The next time Adele opened her eyes, it was in response to the rays of sunshine lighting up the bedroom and making her alert that it was time to wake up.

She saw Francesco standing a a few steps away from the bed and looking outside the window while having a glass of orange juice in his hand. She bit her lip as she admired the muscles of his shirtless back. He was only wearing his pyjama pants and looked so handsome from that angle even though while he was wearing very little. Francesco now seemed more attractive to her. She had seen changes in him during the events of yesterday that had made her believe Costanzo could have a point about her being able to change Francesco. But she still wasn't sure how she could deter Francesco from hurting others. It was all by luck she had managed to utter some words in her panic to soften Francesco when they were at the picnic and changing his intentions of killing Michael. It was also only coincidence she had managed to convince Francesco in late evening hours to sympathise with his brother.

She shuddered at the memory of what had lead to her involvement. Antonio had come to her bedroom and had woken her up. He had begged her to go to Francesco to save Costanzo from a serious battering that was going to go his way. Antonio had managed to find an excuse to come to her before setting off for Sancia's mansion. Antonio wasn't that useful in giving her much to work with. All he had told her was Costanzo had gone to a see a woman that Francesco didn't approve of and Costanzo was going to be beaten within an inch of his life for seeing her without seeking approval of Francesco in prior. Apparently Costanzo was warned years ago that he wasn't going to approach Sancia unless Francesco allowed him to after the heartache she had caused Costanzo in the past and disrespecting the Rosarios by doing so.

The rest of the evening was a blur. She had immediately gone to Francesco's meeting room and with methods that made her blush to recall now, she had managed to get Francesco to tell her what was the commotion around the mansion about. She then couldn't remember how she had gone on to manage to convince Francesco to take it easy on his brother. She wished she had written down what she had said or done exactly to calm him down. Her memory was hazy since Francesco had given her a few drinks in between their talk as they had discussed Costanzo. Maybe it was the effect of alcohol too that had softened up Francesco besides Adele's actions that she couldn't remember. Who knew? But for some reason she remembered how the meeting with Costanzo had gone. Maybe the alcohol had slowly worn off by then.

That was when Francesco turned around while finishing off his juice and putting it down on a table. Adele quickly closed her eyes shut and pretended to sleep. She didn't want to admit to him that she had been watching him silently all this time.

Francesco smiled and sat on the edge of the bed " I know you are awake sweetheart." He then started tickling Adele making her laugh hard and moving away from him to the edge of the bed.

Francesco stopped tickling her and spoke "Fine. I will stop now but don't try to trick me again..... But again I love to tickle you and see you smile."

Adele spoke "What is the plan for today Francesco? I feel like I have a hang over from the effects of alcohol in my system. I am so confused. I don't remember half of the previous evening."

Francesco gave her a mischievous smile " Don't worry sweetheart. I remember everything. More than anything I loved how you gave me a massage."

Adele's eyes widened " I did what? No way. Why would I do that?"

Francesco shrugged " You just came into my office. Then I told you all about what was going on around the mansion and what was with the men and their extra weapons. Then we had drinks and talked about Costanzo. That's when my ....... favourite part happened. You told me I looked too tired and you could fix it. Then you gave me a massage."

Francesco then got up from the bed and walked around the bed. He stood towering over Adele. He leaned closer and kissed her on the cheek. He then whispered " Do you want me to return the favour. I could give you a massage too."

Adele shook her head " No."

Francesco frowned " Why not?"

Adele spoke " Because you are not qualified to do so. You could give me a backache."

Francesco spoke " And you are qualified? Are you?"

Adele spoke " Of course. I did a course in physiotherapy. I know how to do it."

Francesco spoke " Fine then. I can't give you a message but I can do something else that I know well." He then climbed on top of Adele and put his hands on either side of her keeping his weight off of her. He whispered " I can give you kisses and make you relaxed just like how you did to me." He then planted gentle kisses in a line from Adele's side of her head to her cheeks, jaw line and neck.

Adele shivered and spoke while he was busy devouring her " Francesco ...... Is Costanzo going to be ok?"

Francesco spoke in between kisses " He will be fine. Why wouldn't he be? I just saved him from making a huge mistake last night. It's better this way to keep him away from that woman. She is no good for my brother. I am glad he said yes to what I favoured most. Otherwise I was going to beat the daylights out of him for choosing that woman.

Adele spoke " But you gave him a choice. You said you will be fine with it."

Francesco spoke " Well... I must have been drunk to say that. I think I was too nice to him last night because of you. I promised you I wouldn't hurt him last night in the heat of the moment. I couldn't break my word. But I used the word " Tonight". It was just for last night. If he hadn't said what he said, I was going to punish him today. No one says no to me. Sometimes one has to show tough love to protect their loved ones. You will understand one day."

He then pulled away staring at Adele " I wish we could make this moment last. I just want to look at you sweetheart. Just being this close to you makes me happy as though I won't need anything else."

Adele was feeling bold. She responded " Then why not make this last. If this is enough, then why do you keep on leading this organisation. Why do you keep on being a criminal? Why not let it all go. We can have this moment still if you stop leading illegal businesses."

Francesco smiled " We have been through this sweetheart. I can't leave my lifestyle because this life means power and I will be able to protect those I love including you with this power. Actually I am glad you have brought it up. Think about Sancia's and Costanzo's relationship as an example. If I wasn't who I was and I hadn't established myself as a no nonsense taker Rosario I wasn't going to be able to save my brother from the grasps of that woman. She would have taken him away without worrying about any backlash from the Rosarios. So she had to let him go. Maybe that's why I was angry with Costanzo. He didn't fight her. At first I thought he went to her. I was furious. Then he said he was abducted. I was starting to blame Sancia only at that point but then he said he had a nice long talk with her. I was ready to give him what he deserved, a beating and a night or two in the freezer room. But you saved him before he stepped foot here. Then he had the nerve to not answer me and choose. He should have known I wasn't going to put up with it if he took a strangers side over his family. So he used his to tongue wisely. Now back to your question. This is how I do things. I can't change sweetheart. I deal with everything in a certain way involving a certain process. Maybe it's because I love discipline. I also desire the power of this business. It's what I live for to have the means to protect you and my family. Try to understand it sweetheart."

Adele looked thoughtful and was looking Francesco with an unreadable emotion. She then bit her lip and spoke " Francesco ....,, If I ask you something would you promise not to get angry. It's about something Costanzo said to Sancia. It has been on my mind to ask you this."

Francesco sighed " Go on sweetheart. Thing are different when we are in the bedroom. If I even got angry I would punish you with kisses on this occasion. That I can promise since you are asking nicely. Say it. I know what you are going to discuss. It's obvious what you would be thinking of right now amongst the things he said he talked to her about. If you talk about what I think you will talk about I would get angry because its about my business."

Adele swallowed hard and closed her eyes shut. She wasn't sure if she wanted to say it after seeing the hardened expression on Francesco's face.

Francesco suddenly surprised Adele by getting on with kissing her and startled her making her tremble again. He spoke as he landed kisses on his jaw line " Say it sweetheart. It's about us having children. You don't want then to enter business. But I can't allow you to have your way. You will carry my children and they would do as I say and they would become who I tell them to become. That can't change. So I strongly advise you not to bring it up. If you wanted to bring up something else and I am wrong. Tell me I am wrong."

Adele remained silent and didn't respond which made Francesco satisfied " Good girl."

He then pulled away and got up from his position on the bed. He then walked to his wardrobe and spoke as he was picking clothes to wear. " Now sweetheart why don't you go to the bathroom, freshen up and wear something for going out. We will have breakfast downstairs today with Antonio and Costanzo since I wish to speak with them. After that we would go to that French boutique you picked clothes from yesterday. you know the ones Georgina helped you pick. Then we might drop by the Hollywood designers head quarters too to take a look at some clothes that you picked from their catalogue. Then we would have lunch and you will get dressed for the Hollywood ball tonight. We would have a busy day today as you can guess."

Adele sighed and got up from the bed reluctantly. She felt defeated but she vowed to confront Francesco about his parenting intentions at another time.

Adele grabbed some clothes, got ready in the bathroom and then walked outside to a cheerful looking Francesco. He grabbed her hand and lead her outside the door towards the dining hall through the corridors. He then whispered " Since you are being less difficult and are making more of an effort in this relationship I am going to let Angelo to come to the ball with us and of course he would join us for thanksgiving dinner on Thursday too."

Adele couldn't hide her happiness " Really. He can come with us tonight too. I like that. I want him to be included more as a family member rather than just an employee here. Thank you."

Francesco spoke " No problem sweetheart. You have earned it."

They were now at the dining room and Antonio and Costanzo were standing at either side of the table waiting for Francesco. They mumbled a good morning together as Francesco and Adele entered.

When Francesco and Adele got to the drinking table, Francesco pulled out a chair and gestured for her sit down. As Francesco sat down, Antonio and Costanzo followed too.

Breakfast was mostly spent in silence until Francesco broke the silence. " I have news Costanzo."

Costanzo put down his cup of tea and spoke " What news."

Francesco spoke " There are plenty of news. First. Let me tell you I called Sergio and gave him a piece of my mind about how his sister had pushed it too far by a ducting you. He was apologetic about it. We can't blame him. It's not his fault his sister tries to add tension in relations between Rosarios and Giovannis."

Costanzo looked worried. So were Adele and Antonio. They had stopped eating and were listening intently.

Francesco went on " I told him you won't take back his sister under any circumstances and asked him to pass on the message but he didn't like that. He said its better not to tell his sister since she is pregnant. Her health may be affected if she gets a rejection. Besides even if we forget about consideration for her pregnancy Sergio believes, she won't give up easily and would abduct you again Costanzo. That would mean war. First time abduction prompted me to warn him but he knows a second abduction would mean a lengthy and bloody war between the two families. So he came up with a solution. He said we can break the peace treaty between Giovannis and Rosarios. This would mean all the businesses we shared with them would be split half and half between the two families. It would mean we won't be partners in business in no sectors. Also our men would return to our own territories if they have for some business reason moved. This is a clever solution. This would mean a union between you and Sancia would be forbidden since she is part of the Giovanni business heads as well as being the leader of the O'Neils. She would be obliged not to consort with the enemies of her family she has sworn loyalty too. She knows too many secrets of business in the Giovanni family. A relationship with you would put that at risk. So to cut this short, you can be thankful to Sergio for coming up with this solution. Now you don't have to break the news to her that your refuse her. She won't be even allowed to talk to you from now on. Only Sergio and I are the only people in the two families who would be allowed to communicate."

Antonio was looking at Francesco with concern " This may not mean war but it creates a situation close to a war. This means if they catch any one who works for the Rosarios, whether they are chefs, guards or chauffeurs, they can kill them."

Francesco spoke " Sergio had a solution for that too. Only I and him can order death sentences directly about trespassers but we didn't till out torture. But we will inform our men tonight. Every single one would be contacted by word of mouth or phone call about this. They would have themselves to blame if they get caught on the wrong territory just like how any trespassers from mind we don't have peace treaties are to blame if they cross our regions."

At that moment a knock came on the door. Francesco sighed in frustration " Come in."

A guard came in and spoke apologetically "Please excuse the interruption. I am so sorry to disturb you. There is a special delivery letter delivered by one of the men working for your uncle and your father based at their residents in Las Vegas. The man refuses to hand over the letter and says its meant for you to read, sir. Their instructions is to hand it to you only."

Francesco spoke " Fine. I will see him." He then got up and walked out of the room soundly.

Adele spoke " I wonder what it is. I am worried."

Antonio spoke " So am I ? What are they thinking? Sending a letter to Francesco."

Costanzo spoke " I bet it's bad news."

And then they were about to find out what it was in that letter. None other than Francesco walked back into the room with a piece of paper in his hand. His eyes looked murderous.