A week later

Tristan was standing next to Vincenzo watching his father interrogate a blindfolded FBI agent who had followed them to a Villa in Italy... They were in a villa owned by his father's Irish allies in an Italian harbour. The place was a safe house too which was used for Pietro Rosario's family who was in trouble with Arturo Agistini. Francesco Rosario had gone to Milan to sort out the issue for his uncle Pietro as Pietro's family were being sent there to be kept safe. Meanwhile it was business as usual... The other boys were also watching how Emanuelle O'Neil was interrogating the guy. Once Emanuelle was finished, he turned to leave and the boys followed. Once the boys left the room, Emanuelle ordered them to go to sleep. There was a large tent outside in the front yard that was set up for the boys to sleep in. It looked like a marquee and it was quite enjoyable to sleep in since the boys could see the stars as they slept there and also as it was Italian summer and month of June, they could escape the heat.

Emanuelle asked for Vincenzo and Tristan to stay behind. He explained " Vincenzo, your father asked me to interrogate this next guy... I don't know why? You can't be ready... But I trust your father... The guy is another FBI agent..."

Vincenzo nodded " Alright... Are there any rules..."

Emanuelle stated " Don't kill him... That's all I ask..."

Vincenzo nodded "I will try..."

Emanuelle rolled his eyes and lead the boys down the corridor to another room. The guy was not blindfolded. That meant he was destined to die or he could be turned into a spy.

Vincenzo entered the room first and Tristan and Emanuelle entered after him. The guy was not even tied up. He was laying on his bed at first and then he got up as he saw the door opened and company entered.

" What do you want from me? I told you everything... Let me go ... Please..." He pleaded.

Vincenzo walked to him and threw a punch at him. He kicked him in his stomach making him groan and he ended up lying on the ground battered and bloodied as Vincenzo beat him up. He kept begging for mercy but Vincenzo didn't stop.

Once Vincenzo was satisfied he stopped and then put his boot on the guy's throat and muttered " Elton Hastings. Married. From Atlanta. Harvard graduate but not so smart. Two children from a failed marriage. Sending money to your wife and kids every month. You have an aunt in Georgia and a cousin in New York. You have a speeding ticket and had an affair with your boss in FBI so they gave you a promotion...." He went on and on about the guy as Emanuelle and Tristan were watching the scene shocked at how much Vincenzo knew.

Once Vincenzo finished he said " You have an hour to tell us everything you know about why you are here or everyone of the people dependent on you or related to you that I mentioned die... Your choice." He then reached in to his pockets and took out a paper and pen. He threw at the guy " Write..."

The guy was weeping now and begging for mercy but as paper and pen were thrown at him he quickly started writing fast.

Emanuelle announced " Leave the rest to my men... Let's leave kids... You are dismissed. I will talk to you tomorrow about this ... I will pick it up from here."

Vincenzo didn't like being called a kid but he knew better than to insult an Irish on an Irish camp. Vincenzo slowly walked out, followed by Tristan.

As they left the room and the boys made their way in the direction of front yard, Tristan asked " What was that? How did you know so much about him?"

Vincenzo shrugged " I have memorised the FBI list given to me and Viggo by my father... I made playing cards with the details and made sure I memorised everything. The other guy your father interrogated I hadn't seen in the files but this guy was one of the ones I studied.

Tristan was impressed how much effort Vincenzo had made to memorise everything about the file. Of course if you had an FBI file you couldn't carry it around risking getting arrested for stolen information. The best practice was to act immediately on the information to memorise it like how Vincenzo had.

As they got closer to the tent in the front yard, Vincenzo spotted a familiar figure standing in front of the tent, talking to other boys.

Tristan raised an eyebrow " It seems like your uncle's family is here... Vitale is good at getting a crowd around himself..."

Vincenzo muttered " He sure is..."

As they approached the boys, Vitale walked to Vincenzo and embraced him " Hello cousin... How are the Irish treating you in this place..."

Niall started coughing " Much better than Italians..."

Vitale broke apart from Vincenzo and turned to Niall " You want to repeat that..."

Sebastiano suggested " Lets play tossing coins and punches..."

Vitale spoke "Let's do that... I go first and then Niall..."

Vincenzo shook his head laughing at his cousin... This was a favourite game of his.... Each boy tossed a coin. If it was heads, every one got to punch the guy. If it was tails, then he chose to punch someone from the crowd. They took turns for as long as possible until someone forfeited.

Of course no one forfeited... The boys had to stop when the lights went out and they had to sleep to show respect to the host... The boys were laughing and joking as they entered the tent but two boys remained outside. Vitale and Vincenzo. They were silently staring at each other and had stayed behind with the excuse to drink some soda.

Vitale took a sip from his soda and suggested " Take a walk with me to the beach... This camp leads to part of the harbour that's free right now... I asked. We can go there..."

Vincenzo nodded as he took sips from his soda.

The boys walked to the beach and sat down in an area that was quite desolate and guards on watch were quite far from them to hear them speak.

Vitale finished his soda and turned to Vincenzo " How is life?"

Vincenzo sighed as he swallowed the contents of his soda in one go. He put the can away and laid down on the grass looking at the stars " How is yours? You start...."

Vitale put the can away and laid down on the grass on his stomach as he put his hands under his chin staring at Vincenzo " I don't know where to start... You tell me..."

Vincenzo suggested " When are you clearing her? When is she going to be out of danger..."

Vitale sighed " I honestly don't know... It's not looking good... There is a prize on her head... I need you to carry on protecting her..."

Vincenzo put his hands under his neck as he stared at his cousin " I will carry on protecting her. I will never break that covenant with you Vitale... But she is pushing it... She is testing my patience. I might kill her one day so you better sort this mess out and claim her as yours soon..."

Vitale stated " Its not that simple... She nearly killed a Luciano... They don't care if she accidentally did it. They see it as an attempt on The life of one of their own... You weren't there so you don't know how bad it looked... She started playing with this gun and then bam... She fired a shot in the middle of a wedding in Sicily... The damn bullet hit the bride's car... They want her blood ... How can I defend that?"

Vincenzo sighed " Why doesn't your father do anything? I don't understand why I should protect her as my girl when she belongs to you?"

Vitale spoke " My father is not allowed to take sides... Lucianos are our Sicilian neighbours ... If my father tells them " Oh my son fancies the assassin that nearly killed your bride" then there is war... You are American. Your father has no ties to Sicilians. You can protect her ...."

Vincenzo spoke " Its getting harder ... The night before I set off on this trip, I went to see her... I told her everything... I gave her a choice... She either makes our relationship work or dies... She understands that she is stuck with me or her family may die...."

Vitale stated " I will find a way ... I will do everything I can to find a way... I can't let her die... This alliance between your father and the Marcianos should be enough to protect her from death but it's not... They can send assassins after her to prove a point and they wouldn't dare do that if you are associated with her... I am sorry for causing you all this trouble but I will repay you one day..."

Vincenzo frowned " Don't talk to me like that Vitale... You are my blood... I have no issue protecting her for you but ... I have an issue with her... She touched my sister... I am trying to make this work... I even told her I will train her and mentor her because oh boy, she needs it... She is so offensive.... I haven't got much to work with here... I will protect her but if I kill her, you can't blame me..."

Vitale rubbed his eyes and sighed as he stared back at Vincenzo " Keep her alive for me and I will take her off your hands..."

Vincenzo nodded " I will.... I have to... But I am not just doing this for you... I am letting her insult to my sister slip because Vienna would be upset if I hurt Letizia. I know she will be... I can't hurt my sister in this mess... I would keep that girl alive for you and now all the cards are on the table... I did tell her the arrangement.. You will get some one here to convince the luciano's to remove Letizia's name from their hit list or I will have to take some action or Letizia is stick with me for as long as she needs to...."

Vitale spoke apologetically " I am sorry..."

Vincenzo smiled " Don't be sorry... Letizia is not bad company... If I wasn't in love with another, I would have totally fallen for your girl... I didn't  need to pretend to like her... She is likable... She is close to my ideal girl but she is not her... It's fun dating her but I would rather you sort this mess out or choose another girl for yourself."

Vitale stated " I wish I could choose some other girl... I can't..."

Vincenzo nodded " I understand you... That's why I don't hold it against you.... I know if our positions were reversed, you would protect my girl for me... I know you would... "

Vitale spoke honestly " I would repay you in any way you want... Just name anything.... Do what you have to do to keep her alive..."

Vincenzo laughed out loud " Its getting harder and harder... She is safe from assassins now that people know she is mine but she is not safe from me... If she touches my sister again, I will kill her parents... But I am not sure if I would let her live too... How can I? But she is slowly learning... The night before coming on this trip the chat between us was useful... She knows now that you contacted me before she arrived in America but she doesn't understand why you are trying to protect her ... But hate is a passionate  feeling too in my view .... Anyways I am helping your case believe it or not... The first day i met her, I tested her loyalty to you... I asked her to give me her first kiss... I threatened her with my dogs but she didn't give me her first kiss... I wasn't going to take it of course... I would never do that to you... Nothing intimate will happen... But if she liked me, she wouldn't have minded to give me a kiss... She doesn't mind me ... But she doesn't love me... I would never kiss her if I even have to marry her... I won't touch her and I would wait for you to come claim her... My only challenge is to not getting tempted to kill her..."

Vitale sighed " As long as she lives, I don't mind... I know this is messed up ... But I wouldn't have asked you if I had other options ... I have no one else to turn to but you .... I can't have her die on me... I blame myself Vincenzo... I should have protected her... I should have kept an eye on her in that wedding.... If I had, then she wouldn't be in this mess... Then her family didn't have to relocate to America..."

Vincenzo stated " Actions have consequences... She must understand that and she is understanding that... I explained how you are willing for her to live even if it's under another guy's protection... She should learn from your sacrifice..."

Vitale whispered " And your sacrifice... You could be stuck with her forever..."

Vincenzo stated " Unless she tempts me to kill her.... She is not bad company.... I don't have to force myself to hang out with her.... But I don't love her... You do... I will keep her safe for you... But ... Hear this .... I have a confession Vitale... When I hit it off with her, I actually thought I had a future with her... I thought I could make this work since the girl I love doesn't even glance at me twice... I thought Letizia is a good second  choice since you said this maybe permanent because you want your girl to live ... But after she touched my sister, she is out. "

Vitale asked " Is it torture at times? Do you want me to ask someone else to help... The chances are anyone may say no but I can try.. Maybe Stefano can do it... I am sorry Vincenzo..."

Vincenzo declared "I don't mind doing this... I have no feelings for her. Besides she is fun to tease... I am only doing this for you. As long as she doesn't touch my family I won't kill her and I certainly won't turn my back on you... Besides Letizia is now more co-operative... I had a go at her and told her I am only doing this because I was asked to... She knows she has to watch it..."

Vitale promised  " I would try to find another way... I would try to fix this mess... It looks impossible but I will do anything to get the burden of protecting her off you..."

Vincenzo asked "How?"

Vitale declared " Andreas is my hope... His girl is a Luciano....If he finds a way into the good books of the head of Luciano family he can get Letizia pardoned..."

Vincenzo sighed " So many people sacrifice so much for her... What if she doesn't choose you Vitale after you go into so much trouble? Do you even trust her to choose you? She doesn't speak highly of her last Italian school... Have a think about that but  I have one piece of advice... You better protect her well after this mess is over because I would kill her if she messes with my family again or if I lose my girl over her..."