Angelo waited patiently for his boss to return after he said goodbye to Adele. But he took his time. As Adele had turned to leave, Francesco had remained unmoving watching Adele walk away until she disappeared from the corridors. He then took a deep breath and walked back to his sofa and ordered Antonio to get him some strong vodka.

Francesco sipped on his vodka and looked at Angelo. He then finally broke the silence with a chuckle as he looked at Angelo's scared expression " You look shaken up Angelo. You seem to be worried and .......... you should be. I am your boss now and I don't tolerate failure. Gone are the days you were hiding in small town hospitals. This is your world now. You are working at one of the most powerful underworld organisations right now. You may be a doctor but you must still be exposed to the life of crime and what goes on around you. Today is your lucky day. I think I am going to cut you a break Angelo since it's your first day reporting to me. I am going to dismiss you but ...... not until you get educated about how I operate around here. You may stand at the back alongside my other employees in your spot, I showed you earlier. You will be a spectator until I dismiss you. Off you go."

Angelo hung his head and walked to Francesco and kissed his hand. He had to do this gesture whenever he was addressed in any meeting. He then made his way to a spot at the back and obediently watched as Francesco received each one of his employees.

Most employees were handing successful reports and news of profits. But many also delivered news of some disturbance and failure by some individuals. Those who were identified as the guilty ones were severely punished by Francesco. Those unfortunate condemned people were ranging from captive enemy spies, thieves to even trespassers.

For Angelo, it felt like witnessing a court of law rather than a business meeting in that room. The guilty individuals were either beaten within an inch of their life in that very room or killed or sent to the cellar. Francesco gladly carried our their sentences mostly but sometimes he looked too bored and handed the responsibility to his men.

After witnessing hours of cruelty by Francesco, as well as feeling sick, Angelo couldn't help but also feel some relief too. Angelo considered himself lucky to not have displeased Francesco in any way. The punishments that were handed out were gruesome to watch, yet Francesco found time in between to enjoy a few drinks before proceeding with interrogating the remainder of his employees that were to report to him.

Angelo wasn't sure how much more of this sick show he could witness. He so badly wanted to run outside the room but he knew how unforgiving his boss was. He had kept him behind on purpose to show him what happened to those who wronged him. He wanted to put fear in Angelo's heart so he never tried anything reckless or risky. Angelo couldn't understand why else would his boss need him to remain in that meeting room. It was not like his boss was planning on healing any of his victims that prompted any use for a physician like Angelo. He was the doctor of the compound. He wasn't really needed for anything else. He was only kept there to be taught a lesson for sure.

But Angelo couldn't take any more. He was feeling terrible. He had to leave this room. Heck he wanted to leave this horrific organisation but he knew he was a dead man if Francesco ever caught him trying to escape. He was here for life so he had to get used to this life but it didn't mean it was easy. It seemed near impossible. So he collected his courage and walked up to Francesco who was now seated on his sofa and after dismissing the latest victim, was about to call upon his next employee to report to him.

Francesco looked at Angelo and raised his eyebrow " What is it Angelo? You want permission to speak? Granted."

Angelo took a deep breath and spoke " May I be excused from this meeting. I wish to leave."

Francesco spoke " Why? What's your excuse?"

Angelo's mind suddenly went blank under Francesco's heavy stare. He didn't know what to say. He then said the first thing that came to mind as he eyed his boss's bottles of vodka on the table. " I need a drink outside. If it's ok, I wish to leave for a drink."

Francesco smirked " Take one drink from my table then."

Antonio cleared his throat " Boss. If I may have an input here, I was going to ask the same thing. Can the men here have a short break to have a drink or two from the bar downstairs and then maybe the rest of this meeting can continue after dinner. As you know boss, the Hollywood representatives you have invited would arrive soon after dinner. There is time until midnight to see all employees. Besides, I also need to talk to you boss about something. A break can give me that opportunity to speak with you .... privately."

Francesco rolled his eyes and spoke while looking at Antonio with annoyance " You should have said that at the beginning. You want to talk to me. That's why you want this meeting postponed. Don't beat around the bush again Antonio. Out with it bluntly the next time you have a request." He then looked up at his men. " Dismissed until after dinner. I would issue a call when it's time for you to attend after my Hollywood guests leave. Now dismissed."

The men around the room one by one walked to their boss, as he remained seated. They bent forward and kissed his hand and left the room silently and in an orderly manner. Angelo also joined the line and kissed Francesco's hand and left silently but eagerly. He was so happy to be out of there.

Now the room was empty except for Antonio and Francesco.

Francesco instructed Antonio " Close that door and take a seat opposite me."

Francesco then walked to the fridge and took out two bottles of whiskey. He opened the two bottles and walked to Antonio who had now closed the door and was pulling a chair towards Francesco's spot. Antonio took the drink offered to him by Francesco and took a seat after his boss sat down opposite him.

Francesco took a few sips from his drink and then spoke " What is it you want to talk to me about? You asked me to get rid of everyone else. Explain yourself."

Antonio took a sip of his drink and he put his bottle aside and spoke carefully "I .... want to talk to you about something that I feel very strongly about. You may not like it Francesco. But at least hear me out .... please."

Francesco chuckled " If you think what you are about to say, would not sit well with me then don't say it. I would floor you Antonio if you insult me or get on my nerves."

Antonio looked away " I am aware of that. But I have to tell you..... so here it goes........ First lets start by talking about what happened this morning. When Georgina attacked his ex, Rio. It really bothered me. I realised in that moment how much I wanted his ex to live. Then we took Rio to the cellar and killed him. Even then I was hoping I could bring him back to life. When I was overseeing my men taking Rio to the local grave yard to bury, even then I was hoping for Rio to come alive by some miracle....."

Francesco spoke "Look at me Antonio..... Since when do you want to keep alive the condemned people I sentence to death? That is unlike you. What exactly is your point."

Antonio looked at Francesco and spoke carefully " I totally accept that he had to die. I don't question your verdict. I just wish Rio hadn't ordered the deaths of the head of the Canavaro family and we didn't have to kill him....... I wish I could keep the man who had a brief love affair with the woman I love, alive and well. That is the point I am making because ....."

Francesco's expression hardened at hearing this " A woman you what? Are you still longing after her. She is not your type. She may be flirting with you but this is all so she can get to Costanzo. But I am sure you know that already. It's obvious how much she wants Costanzo. She looks at him as though she wants to jump on him at every chance. This really baffles me that you still haven't given up on her. But tell me do you really mean it? You love her .... after all this time she has been refusing you and even cheating on you with other men? Are you really serious with this? I always thought she was just like one of those girls you couldn't help flirt with at college. So are you telling me your feelings for her goes beyond just fancying her?"

Antonio didn't like how the conversation had drifted onto a wrong path. He wasn't trying to imply he was talking about his relationship. Damn Francesco and his attention to detail. He sighed " Yes. I love her still after all these years of getting all my advances rejected. I can't help it."

Francesco spoke with a disapproving tone " Why didn't you tell me this earlier. I didn't know how badly you had fallen for her back in college. This changes things. I think it's best to deal with this tonight. I am going to send some men to the Canavaro mansion and ask for Georgina to be brought to me. She needs to understand she is not allowed to refuse a Rosario with genuine interest in her. She has to give you the chance to date her at least and even move in with you if you demand it or I would take it as a personal insult."

Antonio was mortified. He had to fix this now. So he collected all his courage to keep his voice steady and void of emotion. He spoke in an indifferent tone " Thank you cousin. But may I offer some further explanation for you to consider. I wish to approach her tomorrow at the Hollywood ball and dance with her. I will go from there. I am not one to be bent to her will. If I ever wish it, I will force her to marry me. I have given her a month to sort out everything in her life and then become mine. As you know she is in mourning now. I can't really expect her to soften up when I advance at her so immediately after her father' assassination. I assure you that she is just playing hard to get and today her resistance was really because she can't date so quickly after a death in her family. We are Italians after all. Our families matter alot to us."

Francesco frowned "Right. I think I would give her a month too. You are right. We must respect a mourning family. But at the smallest signs that she is living normally then you must move in to make her yours or I would summon her to my meeting room here and would teach her a lesson on not to ever cross a Rosario......I would interfere if she refuses you again. Now that I know you want her so badly I am going to come down harder on her if she resists you. I approve of her to become your woman and therefore the case is closed. She is not allowed to approach any other men from now on ...... unless Costanzo gets involved if you know what I mean...... But never mind that. Now Antonio, back to your statement. You declared Georgina is the woman you love. That was one revelation. That's sorted. Now tell me. What is this second revelation about? How is it possible that you would have wanted her ex to be alive? I don't follow. That's unusual to hear you expressing remorse about anyone's death. Especially someone like Rio. So explain yourself. What point are you trying to get across."

Antonio knew it was getting close to discussing the forbidden subject of O'Connor. It was a rare chance and he had to get this right. He took a deep breath and spoke " I wanted Rio to be alive so I could use him to find out how much Georgina loves me."

To Antonio's surprise Francesco laughed " Why would you need your woman's ex to find out how she feels?"

Antonio spoke carefully " I didn't mean it that way. What I really mean is that I could use her ex to ..... force out of her how she feels about me. Imagine if I had Rio under surveillance. I could let him think he was free while I watched him. There could be two possibilities. He would have moved on and was going to get married. That could be ideal since I could show his wedding picture to Georgina one day and say look at this guy you called your fiancée and his shadow would be out of our relationship as he moves on . But ...... there could be another scenario too. What if Rio used his freedom to come after my woman and seduced her to run away with him. I am just saying if this happened, this could be moment of truth. I could find out if I needed cleanse Georgina of any of her remaining feelings for Rio.

Francesco was listening intently. He nodded and spoke " But why would you want him alive when you know full well Georgina could never love him after he murdered her father."

Antonio sighed "That is true. But if he wasn't her fathers murderer, I would have kept him alive even though I would have wanted him dead for being Georgina's fiancée for a brief time."

Francesco spoke " But Rio is dead and Georgina hates him for murdering her father. I don't see the point of this whole conversation. Unless I am missing something here. Am I? Is there something else you are trying to say? What does this got to do with me? Why are you telling me all this?"

Antonio knew this was a do or die situation. Bringing up Adele could be risky. But he had to bring this up. He swallowed hard and spoke " What I am trying to say is that you should set O'Connor free."

Francesco narrowed his eyes, he put down his drink and stood up.

Antonio shakily put his drink down on a side table and as he was about to get up too, Francesco made his move.

Antonio found his neck in Francesco's grip. Francesco lifted him up out of his chair as he was gripping his neck and growled " I don't think you are in the position to advise me about what to do to O'Connor. He has to suffer. He must pay for how he had come between my relationship with Adele. I am surprised you even dare mention his name. You must know how my vendetta against O'Connor is a personal one. So tell me what possesses you to dare bring him up when you know he is an off limits topic. I am doubting your intelligence now. Clarify yourself."

Antonio spoke as quickly as he could knowing danger was close if he didn't give a clear answer " You can use him to test Adele one day. You can arrange so that O'Connor could show up unannounced in your life later on and then you could test her faithfulness to you. Her true feelings can only be revealed if her past flame comes around. So I think you will be making a huge mistake if you don't set O'Connor free. He will be more use to you if he is free than if he is locked up."

Francesco growled " Are you implying that my woman is unfaithful?"

Antonio spoke while trembling slightly "No. Boss. Of course not. Quite the opposite. I believe Adele is innocent and I know this because I was there in that restaurant when she rejected O'Connor's marriage proposal. She looked sincere as she said no. I believe this would help your relationship if you use O'Connor. If you set him free he would either move on or come back for Adele. Both scenarios can be helpful."

Francesco was looking at his cousin with an unreadable expression. At first he squeezed Antonio's neck harder but after afew moments he let go and spoke " So you want me to just let O'Connor walk out the door?"

Antonio spoke " It's your decision boss. If you don't want to set him free yourself directly, Please consider handing over O'Connor to me to watch over. Let me take away the guy off your hands so you won't have to deal with him. I will return the guy to his family and won't let him leave Oklahoma or try to contact Adele. I would keep an eye on him and warn him off Adele. I will report to you about his activities on daily basis. What do you think, boss? Is this a start at least for any plan you might have about him?"

Francesco spoke " I think this meeting is over. Your time is up. Go to the compound grounds and get Adele for me. I wish to dine with her now."

Antonio rubbed his neck and whispered " Boss. What will you do to O'Connor? Would you consider my proposal?" He then stared at Francesco hopefully.

Francesco spoke impatiently "I will consider it. Now dismissed."

Antonio walked out of the room and felt relief at leaving in one piece. He was glad Francesco hadn't felt offended by his proposal. He then walked into the grounds and spotted Costanzo and Adele from far. They seemed to busy to notice him walking towards them.

Adele and Costanzo had lost track of time while preparing a picnic for Francesco near the lake at the compound. They had spent ages decorating a picnic underneath a wooden structure with pillars and a roof. They had brought in sofas and a table too. Not to mention the fire place at the side of it to keep them warm.

Costanzo and Adele were now sitting down on the floor with baskets of food and flowers everywhere. Adele was now making a fruit salad as Costanzo was making a cocktail drink for Francesco in a flask. As they were busy, they didn't realise they had company watching them.

Antonio cleared his throat and spoke "It looks great what you have here. Too bad, I have to break up the party."

Adele held her hand on her heart and turned to Antonio and spoke "You scared me. Is the meeting finished?"

Antonio spoke "Not really. The meetings will continue until midnight. Of course there will be a break at dinner time but, meetings are no where near finished. But Francesco called for a break for dinner time and sent me to get you Adele."

Adele nodded " Just give me a minute. I am almost done here. It's perfect timing. I can come inside with you and can lead Francesco here for his surprise picnic. But can you first tell me what is happening with Angelo. I saw him a while ago looking quite pale and shaken up as he walked to his cabin. I waved at him but he didn't come over. I didn't go over to him since ..... you know I am scared I may get him into trouble somehow. So I keep my contact with him to a minimum but can you tell me if he is ok?"

Antonio rolled his eyes " He will be fine. Francesco kept him behind and made him watch what he did to a couple of people. It's Francesco's idea of testing what he can endure to witness for now. He wanted to know if he was going to faint like you or he had a tougher skin. Anyways, regardless, he gets special treatment since his role as one of the compound's doctors is really a civilian one. Besides he is your brother. Francesco was nice to him at the meeting actually. He didn't tell him off or anything when he asked to be dismissed after what he had witnessed. So I would say he is grateful he is unhurt. Don't worry about him."

Adele was looking at Antonio with shock " He is my brother. Of course I am worried about him......"

Antonio spoke " I don't think you should give a damn about Angelo. He is in Francesco's good books or at least it looks like it for now. He liked how you seemed quite lively after fainting. He gave the credit to Angelo for that. You should only worry about O'Connor. He is close to getting a death sentence as verdict. I know Francesco very well. I am hundred percent sure that Francesco is contemplating ..... killing him and not tell you. He wants to feel satisfied and torturing him won't cut it....."

Costanzo spoke " Hold on ..... What are you saying? Does this mean we have to rescue O'Connor tonight? Is all hope lost?"

Antonio frowned "Of course not. He .is contemplating it. He is thinking about it."

Costanzo spoke " So did you or did you not try to convince him to let O'Connor go? What does this mean for us? Do we just sit around while he contemplates everything?"

Antonio sighed " I did speak to him .... just now actually. Francesco dismissed all the guards to have a break and dinner but I asked