15. Loving Her Smile

It was early morning and Tristan was outside inhaling the crispy air. It was still dark outside but the porch lights were on now after the power cut last night. Tristan didn't want to sit in his room when he could be exercising outside. The place was massive so he was running around the hotel complex as he stepped on untouched snow. But then he came across some part of the woods where he chose to run that were not untouched. He followed the footprints and found Vincenzo who was warming up in the snow. Tristan walked to him and took his place next to him mirroring what he did silently. The two boys in the end got on with push ups alongside each other. They were both competitive and neither one wanted to stop first so the two boys carried on doing push ups and gave each other looks. It was a battle of two alpha males. Neither one of them was willing to lose. They kept going. Maybe they had been doing push ups for an hour until a voice a stopped them " Tristan." It was Clarisa.

Tristan stopped immediately and so did Vincenzo. They both stood up looking at her.

Clarisa sighed as she looked between the boys " Tristan, father was looking for you. I saw you coming this way so I came to call you. Are you coming for breakfast?"

Vincenzo narrowed his eyes as he noticed she was ignoring him. He cleared his throat " Good morning to you too Terza."

Clarisa glanced at him " Sorry. I didn't notice you.Good morning"

Tristan replied " I am having breakfast with Vienna."

Vincenzo turned to him " You are?" He then turned to Clarisa " Then I think I like to have breakfast with Terza."

Clarisa stated " I have plans."

Vincenzo asked " What plans?"

Tristan cleared his threat now " Don't push it man. My sister has plans." He then walked to his sister as he was smiling at her. It did satisfy him that his sister wasn't jumping on Vincenzo at the chance. Some other girls would have worshiped Vincenzo but his sister had dignity and was also was going to make him work.

Vincenzo looked at Terza " I think I can help you cancel those plans."

Tristan rolled his eyes as he turned to his sister " I will have a shower and will come to see your sister. Can you tell her that Vincenzo. Clarisa and I are going."

Vincenzo nodded " Alright. I am having a shower too, a cold one actually and will then drop by to cancel your sister's plans. Can you remind her of this." He then winked as he walked away to a different direction

Terza sighed. She guessed it could have been much worse. She was glad her brother was ok with her relationship with Vincenzo. She expected more tension to be in the air. As they were walking back the silence was weighing too heavy and she could feel her brother's stare on her.

Tristan asked " Is all well Clarisa?"

Clarisa looked up " Yes. Why?"

Tristan sighed " Come on. I am your big brother. I always check on you. You know why."

Clarisa looked up at him as she carried on walking " I am fine. All is well. Apart from the fact that Vincenzo wanted to kill our father last night for suggesting he could one day be unfaithful, I am not concerned. Vincenzo is so sensitive about his honour."

Tristan responded " Father told me about it. He shouldn't have taken it the wrong way. But I am glad father gave him the blessing since you said yes already."

Clarisa looked straight ahead and asked "Tristan... How can you be so fine with this? I kept my relationship a secret. Arent you meant to be mad at me and Vincenzo?" She then looked up at her brother with concern.

Tristan took a deep breath and looked at his sister " Look Clarisa. I am not that kind of brother to you. Dont you know that by now? I dont get mad at you. I trust you and I expect you to trust me too. I dont reprimand you for matters I dont understand myself. A relationship can go wrong no matter how well it starts. But know this Clarisa, you can always come to me. I will listen. I will protect you if your relationship goes wrong. I know Vincenzo will never hurt you but you maybe the one walking away from him. Who knows? I hope your relationship lasts long but if it didn't, I will always be here for you."

Clarisa looked into a distance " Tristan. Thank you." She had a feeling she never needed to go to Tristan because she was no quitter and Vincenzo had demonstrated he was never going to let her walk away after the ordeal with Letizia had happened. He had allowed her to walk away for too long that he was not going to have any of it.

The siblings reached the hotel and went their separate ways. On his way to the stairs Tristan was surprised to see Adele Rosario with her bodyguards waiting next to an elevator. She had pressed the button and was waiting for the elevator to come down to the ground floor.

Adele froze as she saw Tristan who greeted her politely. "Hello Mrs Rosario. What brings you to this hotel Ma'am."

Adele gave out a shaky breath "Hello young man. I am here to see your mother. She wanted to have breakfast with some of us ladies."

Tristan replied "Very well. Have a good morning Mrs Rosario." As he was about to walk away, Adele spoke quickly "May I talk to you young man before I go to see your mother?"

Tristan smiled "Of course. What can I do for you Mrs Rosario?"

Adele gestured to her bodyguards to scatter to give them space. After the bodyguards left the earshot, he watched how Adele was looking at him in almost a pleading way as she spoke "Tristan... My daughter told me she has changed her mind and no longer going to Italy? Am I right to assume you convinced her about this change of heart? Can you talk to her about this some more to make her think more? This is about her future."

Adele was not sounding offensive so Tristan decided to not intimidate her. He could. He was capable of doing it but he treated her with respect since she was Vienna's mother even though he was not ever going to forget how she had tried to come between him and Vienna. It reminded him of his grandfather how he had tried to force his mother to divorce his father unsuccessfully. But he knew she only feared Tristan and that was why she did so therefore he forgave her for now.

Tristan nodded politely "Mrs Rosario. Your daughter and I had a talk yesterday. She did not tell me what she has decided. This is news to me. What else has she said? Could you tell me... please?"

Adele didnt miss the fact that he didnt answer her question "Well. She said she is going to an art boarding school in New York for the rest of academic year to get extra credits."

Tristan couldn't hide his relief as he smiled "Thats wonderful news and a great choice. This way she can commute back and forth in weekends so you wont miss her. This way the schools can collaborate together so she gets credits for all her units from our school too."

Adele sounded quite desperate "I want my daughter to go abroad. It would be better for her future."

Tristan tried to keep his tone polite "I am sure if you pass on your concerns to Mr Rosario he would look into the matter and address your worries. I am unable to do anything to change Vienna's mind."

Adele was so frustrated. She had already tried to speak to Francesco and he had said no. He had said he supported his daughter if it was her choice to stay. Adele felt like the last attempt she could do to make her daughter consider other options was slipping away right in front of her. Vienna was inevitably going to marry Tristan after college. This was not something she wanted for her. She had spoken to her sister in law Elise who worked at American embassy enough times to get the message that the FBI were going to close in on crime families. She was desperate to save her daughter since her sons were way too loyal to their father to ever walk away from the crime life even if the choice was given to them.

Adele took a deep breath " Look young man. I want my daughter to be safe. Let's be honest. I want her away from you... I don't think she will ever be safe ... with you..." There she had said it. She waited for Tristan's reaction but none came to her surprise.

Tristan knew already Adele was not a fan of his. He had been subject to her unkindness enough times. He spoke " Mrs Rosario. I am going to be honest too. I am aware of your disapproval and willing to prove to you that I am a safer option than Edward Blake for your daughter. Did you know that there was an abduction plot on his life recently? Someone from a rival gang tried to abduct him to extort money from his father's company. What saved him were the Rosario intelligence who unfolded the plot and saved him. Normal families are not safe for your daughter ma'am. Please Mrs Rosario stop your attempts to throw hurdles between Vienna and I. Don't you see there are no safer candidates to take your daughter's hand. Others maybe more suitable in your eyes but they can't keep Vienna safe. But I can. Please stop trying to sabotage our relationship."

His words finally hit home. For some reason she felt like the end was now. This was it. The moment she surrendered. She gave up as tears almost were formed in her eyes. This was her last hope and now without Tristan's support she couldn't get her daughter away. This was it. Vienna was to be bound to this crime lord for eternity. She whispered sounding defeated " I ... give up... I surrender all the fight that I had left... I have no more fight left in me... I actually can't do anything else.... My husband gave you his blessing to date my daughter and so did I. I just wished my daughter didn't have to sacrifice her life for love... All I want is for my daughter to be safe."

Tristan frowned " She will be Ma'am. She won't have to sacrifice anything. The times are changing. I assure you I will take care of her. I do not take my responsibilities lightly towards your daughter. That's why I don't like to have hurdles thrown at me while I am thinking about ensuring I protect your daughter. You have a choice to make Ma'am. You either will accept me or not. Either way, my priority is to make Vienna happy and keep her safe. I respect you Mrs Rosario but if you come in my way of ensuring Vienna's safety and happiness, I am sorry to say this that I will not be merciful.  Now, let me say this clearly once more Ma'am. I don't appreciate that anyone tries to come between your daughter and I. I fight for her. The only way I will remove myself from Vienna's life is if she asks me to do so. I wish you stop your attempts Ma'am to separate me from your daughter. If you carry on then I have to reluctantly take action and I don't wish to do so. I don't wish to have to defend my right to be with your daughter but if you force me to do so Ma'am, I will be the most unforgiving. This is not a threat Ma'am. This is a promise."

Adele was shocked and was looking at Tristan with widened eyes. She lost her balance almost as she felt numb hearing the words. She replied weakly with the words she could hardly form " I will not come between you and Vienna. I don't have a choice but to accept this arrangement. There is no going back for my daughter. Her last chance was going abroad."

Tristan declared " In that case we won't have a problem Mrs Rosario. I should go Ma'am now. I will be late to breakfast that I wish to take your daughter to. It was nice talking to you and I hope I made myself clear."

Adele couldn't speak. She couldn't get any more words out after being confronted by him. She whispered as he walked away " I have no doubt you can protect her but I am a mother. I am scared for her."

Tristan understood. He turned around as he walked past Adele and whispered back " Ma'am. Please talk to your husband. He trusts me with your daughter's life and so should you ma'am."

Adele whispered " Yes I should."

Her voice was defeated and Tristan felt sympathy for her but it had to be done. This talk was over due and he hoped the case was going to be closed soon. He walked away and left Adele thinking over his words. He went to his room, had a shower and got dressed ready to go to see Vienna.

As he left the hotel, he made his way to the hotel where Vienna was staying. When he reached there, he saw Viggo in the lobby reading a newspaper as he was say on a sofa. He walked to him " Hey. Have you seen Vienna?"

Viggo nodded " Yes. Vincenzo told her you want to have breakfast with her. She is waiting for you next to the frozen lake where they ice skate in the afternoons at the back of the building."

Tristan made his way to the back of the building. As he stepped outside he didn't see any sign of Vienna. He walked towards the icy lake. There was no sign of anyone there. He sighed as he looked around. " Vienna."

As he said her name, he was hit by a snow ball to his chest. He looked straight ahead and didn't see her but heard her laugh " Tristan. Nice coat. Clarisa said you don't like your coat getting wet." He then felt a snow ball hitting his stomach. He smiled. She was playing with him. That was a good sign. Of course his sister had something to do with this. He was going to have a word with her about influencing Vienna but he didn't mind this side of her depending on the outcome here.

Tristan looked around " Come out Vienna. You can't hide forever." He then walked towards the spot where he heard her laugh which was right at the edge of the lake behind the trees.

Vienna came out quickly and he noticed she had ice skates on. She hit him with another snow ball and made sure she skated away fast to get away before he could catch her but he was too fast for her. He grabbed her waist as she was trying to escape and carried her in his arms " Oh. So you like to play snow balls huh?"

She chuckled as he put her down on the snow. She looked up at him with an innocent expression and smiled sweetly as she looked at his towering figure over her lying form " Do you want to have breakfast."

He was loving her smile. Tristan knelt down and his knees held her legs down making her alarmed. He made a snow ball " I think I like to give you a taste of what you gave me. But I think I like this to melt as it travels down your coat."

Vienna screamed and put both her hands up as she guessed what he wanted to do. He wanted to put the snowball in her neckline and show was going to make her shudder. She didn't like that at all when anyone put ice cubes or snow balls down her neck in her dress as a joke. It was pure torture " I am sorry. Don't do you it please."

Tristan threw the snowball up in the air and caught it " Say it. Say what I want to hear then..."

Vienna said " I belong to you Tristan. Only you..."

Tristan smiled " Louder."

Vienna shouted " I am yours only..."

Tristan threw the ball away as he felt satisfied. He stood up and helped Vienna up after she pulled off her skates. As she stood up she wrapped her arms around him " Thank you Tristan. I love it when you forgive me..."

Tristan asked " Who said you are forgiven." He then attached his lips to hers kissing her deeply.

After he pulled away he said " You have so much making up to do. You think I let you get away throwing snow balls at me? Think again."

Vienna promised "I will make it upto you..." she then attached her lips to his.

Tristan closed his eyes as she kissed him passionately. He felt like he was in heaven.

Vienna reached into her pocket from her free hand and took out a snow ball. She quickly placed the snowball at the back of his neck as she pushed him and ran away or rather tried.

Tristan caught her waist as she was running and whispered in her ear as her back hit his chest " You are in so much trouble and have so much making upto to do."