A Mob Boss's Territory (Book 4-About Vincenzo)

18. His Destiny

Paulo Rosario was leaning to his car drinking whiskey as he was waiting for the church service to finish. He never liked walking into any church. That was something he didn't do. He just waited outside staring into the distance. From time to time he walked up and down the street looking around the Harlem neighbourhood. This was an unusually longer church service than he had anticipated. He wondered if Marco had read out the Don's wishes yet. He had mixed feelings about the Don's decision. He was wise. He knew who was the most natural leader amongst the family. He was the right choice. But he was not sure if Vincenzo was going to be co-operating. He wished one of his brothers had some authority over Vincenzo. From the glimpse he had of the kid's mind, he knew Vincenzo was a unique individual who simply did not compromise on any matters. He was so mature for his age and quite complex to figure out even for him. He had no idea where the kid was getting his intelligence from. But in some ways Paulo did not care so much for the business as much as he cared for the family. He would have given anything  to have a link with his son and grand children. They were his blood, his family. He had everything in life except a family as he had intended.

Paulo took another sip from the whiskey and looked at his watch. He wondered what was going on in his son's mind right now. This was a big shock to many that the Don had gifted all his authority to Vincenzo. It could  backfire. His father must have thought this through before he had put such shocking suggestion forward. It was his word and no one could overrule it.

As the doors of the church opened he watched people walk outside. He could now spot his son and grandson near the window. It was a matter of time before they came out.

Vincenzo was watching silently as the people were leaving the church to go to lunch. He watched as Viggo accompanied their mother alongside Vienna out of the church. His father had asked Viggo to leave with their mother and comfort her while he attended to business or rather attended to Vincenzo's business. His father was in fact standing next to the window as he watched his family get into a car to leave. They were in shock like everyone else. Francesco hoped that Adele could recover from this unexpected unwanted surprise. He was certain his children could handle it. They were strong enough.

Vincenzo stood afew steps behind him staring  at the outside view. Now, the church was empty but the outside of the church was not empty at all. The road was blocked and guarded by Sterling Johnson's men. The block was attached to the hotel block that the Sterling family owned so there were no strangers on the road and only those involved in the meeting were around. All were meant to go to lunch.

Vincenzo noticed that everyone was slowly in process of leaving except his grandfather and his companions. His grandfather was standing outside leaning to his car as he was being watched by his bodyguards as he stared at the building as though waiting for someone. He had no intention of leaving by the looks of it. His grandfather did not like the church and had refused to attend the church service. He was being spoken to by Pietro Rosario and Vitale. He was nodding his head but his stare was zeroed on the church's entrance waiting. There was now only his grandfather's car outside and also his father's car. His mother and his siblings had gone back to the hotel with the O'Neil cars.

As Francesco was looking outside he broke the silence. "The Don must have known he would be shocking the world by skipping a generation. I am not shocked but I did not expect it to happen so soon and certainly not at a church where I am not allowed to reach  for my gun to kill the messenger for delivering this outrageous message."

Vincenzo slowly approached his father and stood beside him as he stared outside in the direction that his father was looking which was where his grandfather was standing. He whispered. "My loyalty is still to you father. I wish for you to know that."

Francesco narrowed his eyes as he was watching his father's satisfied smile as his uncle Pietro was talking to him. They were discussing his son most likely. He took a deep breath as he stared daggers at his father "Vincenzo. I wish for you to also know that ... you are my son. Don't ever forget that. Nothing has to happen when it comes to my blood. You don't have to do anything Vincenzo. A father's duty is to protect his family. I am your father. I am meant to protect you. Right now, what bothers me is the fact that the Don did not come here himself. He sent a messenger. He is wise. He wants to drag me there to tell him what I exactly think of this matter. All this nonsense about him being on his death bed for years is false. It is just a plot to drag my bloodline to Sicily to form a bond that the Don always wanted to have with my family. They say due to ill health he didn't travel. Nonsense. Lies. The Don has been ill for years. His kind do not die that easily. They live long because they have no care in the world. They do not care if the world crashes and burns in front of them. They have a clear conscious. The Don is not ready to die. He will live. The reason he passed on his position to you at this time is not because he thinks he is dying. He may be weaker physically but he wishes to see you and pass on what he knows to you. He seeks the opportunity to get you on his side and watch you make his empire prosper. He also wants to pull me to Sicily. He knows I will object."