41. Trying Hard

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Adele nervously walked behind Antonio towards Francesco's room. She was worried sick. She knew she had to be more careful around Francesco. He had Michael's life in his hands and so did Adele in some ways. She had to behave herself to protect Michael and others she loved.

As she walked into the meeting room, she found Francesco standing at the door waiting and smiling at her " You look better sweetheart. I guess the fresh air was good for you. Your brother is not such a useless doctor after all, it seems." He then turned to Antonio and spoke coldly " You go have dinner in the guest dining hall unless you want to dine with the other employees in the canteen outside. Adele and I will dine in the main dining hall alone. We need some privacy."

Antonio whispered "Yes boss." and he left.

Adele bit her lip looking at Francesco speaking nervously " Could we possibly ......... go outside for a walk first.......... Please."

Francesco smiled " Sweetheart, it's quite cold out there. I don't think I want you to catch a cold. The afternoon gets chillier at this time."

Adele spoke " Please. Lets go for a walk. I will wear thicker clothes then if it helps put your mind at ease."

Francesco sighed " Fine." He then grabbed Adele's hand and lead her to the bedroom and held the door open for her to enter and turned on the light. He closed the door behind them and let go of Adele. " Five minutes to get changed. Is that enough sweetheart?"

Adele nodded and walked to the wardrobe. As she was thinking about what to wear, she felt Francesco wrapping his hands around her stomach. He whispered " Do you have any idea how irresistible you are to me Adele. I love you so much Angel. When are you going to fall in love with me again? Tell me? What do I have to do to make you love me again? You said you loved me ten years ago. So it shouldn't be too hard to resurrect those feelings you had for me all those years ago."

Adele's eyes widened. She really wanted to avoid such conversations. She took a deep breath and spoke " You gave me five minutes to get changed. You know how you are with your rules. Let me go. I need to get ready for our walk."

Francesco kissed the side of Adele's head and chuckled " This discussion won't go away sweetheart. We need to talk about our relationship."

Adele spoke " And we will. Just let me get changed. We will go outside and then .... we will talk. Can you wait that long?"

Francesco spoke " Of course, darling. For you, I can wait. Pick something warm." He then let go of Adele and walked away from her.

Adele sighed in relief and picked some warm clothes and got changed in the bathroom. When she came out she saw Francesco sitting on their bed wearing a grey coat. She blushed at the sight. She actually found Francesco very handsome but this grey coat brought the colour of his eyes out. He just looked very charming.

Francesco walked to Adele took her hand and spoke " Sweetheart, what's wrong. Why are you motionless suddenly looking deep in thought? Are you ok?"

Adele nodded and spoke " It's nothing. It's just that ..... I like your coat. It looks nice in you. You look handsome in grey."

Francesco smiled brightly "Really? It's the first time you have ever paid me a compliment ever since you have arrived here. I like your outfit too." He then leaned over and kissed Adele's forehead. He then whispered " Lets go sweetheart."

"Wait." she whispered " Am I still needed for meet the Hollywood designers? It's getting abit late for business meetings. Don't you think?"

Francesco spoke " It's not your bed time yet Adele. I think you can manage a few more hours dealing with a designer pitch. As for business meetings, I should inform you that business men in New York don't sleep on time most of the time. It's never too early or too late to do business in this city. But tell me Adele, are you trying to avoid meeting the Hollywood designers for some reason? Tell me the truth sweetheart."

Adele spoke " Why would I want to avoid them?"

Francesco spoke " Since you are too conservative to even look at a wedding dress let alone reserve one or buy one for future. Don't be afraid of thinking about our marriage sweetheart. We will be married one day. It has to happen. We might as well start planning now."

Adele spoke in a whisper " I am not that conservative. Buying a wedding dress for me is nothing to make me fearful or uncomfortable. It's just a white dress. But ..... thinking of children's clothes is a step too far. I really don't want to think about having children let alone how to dress them."

Francesco spoke " Of course you don't like thinking about having children. Why would you look forward to experiencing the excruciating pain of childbirth. It's just torture for a woman to deliver a baby. I am aware of that. They taught us these matters at college. But don't worry sweetheart. I have already hired the best doctors specialised in child birth and best experts in cesareans. They are only a few blocks away working at my private hospital. I promise you that I would make sure that having children would be as painless as possible for you when the time comes. I wish you didn't have to carry me any children but I need heirs to inherit my business and i want to raise my children to prove to myself that I would make a better parent than my father."

Adele shook her head " I am not ready for becoming a mother. I don't even know I ever will be. The thought of having children scares me."

Francesco spoke " Nonsense. Sweetheart. You will make a great mother. Besides I will hire as many nannies, tutors or assistants as you want. Don't worry. I will take care of you. I think we should hire two nannies. One American nanny and one Italian nanny. So our children would be bilingual by the time they go to school."

Adele gasped " We are not even married yet and you are planning to hire nannies. Are you also going to pick schools and colleges right now too."

Francesco nodded " Of course. Our children would go to top boarding schools in New York close to my other base which has an ice skating rink. As for colleges.... I pick Yale or Harvard or Stanford. I am not very selective about colleges."

Adele was looking at Francesco with disbelief " So your children don't get any choice of their own."

Francesco spoke " Correction. Our children ...., and no sweetheart they won't get many choices. Just like how Costanzo and I didn't get many choices in our upbringing. Once our children would be asked to take over the business, then they will get choices."

Adele spoke " But think about it. Aren't you now despising your father because of controlling you? Do you want your .... our children to hate you just like how you hate your father too? You haven't even invited him to your thanksgiving dinner this Thursday."

Francesco sounded impatient. " Sweetheart.... A word of advice, I would like you to remember. Don't bring up my father. It puts me in a sour mood when I hear his name. You are wrong Adele. I don't despise him for controlling me. But I cant forgive him for separating me from you. I tried to reason with him on many occasions that your presence won't affect me in ways he thought but he never accepted my requests. I hate him for putting distance between you and I unnecessarily. That's all. Now I think this is a good time to leave. You just ruined our moment by mentioning my father." He then grabbed Adele's hand and spoke firmly "Follow me darling."

As Adele was being lead outside the room and through the corridors she was thinking about what Francesco had spoken about. Wedding dresses and children.... She was afraid. How long was Francesco willing to wait for them to start a family? How close was he to losing patience? She shuddered at the thoughts of what was going on in Francesco's mind. That didn't escape Francesco's attention.

Francesco stopped walking and turned to Adele. He spoke in a disapproving tone " Are you alright? I really don't think this walk is a good idea? You must be feeling cold to shiver like that."

They were now in front of mansion. Adele turned to Francesco " I am fine...... I am just so excited to go for a walk with you. I want us to walk by the lake."

Francesco was taken back " You mean that sweetheart. You are actually as keen as me for us to spend some time together alone? I am glad." He then pulled Adele's hand and lead her towards the lake. But as they approached the lake side, he froze on his spot as he saw candle lights and the nicely decorated pillars holding up a wooden roof. He spotted a fireplace and sofas and tables with dishes on top. He turned to Adele " A picnic ..... Sweetheart....... Did you have something to do with that?"

Adele nodded " I wanted to surprise you." She wasn't sure what reaction to expect from Francesco. His tone didn't give much away.

A wave of emotion crossed Francesco's face and he turned to the picnic and then looked back at Adele. He then without warning wrapped his arms around Adele lifted her up bridal style and carried her towards the picnic. He whispered " Sweetheart. This is so beautiful. You shouldn't have. You didn't have to do all this for me."

Adele spoke quickly " Costanzo helped me too. He is an artist. I could not do these decorations by myself."

Francesco nodded and laid down Adele on the rug and he laid down next to her. He held her hand and spoke " Look at me sweetheart."

As Adele turned to him, he spoke " You did all this for me but ...... the only thing that really makes me happy is seeing your beautiful eyes staring into mine and seeing your smile. Why can't you smile for me darling. What do I have to do to make you smile."

Adele shrugged and remained silent. She wasn't sure how to answer. Of course she didn't dare mention Michael's name. That was out of question. She also couldn't tell him to stop killing people. She knew there was no point in arguing with him about his choice of profession. Francesco kept telling her to look away and accept who he is and what he dies for a living. So she sighed " I don't know."

Francesco gave her an evil smirk and spoke "You shouldn't have said that. Don't leave it to me to decide how to make you smile. You will realise your mistake now darling."

Adele was looking at Francesco with worry. She whispered " What do you mean?"

Adele then realised what he meant as he suddenly moved his hands to her sides and started tickling her.

Adele started laughing " Stop ..... now...... I can't take it." Then she tried to pull away as tears were coming to her eyes since she was laughing so hard.

As she pulled away and tried to get away, Francesco pulled her back and covered her body with his. He pinned her hands to the ground while keeping his weight off her. He whispered " You are so beautiful." He then leaned close to her gently and touched his lips to hers. He was being very gentle. This kiss was very different to many kisses they had shared. For some reason, Francesco was gentler and had some emotion in his cold blue eyes. Adele knew having some emotion was better than none. She closed her eyes and kissed him back trying to imagine what their relationship could be like if Francesco wasn't a criminal. If this moment could last forever and there was no underground illegal organisation run by Francesco, life could be simpler. But reality was cruel.

Francesco pulled away and whispered " I love you so much." Then there was silence for a moment, he then spoke "sweetheart open your eyes. I want to see your beautiful eyes."

As Adele opened her eyes, he spoke " Now darling why not go back to the conversation you try so hard to avoid. The one you said we will discuss later when we go for a walk. Now is the time. Tell me sweetheart. What do I have to do to make you love me again?..... I tried to expel the emotions you have for O'Connor, today, but it seems like it didn't work that well...... I just said I love you but you didn't respond. You couldn't even say you love me right after we shared this moment. Tell me sweetheart. Why can't you love me back. Why do you love O'Connor so much and you don't love me."

Adele was panicking. Where was this coming from " But ..... I don't love him."

Francesco gripped her wrists tighter making her wince as she was pinned down. He spoke with fury " Don't lie to me. You cried for him as I tortured him. You did it like it was instinct but you didn't even try to smile for me when we were all alone just now. Why is it so hard to love me but so easy to cut your heart open for O'Connor. Maybe I should just kill him for you. Then you would love me."

Adele whispered " No. Please. I love you. I do but ..... I am scared of you."

Francesco spoke " Scared of what. I have never hurt you. What do you want me to do to make you love me ... Do you want me to kill O'Connor?"

Adele was hyperventilating now, there was just murder in Francesco's eyes.

Adele tried to not mention O'Connor. She tried to pretend he didn't exist thinking back to Antonio's words " I ..... I need you......only you" She tried to finish that sentence but she started sobbing. She knew if she finished her sentence it was not going to help any thing.

Adele wanted to say to Francesco " I need you ..... Only you..... Should stop making other humans suffer and I would love you." But she was surely going to get an argument back from Francesco that was going to end badly for her.

Francesco was looking at her with wide eyes " I can't believe you just said .....you need me. You said you ........ only need me...... You meant it.... I could feel it......And that means ...... you don't need O'Connor? ..... Your words tell me that you don't care if he lives or dies......." He then smiled " I wish you had told me this earlier. ......... My love, you drive me insane by keeping me waiting for what I like to hear ........ Now ... Lets turn this fire place on and we can eat. But sweetheart don't make a habit out of this. I don't like surprises and I don't certainly like picnics. I prefer having my meal inside a dining room. I like my mansion rules not to be broken but ..... I make exceptions for you of course. What do I do with you, my rule breaker?"

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net