29. His unreasonable rules

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Francesco woke up from his nightmare breathing heavily. He sat up on his bed and looked to his left at the sleeping form of Adele. He took a sigh of relief and got up. He turned on the bedside lamp post that dimly lit the room. He walked to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a large glass of red wine and turned around looking to Adele while sipping his drink slowly while still standing deep in thought.

It had been months now since his nightmares about Adele had started. It used to be just nightmares about Adele kissing other men or just Adele walking away from Francesco hand in hand with other men. But now in his dream tonight Francesco had seen her getting married in a church to another man. To O'Connor. His nightmare had ended with him shooting O'Connor and Adele crying over his corpse and whispering, "Francesco, I hate you. I would never be with you". That had hurt him.

Francesco kept telling himself that it was just a nightmare. Adele had rejected O'Connor's marriage proposal already. She had turned him down. She had the chance to become O'Connor's woman before knowing Francesco was watching her every move closely. He kept reassuring himself that Adele didn't love O'Connor so much to marry him ......... or could she? How much did his beloved love O'Connor? Did she love O'Connor more than she could have loved Francesco? He didn't know the answer to this question.

The only thing Francesco was sure of until that moment was the fact that O'Conner loved his woman enough to wish to marry her. Yet O'Connor lived. Francesco had his own reasons to keep him alive. But none of those reasons happened to be his uncle Piero's sympathy for father Rwan's family who happened to be O'Connor's uncle. That was just an excuse he had given Adele for sparing O'Connor. The true reason O'Connor lived was because Francesco loved Adele to the point that he didn't want her to feel the guilt of causing O'Connor to die. He had refrained from killing the man who had eyes for the love of his life solely out of concern for Adele feeling devastated at the loss of a friend.

But after having consecutive nights of his nightmare getting worse, clouds of doubt and jealousy were tempting him to take a different step. To stand up for himself and kill O'Connor. But he was much wiser than that to just let his jealousy makes him murder his love rival just like that.

The only way he was going to be convinced to kill O'Connor was if his angel loved this other man. So, first he had to find a way to use O'Connor to find out what Adele felt for him. He didn't know the answer to the question that would have condemned or cleared Adele of charges of unfaithfulness against her. So, no he couldn't kill him if he was not loved by his woman. Francesco had to be hundred percent certain if Adele truly loved him and how much she loved O'Conner. Until, he had some answers, he couldn't just kill O'Conner and condemn his beloved to unnecessary guilt that she didn't deserve. But once his plan was done, it was going to be verdict time. If Adele didn't love O'Connor, he knew torturing and then banishing O'Connor was enough punishment to satisfy his thirst for some justice and revenge. He didn't want to break apart Adele's heart from guilt of causing the death of another man who she happened to have spent one year with. She was attached to him at least as a close friend and colleague whether Francesco liked it or not.

But if Adele truly loved this man, ...... she deserved to live with the guilt. If she was unfaithful to him and loved O'Connor, he was going to take pleasure in ripping O'Connor's heart out of his chest right in front of Adele's eyes. There was no way around this. If any man was loved by his woman, he had to die as part of the punishment for his woman who loved another. But was that all his woman truly deserved if she was unfaithful? ...... "Absolutely not" Francesco told himself but was he capable of punishing his woman even more severely and hurt her to the point of breaking?

No one was allowed to double cross a mob boss. No one could break a mob boss's heart and walk away with only witnessing the death of their beloved. But that was all Francesco could think of. Could he go any further ever and hurt his woman more? ............ Francesco shook his head and cringed at the thought. He wasn't sure about how he was going to further punish his woman if she loved another man more than him. Could he hurt her until she was forced to love him and express remorse for breaking his heart? Of course she surely would have deserved that if she ever betrayed him. She had to realise she had wronged him and begged for forgiveness to make Francesco forgive her betrayal. But Francesco wasn't sure he could ever have the heart to hurt Adele directly. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't ever raise his hand on his woman. She was the most beautiful being he had laid his eyes on. She was his angel and all he wanted to do was to protect her and keep her away from harm. So no. His angel was safe from harm as long as he lived.

Hurting O'Connor and Adele's brother was as close as Francesco had ever come to hurting Adele and he hadn't enjoyed torturing them like how he did with anyone else who was his enemy or had wronged him in some way. Especially he had felt sick after torturing Angelo. He remembered how he had felt sorry for Angelo. He was meant to do to him what he was doing to O'Connor but he just couldn't bring himself to damage Angelo too much. At some point when he was just about to make a punch bag out of his face and was about to make him unrecognisable, he had stopped himself. Angelo's eyes were Adele's eyes. It was as though Adele was pleading with him to stop hurting her brother without being there. Francesco had stopped himself before he had damaged him beyond repair and had asked his men to stop. Later that day, he had become grateful to Costnazo for stopping him from going any further. Later on when he had thought back to his actions he couldn't believe how badly he was going to hurt Angelo. He was Adele's brother. Her closest relative. He couldn't hurt him too much. He had sworn to himself to be in more control of his temper when it came to Angelo from now on. He was almost family. But O'Connor was not in the same category. Adele cared for him but he was his enemy.

Francesco sighed. He put down his wine glass and walked to Adele's sleeping form. He kissed her on the cheek gently and whispered "Please love me sweetheart." He then walked to his wardrobe and got changed into his boxing shorts and tank top and went out for his exercise routine. He did his training and had a shower. When he walked out with his towel wrapped around his waist, he didn't expect his woman to be awake. She was sitting at the edge of the bed wearing her nightgown over her night dress looking at him with wide eyes. He smiled as he saw her blush and look away.

Francesco sighed "Sweetheart. Don't be shy. I am yours and you are mine. Why do you look away?"

Adele nervously looked up at him and spoke "You wear very little clothes." Adele couldn't look at Francesco for too long. His strong hard rock muscular chest was making him look so attractive and also so .... scary. She knew he could hurt anyone so badly without even trying. He was a deadly weapon as well as being handsome and angel faced.

Francesco laughed and walked to Adele "And you wear too many layers of clothes. Do you have to wear the gown on top of your night dress? I picked your night dresses so I can get to see you wearing them at night. Its for my eyes only but of course you choose to hide your gorgeous body from me." He then reached his hand to Adele's chin making her close her eyes. He tilted her chin upwards "Look at me sweetheart. Open your eyes. Why do you close your beautiful eyes when I touch you?"

Adele slowly opened her eyes. Francesco leaned over and kissed her on the lips gently. He smiled as he pulled away "I love you Adele." He then stared at Adele waiting for Adele to respond.

Adele stuttered " Francesco .... I .... I care about you alot but loving you is ..."

Francesco nodded "out of question for now??? I know how traditional you are sweetheart. If you say you love me it would be such a big step for you. It's not a problem that you can't say you love me back yet. I think you do love me but you are shy. You are not comfortable to share your feelings. Its alright. I am willing to wait. Now sweetheart, why don't you have a shower while I get us some breakfast?"

Adele nodded weakly and got up as Francesco was staring at her. She walked to the wardrobe and grabbed a towel and clothes. She then walked to the shower. Francesco whispered "I hope you lose that nightgown soon sweetheart. I can't wait to see more of your gorgeous body in that night dress I picked for you."

Francesco's statement made Adele shiver and turn nervously "I can't. Not yet."

Francesco spoke "Like I said. I will wait. Now hurry up gorgeous. We don't want to be late for our date after breakfast. Remember. The one you asked me to plan."

Adele sighed and without another word walked inside the shower.

When Adele got changed in the bathroom and walked out, she could smell pastry, fresh bread and some aroma of tea but no coffee. It seemed like Francesco had kept his word and had removed coffee from their breakfast just for her.

Breakfast table was set inside now close to the fireplace. There were a variety of breakfast on the table just like yesterday. Adele didn't know how Francesco expected her to eat from everything. There was jam, honey, fruits, butter and a range of French cheese and baguettes. There was a tea pot on top of a candle case keeping it warm right next to a jug of milk. The only thing that she could see was of reasonable number was the cutlery, plates and tea cups. The table was set for two people only.

As Adele walked to the table and reached for a grape, the door opened. Francesco came in with a pan of omelettes. He spoke " Sit down sweetheart. I am sorry for keeping you waiting. The chef had forgotten I had asked for omelettes too and was running late. I don't think he would forget again. I taught him a lesson he won't ever forget."

Adele winced as she heard his statement. She sat down reluctantly knowing Francesco didn't like anyone questioning him or not listening to what he said. She had decided to listen to Costanzo and try to love Francesco and do as he said hoping to see some change. She wasn't very optimistic but acting more obedient was all she could hope for now would change Francesco and make him believe she did love him to find point.

Francesco put the pan in the middle of the table on a wooden frame and spoke " Now be a good girl and try everything. I won't let you leave this table until you do. Yesterday you had a lucky escape because you were feeling sick. Now there is no excuse."

Adele tried not to sound like she was complaining. She spoke in a low tone " Can we not talk about food for once at breakfast?" She then took some baguette and started spreading some butter over it.

Francesco shrugged " What do you want to talk about then sweetheart. I want to hear your voice but it seems like you prefer to withhold your beautiful musical voice from me just like you hid your body from me with that dressing gown. The night dress I picked for you that I haven't even gotten to see is not that revealing. It's a bit short and has no sleeves. But that is all. I wish you were less modest behind closed doors with me." He then picked up the tea pot and started pouring tea for both of them.

Adele spoke "I am not hiding my voice but give me time to get used to us. This is a new life. I am not used to living in a mansion with rules that I struggle to remember and fear I may forget. I am not used to a relationship where the man I am dating knows more about me compared to what I know about him. Come on Francesco. You can't expect me to feel the same about you in the same way you do about me. You watched me for ten years. You claim to have even read my college reports. You have been watching me all these years. I need time to get to know you. I thought you said you can wait."

Francesco smiled warmly at Adele " I know you need time and I know I said I will wait for you to open up. But sweetheart..... I never said I enjoyed waiting. I hate it actually. But I am willing to give you time since I love you." He then got on with eating his pastry while watching Adele closely.

Adele spoke " Why do you stare at me while eating? Don't take it the wrong way but it just makes me nervous when someone watches me eat."

Francesco spoke in a serious tone " But I am not just someone Adele. I am your future .... husband or partner in life. Whichever you prefer. I have the right to watch the woman who will be carrying my children one day and check what she eats. I need to make sure you are well provided for and I need to know you are taking care of yourself. You are my woman."

Adele was looking at Francesco with outrage " Francesco. I can take care of myself. I know what to eat. I know how to keep myself healthy. Also please don't mention children. I can't think that far yet. I don't even know if I really want to have children."

Francesco's tone turned firm " If you know how to eat then how come you are so underweight? When my men Brought you here and I carried you to this room I couldn't believe how you had neglected yourself. You weight the same as you did when you were fourteen. Either you didn't take care of yourself or shall I say your brother neglected you. So I would say abit of both. Also sweetheart I am sorry to say I can't stop talking about children. It's what I have wanted all these years. I am a Rosario. I am a mob boss with so many regions under my control in this country. I own a business in every state. I want my children to take over from me one day. I have to have heirs. I am sorry sweetheart. But at least you must give me one son in the next five years. This is one of my rules. All Rosarios must have at least one male heir by the time they turn thirty."

Adele didn't know what to say. She just stared at Francesco silently. She didn't want to make things worse. She didn't want to make Francesco angry. When he lost his temper, someone besides Adele suffered for it whether they were at fault or not it didn't matter to Francesco by the looks of it. That was her observation so far.

She sighed " Francesco. I ...... don't know what to say. Can you at least tell me why this is one of your rules for Rosarios to have sons before they turn thirty?."

Francesco sighed " Because sweetheart, I want my children to be the same age as their cousins. They are raised closely any then trained to take over the business at the same time. It works nicely like how it did with me, my brother and my cousin. It's just luck we are close in age."

Adele was looking at Francesco with disbelief. " Lets say for arguments' sake we get to a point in our relationship one day to want to have children. But what if we have no sons? What if we only have daughters?"

Francesco shrugged " We keep trying until we have a son but if we don't have any male heirs after we have five or six offspring then I won't expect you to have more children. We can make it work somehow."

Adele spoke " But how? What are you talking about exactly?"

Francesco put down his tea cup and looked at Adele " Look. It hasn't happened yet. We may have sons. So why ask me about this?"

Adele spoke " We are talking theoretically but I need to know if you ever would consider having children with .... another woman if I couldn't give you a son."

Francesco's expression hardened "Sweetheart....... Apologise or I would be very angry."

Adele gasped " It's a genuine question."

Francesco stood up "No. It's not. I don't think you have any idea what you just accused me of. You are basically saying I am worse than my father and my uncle. Think about it Adele. My father and my uncle never let another woman touch them but one. That's the Rosario code. There is only one woman out there for a Rosario. I would never ever cheat on you. Now Adele apologise to me."

Adele was looking shocked " Why should I apologise for asking a legitimate question?"

Francesco was looking furious now " Sweetheart. Don't argue with me. It's not a problem to ask legitimate questions. You asked what if we had daughters and not sons? That's the right question but you went on to assume I would actually go on and cheat on you just to have a son. That hurt my honour sweetheart and when that happens I lose my temper. So listen to me darling and tell me you are sorry before I do anything I might regret."

Adele swallowed hard nervously and whispered " I am sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you of being unfaithful."

Francesco visibly relaxed and sat back down and smiled weakly " Good girl." He then stared at Adele with a softened expression " To answer your question, If we have daughters, they will marry youngest sons from other mob families when they turn eighteen. Their husbands would take over after me. It happens all the time with most mob families."

Adele gasped "No. I would never force my daughter to marry someone they didn't love."

Francesco rolled his eyes " Our daughters would get other choices too sweetheart. If we have daughters who would welcome the Rosario way of life, then they can be trained too. It's not impossible. It's just that statistics say women are not interested in the kind of activities I do in my organisation. It's facts. Research shows women on average don't welcome violence. Its not me who says this. So far only afew women in any mob family I know have ever shown interest in the criminal way of life similar to my organisation. One example is Georgina Canavaro. I think I mentioned her yesterday at dinner time. Her brother, Georgio is coming over to discuss business this afternoon with me. He surely would bring her along too. I can arrange for you two to meet. You can talk to her and ask her how are things and how she found her training. I am sure if you have a conversation with her it may put you at ease that even if we have daughters, they can take over my business if they ..... enjoy what Is involved."

Adele was totally speechless at that point. She wanted to walk out of that door right that moment but of course she had to make things work. Costanzo had told her she had to try to get to know Francesco and love him back somehow. She wasn't sure how far she could go. She was losing patience with him already. She tried to push her outrage to the back of her mind and whispered " Meeting her won't hurt. Right?"

Francesco nodded " I am glad you are interested in what I ask you to do. Because you are being a good girl now, I am going to allow Angelo to join us for thanksgiving dinner and maybe slowly become one member of our dinner table. He needs to prove his worth to be family but if you are being a good girl it means he hasn't neglected you too much and done some of his duties towards you and I can begin to forgive him slowly."

Adele wanted to have a come back again but she thought against it. "He is being kinder. Don't push it Adele". She told herself. So she gave him a forced wide smile "Thank you Francesco."

Francesco looked up "You are welcome sweetheart. Its nice to see you are smiling properly darling. I thought you might have forgotten how to."

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