It was dawn and Costanzo was packing up his suitcase for the trip to Italy. He didn't look forward to the trip at all. Part of him was telling him to run and part of him was telling him to wait. He was afraid of running because of what had happened the last time. The last time he had tried to run with the woman he wanted to marry, he was caught. Francesco had caught up with him and Elize. They were trying to marry at church and Francesco had them surrounded. If it wasn't for his uncle Piero, Elize could have been badly hurt. Now he was afraid to make things worse. At least now that Francesco was on his side, Amaranta had a chance to live but still Arturo was the enemy. He was telling himself that he had to be brave. He had to marry Amaranta by any tricks he could to insure her. But it felt wrong to think that way. He wanted to save Amaranta and he was going to do it but he wasn't going to force her to say vows she wasn't ready for or she didn't mean. He was going to try to find another way.

Suddenly the door to his bedroom opened and non other than Francesco entered. Costanzo looked at his brother as he stood up " Good morning."

Francesco slammed the door shut and walked to his brother as he was shaking his head " I didn't think I would find you here. I thought you were in Amaranta's room guarding her. Arturo is sleeping next door after all. If Adele was next door to Arturo and I was in your place, I wouldn't have been here packing my stuff. I would have been elsewhere. But never mind."

Costanzo spoke " I trust the guards." He was surprised at how his brother's tone was not harsh that day. He sounded different. He sounded almost ... caring.

Francesco sighed as he stood in front of his brother and stared at him directly " You never learn..... I am not here to discuss your love life or rather your non existent love life. I am here to discuss what I asked you to do at the hotel. Give me your answer now."

Costanzo gulped. He couldn't form words, let alone sentences. He didn't think Francesco was going to ask him any time soon especially on the verge of making a trip. He had forgotten all about that after Amaranta's situation had become so critical. He had no idea that the day of reckoning coming up so soon mean that he had to have an answer ready just then. He had no answer to give. What could he say? Their parents and how Francesco wanted to deal with them was a touchy subject that Costanzo didn't even want to think about.

Francesco spoke in hard tone " You baffle me. Man up and give me an answer. Will you? Of course. You are not even man enough to go and make the woman you love, yours. I don't know when you are going to grow some courage. I don't think I will ever live to see the day.... You know when I give you chances to express your view, you must take them. I may not give you a say if you push my limits. Tell me what you think is justice for our father for forcing us to live through hell and what does our mother deserve for accepting our abusive father with open arms."

Costanzo managed to utter one thing " Forgive."

Francesco reached his hand up and grabbed Costanzo's collar of his shirt " Is this the best you can come up with?"

Costanzo nodded " Sorry."

Francesco still had Costanzo's collar of his shirt in his hand as he complained " You sound like her .... You sound like Adele. She was trying to get me to forgive and forget too. I wondered why she was so insistent. Did you have anything to do with it? Did you put her up to that? Did you force her to speak to me?"

Costanzo remembered. Of course he had. Days ago he had sat down with Adele and told her how much he feared Francesco loosing his soul completely by going after their father and killing him. No wonder she had tried to get him to forgive. It was the only way. Before he could stop himself, he uttered his question out loud " Did she succeed?"

Francesco spoke " In what? Getting me to forgive our father? No of course not. I won't forgive but I told her I won't kill our father to put her mind at ease. I don't want to kill him. There are worse things than death to do to a man. You didn't answer my question. Did you put her upto this? You used to be the one to keep going on about how I would rip up my soul if I kill father. I suspect you had something to do with her pacifist views about our father but ......... come to think of it you are not a risk taker like Antonio. He may have put her upto this since he has made it clear he wants his father to live. I will go question him. You are too careful to pull a stunt like that. Regardless, let me warn you, I don't appreciate anyone putting any ideas into Adele's mind when it comes to our family affairs. I want to be the only one to tell her anything first hand regarding personal matters." He then turned around and walked to the door " I think I cut you a break this time because you are occupied with Amaranta. I might give you a chance to have your say when I make a final decision about our father..... It's what Adele would want." He then walked out without another word.

Costanzo let out a breath he was holding and collapsed on the floor on his knees in front of his opened suit case. How did Adele do it? He had no idea. He didn't want to know how Francesco was treating him so gently. This was not usual. If it was in the past, he was going to beat him up for not having an answer. But this time Francesco had let him go but of course then Antonio was the one in trouble. The thought of Costanzo putting up Adele to speak to Francesco about their father hardly sounded rational to Francesco, which was lucky for him and unlucky for Antonio. He didn't know how long he sat down in shock but then just he thought he should have gone to check on Antonio, there was a knock in the door and Antonio came inside himself.

Antonio spoke " Ready to get some breakfast in town." He closed the door behind him.

Costanzo stood up and walked to him " Did Francesco talk to you?"

Antonio rubbed his neck with his hand " Sure he did. He made some explicit threats too. Apparently someone stupid has put Adele up to talk to Francesco to save his soul and stop him from killing his father. Well, I am not that stupid and I told him that. He was ready to strangle me but then he believed me and let me go. You wouldn't know who did it. It's not me. It's not you and surely it's Anna then."

Costanzo spoke " It was me."

Antonio gasped as he looked back at the door to check it was shut. Then he looked back at Costanzo " Have you lost your mind,? It's one of the strict rules. We are not allowed to talk to Adele about your parents. He made it clear always he never wanted us to influence her. You do know what a big part of this vendetta is about? Right? It's about Adele. Your dear father separated Adele from Francesco for ten years. He took Adele away from Francesco and made him miss her. That is one of your father's biggest crimes in Francesco's eyes. So never mess with Adele. Don't talk to her about Francesco because part of Francesco's revenge would be about her. A big part of it.... Now, forget this..... Its over. Get ready to go out for breakfast since we have to go to the headquarters and warehouses setting up all arrangements for our one week long absence. Francesco excused us from breakfast and asked us to go now to see the lawyers and heads of warehouses. There is more. Once we come back, Francesco said he may decide to move all management facilities to New York so we may be moving to this city soon. So why not get used to this place. Let's go now."

Costanzo sighed and carried on filling up his suit case "Fine... Give me a few minutes. Business is the last thing on my mind. All I think about is Amaranta."

Antonio laughed "You are not the only one having lady troubles. Remember my deadline to ask Georgina to marry me is Christmas. If there is no ring on her finger by then, Francesco would force me to marry a woman he chooses. If you think you have it tough, think again. Francesco won't extend the deadline for me getting engaged either. I tried to convince him. He said no. He says he is tired of me dating a new Hollywood actress every week. Seriously, I don't just date actresses. I date singers, dancers and also Wall Street heiresses too. It's not just Hollywood girls. Well, Georgina is not interested in getting tied down. She is not ready to get engaged. How am I supposed to get her ready for everything in such short space of time?"

Costanzo looked up at his cousin " Just tell her the truth. Tell her about your deadline. She would not want to see you with another woman. I am quite sure, she wouldn't like that even if she doesn't admit it. Make her jealous."

Antonio looked at his cousin with wide eyes " What? No. I won't do that. That way I would ruin whatever relationship we have. Firstly, I am sure she won't get jealous and even if she did, she won't admit it. She is stubborn and strong willed. Secondly, then she would think I am only with her because I have to be."

Costanzo joked " Aren't you?"

Antonio spoke defensively " You know, you are the last person to give anyone relationship advice right now. You had a bad day yourself yesterday. You just let Arturo threaten Amaranta and get away with it. Grow a pair and challenge him to a duel."

Costanzo sighed " If it was that simple...." He then zipped up his suitcase and stood up "Let's go."

Antonio nodded and walked to the door as Costanzo followed. He put his hand on the door handle as he turned to his cousin "I really wanted to beat the daylights out of Arturo yesterday. He dares issuing this ultimatum to visit his home in Italy. If it was not because of him, then Georgina didn't have to go home alongside her brother to pack for the trip. The only good thing is we got rid of Angelo. He is now in O'Neil mansion. I would love to see him get a taste of being sancia's doctor. He would think twice before trying to betray Francesco again."

Costanzo sighed "We would see all of them at the airport maybe. I wonder what Anna would feel about making the trip with Arturo to Italy. She wasn't very happy last night. Is she awake yet? Should we take her to town too to get her away from Arturo maybe. he is just sleeping next door to her."

Antonio spoke "She can take care of herself. Don't worry. She would have breakfast in bed as she requested. Just like Amaranta. I wish you could take Amaranta to town but Francesco won't let you. Would he? Lets say Amaranta is safer in her room since if Arturo sees her, he may lose control. You never know. I for one don't want to be at Arturo's mansion as everyone from last night would be in one place. Can you imagine that?"

Costanzo spoke "No I can't."

Antonio spoke "Its a blessing that Francesco wants us to go to Sicily first and then go to Arturo's house. But again, this would be reckoning time. He would make quick work of it too. He thinks he would spend three days in Sicily and three days in Milan. I doubt we would spend that much time in Milan though." He then opened the door and walked out. The two cousins made their way out of the mansion and got into bullet proof black cars and left as they were heavily guarded.

Adele watched Antonio and Costanzo leaving the mansion as she was staring out the window. She had woken up to an empty bed and now she was waiting for Francesco to return. She didn't even need to pack for the trip. Francesco had already packed everything most likely in the early hours of the morning. She had seen her suitcase with a note on when she had woken up asking her to check if she needed anything else for their Seven day long trip. She didn't think she needed that much for a one week.

She heard the door open and found Francesco at the door "Good morning" he said with a smile and Adele responded "Good morning." Then Francesco walked in and kissed Adele's forehead as two guards came in with breakfast trolleys and wordlessly set up the breakfast table and left. As they left, Francesco was just holding Adele in his arms silently as he was looking outside "Its a lovely day today and there would be a long trip. Are you ready? We are going from New York to Palermo-Boccadifalco Airport so you need to eat your breakfast properly Adele with no arguments." He then walked to the breakfast table and held a chair out for her to go sit.

Adele sighed as she walked to the seat and sat down.

As Francesco sat down too, Adele asked "Aren't we going to Arturo's house first?"

Francesco spoke "No. I think its best to get it over and done with. We go to Sicily for three days and then we may stay at Arturo's home for another three days just enough to be there for a party in Anna's honour. We won't stay longer. Knowing Arturo he would want to throw a proper engagement party weeks later when Anna decides to say yes. So we would go back again when that time comes."

Adele asked "Who is coming with us to Sicily?"

Francesco spoke "All Rosarios. Costanzo, Antonio, you and I."

Adele gasped "Aren't Georgina and Amaranta coming? What about Anna?"

Francesco spoke "Anna has to go with Arturo. She will be with her man. She has to be. I could take her but I want her to bond with Arturo's family while I am not there. She needs to get to know her in laws. As for Amaranta and Georgina, well what can I say? They could come if they had rings on their fingers tying them to a Rosario. Well they don't. So they make their way to Arturo's mansion like all other guests and we will join them when we finish."

Adele spoke "Would Amaranta live?"

Francesco chuckled "Why wouldn't she live? Anna is her life insurance. Anna won't let anything happen to Amaranta. I trust her power to fight Arturo more than I trust Costanzo's will. Don't worry sweetheart."

As they were having breakfast, Adele's mind was everywhere. She didn't know what was to come. Francesco hadn't given much away about his plans and Adele had no idea what to expect. She hoped Francesco could find peace by this trip. She knew it was ambitious to think Francesco could forgive his father but she just prayed that at least Francesco didn't lose his temper and didn't kill his father. She knew it was a possibility even though Francesco denied wanting to kill his father. Adele could still see him do it. She knew he was going to regret it if he did that. Who could kill their own father and live a normal life?"

Time flew by very quickly. Adele was left in her room as Francesco attended to business and then he came back to the room announcing that they were leaving in half an hour and they needed to get changed.

Adele was already dressed up and just needed to wear her coat to be ready. She sat down on the bed and watched as Francesco was dressing up and wearing his shirt. Adele asked " You know.... How do you feel safe in Italy. Do you take men with you?"

Francesco raised an eyebrow " Are you interested in my business sweetheart? I didn't know if you were interested. Yes, I am taking men but I do have reserves in Europe. I have allies too. I also have allies of allies or rather friends of friends. O'Neil has even more resources in Europe. His Irish allies are at my disposal in Europe because we have such close alliance. I have enough resources to protect us in Italy and Arturo's territory is safe. But in Sicily, the story is different slightly. My men are all I need. Sicily is safer than you think for a Rosario. Assassins had the chance to make an attempt to end my father's life because he was on a no man's land. He had chosen to marry in a church that was in a neutral land. It was a rare place that he picked. Besides, that attempted assassination did some damage because my father's guards weren't instructed to bring in guns into the church and no attack was expected because my father and uncle are retired. So you don't need to worry if you are thinking we would encounter assassins."

Adele was curious " But all it takes for someone to shoot you is using a gun ...."

Francesco nodded as he was wearing his coat " Of course, but sweetheart, shooting a mob boss is a heavy crime. Not many people would want to commit such act in fear of retaliation. You shoot a mob boss, your family suffers. The Voltolinis are alive because firstly the attempt on my at my fathers life wasn't carried out by them and was ordered by them. It was carried out by a different family that Ambrogio had hired and I eliminated them. Marriages would take place to seal the peace. So I wouldn't worry about safety. No one else would dare take a hit on us from my knowledge. No one is crazy enough."

Adele didn't want to argue with Francesco. As long as he didn't kill his father and a big part of Francesco's soul wasn't ripped away she wasn't worried.

The trip to the airport was under heavy security and before she knew it Adele found herself at the airport. As she was boarding the Rosario private plane she watched the other guests boarding other planes. Anna was getting on Arturo's private plane and O'Neil, Sancia and Angelo were taking another. Georgio, his fiancé and Georgina, Amaranta and Alessio were also going with O'Neil since Francesco wanted O'Neil's protection for them. They were all going to Milan unlike Francesco's group whom were going to Palermo.

Adele found herself surrounded by guards alongside Costanzo and Antonio on the plane. It felt safe for her but she was not sure for others.

As Adele was lead to her seat and buckled up her seatbelt, she turned to Francesco " Would Angelo be safe?"

Francesco turned to her " He is safe with O'Neil. You will see him in Arturo's mansion soon."

Adele looked outside the plane window as she found herself feeling uneasy " I am worried about this trip. I know nothing about what will happen."

Francesco spoke " You are worried? About what sweetheart? Everything will be alright."

The trip was quite long. Adele found herself sleeping for the duration of flight. But she didn't feel tired by the time they touched down in Sicily. The seats on the plane were so comfortable and turned to beds easily which was as comfortable as her bed.

Francesco had made arrangements already for cars to pick them up from the airport. As they got off the plane, there wasn't even any passport control happening. Francesco's group all got into cars and drove away from the airport lanes through back doors into the main road. She didn't know much about the surroundings. She just noticed that the road they were taking lead them to the countryside more and more. She could see more wine trees and olive trees everywhere. After a while, Adele noticed they were inside a village that she fell in love with immediately.

Adele gasped " This village is so beautiful. Where are we?"

Francesco spoke " This is a neutral land. This is where my uncle Piero has his villas and some wineries. My father has an olive oil business here too. Basically all legal businesses in Europe that my father and my uncle own are located here."

Finally the car came to a halt in front of the gate of a set of villas.

Francesco wrapped his arm around Adele " This is it. This is where my mother has been staying with her sister all this time. This is where I will meet my father and uncle."

As they got off the cars and made their way into the villas. Adele noticed Francesco had sent a group of his men already to the villas by the looks of it in prior as she saw that they came out and reported " Sir, the villas are deserted. There is no sign of anyone. We located your mothers room and your aunts but there is no sign of them."

Francesco narrowed his eyes. He held Adele's hand tighter and