Costanzo didn't move. Neither did he react as Sancia kissed him but his wet cheeks said it call. He was hurt. He was heart broken. This woman in front of him had caused him nothing but pain by marrying a man he despised and more than anything losing her humanity by choice. But still he loved her as the first day he had seen her.
As Sancia pulled away he looked at Costanzo " I see still you are the conservative, shy type. I wish you were more like your cousin, Antonio and jumped on anything that moved. But we can have some fun in private still can't we?" She then reached her hand to Costanzo's buttons on his shirt but Costanzo stopped her by grabbing one of her wrists with his hand that was not hurt. His other hand was not as badly hurt as expected so they had removed the cast but still it was bandaged and not so useful in defending him.
Sancia sighed " What's the matter? Why did you stop me? Do you have another woman in your life now? Tell me her name, address and occupation. Now Costanzo."
Costanzo shook his head " There was no one else but you ever since I remember realising what loving a woman meant. But of course, I was attracted to Elize after you left me but as you know Francesco threatened to kill her if I didn't break it off with her. She is to be married soon to one of Francesco's clients."
Sancia smirked " Oh. I know. Her soon to be husband is one of the elites of the British isles. He is even related to the royal family. I know all about them. I am glad you know about them too. So this means it's just you and me then." She then pulled her hand away out of Costanzo's grip and spoke " So what are we waiting for? She then grabbed Costanzo's hand and lead him to the bed. He then pushed him to the bed. Costanzo didn't expect to be shoved and as he lost his balance and fell on the bed, he found her on top of him grabbing buttons of his shirt.
Costanzo spoke " Stop. Now." He then managed to slip away from under Sancia and stood up next to the bed."
Sancia gave out a frustrated sigh and got up and faced Costanzo " What? You are wearing too many clothes. Let loose a little bit. It's getting hot. I am just trying to help you not catch a cold."
Costanzo spoke " I am fine. I am not hot and I don't think it's appropriate for us to act this way. Even though I want us to spend time together, we can't rush things. We need to think things through. I need time. So do you. To assess the situation here."
Sancia rolled her eyes " What situation would that be? You are single and I am a widow. We are doing nothing wrong morally."
Costanzo spoke " We both know what situation I am referring to. From the looks of it, we want totally different things. You want to continue your dead husband's business from what I have heard. I don't think you should go through with this. I don't wish for illegal businesses to be managed by you but you want this life of crime. You kill people. I don't. You make people suffer. The thought of hurting others makes me cringe. Lets face it. You have changed so much. What happened to you?"
Sancia shrugged " Of course change happens. We met when we were eighteen. That was six years ago. Now that's your excuse since you are shy. We can fix that." As she stepped closer to Costanzo, he took steps backwards.
Sancia spoke firmly " You are making me lose patience Costanzo. Stop running away from this. You can't avoid it. We want each other. I love you and you love me. Now stop backing away."
Costanzo stopped backing away and Sancia wasted no time and wrapped her arms around his waist. They were almost at eye level. Sancia was as tall as Georgina. They also had the same strong build. They even had the same kick boxing instructors.
Costanzo sighed " Look we need to stop. I need to go back to Francesco's mansion." his eyes then widened as it registered with him what could be happening. He spoke quickly " They must know I am missing. They must be worried actually. Search parties must be all over town. I have to go."
Sancia spoke " The night is still young. Lets have a few drinks and then you can go."
Costanzo shook his head " No. I need to think straight. I need to clear my head. I can't get my head around this with you around. Don't you think I want to just hold you and never let you go at this moment. But we can't rush into things. Alot has changed. You are leading a criminal organisation now as the only heir since there are no more O'Neils alive to take over."
Sancia chuckled " I am glad we have an understanding. We need to think but we can do it right now. And also sweetie, if you know I am leading O'Neils underground organisation, then should you really refuse me anything when you are in my mansion. You can't run away from this."
As Sancia leaned closer to kiss him, Costanzo pulled away and freed himself and walked quickly to the door " It's been lovely to catch up. But it's getting late. I have to go. I will see you at the Hollywood ball." Then as he opened the door, he was faced with a line up of too many armed men to count facing him outside. As they saw him, they drew their guns and pointed the guns at him. One of them spoke while looking past Costanzo " Ma'am, command us."
Sancia sighed in frustration "Costanzo and I have finished talking. I was going to send him away. Just accompany him to the gates and hand him over to his cousin before he attacks....."
Costanzo turned to Sancia " What do you mean? Is Antonio out there?"
Sancia laughed " Of course he is. He questioned the bar owner that works for me and he revealed to him you are with me. Antonio is outside waiting. He gave me an ultimatum. If you are not handed over to him, he is attacking. You will see the extent of his threats when you go out there and see his personnel and his weapons and of course you will see my defense and preparation for his likely strike. You may leave now unless ...... you would like to stay. I can just send word to Antonio, you are here willingly. That was my plan to get you to choose to stay but you are so adamant you want to go. So what is it going to be?"
Costanzo spoke " See you at the Hollywood ball Sancia."
Sancia didn't like Costanzo's response at all. She narrowed her eyes " Good night then. But may I have a good night kiss before you go." She then smiled sweetly at Costanzo that he eyed suspiciously. He remained in his place and sighed " I don't think that would be appropriate after your husbands passing for us to be intimate in public."
Sancia smirked " This is not public. This is my home. These men work for me. But fine. We can do this in private. Lets go back inside."
Costanzo slowly walked back in. Sancia followed him back inside and closed the door behind her. She then stepped forward and kissed Costanzo's lips gently. She then pulled away slightly and whispered " You seem lost Costanzo. It's clear what there is to do. Forget Elize. Why cling onto the memory of my replacement rather than holding onto what we have. She was your second. I was your first. I hope a good night sleep can help you to think about our relationship. I hope to hear from you when you make up your mind. We could live a happy life together if you choose to make this work."
Costanzo spoke "You are right. I need time to think. Now I think I should go before Antonio forces his way in and a confrontation happens between the Rosarios and the O'Neils." As he was about to walk to the door, Sancia blocked the way. She stood in front of him and spoke "Wait....There is some time left until Antonio 's deadline. There is something I need to tell you before you go that would make the decision to accept me even harder for you."
Costanzo spoke " I am listening. What is it?"
Sancia sighed " I know you want me just like how I want you. But I know my choice of lifestyle won't be appealing to you. Also I have something else to say to you that you need to know which I know may make you be reluctant to be with me. Only those who work for the O'Neils know about this and of course the Giovannis. But soon others will find out about this in a few weeks..... I want you to be the first one to know about this from the outsiders..... Costanzo ....... I am ..... pregnant with my dead husband's child."
Costanzo froze. He didn't expect to hear this at all. He closed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. Once he collected his thoughts he opened his eyes " How long have you been carrying his child? You don't look like you are .... expecting a baby."
Sancia nodded " I am six weeks pregnant. When I asked my guards to bring you here, it was one of my main intentions to talk to you about this. I didn't want you to hear it from anyone else. I also wanted to ask you if you wouldn't mind raising another mans child in addition to your own? I am still young. I can give you heirs too. You wouldn't have to be worried about that. But tell me now does my pregnancy bother you? I like to know where I am standing and how much persuasion I have to use for making our relationship work. Tell me straight, the answer to my question. Would this mean you would refuse to be with me since you will have to raise an O'Neil or you wouldn't mind? This is important to me to hear the truth. I have to know how you feel."
Costanzo was shaking his head in disbelief " I am sorry to see that you even have to ask me about this. I wouldn't mind raising another mans child like my own. That is no concern to me. It's me who should be asking you to clarify to me something before we make any decisions about any relationships ..... " He paused, Looked down And thought hard. Costanzo was finding it hard to speak his next words. He was afraid of the answer. But he had to know. He looked into Sancia's eyes. He whispered " Tell me this. Are you going to .... raise the child to be like an O'Neil? Are you going to raise the child in a way an O'Neil would wish? Are you going to force a life of crime on your baby? What is your decision. I need to know. Are you going to watch your child grow and then teach the child how to lead this organisation?"
Sancia crossed her arms on her chest and looked at Costanzo "I knew you were going to ask me this. You went straight to the point. I think you already know the answer Costanzo. Look at me now. I am heading an O'Neil organisation ..."
Costanzo spoke "But from what I have heard your brother Sergio is helping you with this. The business partners of the O'Neils have accepted that a Giovanni can protect this criminal organisation. You don't need to be involved. You can leave. Leave your brother in charge."
Sancia smiled weakly "you don't get it. Do you? I want this life. I know you don't approve of this life I am leading but this is what I want. I wish to raise my baby to be strong willed and powerful, whether I have a boy or girl, it wont matter. But I think my baby would be more of a Giovanni rather than an O'Neil. I would make sure of it."
Costanzo sighed "I think this conversation is over. I need some space and time to breathe. Think about it Sancia. You will be happier if you escape from this life..."
Sancia spoke "You are right. I think you have to go since you are not saying anything that I want to hear right now and you don't look like you are about to be convinced of reviving our relationship. Now my last words to you are...." She walked closer and kissed Costanzo on the lips. She then pulled away and whispered " I would think about your words if you think about mine. Now we say goodbye." She then gave him a cold glare.
Costanzo nodded and walked to the door and as he stepped outside, he saw the armed men were still at the door with weapons drawn and pointing at him when they saw him.
Sancia walked out and gestured to his men and spoke firmly "Lower your weapons. He is not armed. Now lead him to the gate. Antonio's deadline is in five minutes." Then without another word, she went back inside her room and closed the door behind her.
As Costanzo was lead to the gate he spotted black cars and men in suites everywhere outside the compound. Antonio really meant business. He had brought the special operations team of Francesco's men with him. He indeed was about to ambush this place.
As Costanzo stepped outside and the gate was closed behind him, one of the men walked to Costanzo and spoke " This way sir." Then Costanzo was lead to one of the cars and as he got in he noticed the statue like figure of Antonio sitting inside and drinking from his liquor bottle. He had a stone cold expression on his face. As Costanzo sat down and closed the door, Antonio nodded at the driver and they were driven away.
After minutes went past in silence Costanzo spoke " I am sorry."
Antonio shook his head " You are sorry for what?" He then rubbed his neck with his hand " Are you sorry for running away or for almost starting a war between O'Neils and Giovannis versus the Rosarios? What are you sorry for specifically?"
Costanzo sighed "I can only say sorry for any trouble that I have caused."
Antonio spoke "Come on Costanzo. I thought you knew better, why did you go to her? Hasn't she made you suffer enough? Let her go. What if she hurts you again. What if she breaks your heart again? It's risky getting back together with her. If you cant control your emotions, then next time, at least give me the heads up so I can keep an eye on you while you go to her. She is dangerous. Especially now that she is eliminating threats after taking over her dead husband's business. Right now her mindset is one thing only and that is ..... "I am going to shoot you since I bet you are a threat. Who cares if you aren't." That's the kind of mindset she has. Just keep away from her."
Costanzo sighed " I didn't go to her. She abducted me. They knocked me out with chloroform."
Antonio's eyes widened " She .... What? Hold on. So you didn't go to her willingly? But the bar owner said you requested to go to her. So .... This means there is hope. You still haven't lost your mind. Good. So just keep out of her way. Let her go so she can go after another victim to break to pieces."
The rest of the car ride was spent in total silence until when the car stopped at Francesco's compound.
As Costanzo was about to get off he noticed Antonio not moving. He spoke "Aren't you going to come inside?"
Antonio spoke "Of course not. That bar is still open until very late. Now that you are safe and sound back to the Rosario mansion, I can go back there and enjoy the rest of the night. No matter how short the show time at the bar may be, I plan to enjoy it. But you cousin, will be going inside and would be facing the questions by your brother regarding your disappearance. I will see you in the morning. Bye now."