Paulo Rosario was leaning to his car drinking whiskey as he was waiting for the church service to finish. He never liked walking into any church. That was something he didn't do. He just waited outside staring into the distance. From time to time he walked up and down the street looking around the Harlem neighbourhood. This was an unusually longer church service than he had anticipated. He wondered if Marco had read out the Don's wishes yet. He had mixed feelings about the Don's decision. He was wise. He knew who was the most natural leader amongst the family. He was the right choice. But he was not sure if Vincenzo was going to be co-operating. He wished one of his brothers had some authority over Vincenzo. From the glimpse he had of the kid's mind, he knew Vincenzo was a unique individual who simply did not compromise on any matters. He was so mature for his age and quite complex to figure out even for him. He had no idea where the kid was getting his intelligence from. But in some ways Paulo did not care so much for the business as much as he cared for the family. He would have given anything to have a link with his son and grand children. They were his blood, his family. He had everything in life except a family as he had intended.
Paulo took another sip from the whiskey and looked at his watch. He wondered what was going on in his son's mind right now. This was a big shock to many that the Don had gifted all his authority to Vincenzo. It could backfire. His father must have thought this through before he had put such shocking suggestion forward. It was his word and no one could overrule it.
As the doors of the church opened he watched people walk outside. He could now spot his son and grandson near the window. It was a matter of time before they came out.
Vincenzo was watching silently as the people were leaving the church to go to lunch. He watched as Viggo accompanied their mother alongside Vienna out of the church. His father had asked Viggo to leave with their mother and comfort her while he attended to business or rather attended to Vincenzo's business. His father was in fact standing next to the window as he watched his family get into a car to leave. They were in shock like everyone else. Francesco hoped that Adele could recover from this unexpected unwanted surprise. He was certain his children could handle it. They were strong enough.
Vincenzo stood afew steps behind him staring at the outside view. Now, the church was empty but the outside of the church was not empty at all. The road was blocked and guarded by Sterling Johnson's men. The block was attached to the hotel block that the Sterling family owned so there were no strangers on the road and only those involved in the meeting were around. All were meant to go to lunch.
Vincenzo noticed that everyone was slowly in process of leaving except his grandfather and his companions. His grandfather was standing outside leaning to his car as he was being watched by his bodyguards as he stared at the building as though waiting for someone. He had no intention of leaving by the looks of it. His grandfather did not like the church and had refused to attend the church service. He was being spoken to by Pietro Rosario and Vitale. He was nodding his head but his stare was zeroed on the church's entrance waiting. There was now only his grandfather's car outside and also his father's car. His mother and his siblings had gone back to the hotel with the O'Neil cars.
As Francesco was looking outside he broke the silence. "The Don must have known he would be shocking the world by skipping a generation. I am not shocked but I did not expect it to happen so soon and certainly not at a church where I am not allowed to reach for my gun to kill the messenger for delivering this outrageous message."
Vincenzo slowly approached his father and stood beside him as he stared outside in the direction that his father was looking which was where his grandfather was standing. He whispered. "My loyalty is still to you father. I wish for you to know that."
Francesco narrowed his eyes as he was watching his father's satisfied smile as his uncle Pietro was talking to him. They were discussing his son most likely. He took a deep breath as he stared daggers at his father "Vincenzo. I wish for you to also know that ... you are my son. Don't ever forget that. Nothing has to happen when it comes to my blood. You don't have to do anything Vincenzo. A father's duty is to protect his family. I am your father. I am meant to protect you. Right now, what bothers me is the fact that the Don did not come here himself. He sent a messenger. He is wise. He wants to drag me there to tell him what I exactly think of this matter. All this nonsense about him being on his death bed for years is false. It is just a plot to drag my bloodline to Sicily to form a bond that the Don always wanted to have with my family. They say due to ill health he didn't travel. Nonsense. Lies. The Don has been ill for years. His kind do not die that easily. They live long because they have no care in the world. They do not care if the world crashes and burns in front of them. They have a clear conscious. The Don is not ready to die. He will live. The reason he passed on his position to you at this time is not because he thinks he is dying. He may be weaker physically but he wishes to see you and pass on what he knows to you. He seeks the opportunity to get you on his side and watch you make his empire prosper. He also wants to pull me to Sicily. He knows I will object."
Vincenzo asked. " Father. Are you really going to go to Sicily? You said you will never go. I wish you could tell me why you never went to Sicily after your wedding... I need to know."
Francesco turned to his son and gave him a sad smile. He then sighed and turned to the window again staring at his father. He punched the wall and leaned to the wall with one hand as he spoke " The past is dark son and I do not wish to involve you with my past. Your future is as complicated as it is right now. I wish to bring up my past with you and tell you my reasons why I never wished to step foot in Sicily again. I never wanted the position and the Don knew that but he wanted my blood to succeed himself. Now, I do not want the position for you either. I thought the Don knew that too... Now I will have to deal with him for this. He shouldn't have come after you. You are intelligent enough to know how this will work. These people we are dealing with are like a pack of wolves. When you strike one of them then another rises up to the defence of their comrade. They want you as a leader and I have every intention of saving you from every single one of them. There is no easy way about this because these people will not take no for an answer. There is only one way and that is my way to save you. They will take you to Sicily for meeting the old don and undergoing the initiation ceremonies. There has to be a leader for stability. They want to act fast and will try to take you away. I will act fast too."
Vincenzo shook his head " Father... I know you wish to save me but I don't wish to be saved..."
Francesco gave out a frustrated sigh as he was leaning to the wall "You are my heir. I built my business empire for you, Viggo and Vienna. You have to lead it. You have to lead it well. If you don't, then my efforts to build a better life for my family has been in vain. But so much weight will be on your shoulders now that you have to take on the role of the don as well as being my heir. I don't want this much responsibility to be given to you before you even turn eighteen. You are too young for this Vincenzo. A big criminal network will collapse without your leadership. They need you. They need a leader and they picked you. There is no one better. You will handle it. I have no doubt. But I refuse to allow anyone to force you down a path you don't wish to go through. You can refuse the Don. You are my son. No one should dare to take your choices away. I will force them to choose another accept it. I will make them accept your wishes and I will do it in my own way. It's a big mistake on their part if they think they can force my son to do anything..."
Vincenzo stated " Father... No one is forcing me. This is my path. It has to be this way. I have a responsibility. I can't let the Rosario family down. I am certainly not going to let you down. All your life you have tried to protect me and now I don't need protection. It's my time to go on my own way and put your teachings to the test. If you have faith in me as your son, you will not stop them. I will choose to be where I will be. I have choices but I have my responsibilities too. If I don't take over then someone else has to. It could be someone who will put certain members of our family in danger. Right now we both know that Andovinis and O'Neils are linked to us. If I don't take the leadership someone may take it who will try to hurt my family. The Andovinis and O'Neils are family too and surely some Rosarios would like to watch them burn. Let's say that does not happen and they choose Viggo. I would rather I take the responsibility than my brother. I can protect myself. I will do what I have to to protect this family and seeing the other side is a step I need to take."
Francesco's heart broke. For the first time in his life he felt weak. The son he had raised was mature enough and strong enough to take on the world. He was his son after all. If he was like him then there was no way Francesco could convince his son not to take the path just because it was challenging. He was going to try to fix this. He had to try. His son was going down this path. He had to walk with him. Francesco went silent. Maybe for minutes staring outside. It was his son's destiny. But he had to fight it. But he couldn't fight his son with the logic he had. His words rang in his mind. "If I don't take the Don's place, then someone else has to."
Francesco without arguing the case turned to his son " We will discuss this further later. I need to talk to your mother. She was quite shaken up. Tell these people to back off and not to address you as Don in front of your mother for now. They either keep their distance or I will do something about it." He then walked to the door " Lets to son. There is time to fix this."
Vincenzo sighed and followed his father outside. He could feel his grandfather's stare on him. He noticed his father was giving his grandpa a threatening glare as though warning him to stay away. This was not going to end well if his grandfather decided to approach them.
Paulo shouted " Hello son."
Francesco's blood was boiling with rage. He dared call him son. He did it on purpose in front of Vincenzo.
Francesco looked at his son " Let's go."
Paulo started walking towards Francesco " Let's have peace. Your son is the Don now. I am here to congratulate him. I am here to give him my loyalty. As you know I don't do church, son."
Francesco turned to Paulo and spoke with fury " Keep your unholy presence scarce around my family or I will send you to hell where you belong. Stay away. My son does not need your loyalty or blessing." He then turned to Vincenzo " Get in the car."
Paulo stepped closer. " Maybe I should be congratulating you... No one can stop him. He is impressive. He is the most well trained leader in this place. I hear no one dared object to him being chosen. I hear the whole church went silent for him. That's extraordinary. He already has respect of his allies, enemies, peers and elders. I wish to give him my loyalty."
Francesco warned his father " If you come any closer, I will kill you."
His father was wise to stop moving. He meant it. He was going to shoot him dead. Francesco got into the car after his son and waited for the short drive to be over.
Vincenzo whispered " It's not over. He will give me his loyalty father. He has an army behind him..."
Francesco replied " I have an army too. I won't let him do any more damage." That was what he had vowed to himself to do. His father had destroyed so much in his life. He did not want his father to get the chance to do the same to his son's life.
When they reached the hotel shortly, Vincenzo watched as his father quickly got off the car to go to his mother who was looking so distressed in front of the main hotel building where they were meant to have lunch. He watched his parents go inside hand in hand. His father knew how to calm his mother down. He needed his mother to come out of the shock.
Vincenzo found himself alone outside the car. He looked around at his bodyguards who did not dare to look at him in the eye like always but he could feel the new status of him was making them nervous. He was who he was now.
Vincenzo put his hands in his pocket of his long black coat and made his way towards the main building to join them for lunch. Vincenzo glanced around at the surroundings. His eyes caught the indoors basketball court. He walked to the court and walked inside staring at the court. This was where he didn't belong as much as he used to ; a game court. Now times for games had past. It was time for a real battle field and a war zone that could be a deadly kind of game. That was where he belonged truly. It was time to put his skills he had been taught to test in a real battle.
Vincenzo looked around the court one more time and then made his way to the hotel building to join his family. At the entrance he found Terza standing in the lobby looking right at him. It was as though she had been waiting for him. She walked to him while her stare did not waver. When she reached him, she asked " Can we talk ... in private?"
Vincenzo instructed him bodyguards to keep away and then he nodded to her " Follow me then." He took her hand in his and wordlessly lead her to a door. He opened the door and waited for her to go inside. It was a storage room.
As Vincenzo closed the door, Terza sighed " I need you to answer me honestly Vincenzo. Did you know about what was to happen today at the church?"
Vincenzo closed the distance between them and stood towering over her. " No. I didn't Terza."
Terza sighed " Alright. I believe you... Tell me where does this leave us?"
Vincenzo asked " What do you mean?"
Terza said " I mean ... Where does it leave us?"
Vincenzo frowned " It leaves us where we were always. I love you Terza. You are my woman. You always were. You always will be."
Terza argued " I am not Sicilian."
Vincenzo replied " So? Terza. I won't let anyone come between us. You need to know that I love you. Has anyone said anything to you while I was at the church alone with my father? Has anyone disrespected you." He then took a threatening step towards her " Tell me."
Terza took a step back and felt shook from the force behind his words. It was a command. Not a question. It was already starting. Vincenzo was starting his transition to who he was meant to be. A don. A ruler. A leader. An emperor. A Roman emperor." She instinctively redhead her hand up and touched her necklace that had a colosseum hung to it. She touched it and tried to remember when she got this necklace. Back then she wished for Vincenzo to come out with his secrets and claim her. He had warned her to be careful what she wished for many times. Was she ready for this side of Vincenzo? She never predicted to be the girl belonging to a don, not even she was hardly sixteen.
She breathed " Vincenzo. No one said anything but there are customs."
Vincenzo replied " There are only one set of rules Terza that people around me need to follow... my rules. If they can't manage to follow my rules, they die... painfully and slowly. There are no exceptions, almost no exceptions.... You can defy me and deny me any time Terza. But others can't."
Terza asked " Where is my place truly Vincenzo now that you are a Don?"
Vincenzo said " I am losing my patience Terza. Your place is where it's always been." He then put his hand on his heart " Your place is right here Terza. How can you keep doubting it? You belong no where else but here with me ..." Then before she could react he wrapped his arms around wait " You belong here with me in my arms Terza. Don't forget that." He then slowly leaned close and their lips touched. He closed his eyes and kissed her possessively making her shake to the core as he held her tight not letting her go while he let her knew how much he wanted her with his kisses.