39. An Evening With Him

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Letizia was being driven to the Rosario mansion in a car driven by one of her father's chauffeurs. There were two other cars accompanying the car she was in for her security. When she arrived at the gate of the Rosario mansion, she had to come outside the car since they searched anyone for weapons at the gate.

Letizia of course was allowed through with no checks upon orders of Vincenzo. She made her way inside as her fathers men waited at the gate. She was lead to the mansion and it was a strange feeling coming back here when it was quiet. At the gathering on Sunday the house was different. But now all was peaceful and quiet. It was around 7pm and after the Rosarios had their dinner. That was how she wanted to visit. She didn't want to disturb their family dinner with little notice. But she was allowed to stay till midnight even if she needed to since she had told her father she was studying. She could even have a sleep over if she needed to. Her father really cared about her academic achievement. Of course if her father knew about Vincenzo he may have hesitated and would have been stricter about her visiting arrangements. When she had told him she was going to see the Rosarios he had assumed she was going to see Vienna and of course hadn't even let her clarify why she was going to the Rosarios since he was in a rush to go to a business meeting and didn't have any more time to spend with her. She didn't like how her father spent little time with her but he was busy. He had many assets and he had to be working non stop to make sure he was on top of his business.

When she entered the mansion she was asked to wait in the lobby and minutes later, Vienna came down the stairs with a smile. She was such a lovely girl. She looked alot like her mother. Vienna was truly loved by her family and she tried to spread that love to others too. She was the angel type girl that Letizia could never dream of becoming. She hadn't heard anything negative about Vienna at school at all. Even though she was the queen of the school, she was so humble and down to earth. She was just baffled why she was so different to her brothers. Viggo was also angel faced but had a reputation of being quite tough. Even though he had a heart of gold when he treated the girls, he had quite an unapproachable presence if he wished it. If he didn't want to be approached it was easy to tell. He would have had his cold glare that made no one to dare mess with him. But he was kind to girls but there were stories of him being quite rough with boys if he was bothered by them.

Then there was Vincenzo, the most baffling being she had come across. She had no idea where he got his genes from but she was sure he didn't have any genes from his mothers side. Unlike Vienna and Viggo he didn't have his mothers blonde hair. He had brown hair and was strong build like his father. Many said Viggo was like his uncle Angelo and quite skinny. But it wasn't just his looks that distinguished Vincenzo from his siblings. His presence was something she couldn't explain. He had a dark mind. That much she could tell. The answers he gave in lesson discussions showed his personality and his cruelty. His hate was intense. Everything about him was alarming telling her to keep away from him. But she couldn't. She owed him. The fact that she was Vincenzo's girl had saved her that day. From what she had heard Tristan was a big grudge taker and if you made an enemy out of him it was for life. He was going to make her life hell. She was certain of it. That day Azurine had told her many stories of what had happened to anyone who had disrespected Tristan. He made an example out of them constantly until they left the school. But of course Vincenzo's existence was what had saved her. She was there that evening because she needed his help in engineering but also to help him learn dance as a way of repaying him. But she knew this could lead to much more. She had a feeling it could happen. That was what Vincenzo was hoping for. He had said so himself. That was another thing. Vincenzo was honest. Brutally honest. That made life easy for her and let her know where she was standing with him. But many boys were not as honest or rather didn't have the confidence to be. She hated to admit it but she was starting to like Vincenzo. He was nasty but he did have feelings and apparently for her.

Vienna reached Letizia and gave her a hug " Welcome to our home. Come with me." She then grabbed Letizia's hand and lead her up the stairs under the watchful eye of the guards in the lobby.

Letizia asked " Where is Vincenzo?"

Vienna stated " He is in a meeting with my father and Viggo. It won't take long. While you wait, I can show you around and we can hang out."

Letizia was lead inside a corridor and a door that opened onto a floor that had different decorations compared to the bottom floor."

Vienna explained "This is the family floor. My father works and deals with business on the other two floors. On this floor it's just us, Rosarios."

Letizia looked around " Wow, I love the decorations."

Vienna smiled " I want you to meet my mother first. She is in the kitchen. She ordered some freshly made gelato for you to be brought in. We can have it with fresh hot cake that my mother has baked."

Then they entered the kitchen. Adele was just staring at the oven waiting for her cake to bake when she heard her daughter call " Mum... This is Letizia."

Adele turned around and smiled " Of course. I remember her from the Sunday party. How are you Letizia? Why don't you take a seat?"

Letizia nodded and sat down. Vienna sat down opposite her and talked to her about what she had been learning in school and the girl became busy talking as Adele took the cake out of the oven and started to serve pieces of her home made cake with gelato. Adele was glancing at Letizia as she was working curious about her. She had no idea how she had managed to attract her eldest son. When Vincenzo had announced at dinner that he was bringing a girl home to study with she couldn't believe it. Adele was shocked. How was that possible? Of course Francesco was well happy. Adele had lost a bet to him.

Adele had predicted that their son could never befriend a girl unless they arranged it. She thought her son's hostile and aggressive behaviour could be off putting and petrifying to any girl. How could Letizia stand her son? That was beyond her. Adele had made a bet with Francesco that there was no way in their life time that Vincenzo could get a girl to agree to spend time with him. She had lost a bet and now Francesco was going to make her pay in their bedroom in his own playful way. Francesco had given Vincenzo his brightest smile when he had heard Letizia was coming to be tutored in engineering by Vincenzo of all people. Francesco had expressed how proud he was of Vincenzo.

But still Adele was suspicious. What if Vincenzo had threatened this girl but that didn't sound realistic. Letizia was a Marciano. She was a tough girl like her mother. All Marciano women were tough. She put the gelato and cake in front of her daughter and Letizia. She then sat down with them with intention of getting some information. As the girls were eating she spoke " Letizia.... I have heard so much about you darling. But tell me how do you find my son? I am worried about you darling? He is not a nice kid and quite offensive. How does he treat you? Tell me darling and I will tell his father to have a word with him if he does mistreat you."

Letizia almost choked on her cake. She couldn't believe how honest Mrs Rosario was. So now she knew where Vienna got her pure honesty from. Vienna had a reputation for being most truthful at their school. She found it amazing that Mrs Rosario cared for her enough to even talk to her husband for her if Vincenzo was mistreating her. .

Letizia looked up and stated with a smile as she looked at Adele " Don't worry Mrs Rosario. My first meeting with him didn't go very well but is fine. He helped me in school today for instance. He is very intelligent. He is not perfect. No body is Mrs Rosario. I have weaknesses too. But he is honourable to his friends." She then thought to herself " But I can't tell you that your son has a dark, twisted mind capable of thriving on suffering on others." But of course she didn't say that.

Vienna and Adele were looking at Letizia with surprise.

Adele cleared her throat " Are you sure we are talking about my son? Darling you can tell me if he has threatened you to come to our house."

Letizia couldn't help but laugh " No. I am not forced. Don't worry. I would let you know Mrs Rosario if I had any concerns. Your son is fine." She then thought to herself " Except for when he goes crazy sometimes."

Adele sighed " That's hard to believe. But thank you darling to reassure me. I feel like I have failed my son when I hear he doesn't act respectful to others."

Letizia shook her head " Well, my parents think they have failed me sometimes too when I don't behave especially in gatherings and parties. You are a wonderful parent Mrs Rosario."

Adele smiled and relaxed. She then spoke " Thank you darling..... "

Letizia tried to change the subject after that by asking Vienna about the school work. She didn't want to discuss Vincenzo. He was a complex character and if Letizia was honest she couldn't deny she hadn't figured him out.

After minutes past, there are heavy footsteps and Vincenzo's voice came from behind Letizia " So you are here. I didn't think you would show up. Good. I am glad you keep your promises." He then walked to the table and grabbed a piece of cake from the table and took a bite.

Adele asked " Would you like some gelato with that Vincenzo?"

Vincenzo spoke " No. Thank you...." He turned to Letizia "Are you ready to go to study?"

Adele looked at him with disapproval " Vincenzo... She has just arrived. Let her rest abit..."

Letizia smiled at Adele " I am fine Mrs Rosario. I need to start learning some engineering now. Thank you for this lovely desert."

Viggo's voice came from behind " Did some one say desert? Wow thank you for coming Letizia. Please come more often so my mother orders freshly made gelato within hours."

Adele stood up and shook her head " You speak like I never get gelato in. The last tub finished at the weekend." She then walked to the freezer to get gelato for Viggo.

Viggo sat down looking between his brother and Letizia. He would have been worried for any other girl who was about to be tutored by Vincenzo. His brother was quite offensive and harsh. But he did not feel sorry for Letizia at all. He knew she could handle Vincenzo and she had a thick enough skin for anything that his brother threw at her to bounce off. Letizia was quite a fiery character. She had taken on Tristan O'Neil. She had looked into his eyes and had literally asked him for an apology. No one in their right mind did that except for Vincenzo who could back it up. She was quite bold and overall quite hostile to all boys. She reckoned it was her parents upbringing of her that had forced her to act against all boys and never make them feel they were above her to the extent that she had even taken on someone that even Viggo would not have faced unprepared. Tristan was after his sister and that meant he put his rules aside but even now he was wary of Tristan and challenged him indirectly. Viggo knew that a girl who could look Tristan in the eye and not waver against his death stare that burned your soul, was going to be alright ultimately no matter how offensive or sarcastic Vincenzo became. Vincenzo was good at making girls cry but Viggo had a feeling Letizia was not one of them.

Letizia wasn't the nicest girl exactly. She had not made that many friends during her short time in school. She was easy to rile up and she was quite competitive. She was willing to get a top grade at any cost. Boys were quite afraid of her because she just didn't like them come close and not only that she just wasn't willing to respect any boys for any reason. She just seemed to be abit less hostile and calmer that usual since Tristan had told her off.

As Letizia stood up, Vincenzo asked " Where would you like us to study? In the living room or my room?"

Letizia shrugged " I don't mind."

Vincenzo smiled with approval " Good. Follow me then. All my books are in my room any way."

Adele cleared her throat " Letizia... Darling, I would come and check on you to see if you need anything..."

Letizia could tell Mrs Rosario was worried about her. She turned around and smiled " Don't worry Mrs Rosario. If I need anything I will tell Vincenzo and he will help...."

Vincenzo turned to Adele " Father already had a talk with me. You asked him to."

Adele sighed. She had to ask Francesco to talk to Vincenzo about being nice to their guest that night. She was worried. She could tell why Vincenzo sounded abit annoyed about her questioning of Letizia. If his father asked him to do something which was her concern, he wouldn't have defied him unless he wanted to be skinned alive. So he didn't see the point of her double checking and trying to interfere. If she wanted something done about him, all she had to do was to tell his father.

In Vincenzo's eyes, his mother overestimated him. He was independent and outspoken. He didn't take any nonsense from anyone but he never dared defy his father. His father was Francesco Rosario one of the most feared men in the United States who had built up on his reputation over the years with his own hard work. Vincenzo had no intention of feeling his father's full force wrath at all. In this case he wasn't intending to make Letizia intimidated or uncomfortable at all either way. She was his girl. His mother didn't believe that and thought she was some random girl he had agreed to tutor. Well Letizia was far from that.

Vincenzo lead Letizia silently through the corridors towards his room. Letizia looked around the corridors fascinated by the paintings on the wall. All were signed by Costanzo Rosario. He was a genius by the looks of it. He was a successful lawyer and economist as well as being a talented painter who happened to work for Francesco Rosario.

Vincenzo stopped in front of a door and Letizia immediately knew it was his room. The quotations he had stuck on his door were all quite the kind of things he said. The quotes from books ranging from Lord of Flies which was unsurprising to Julius Cesar. The quotes were about ruling, conquering, anarchy, dictatorship and crushing people weaker than you. She sighed. He was allowed to express himself so vocally at home by the looks of it.

As Vincenzo opened the door he entered " Wait a second outside until I call you in." He then came out seconds later. " Now you can go in. After you."

Letizia asked suspiciously " What did you just do?"

Vincenzo stated " I disabled the intruder alarm system. If anyone except me enters this room, they get hurt since I only know which buttons to press to disable the system. I don't like trespassers. This is my room."

Letizia was looking at him with her mouth open. This was his house. " So you just bought an alarm system for your room when other members of your family didn't purchase any for themselves?"

Vincenzo looked offended " Who said I purchased one? No. Why would I do that. I am an engineer. I designed my own. This house does have a security system that gets activated for various intrusion attempts but mine is personalised because I have specific requirements of what I want done for any one outrageous enough to enter my room without my permission. Go inside now... We don't have much time."

As Letizia entered she got absorbed into the decorations in his room. Everything was dark themed.

Vincenzo walked to his desk and sat down. Come on. Sit down next to me so we do some engineering work after we do that, you will tutor me with dance. I am glad you agreed to get tutored in this room. I didn't want to learn dancing in living room. My father could see I couldn't dance and wouldn't have let me forget it."

Letizia was baffled. She sat down. He was so confident in everything imaginable. Dancing was not even such a crucial skill. Why was he so self conscious about it and sounded bothered by not knowing how to dance?

Letizia was so impressed by how knowledgeable Vincenzo was. He was quite good at explaining the engineering concepts. He started from easier topics to harder ones. After two hours she managed to answer exam questions she didn't think she could tackle.

Vincenzo put his pen away finally " This should help you with the exam. I just focused on common exam topics. I can help you more with other topics and after a week or two you may be confident enough to read the book without looking at it like its written in a different language."

Letizia laughed " You know me well. I love your humour." She didn't know how he had read her mind. That was how she saw the engineering book. She literally thought it was like reading a text written in a foreign language looking at all those equations, engineering drawings and circuit diagrams.

Vincenzo looked back at her staring into her eyes. He had an unreadable emotion in his eyes " Of course I know you well. You are my girl."

Letizia sighed " Vincenzo. Why can't you be so nice like this all the time."

Vincenzo laughed " I am nice to you. You are my girl. But don't compare yourself to others."

Letizia asked curiously " If you weren't who you are, you would have made a great college lecturer. But of course, you have to become like your father and take over after him ..."

Vincenzo frowned " I don't have to. I want to. I will take over from him one day. I can't wait."

Letizia noticed his hard tone. He strongly believed in what he said. " You want to be like your father. I like your loyalty to your father. Some of the kids in school from criminal families talk about their parents with contempt and hate it when they are pressured to work so hard. Some want to turn their parents business legitimate. Some want to go travelling and invest overseas in holiday resorts....."

Vincenzo laughed " It's easier said than done. Good luck to them..... I don't know about them but ... what you said about me is wrong. I don't want to be exactly like my father. I love and respect him but that's at personal level. My idol is someone else." He then stood up and walked to a safe in his room. He opened the safe and took out a framed picture and showed it to Letizia " I want to be like him. His approach was quite genius in business and much different than my father but more risky. Unlucky for him it didn't work and he was overthrown by my father. I would amend his ways and won't fail. I know I won't."

Letizia asked " Who is he?" Then she saw the resemblance as she looked closer and realisation hit her " Is that your grandfather.

Vincenzo smirked " Sure, Paulo Rosario. The man who never showed mercy to anyone. His biggest mistake was that he hurt his family. I could never agree with him on that. I agree with my father who says a man who hurts his family is no man. I agree with being tough with family. Tough love is fine but not hurting them till they break. Family is all that matters. I also believe that if my grandpa kept my father close, his business empire would have been even stronger by now."

Letizia asked curiously " How do you know so much about him? Have you met him."

Vincenzo looked her in the eye and stated in a passive voice that gave nothing away " Maybe or maybe not..... Are you going to

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