After Terza had left, Vincenzo had stayed to do some paper work. Work was never paused even from a distance. Once he finished making some phone calls, he left his room. He was walking downstairs he was greeted with O'Neil who was coincidentally walking in his direction or was he? There was no such thing as coincidence with him. O'Neil said "Hello ... disaster."
Vincenzo sighed and stopped walking as he waited for O'Neil reached him. He said "Hello sir. How joyful to see you?"
O'Neil looked into Vincenzo's eyes and said " I want you to listen carefully... You think this is bad... Think again. Its going to get worse... Much worse..."
Vincenzo asked "Alot is bad at our end right now sir. What are you referring to exactly?"
O'Neil said " The impact of your decisions. The ones you have made... that you cant undo..."
Vincenzo said " I am aware of my father's displeasure about me... I will undo what I can..."
O'Neil said "He is never displeased with you... Because you are his son... He is displeased with himself for not protecting you ... You think you can undo anything... Think again..."
Vincenzo said " One thing lead to another and I landed in making decisions that displeased my father... With all due respect sir... I did not ask to be involved. I became involved with my grandfather long before I could even comprehend the meaning of what was happening... ..."
O"Neil said "But you knew always that your father cut off ties with his father. Did you ever question that in your mind? A father so dedicated to his family... Why would he not want his children to see their grandfather? ... What was so bad that he had done this... You knew that all along... You could use the knowledge even yesterday... When you tried to take the law into your own hands and abducted the monster, excluding your father in the process from your decisions of such personal level to him... That was an unnecessary move. You betrayed your father's trust... Now he wont want you involved in any way... Your father cant take the risk of you trying to get involved in what he has tried all his life to shield you from... Now he has made a pact with your grandmother... Good luck abducting her too and making matters worse..."
Vincenzo got the message. His father had chosen truce one again and at a cost. It was a win for his grandfather. The man kept buying himself more time in this world.
***
As soon as Viggo heard about the Russians being near where his sister was, he left the mansion in his car with his bodyguards. What was wrong with Tristan? Of course this was his Irish side kicking in casually just informing him there was a near accident where his sister had come close to the Russians. The Alexandrov family of all the god damn ones. He went straight to his uncle Costanzo's house. He asked to see his uncle Costanzo as a matter of urgency. He was in a meeting but he cancelled it. His uncle Costanzo dealt with diplomatic relations for the family. Costazno heard Viggo's account calmly in his office. "Have you told your father yet?"
Viggo said "No. Tristan said he will deal with it and I am sure he will. I dont wish him to deal with it... We need to do it so we make sure there is no doubt and no room for mistakes. My father trusts him... I do too but not when Vienna is involved in such serious matter without a. choice of her own..."
Costanzo said "You have nothing to worry about Viggo about your sister..."
Viggo said "Thats what Tristan said... This matter must be resolved, closed and filed away. I need you to give me your advice..."
Costanzo said "If Tristan wants to deal with it, you need to let him, but if you want to take action to make sure your sister is not involved, I can take action... I need to get inside information on this..."
Viggo said "I volunteer to go search for anything you want..."
Costanzo said "No. Not you... My son..."
Viggo said "Stefano?"
Costanzo nodded "Yes. Diplomacy is what I have trained him for... He knows what to do... He can go to negotiate directly... You can return home... I will update you..."
Viggo said "I go with him..."
Costazno said "Your life is too precious Viggo. Your father is dealing with Jackson... So is Tristan... You need to be home.. My son wont fail you..."
*****
Stefano was sitting opposite his cousin Alexander... His uncle Antonio's son was the man of choice as company. He was the best bodyguard he could ask for and as two Rosario blooded youth, they were not going to get killed if things went wrong.
Alexander said in the car "How bad is it?"
Stefano said " Andrei Alexandrov would have noticed Vienna in the room... They vowed to go after anyone with information who didnt come forward. They would assume she knew Tristan was keeping the guy for days. Then he suddenly only decides to release him since they found out where he went missing from.
Alexander said "And how could Andrei know she was in the room. Wasn't he blindfolded."
Stefano said "Hooded..."
Alexander said "Right...Thats 50:50... Look. Lets look at it from how you see it... They are a suicidal family. I get it... They would rather die than go back on their word. They said they will go after anyone who knew where their son was... Tristan did a deal with Andrei because he invaded his territory ... We didn't have any business there dealing with Andrei so we declared no Rosario knew of his fate. Vienna did... But so what? ... They wont mess with uncle Francesco... I am sure Vienna wont be in danger..."
Stefano said "Its not about danger. This is a diplomacy matter...
Alexander said "No one will hurt Vienna. isn't that enough? So they may do what exactly? Abduct her... To make it even? ... To send a message? ... Is that it?... Then Tristan, his father, uncle Francesco, Vincenzo and a big army of allies will go after them... But no one can get past Tristan's security anyways... She is safe..."
Stefano said "Diplomacy problems can lead to a big crisis blowing us all away. This is a matter that if not resolved, it can cause problems in future..."
Alexander said "I know you are looking too far into the future... Here there is 0.01% chance of her getting caught in the middle and it has to be resolved peacefully. ... But we have protection...I do agree there can be problems... But do you really think at some point they may get to her?... Are you looking at how aunt Anna got taken and thinking one slip up from Vienna and she could end up in a foreign country? I see your point... We cant take the chance..."
Stefano said "We must resolve this diplomatically before anything happens... But we must diplomatically explain the situation and tell them it was an accident that she was there..."
Alexander said "But I dont think this is such a big deal to send you to the line of fire... Isn't your father worried you might get hurt?"
Stefano said "Alright. Here we are..." The cars stopped in the border of the Russian territory in New York. They had their own areas... They had the power in a big part of Brooklyn. There were many soviet no go zones. As Alexander was about to get off, Stefano said "Wait here..."
Alexander said "I am coming with you."
Stefano turned to Alexander "Just trust me on this..." You have my back but stay outside the border. Dont come inside the zone no matter what happens. I am going in alone and unarmed because I want to resolve it... I know what I am doing..."
Alexander said "But your father said..."
Stefano said "I know what I am doing. I know how they work..."
Alexander sighed and nodded. He just had to trust Stefano on this. They didnt have time to argue.
Stefano said " There is something you should know... You know... Your father... How he used to date alot of girls..."
Alexander said "Dont tell me he messed around with an Alexandrov girl..."
Stefano said " Just in case anyone on that side gets hostile thats why... Dont get angry if they insult your father..."
Alexander said "Oh boy..."
Stefano said " You look like your father Alexander... I just thought I warn you... I will be back in a few hours..." He then left the car and walked to the check point on the deserted road. He put his hands up in surrender and spoke Russian.
****
Stefano was taken from the check point, he was blindfolded in a car to the destination that he didnt know of. He wasn't sure where they held Andrei but as he took in the scents around him once he was in a lift, he could guess he was somewhere full of medical supplies. The pungent smell was in the air.
He was finally left alone in a room and heard footsteps leave. He knew to wait. Seconds later he heard Andrei "You can remove your blindfold. I told them you are no threat to me..."
Stefano took off the blindfold and saw Andrei laying in bed surrounded by medical equipment. He had needles going into his both arms with the drips that could be nutrition most likely..."
Andrei said " Don't mind all this. My father likes to go over the top... for his only son..."
Stefano approached him "Can you walk?"
Andrei said "I am abit weak... Will walk tomorrow. Irish hospitality sucks."
Stefano smiled "I know." He sat down opposite his bed...
Andrei said "You missed all the fun that was happening. Name a test that they haven't run..."
Stefano said "I can imagine."
Andrei said "What are you doing here? My father was here when they called to say you are at the check point. I didn't think anyone of you shows up anywhere near my people when your cousin imprisoned me and denied it."
Stefano sat up straight "That's why I am here. Have you told your father she was there?"
Andrei shook his head "No. Not yet."
Stefano said "I want you to keep it that way... She was there by accident. Do you mind not involving my cousin?"
Andrei said " She is involved by association."
Stefano said "She had no idea of what Tristan was doing. He should have handed you over. But he didn't."
Andrei said "He wanted information. I didn't give him any. He was getting annoyed. But he liked the information I gave him on his uncle's whereabouts... Maybe that's why he gave me back knowing he has bigger problems. I think the Irish are the worst enemies of themselves. Fighting amongst each other. We look to exploit that weakness and they know it."
Stefano said "Back to my cousin. I am here to offer you an apology ... on my family's behalf. We had nothing to do with your capture. We knew nothing of your whereabouts. Can you forget about my cousin?"
Andrei said "Let me think about it... How about no?"
Stefano sighed "Andrei. It's within your best interests to keep me on your good side. I will take it personally if you don't accept my request. No one needs to know."
Andrei chuckled "I was messing with you. Be assured my father won't hear of it or anyone else ... Because it's my business. My personal business."
Stefano nodded in understanding. "What are you going to do?"
Andrei said "Who said I am going to do Anything..."
Stefano said "Come On... Name your price... Is this truce?"
Andrei said "It is truce... I might just hit the boxing rink again... Never again do I want to get caught ..."
Stefano said " You don't need to... You are invincible already ..."
Andrei said " That Irish got a lucky shot ... He knocked me out."
Stefano coughed "Tristan fought you personally?"
Andrei nodded "I was unarmed... So was he... Fair fight..."
Stefano said "Back to business. Do you mean it when you say it's all forgotten?"
Andrei said " She is too pretty to kill."
Stefano frowned "She is my cousin...."
Andrei said "What? I am a guy. She is too pretty... I don't get pretty girls killed..." He then winked.
Stefano said "This is serious..."
Andrei said "So am I. You know my people. We don't break our word. If I hated her, you will know. Right now I have other matters to deal with."
Stefano asked "Like what?"
Andrei said " Personal Business affairs... You need to leave now... My grandfather is coming to visit me in a few hours. I need to get some sleep to prepare for him to see me... He will be here to reprimand me. It can take all night."
Stefano nodded. Andrei pressed a buzzer next to him. "I will see you in college... I doubt I see you before hand."
Stefano said "Thank you Andrei..." They had struck an unlikely friendship and Stefano had no idea how he had managed it. Andrei had tested Stefano a few times and Stefano hadn't tried to exploit his friendship with him. Andrei trusted him. Stefano didn't like how Andrei dated a new girl every few weeks and had explained his abstinence. His sister who was around at time as they were just introduced, had taken a liking to a boy who didn't stare at other women. He had become close to her but as a friend. She seemed like a nice girl but it did not go well because she just wanted to be more than just friends.
As the same guards came in, they blindfolded him again. He was carried away again. He was taken somewhere, placed on a cold hard floor and was told to remain seated and not to remove the blindfold. Then he heard footsteps walking away. He sighed and thought "Now what? Andrei had ordered them to return him to the check point. He waited. Minutes later the sound of the door opening came.
As his blindfold was taken he looked up. He quickly stood up slowly. He was standing face to face with the last person he wanted to see. Avianna.
Stefano remained silent. They had some history. He looked away while putting his hands behind his back as he took a step back.
Avianna narrowed her eyes "Look at me Stefano."
Stefano turned his head and looked at her silently.
Avianna said "You have nerve coming here..."
Stefano said "Do you really want to do this right now?"
Avianna said "Yes..."
Stefano sighed and looked away again.
Avianna said "I asked you to look at me. I wont ask again."
He turned to her "What do you want from me Avianna?"
Avianna said " You know what I want."
She then got close as she ran her hands on his abs. "Give me a name? Who is the girl you keep rejecting me for."
Stefano said "Don't go there..." He took a step away and found himself backed to a wall.
Avianna said " I will find out myself either way... I will question every girl you have ever met..."
Stefano sighed "Are you serious?"
Avianna said "Yes... I will find her and kill her..."
Stefano retorted "I am tired of this game." He sighed "Alright. I lied. I don't have a girlfriend. Never have. I am sorry if I lied... You are a sweet girl... I just don't want a girlfriend right now. I just don't." He just had to tell the truth and compromise with her. She was like her brother. Deadly but friendly.
She was taken back "Really? You lied to me?" She then leaned close and kissed his cheek "You are adorable. Alright. I forgive you ..."