Arturo watched his wife tear up. He stood watching her as he saw pain in her eyes.
Anna asked shakily "What do you mean by that Arturo?"
Arturo calmly replied "What do you think I mean?"
Anna whispered weakly "Are you ... Are you going to ignore my existence? That, I could not handle again Arturo. Please not that. Are you going to not talk to me and touch me until I begged just like last time when I endangered one of our children?" Anna felt nauseous "You say will hurt me until I am on my knees. Then, are you giving up on our marriage? Are you divorcing me?"
Arturo said with a cold expression as he looked at her "I did not say I will hurt you Anna. When did I say I will hurt you? Do you think I am actually capable of that? You ask me if I will divorce you. Really Anna? What kind of a man do you think I am? Do you think that my intention is to give up on our marriage? It has never been that Anna. You are recalling the last time that I was angry with you beyond belief... Even then... think about it... I could have never ignored you on purpose to hurt you. Last time, every time I looked at you I thought of what you put our daughter through without telling me. You hurt me Anna. I couldn't trust myself not to let you feel the pain that you let me feel. I could have taken you away from Amethyst. I could have separated you from our child if I didn't trust you to be a good mother. You are the mother of my children first Anna. I won't ever hurt you intentionally. You know that. You have hurt our marriage by hiding secrets. You have hurt me. But I will never hurt you..."
Anna asked worriedly "But what did you mean then?"
Arturo said sharply "Once a wound is created Anna, you can't close it by creating another wound. You have to stitch the wound back up. You have wounded our marriage. The only way to mend it is to ... restore trust. You need to trust me as your husband. I trust you as my wife. I always did. I never ever will think of another woman." He then started walking towards Anna.
Anna sobbed "I am sorry."
Arturo said "I know."
Anna cried "Please forgive me."
He touched her cheek with his hand making her feel tense.
Arturo said "You are reacting all wrong to me. I am your husband. Why do you tense up when I touch you? Arturo said "Let's start by this... How do I make you feel safe again with me Anna? Tell me. Do you really think I am capable of hurting you? Do you Anna?"
Anna looked away.
Arturo said "I won't hurt you. I don't want to hurt you and won't .... Look at me Anna." He then turned her chin towards him feeling her shaking and tensing up.
He leaned close and whispered "But somehow you must realise actions have consequences. I can't let you get away with what you did. You can't ever endanger yourself or our children again. I will restore trust in our marriage my way and you will be paying for any mistakes you made. It's going to take time... I love you... I will be anything but hurtful. I will be gentle..."
Anna could not understand "But you make no sense. Why are you being so gentle? If you are going to make me pay?"
Arturo whispered in her hear "I can you see that Anna you are fighting as hard as I am for our marriage. I am already convinced you know what went wrong... Last time all I saw when I looked at you was how our daughter could be hurt possibly when you played god with her life ..."
Anna asked "And now?"
Arturo said "Now I see... myself as responsible... I should have killed Jackson when I could. I let him live. That's not your fault... But you could avoid this situation. You could avoid putting Andreas in a position to get hurt."
Anna asked "What are you going to do? Please tell me. I need to know Arturo? You can't be too cruel to make threats and make me wait... Anticipation of what's to come will kill me... Please don't separate me from my children and don't pretend I never existed like last time. Anything else I can handle."
Arturo said "I would have banished you if I didn't love you. But I do. What hurts you hurts me too. Don't you know that already?"
Anna said "Please tell me what you are going to do? How will you bring me to my knees?" Her heart was racing. "Is it going to be resembling what you did last time. Please don't do that... Anything but that."
Arturo said "You ask me if it's going to be like last time? No. It clearly didn't work out." He leaned closer and wrapped his arms around her making her tenser "It will be the exact opposite. I will make you fall in love with me all over again. I will remind you what we had. I will make you forget what Jackson did and will fix our marriage my way. But I will be gentle. My nature tells me to not forgive you. My nature dictates to me that you must not be forgiven this second time. But I love you too much Anna. I love our children but I love you too. You will not get hurt but you will be sorry for what you have done. I will make sure you know the consequences of every wrong action you took... I will make sure you know what you did was wrong. I will make sure you will never want to do it again. But ... this time it is different. I will remind you what we had and have until you are brought to your knees overwhelmed with realisation of how much I love you, how much you mean to me and how much you will do wrong if you hide any secrets to me. You will pay ... by erasing the past and making up for all your doubts and secrets. You will pay... But in a way that I will be satisfied... Seal the deal if you are willing to be challenged to love me more than I love you..."
She didn't have to be asked twice. She leaned close and kissed her as he then gently kissed her lips sealing the deal. She relaxed in his embrace as she realised every word he spoke was true. He wouldn't have kissed her back if he didn't mean it. Arturo was like that. He was not a typical man. He had forgiveness in his heart and so many unspoken words inside his mind.
Arturo all but said how much he regretted his wife's capture. What Arturo hid truly was ... how much he blamed himself for what happened. She was already trying to put Jackson's shadow behind her. It was hard but she had to. He was going to help her. As Arturo pulled away he saw her eyes were wet. " I already am overwhelmed. I will go down on my knees." But Arturo held her tight not letting her go "I haven't even started to overwhelm you." He then kissed her deeper and then pulled away "Remember how much I loved you Anna. Remember it so you can get him out of your head. Remember what we had. Remember why you married me and not him... I will make you remember..."
*****************************
Vincenzo was standing in the stair ways waiting to see his father... He reached a section of his father's business building where there were balconies and there was even a water fountain in the middle of the room of all the things. He looked at the fountain. This was a fountain his father had built as tribute. It read "Maria's Falls." This was for his grandmother.
Vincenzo saw Andreas walk slowly into the space. He seemed deep in thought. He asked "What are you doing here?"
Andreas had his hands in his pockets "Killing time.... waiting for my father..."
Vincenzo said "Same..."
Andreas sighed and looked Vincenzo "Have they found Jackson's body yet?"
Vincenzo shook his head "No."
Andreas frowned "Do you think he is still alive?"
Vincenzo said "I dont think it matters. Men like him always are watching us. Men like him will always be after your mother... I am sorry Andreas but your mother is on a wanted list. She is a Rosario. There are not many females in our family. One way to destroy a family is to strike the female members hard."
Andreas said "I know. Has anyone tried to abduct your mother before?
Vincenzo said "Your uncle Ambrogio wanted to. He failed. He is different to Jackson. He has honour. When he found out my mother is spoken for, he did back off... Jackson doesnt have honour."
Andreas said "You refer to him in present tense. I want him to become past tense. I really do... But I dont think it would be that simple even if he is dead. My father and my mother... How can they get past this? My father is mad at my mother... He holds grudges... He wont easily forget... I didnt want to be the one to tell him that my mother actually said yes to Jackson and he would have forced her to kiss him if I had not interfered... I heard just now that my father heard it from the spies, uncle Emanuel had in the building... My father would want my mother to pay for that... I wish it hadn't come from spies from the building. Why didnt he wait to hear the truth from my mother? I dont like that. They told him everything. Really? I worry for my mother... What if... their marriage falls apart? My mother gave in. She was forced to give in but to my father, it means my mother considered being with another man... Thats like a punch that takes some time to heal... My father doesnt even think about other women. He has no women working for him. He has no friends who are women."
Vincenzo said "My father talked to your father... There is no divorce planned... You have nothing to worry about. Your father may be traditional but he is intelligent enough to know your mother had no choice..."
Andreas said "I hope so..."
Vincenzo said "Your father needs time... They will figure it out. Well, my father told your father to take your mother on a vacation to ... give you and Amethyst some space... You and Amethyst will be staying in New York for a few weeks while your parents will work it out...
Andreas shook his head "What? Did my father agree to that? Really?
Vincenzo said "Its rare for anyone to refuse my father anything... My father does not negotiate when it comes to my aunt Anna. My father knows aunt Anna better than herself. Your father is special... He is an Agostini. My aunt Anna was hesitant to marry your father because his family have certain ways of dealing with family affairs privately..."
Andreas said "And severely. My father is extreme. You dont understand. He is an extreme husband when it comes to having demands from his family..."
Vincenzo said "My aunt Anna loves him for his extreme life style... Your father is aggressive. Violent. Spontaneous. But he treats no one like he treats your mother. Admit it. Has he ever hurt your mother?"
Andreas said "He has been close..."
Vincenzo said "But has he?"
Andreas shook his head "No."
*********************
Francesco was inspecting the report his men had given him on the destruction of the building. They had managed to get a copy from the government officials. He couldnt believe the extent of the traps Jackson had laid out for them... He wanted to kill and trap every single one of them. So there was no way they could have ambushed the building and win. So they had brought down the building. He had a look at the pictures of some untouched remains recovered from the rubble. He looked through them carefully checking every detail. His heart was sinking as he could put the pieces of the puzzle together. Where was this obsession going? How far was this twisted sick mind of Jackson extending was beyond him. He had to get Anna out of the city for two reasons. One was so she could recover from her ordeal once she was away from distractions enabling her to be focusing on her husband and her marriage...
The other reason was... Jackson whether dead or alive had a chain of plans. He felt sick of how a man pretending to have principles could have eyes for another woman and her family. He was going to keep Anna safe. He had even put aside his plans to deal with his father on hold. As long as he was under watch, he couldnt do much damage or rather any damage that hadn't already been done. However then there was his mother who was impatiently waiting for Francesco to release his father to her. He relived the last conversation he had with her. Even though she said she loved his father, she was still his mother. He was satisfied to have his mother stay longer in the city close to him even if she was there for reasons that did not include him.
Francesco heard a knock on the door. He saw a guard come in "Sir. You have mail."
Francesco took the mail from the man and dismissed him. He cut open the letter that was quite light weight. A photo fell out of it. A photo of Jackson. He seemed to be leaning to a wooden house or cabin of some kind surrounded by woods. He looked at the back of the picture "Keepsake." That was all that said behind the picture. Francesco searched his mind to put the puzzle together. This was either a picture sent from Jackson after his death or before. It made no difference. With Jackson it was never the end of it. With him, he had to always be expecting a maze of disturbing twists and turns.
************
Vincenzo was sitting next to the waterfall still waiting for his father to see him. He wanted to know what his father's next decision was... Vincenzo sighed and looked around as he was watching the sunset and the cold breeze hitting his face.
Just then Vitale walked to Vincenzo and sat down next to him "Have you got a verdict for your grandfather yet? Has your father decided?"
Vincenzo shook his head and looked ahead.
Vitale asked "Is there anything I can do while I wait around here?"
Vincenzo said "What do you normally do when you need to wait for things to happen that are out of your control?
Vitale said "I pray."
Vincenzo said "Then, pray if you want."
Vitale said "I will." He then closed his eyes and prayed "Lord, you are Holy above all others, and all of the strength that I need is in your hands....I am not asking, Lord, that you take this trial away. Instead, I simply ask that "Your will" be done in my life. Whatever that means, that is what I want...." He continued and said the "Give Me Strength Prayer". He then lastly whispered "In Jesus' name. Amen."
Vincenzo stood up and walked to the balcony. He looked around the city as the lights were coming on "Its a beautiful sight to be having... while we are doubtful, conflicted or upset... My father used to bring me here sometimes and tell me that... he used to say when you are upset or feeling lost or dont feel too great, look at a beautiful sight. At least you have something you like in your view. He is right... Its is a nice sight to have while you are being upset."
Vitale said "You are upset? Why?"
Vincenzo said "I am not happy Vitale... I am upset with some of the choices I have made... I need to put things right... I have abandoned things that mattered. What happened to my aunt Anna made me realise how little time I have spent with Terza recently.
Vitale said "You know you have been occupied..."
Vincenzo said "Recently I tried to protect Terza from my work and didnt want to involve her but I didnt even call her... My father is always occupied but has time for my mother... Uncle Arturo was fighting a war today but when it finished and was booking a room for aunt Anna in my father's hotel for tonight he ordered my aunt Anna's favourite flowers. That has to change..."
Vitale said "Your uncle Arturo is not staying at your home tonight? I know the flight they booked is tomorrow but still, wouldn't your mother want to see them?"
Vincenzo said "I guess they are starting their vacation from the hotel room... Havent you seen the "Do Not Disturb Signs" outside hotel rooms. They definitely couldnt have that outside their room at our home."
Vitale said "I hope they dont divorce... Do you think they might?"
Vincenzo stated "No they wont... We are catholics... What God has joined together, let man not separate, Matthew 19:4-6... Or so we believe.... But the New Testament cant be referring to men like Jackson... Let men separate any union thats unholy where a man who knows no honour is part of it... like Jackson... or my grandfather."
Vitale averted his gaze as his cousin stared at him. "You said it... We are catholics... We forgive... Family... Our blood is holy to us..."