39. Convincing Him (Part 1)

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Angelo was being lead to Francesco's meeting room by one of the guards through the corridors. Seeing the stony looks on the faces of the guards as Angelo was passing through was really bothering him. The guards looked totally emotionless and silent as always. It was as though their soul was sucked out of them as they were standing so rigidly and doing their job almost robotically. He was wondering when he was going to be turned into one of these guards and his eyes were going to become as cold. But was he going to turn into them? Was that Francesco's plan?

Angelo knew that he was a special employee of Francesco's. He was treated differently to others. The guards were always reluctant to mix with him and talk to him unless he addressed them first. In fact, he had overheard them talking about him behind his back outside his cabin at night time. They referred to him as boss's future brother in law. They mostly sounded fearful when warning each other off from approaching his cabin and inviting him to their card games or dinner time gatherings. There were comments such as " Don't mess with him", " Boss can only deal with him", " He could get us all killed" that really made Angelo laugh. He was no gangster. He was not even close. He just was a normal guy or was he? What was Francesco going to turn him into? He had no idea.

As the guard leading him, stopped at an open door, Angelo stiffened. It was his first time reporting to the boss. He had never become so nervous in his life.

Francesco was sitting on a sofa and had a glass of vodka in his hand and looking down at a piece of paper in his hand as he was listening to a man reporting to him. The man was visibly trembling as he had his head down standing in front of Francesco and speaking shakily "Boss, thank you for approving of my work. I hope that my next month's report would bear the news of more profits."

Francesco at that point turned his head and noticed Angelo standing lost like a dear in headlights motionless in his spot at the entrance of the room. Francesco sighed " Join the line of my men Angelo. You are next to report to me." He then pointed his finger to a spot in the corner of the room " Wait over there. Go on then."

Angelo just noticed how Francesco's men wearing black suits were lined up standing around the room in total silence, looking emotionless. They were next to report by the looks of it." He walked to the spot where Francesco had pointed to and leaned on the wall standing. He looked around the room. This was most probably only the first batch of Francesco's employees. Costanzo had told him how each employee had a time slot for reporting at the weekend before dismissal which was conditional on the success of the report. The employees could either walk put the door after reporting or get sent to the cellar. Angelo cringed at the thought. He didn't want to be sent to cellar again. Never again did he want to spend the night in that horrible place like he had done on his first night of stay at the mansion. But he still considered himself lucky. It could be worse. His boss was totally merciless.

Francesco looked at the man in front of him "I don't have any concerns regarding your profits, Ernesto. My concerns are regarding your son. He is eighteen years old and has started college but he has not accepted my invitation to the thanksgiving feast I am holding in one of my hotels for my employees and their families this thursday. I am not like other mob bosses who force families of my employees to hand over their sons to work for me when they are of legal age. That is only voluntary in my organisation and as a way for a father to retire so a son takes their place if they can't fulfill their duties to the day they die. But showing me respect is not something anyone can bypass. Your son has displeased me many times by refusing to come to show his respect. This should end today. Don't you agree?"

Ernesto was stuttering now " I ...... am .... very sorry. I won't ..... let him carry on like this...."

Francesco smirked " I bet you won't." He the shouted orders to his men " Bring me Johnny." He then turned to the man " My loyal Ernesto, you should have kept a closer eye on your son until now. Teenagers need to be controlled. If not then they must suffer punishment."

Ernesto pleaded " I beg you to not harm my son. Please. He won't disrespect you from now on. Have mercy."

Angelo was horrified as two of Francesco's men suddenly entered dragging a young man inside. His hands were tied behind his back and there was a tape covering his mouth too but from the muffled sounds, it seemed like he was groaning and sobbing. He looked absolutely terrified.

Ernesto approached Francesco, dropped to his knees and kissed his hand. He spoke while weeping " Please. No ... He is too young to die. I will do anything. Please .... Let my son go."

Francesco laughed and kicked the man away from him. " Whether he dies or he lives, it would depend on his co-operation." He then stood up and walked to the boy who was held in between two of his men. Francesco reached his hand over and removed the tape from over the boys mouth and spoke " Johnny. You heard your fathers words. He is begging me to forgive your crimes. I don't think that I should. Now speak in your defense. Speak fast or I will kill you."

Johnny pleaded " I am so sorry .... Please .... No."

Francesco suddenly took out his gun from his coat and pointed it to Johnny a forehead and spoke " I am not convinced. I asked you to speak in your defense. Not beg. Your father has done that already and I haven't changed my mind. I never forgive when someone simply begs me to. I am a man of my word. Say something in your defense to convince me not to kill you. Go on."

Johnny was crying and shaking his head " I don't know...... I am sorry."

Francesco spoke " Tsk ..... Tsk ....... I don't like your defense. I think I am going to condemn you to ....."

Johnny spoke desperately " I will do ..... Anything."

Francesco lowered his gun and spoke with amusement in his voice "What is a useless ungrateful kid like you, going to do for me?"

Johnny swallowed hard "I go to MIT. I am studying physics and have taken option subjects with some professors who develop weapons for the military. I have secured an internship with one of them and will spy on them for you."

Francesco spoke " Not convincing enough. You are a disloyal kid. I don't care about weapons. I can bribe some professors for information. I want you dead." He then lifted his arm and pointed the gun to Johnny's head making his father sob loudly.

Johnny spoke quickly " But professors developing weapons are protected by the army. Having a spy is handy. I would be useful to you one day. I will get you some new weapons for your clients. They are developing new fire arms at my college. I would also get you some of their new inventions and list of contacts. I swear. They know suppliers from abroad too. Please don't kill me today. If I displease you in future, then kill me on the spot. But please give me once chance to prove to you my loyalty."

Francesco dropped his gun and sighed "You have a brain for sure. The only reason I spare you is because your father told me you have won some medals in mathematics before. You might succeed but you might not..... Very well. You live...... You will report to me at the end of each college term. Got it. if I get the impression that you are wasting time with your work, I would kill you. Make the smallest slip up and you are dead." He then turned to his men at the door " Take him to cellar and lock him up in the freezer room for tonight. Then drop him at his fathers door step tomorrow morning. Dismissed." He then turned to Ernesto " You too. Dismissed. You will see your son. Tomorrow."

Ernesto walked to Francesco and kissed his hand and whispered " Thank you for sparing him. I owe you his life."

Francesco spoke " Enough. Get out of my sight Ernesto."

Ernesto didn't need to be told twice and almost ran to the exit as his son was carried away by the guards.

Then, a moment later , Antonio entered the room breathing hard as though he had been running.

Francesco turned to him " Where were you all this time? You said it was just a phone call. what took you so long,"

Antonio spoke in between breaths " I am sorry it took so long. The phone call was ..... from a bar I am going to drop by tonight. I had to arrange the security, I take with me."

Francesco rolled his eyes " Of course. You are always occupied with going to bars and clubs with your lady friends. Lets hope you get lucky tonight and bring a wife home. By the way, if you are going out tonight, you are taking Costanzo with you. If he said no, tie him up and throw him in the trunk of the car and take him. He must meet girls. Now, go stand at your usual position behind my seat. I need to question my future brother in law now." He then turned to Angelo and gave him a cold look that made him tremble to the core.

Francesco walked to his seat, poured himself a drink and sat down. Behind him stood Antonio with a passive expression. Francesco took a sip from his drink and spoke coldly " Come close Angelo and hand me your report."

Angelo slowly walked to Francesco and handed him the piece of paper in his hand. Francesco took it from him and started reading. Angelo took a few steps away from the sofa as he looked at Francesco's gun resting on the side table. He really didn't wish for Francesco to shoot him with his gun on his early days working for him. He seemed too quick to kill people for the most minor crimes."

Francesco looked up at Angelo " You have written a lot of none sense here. You actually want to me believe that Adele is suffering from ....... homesickness and stress? Do you? That's ridiculous. What is this about? You are prescribing her to see her parents at thanksgiving on top of a week period to recover? Here is the best part. You recommend walking in open air right after she has just fainted? Have you lost your mind? On this paper, you haven't named any medicines. If she is unwell she needs medical treatment."

Angelo tried to keep his voice steady "Adele does not need any medication."

Francesco stood up and waved the report in the air in front of Angelo and spoke" You are neglecting Adele again. Why is my woman unconscious Angelo. Why is she so weak physically? What is wrong with her."

Angelo wasn't sure if any more words could make this situation better. He spoke "This is all I can diagnose. I am sorry."

Francesco laughed bitterly and ripped up the report into pieces and curved the paper pieces into a ball. He held it in his fist and spoke "I need some medically proven report. Not some garbage like this. You are useless. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shove this report down your throat right now? "

Angelo spoke "Because this is the correct diagnosis to my knowledge."

Francesco narrowed his eyes and raised his fist to strike him but Antonio cleared his throat and stopped him with his sentence" I back up his report."

Francesco turned around " You are no doctor."

Antonio spoke " I did a course in psychology alongside law back in college."

Francesco spoke " You spent all your time flirting with your tutor during that course."

Antonio spoke " She gave me some ..... private lessons. I know for a fact crying and fainting can be signs of guilt from something someone may have done and they need some relaxing time to feel better. It's all stress. She needs rest, contact with family and some relaxing time."

His words caught Francesco's attention and he turned around. He threw the paper ball into the bin next to his sofa and whispered "You said, crying is a sign of guilt... Good." Then he turned to Angelo.

Angelo held his breath as Francesco spoke "It seems like a psychologist can give me a more convincing diagnosis......"

Then suddenly Adele's voice interrupted "Francesco ....."

Francesco's expression changed as he heard Adele's voice. He turned to the door and saw his angel at the door standing in front of Costanzo outside the door. He smiled "Sweetheart. You are awake..." He then walked to Adele and embraced her tightly "Should you really be out of bed? You need to rest. You lost consciousness."

Adele spoke "I am feeling better but I want to go for a walk with Costanzo in the compound grounds. I just came down to tell you since we walked past your room."

Francesco pulled away and looked at Adele with concern "Are you sure? What is your brother thinking suggesting for you to go for a walk after you just fainted an hour ago. You don't have to go outside if you don't want to sweetheart."

Adele spoke " I am feeling ok but a walk would make me feel better."

Francesco sighed "If that's what you want, go ahead sweetheart, but if you feel unwell, tell Costanzo immediately."

Adele nodded "I will."

Francesco looked up at Costanzo " Take care of her. On your way back bring her to this meeting room. There are a few people I want her to meet."

Adele's eyes widened " What ... Who do you want me to meet?" She didn't think anything good could come out of entering any of Francesco's meetings. She still remembered the time, Francesco was about to murder someone in this very room.

Francesco turned to Adele and spoke softly " I just want you to meet some designers from Hollywood. I want them to ....... pitch to us what they can do. We need them for later on."

Adele spoke carefully " We need them later on? For what purpose?"

Francesco shrugged " Exactly my point. We will find out what they can do when they pitch to us. They have brought some samples with them too. We have a few uses for them that I can think of. That's of course if you liked their work listening to their. I want them to make our wedding gowns for one. I also want some fashionable designs for clothes our children will wear. The Hollywood designers are the best, they say. So don't forget sweetheart. When you come back from your walk, I will be expecting you in this room."

Adele gasped "Wedding? Children? Don't you think this is abit too soon?"

Francesco frowned "Of course not sweetheart. Wedding arrangements are lengthy. I would want your day to be perfect. We need everything in place. As for our children's clothing, of course it's better to have everything ready. I only want the best garments for our kids. We would order both girl and boy clothes. This would reduce the stress during the pregnancy period for you sweetheart if the wardrobe is ready and their room is decorated already. You would thank me when the time comes. We can't leave anything last minute."

Adele was looking at Francesco with her mouth open. She was speechless. Francesco took her silence as a sign of her approval. He smiled and then leaned close and kissed her cheek and whispered "See you later sweetheart."

Costanzo turned to Adele and spoke quickly " Lets go Mrs Rosario. This way please."

Francesco looked at Costanzo " Don't tire her out. If she feels unwell, you will bring her back and will call Angelo immediately..... And by the way show her respect around the compound or I won't like it."

Adele sighed and muttered a goodbye to Francesco and followed Costanzo.

When they reached the grounds and there was no guard in earshot, Adele whispered to Costanzo " I can't believe how you put up with Francesco's rules. He is so demanding too. Could you possibly....... escape with Michael out of this place and hide where ever he is going to be hiding."

Costanzo looked around nervously and spoke in a hushed tone " Adele.... What kind of question is that? I told you already. Once you serve Francesco, it's for life."

Adele whispered back " Then how come it's possible to save Michael but not yourself from this life?"

Costanzo continued to speak while glancing around carefully " Well. This plot for Michael is only a temporary solution. This is to buy some time so we can find a way to get Francesco to forgive him. It won't last forever to protect him. Besides Michael is someone caught in cross fire. He knows nothing about the organised crime the Rosarios are governing. He just has seen the cellar walls and torture chambers. That's all. If Francesco feels that he has made him suffer long enough, Michael could be set free. It's not impossible. But someone like me who is part of this organisation and has sworn loyalty to Francesco can not just walk out. Francesco won't allow it."

Adele spoke sadly " You are serving a life sentence inside Francesco's Criminal organisation. Is that it?"

Costanzo spoke " Something like that."

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