A Mob Boss's First Love (Book 1 Of The New York Mafia Trilogy)

22. Broken Hopes

Costanzo was watching Adele worriedly and silently. She had laid down on the bed as Francesco had instructed. She was still in shock and sobbing hard.

Costanzo was leaning on the wall next to her bed feeling sorry for this poor girl who was condemned to a life with his brother. The brother he no longer could recognise due to the changes that he had gone through when he had been trained by Paulo Rosario.

Adele's sobs died down as she whispered "Why don't you sit down Costanzo. There is a chair here."

Costanzo smiled weakly " Francesco didn't ask me to sit. He told me to watch you. But if you promise to try to stop crying I will sit. Will you stop?"

Adele nodded weakly " I can't help it. I can't believe how Francesco is so cold. He has turned into an egoistic and heartless monster."

Costanzo spoke " Correction. He was turned into a monster. My father is to blame the most. In the past ten years, Francesco had no choice but to be cruel. He had no choice but to do everything that was asked of him with no resistance. Our father destroyed his soul by forcing Francesco do the most despicable things that would make your stomach turn. Torturing and killing people in the most agonising ways has been part of his daily routine ever since you said goodbye to him. So don't ever say that Francesco is a monster. Say that he was turned into a monster."

Adele spoke " But how come you are not a monster? How come you have some kindness in you."

Costanzo spoke " How do you know I am not a monster. Maybe I am."

Adele sat up on her bed and looked into Costanzo's eyes " You saved My brother. I can't thank you enough. I think that gesture showed you are not like Francesco."

Costanzo spoke " I am definitely nothing like Francesco. It's all because I had a different upbringing to him. I was raised by my uncle....."

Adele spoke " That's the question. You were raised by someone who is as bad as your father. But you turned out to be a better man than Francesco. How come you resisted becoming a monster?"

Costanzo sighed " I didn't have to resist anything at all. My uncle was not as hard on me as my father was on Francesco. At the beginning he was but then .... Antonio showed interest in his fathers business. That's when my uncle stopped pushing me too hard. He concentrated mostly on molding his own son in his own image and left me alone most of the time but still I was expected to do some training. That did some damage for sure."

Adele spoke " I can't believe how your uncle forced his own son into his business. I thought he wanted him to become a lawyer or an accountant. I feel bad for him"

Costanzo spoke " Actually he became a lawyer just like me. We both went to law school but our training continued. But before you sympathise with Antonio let me tell you about his background. He was so willing to do as his father said. He wasn't forced. Antonio is my age in case you didn't know. My mother and his mother became pregnant around the same time. We were born weeks apart but he is very different to me. He hated living alone with his mother so much before he was found by my uncle in England. Their neighbours taunted him and his mother quite alot for years and years. A single woman with a child gave everyone around them something to gossip about. He still hates his mother to this day for leaving his father and making his childhood miserable. He despised her from a young age to the point that anything she said he opposed to get satisfaction out of it. When uncle Piero brought his wife and son to his mansion it was like world war three. They fought non stop every night for weeks but that was my uncle Piero and his son versus his wife. She had enough of it. She ran away again and this time my uncle didn't pursue her. Instead he invested all his time in molding his son in his image. His son resembles his mother alot in many ways so my uncle is now more content that he has a reminder of his wife in his life, even if she is on the run. So yes, when you look at Antonio, you can see what I would have become if my uncle forced me into his lifestyle."