Vincenzo found the turn of events interesting that night. It was amazing how his life had changed within a few hours. Now he had Terza after waiting so long but there were dark clouds looming. He could feel his grandfather's stare on him and his siblings the whole night. He could guess what could be going on in his grandfather's mind but his siblings couldn't imagine it. The only thing Vienna and Viggo knew about their grandfather was his name and the fact that bodyguards were protecting them from him. Their father was reluctant to talk about him. His name hardly ever came up throughout their lives. To Vienna and Viggo their grandfather's presence in the room didn't mean much. They didn't know much about him so they looked at the situation like a normal family situation. Many kids had family feuds and were forbidden to interact with certain family members. It was no big deal. But of course Vincenzo knew more than he should have to look at the situation as just a feud. He wished his father allowed contact so they could know more about their grandfather but their father was adamant to protect them from him as his reputation was one to be wary of. The notorious Paulo Rosario had done so much in his prime and he had so many secrets. He was not easy to figure out and anyone who dared to underestimate him suffered. Their father admitted it himself that tonight the bodyguards were protecting them from the most dangerous man he had met. It didn't mean much to Viggo and Vienna. They knew all crime lords were dangerous. What was different with their grandfather that they never knew and never missed? But with knowledge came responsibility for Vincenzo. He knew too much. He knew enough to be able to read his grandfather. He was able to imagine what could come next.
Vincenzo after the dinner party was over asked permission from his father to stay longer. He wanted to speak with Emanuelle O'Neil. So Vincenzo remained behind and followed the movements of Emanuelle O'Neil. They retired to their hotel rooms in the building were the Irish were based at. Sterling Johnson hotels were spread out in a large complex so he had scattered people around the buildings in a closed area so they didn't bump into each other much.
Vincenzo followed Emanuelle who separated himself from his family who went to retire for the night to their rooms. He went to the billiard tables in the lounge area that was totally deserted at that time. Vincenzo followed and watched him set up the table for billiard.
Emanuelle glanced at Vincenzo standing at the door with raised eyebrows " Have you lost your way son? This is the Irish building. Unless you are here to play, take your leave son." He then didn't wait for Vincenzo and threw the billiard stick that was in his hand towards Vincenzo who caught it in his hand. He replied " I do play."
O'Neil smiled at him and picked up a billiard stick and nodded at him " Come closer. I don't bite son."
As Vincenzo walked closer he became wary. O'Neil said one thing but his eyes implied another. He wanted to spill his blood. He had just asked his daughter out. He couldn't be happy.
O'Neil watched Vincenzo walk closer and wasted no time. He started an attack on him.
Vincenzo found himself being kicked from behind his knee and he almost lost his balance as Oneil came at him with the billiard stick and he responded.
Oneil didn't need any swords. A billiard stick was enough.
Vincenzo spoke as he was defending himself " Sir. I am not here to fight."
O'Neil chuckled " This is no fight. We are playing son. What's the matter? You don't play this way. Don't you know I don't play nice?"
Vincenzo did not want to attack Terza's father. It felt wrong so he just defended himself. He didn't attack to O'Neils disappointment. O'Neil wanted an excuse to step up the game. After he made Vincenzo work around the room defending himself he stopped and pointed to the billiard table with his hand " You are not playing my way son. So let's hit the table and we can talk. You are here to ask for my permission to date my daughter after you have asked her out. Right? So don't expect a hug from me. Start playing and we talk."
Vincenzo didn't question O'Neil and walked to the billiard table. He hit the ball and straightened up " I am sorry I didn't ask you first. I had my reasons. I had to take the opportunity. I meant no disrespect sir."
O'Neil raised an eyebrow as he walked around the table and took aim to hit a ball " You always have a way with words. Save it son. I am not interested in formalities. I am interested in my daughter's life. Tell me something I need to know. What do you want me to know. I am listening. Impress me." He then hit the ball, straightened up standing tall facing Vincenzo.
Vincenzo leaned to his billiard stick with both hands and spoke " Well. I love Terza. I swear to you that I will work hard to make her happy in life. I know these words are meaningless when it is action that you wish to see. I will try hard to be worthy of her. I am willing to do anything to prove to you that I am capable of protecting your daughter."
O'Neil raised an eyebrow as he leaned to the table " Anything? Really Vincenzo? What if I asked you to murder your grandpa Paulo? Would you do that?"
Vincenzo's expression hardened as he took a step towards O'Neil " If he poses a threat to Terza I will gladly kill him. Terza comes first but he is no threat to Terza. Why do you suggest such outrageous request sir? You can't ask me to kill my blood with no good reason."
O'Neil narrowed his eyes " Your grandfather is on top of my list when it comes to counting threats to my family. My daughter has Irish blood. Your grandfather is not fond of Irish blood right now. He is friends with my father but he is no friend of mine because I refused to take his side for matters in the past. My daughter is not approved by him as your girl because she has Irish blood and also because she is an O'Neil. She is my daughter. He may stop your union with my daughter. Are you prepared for that?"
Vincenzo couldn't give too much away so he couldn't answer to O'Neil as fully as he was capable of doing so. His grandfather loved power. He approved of any partnership that resulted in power. He did prefer Italian blood to Irish blood but he did recognise worthy blood when he saw potential in some individuals such as O'Neil. His problem was not with the Irish. His problem was with the loyalty of the Irish towards him or rather the lack of it. He saw O'Neil as worthy. He knew that. He knew his grandpa wanted a son like him. He was impressed by who he was but he knew that O'Neil's loyalty was to the Irish first and foremost. His grandpa didn't seem to have a grudge against the O'Neils. He had a grudge against O'Neil himself only because he hadn't been on his grandpas side and had picked his father's side instead when the time had come. He didn't know much detail. He was not born back when it had happened. But grandpa had lost trust in O'Neil as someone he could rely on. O'Neil was the only Irish he approved of until he took his father's side.
Vincenzo couldn't say much so he tried to assure O'Neil without going into much detail " Sir. With all due respect. His approval is not of concern to me. Your approval matters to me. You are Terza's father. My grandfather has no say in such matter. I have made it official in front of witnesses. An honourable Sicilian only loves one woman, claims one woman, lives with one woman until death. So I do not think my grandfather is able to come up with any reason to annul my arrangements with your daughter. I will fight for Terza. I have been raised to fight for ones I love and care about."
Vincenzo felt that without going into detail about what he knew that he wasn't supposed to know he couldn't clarity the existing misconceptions about his grandfather. His grandfather wasn't one to randomly go after people for no reason. He contemplated, planned, consulted with people before he took actions. He was a man of discipline and reasoning. All his actions were calculated. He had nothing to gain by disapproving of Terza since he couldn't make Vincenzo fall out of love with her. That was the only way he could interfere if he convinced Vincenzo to not love Terza. His grandfather knew enough about Vincenzo to be aware of his loyalty to his loved ones.
Vincenzo hit a ball with his billiard stick as he waited for O'Neil's response. He could feel him thinking over Vincenzo's words.
O'Neil stood behind Vincenzo and put his hand on his shoulder as Vincenzo straightened up and turned to O'Neil. He looked into his eyes and spoke " I give you the option to annul the arrangements with my daughter if necessary. Let me spell it out for you son. If my daughter gets hurt because of her association with you, I will break my alliance with your father. I will take revenge. My daughter is my blood. I expect your father to commit the same actions. If Vienna is hurt by my son, I expect your father to break his friendship with me. He would declare war on me. I can see it. My son is willing to take responsibility. The question is, are you ready Vincenzo? There is no glory in war. But there is glory in retreating and then striking when a side is ready for battle. If you are not ready to fight you must retreat. When I declared Gabriel Giovanni's daughter as mine, I had many rivals come at me. I had many battles to fight. I had to build a reputation that was going to be making it crystal clear to enemies to back off or suffer. I never stopped fighting to this day. Every day I go to work, I have to retain my reputation. This business is for life son. This crime life is forever. You have to be strong to last long enough to protect my daughter. If you are not capable, walk away now because I promise you that I will make your death the most painful, the most agonising and the most brutal if my daughter is hurt because you failed to protect her."
Vincenzo looked back into O'Neil's eyes the whole time not breaking eye contact and he hardly even blinked. He nodded " Sir. I could not agree more. Burn me alive if I am the cause of any harm coming to Terza. I wouldn't have asked for her hand if I did not believe I was capable of protecting her...."
O'Neil retorted " I wouldn't have allowed you to claim my daughter in front of me if I doubted your ability son. I am fully aware that you are capable to protect my daughter. I have no problem with that. I know that for as long as you love my daughter you will protect her with your life. You did give your word to me that you love her more than your life. I believe you. I know that if your love for my daughter lasts a lifetime, you will protect her. I will never know that for certain. How can I be sure? I am a father. I can't take chances with my daughter's life. But she does that herself. She has taken a chance with you. I let her be. I don't restrict my daughter. She is free to choose you and I do not object. I am a reasonable man. I am aware of my daughter's ambitions and passion. I know the one she needs protecting from the most is herself. She is hard on herself. She would tire herself out to the breaking point to reach her goals and achieve her dreams. You need to protect her from hurting herself. Hurting my daughter does not mean physical pain or emotional pain. My daughter is immune to such pain. She is strong. She was raised by her mother. She can take care of herself. She is intelligent. She will not put herself in danger. She would take risks but won't corner herself with no escape route. She will be fine unless you hurt her Vincenzo. Not many people can hurt my daughter. You are one of them who can. You are her match Vincenzo. You can be her partner in life to make her reach happiness or you can turn into her worst nightmare. You can make life heaven for her just like how you can make life hell. The only pain my daughter may suffer from is the pain of heart break and it's repercussions. I know you deny possibilities of such disaster but that is what I am talking about Vincenzo. When you stop loving my daughter, you will no longer protect her with your life. She would suffer the day you stop loving her. That's when I would burn you alive up on your request...." O'Neil could go on and on but he stopped himself as he noticed the murder in Vincenzo's eyes. He was staring at him as though he was about to kill him. It was bizarre. Normally when a father talked about his daughter, it was the father who was allowed to get angry. He was the one who was meant to have murderous intents towards the guy who was to take his daughter's hand. But situation was reversed or rather felt reversed to O'Neil. Why did he feel like he was the one who had to answer to Vincenzo. What was wrong with this kid? Had he said something wrong to offend him. He didn't think he had so what was wrong with him?
Vincenzo was livid. All he felt was anger on the inside. All he wanted to do was to hit O'Neil. He wanted to grab his neck and choking him for questioning his love. How dare he question his commitment and love for her. He clutched the billiard stick by both hands and surprised O'Neil by breaking the billiard stick in half. He threw it to the floor. He then made the sign of the cross with his hand as he closed his eyes and prayed loudly in Latin. "Please lord help me...."
O'Neil had taken lessons in Latin for the past year and a half so he could tell what he was saying if Vincenzo spoke Latin again in his presence.
Vincenzo took a deep breath and carried on praying " Please lord.... Help me not to give into the temptation of killing the father of the woman I love. He knows not of my intentions. Forgive me lord. Give me patience, give me strength to endure his insults and accusations. Guide this man out of my way so I do not give into temptation of ending his life for insulting me by implying I am .... unfaithful. Please help me not be tempted to kill him for such outrageous insult. Lord you know my heart belongs to one woman only. Stop my heart from beating the day it desires another. Amen." He then opened his eyes. He was shaking in rage as he reached into the collar of his shirt. He took out his cross and held it in his hand clutching the chain that Terza had given him having hope memory of Terza stopped him from attacking her father for insulting him. He forced the words out " Anything else you wish to tell me sir."
O'Neil was stunned. What kind of interrogation was this. He felt strange. He was satisfied but shocked " No. I give you my blessing. For now there are no more words left to be said." He then gave Vincenzo a smile. He wanted to hug him too but he didn't think Vincenzo appreciated such gesture as Vincenzo seemed to be grateful for the release out of the room. He just walked away after politely saying " Thank you sir. Have a good evening."