Chapter 3: THE HEART

"Mother this is absurd!" Leonardo stood from his seat at the dining room table and was on his way out, all he could hear was his mother calling out to him from behind. He could not stop; he had to leave from there immediately.

It all made sense, his father calling him for a family meal rather than his mother and the happy grin of his father's face as he made an effort to converse with Leonardo.

"Stop!" his father called out to him and he stopped, his father's angry voice had grown a fear in Leonardo that he did not think he had until now. Growing up his father's angry voice was enough to scare him senseless and even until today, that same voice had a hold on him.

Leonardo clenched his fist into a ball and spun around, looking into his father's angry eyes whilst his mother cried in the corner of the room. He hated seeing his mother cry but what his father was asking of him was too much.

"You have to do it" his father ordered him and once more, Leonardo could not believe that his father was adamant about this.

"Why, father?"

"Because you have made me a promise sixteen years ago, I remembered you saying that you are a man of your word. So will you break your word and lie?" his father asked him, the older man knew just where to push to get a reaction out of him.

"Father, I was twenty-years old at the time and you left me with nearly no option back then. You cannot expect me to keep such a promise" Leonardo tried reasoning with his father but just like before, his father was not in the least bothered.

"That has nothing to do with me, if you cannot keep a promise then you are a disgrace to the Romano name and you do not deserve to have such a name" His father's words had punctured a hole inside his heart, making Leonardo feel more of a black sheep than he already was.

"Father you told me that you would not pay for my tuition when all I wanted to do was to study and become a teacher, are you not proud of me?" Leonardo asked his father, hoping that he would see a glimpse of his father being proud of him but the old man stood before him, like a rock, unmoved.

"You made me a promise sixteen years ago or do I have to remind you?"

**flashback**

Leonardo walked into his father's home office once again, excited that his admission letter had come through. He stood in front of his father's, taking in a deep breath, lifting his bowled hand and knocking.

"Come on in my boy" His father, answered. With all the excitement in his heart, Leonardo unlocked the door and entered his father's office. With his admission letter still in his hands, Leonardo stood before his father.

"Good day father" He greeted his father, trying his best to conceal the fear in his voice. His father, a businessman well trained to read anyone's body language.

"Greeting my boy, what do I owe this visit?" his father deposited his gold pen onto the table and placed both his hands onto the table.

"I was admitted" Leonardo blurted out and as if expecting his father to react negatively, the old an simply stood there and watched, unmoved.

"Father I said that I was—"

"I heard what you said the first time, so you have made up your mind to not to join the family business then?" Mr. Metteo asked his son. Leonardo looked away from his father; he could not look into his father's eyes knowing that he was not the son his father had wanted him to be.

"Father I do not want to sell wines, I want to teach" he tried explaining.

"And who will pay for this teaching tuition of yours?" His father asked, Leonardo raised his head shocked at what his father was saying.

"So you are not covering my tuition and all that because I refuse to run the family business and become a vintner?" He asked his father, annoyed that his father would sink that low to get his way and hold the leash on Leonardo a little longer.

Leonardo angrily watched as his father stood from his home office chair, around the table and stopped in front of him. Even though Leonardo was only twenty, he did tower over his older the man as all the male members of the Romano family were tall.

"Let's strike a deal" His father told him, Matteo's cool response to the serious matter at hand was a deal. Leonardo angrily turned away from his father, wanting nothing more than to punch a hole in his father's perfectly wallpapered wall.

"What is the deal?"

"Great! For once I do not have to fight with you over this but the question remains, will you keep your promise once we make the deal?" Leonardo turned to face his father, no longer hiding his anger from the older man.

"I might be young but I am a man of my word and when I make a promise I keep it, now what do I have to do for you to pay my tuition fees?" he asked his father. It was as though Leonardo's words had rung a cheerful bell inside his father head as a wide smile appeared on his face.

"I will pay for you tuition fees, I will also allow you to live your life as you choose and be—a teacher," Metteo told his son. Leonardo could not smile, as he knew there was always a catch to any deal his father made.

"When the time comes you will marry the woman that I have chosen for you" his father said, direct to the point and not a stutter in his tone of voice.

Leonardo stared motionlessly at his father, this was by far the most insane request that his father had requested from him and it could most certainly affect his future. Conflicted between choosing his dream of teaching and his father's insane request, Leonardo was truly lost for words as he stared at his father.

"I can see that you do not want to become a teacher then, maybe it is best that you prepare yourself"

"Why?" Leonardo asked his father as panic set in, his father was an unpredictable man and he was truly unpredictable. Signor Metteo flashed a smug smile at his only son.

"Well my boy, you will leave for Italy tonight," his father told him blankly, sending Leonardo into a state of shock.

"How was I not informed of this?" He angrily called out his father, who stood in his ground, unbothered that his decision affected his son negatively. Leonardo watched as his father dug his hands into his pocket, like the big and powerful man that he was.

"I am afraid that I do not need your permission to do anything. You refuse to take my deal therefore you will travel to Sicily and manage our wine estate, you are my heir and it is about time that you showed some interest in the family business" Signor Metteo told his son, his face holding not a hint of emotions. He just stood before his son, emotionless but as always, Leonardo was used to it.

His father turned on his heel, leaving Leonardo to think about his father's deal, there was no hope in trying to change his old man's mind as he had probably thought it through.

"Wait!" he called out to his father who paused, but still had his back facing his son.

"There are no other offers my son, take this one or leave it" his father's words were stern and cold, leaving Leonardo with no other choice.

"I accept!" Leonardo heard himself speak, so much that his response shocked him. Without seeing his father's face, he knew that the old man was inwardly rejoicing that once again he had won.

"Good, I would need that in writing though"

"I am a man of my word father, I will marry the woman that you choose for me when the time comes for me to do so".

**flashback ends**

Leonardo replayed those words in his head, sixteen years later he remembered the promise to his father as though it had happened yesterday. He turned his attention to his mother; she quickly looked away from him, another sign for Leonardo that he was on his own.

"Father—"

"There is no other way, you made me a promise sixteen years ago and I expect you to keep that promise," his father reminded him, unmoved that he would alter the life of his only son all because of a promise made years ago.

"Father I was only twenty"

"Twenty but you were of a legal age. Unless you are breaking your promise" his father challenged him. Anger coursed through Leonardo's veins as his father challenged his integrity.

"I am not a liar!" he raised his voice at his old man and not once did Signor Metteo flinch.

"If you will not do it for me, then do it for your mother who does not have all the time in the world to live" his father told Leonardo. He turned his attention to his mother who still looked away from him, with just two strides Leonardo stood in front of his mother.

"Madre, what is wrong with you?" his mother did not answer, instead she cried. Seeing his mother cry sent a pain through his heart as he realized that she was avoiding his face. Leonardo lifted his hands to grab hold of his mother's shoulders and she looked at him, her eyes red and swollen from all the crying.

"Madre, what is wrong?"

"Your mother's liver is failing and she does not have time on her hands" Señor Giovanni spoke on behalf of his wife. The word ‘liver' sent a chill down his spine. Leonardo was well aware of his mother's excessive drinking and in the past they had several health scares but now, there were no more ‘what if's' and only death as a certainty.

The clocks in his head spun as Leonardo realized that he could be losing his mother to kidney failure, he turned slowly, looking at his father who was unmoved by his wife's condition, swallowed the lump in his throat.

"When will this wedding take place father?" He asked his father who raised his eyebrow.

"In two weeks' time, we will go to Italy and you shall meet your soon to be wife" his father told him sternly.