pleading eyes. He didnt even know what to say.

Francesco spoke "But to put your mind at ease, Anna is like my sister just like she is to you. I would never put her in harm's way. If she feels that Arturo is not the right man after seeing him today, I will not force her to be with him. She would make the choice. But she doesn't have many other choices and she has to make a choice." He then walked away from his brother.

His brother had given Costanzo so much to think about. He didnt even know who to worry about. But one thing was clear. Amaranta was the one in most danger. She wasn't a Rosario or of any special connection to Francesco. She was Costanzo's subject of affection.

Francesco spoke as his hand touched the door knob "Arturo is arriving at breakfast time actually. Make him feel at home. I will be in my bedroom with Adele until she wakes up. You greet Arturo and when Adele is ready I will bring her down." He then walked out leaving Costanzo to contemplate everything that was discussed.

Francesco walked to his bedroom and slowly opened the door being careful not to wake Adele up. He walked to Adele's sleeping form. He couldn't resist bending over her form and planting a kiss on her cheek. He pulled away silently and sat at the edge of the bed and stared at her angelic face sleeping peacefully. He was now thinking to himself about what he was going to do without this woman. She had lit up his world. Ever since she had come into his dark world she had become his light. He loved her truly and unconditionally with all his heart. She simply made him happy by just being there by his side. All he needed was her presence and her love. He felt her deep love that he returned loyally and intensely. He really wanted to prove to Adele how much he loved her. He wanted her badly. He couldn't wait to start a family with her. He wanted to have a family and create a strong bond with his wife and children that nothing and no one could break. He wanted to spend a life time with Adele as badly as he wanted heirs. This was a dream that he could never achieve without Adele. He needed her to give him children. That way, he could get the chance to prove how much he loved Adele and his family.

Francesco slowly reached his hand towards her and took her hand in his gently. He took a look at the ring on her finger. he planted a gentle kiss on her ring. The events of that night when she had said yes to his marriage proposal was like a dream to him. She had agreed to be his by her own free will. That made Francesco smile brightly. That made his heart jump in joy when he recalled how his beloved had said yes.

Suddenly, he felt her move. He didn't want to wake her up. He slowly pulled away his hand and reluctantly stood up. He walked away towards the balcony and glass windows where rays of sunshine were lighting up the room. He looked at the grounds at the front of his compound and watched a car entering the compound through the gates. It was a golden Cadillac. It was Arturo Augostini's favourite mode of transport. He watched as Arturo was getting off the car. Then he saw Anna, Antonio and Costanzo walking to him to welcome him. It seemed like Costanzo had done his job properly and had asked the other Rosarios in the house to greet him.

Francesco watched as he saw Arturo taking Anna's hand and planting a kiss on her hand. Then as always, the first thing he did was going down on one knee and taking out the box containing a ring and offering it to Anna.

Francesco had to hold a chuckle. It seemed like this guy had come prepared to New York hoping to bump into Anna. Francesco liked Arturo's persistence.

Anna of course, walked away like always shaking her head. If anyone else did that to Arturo, they were going to pay for disrespecting him and walking away. But Arturo didnt mind. He was used to Anna's cold treatment. Arturo stood up with a smile and looked at Antonio and Costanzo. Francesco worked out what he said "She will be mine." Just like he said always after getting a rejection from Anna Rosario.