Frankie woke to find Tony gone as well as her shoes and outfit from the night before.  Not a shock really.  He would obviously take care of these details.  After she finished coffee and read her mail - including a note slipped through the mail slot by Don Dovahkiin, she put on a house coat and slippers and walked down to the street and looked around.  When she spotted who she was looking for she wondered how she'd missed them at all.

She tapped on the window.  The older man rolled it down.  "Carmine."

"Cousin Frankie."

She leaned down, "Who else did he send?"

Carmine leaned back allowing her to see inside the car and smile at Luca, Sonny, and Clemenza.  "The whole gang."

"Your Grandfather worries."  

Frankie looked around the city street.  People were starring at the woman in her bed clothes who clearly wasn't fit for being seen in public.  Frankie didn't care.  "If you're going to be here protecting me... you might as well come inside.  We should just dispense with the illusions and be done with it."

"No more running away, piccolo cervo?"  Sonny asked.  The guys chuckled.

She shook her head.  "No more running.  I accept my Grandfather's protection - but you answer to me when he's not here telling you what to do.  Can you agree to that?"

The guys looked to one another before Carmine, as eldest and the only Made Man among them, nodded.  "You're the boss."

"Well, come on."  She said stepping back watching them get out of their car.  "Tony DiCaprio... you saw him leave this morning?"

"Sure did.  Full security detail.  No visible weapons.  Not sure where he was headed."

Frankie sighed and nodded.  She fully anticipated with whom Tony would be spending his day.  She wondered if her father would survive the meeting or not. 

The group of them walked back upstairs to the apartment and once inside she made her way to her purse and fished the silver key which she'd tucked away to reflect upon or use later.  "Clemenza... do me a favor, have one of the guys book us tickets to Chicago by plane."

"Plane, you got that kinda dough?  For all four of us?"

"Il mio fidanzato lo fa."  She chuckled.  "We'll borrow some."

Frankie dressed and left a short note for Tony to find when he got home.

 

It's probably late by the time you get back and find this letter in place of me.  Don't worry, I've got my grandfather's men with me including Clemenza - you'll remember him as the sour faced old man who was always glaring at you when you were making eyes at me?  Anyway - I'll be home by lunch tomorrow.  I had to go meet someone, then we can begin making plans for the future. Ti amo mio uomo di pietra. ~Francesca.

PS: 
Puoi chiamarmi capitano.  <3

"Alright gentlemen..."  Frankie said leaving the note on the table.  "...let's go see the Windy City."

Tony plane landed two hours late the layover for a quick repair in Dallas Texas.  He was tired and when he and his men got to Vegas it was after midnight.  He went into his apartment building and spoke the men that accompanied him to New York.  It was 3am and Tony had enough he made it to his room and walked in trying not to make any noise but was unsuccessful. 

He made it to the bedroom and noticed that Frankie was gone.  Shanking his head he figured she was very upset and needed a drink or two.  Tony got undressed and climbed into his bed and called it a night. 

Chicago was bitter cold, covered in a blanket of ice and snow.  It was wretched and Frankie was very thankful that she wasn't not required to come here to Chicago to raise the Tower once more.  If the heat of the desert had been harsh, the snow was intolerable, and between the two she would much rather have had the heat.

Bundled tight she and her grandfather's men made the long walk out the break wall to the lone building on the snowscape ahead... a tall white tower, a lighthouse.  The wind battered them and threaten to knock them off the bricks and rocks built up around it on either side - but they pushed forward certain that no one could see them so far away from the shore.

It was a smuggler's haven, this Ivory Tower so alone on the icy lake - a frigid place from the outside.  A lone bastion, a singular light in the darkest storm - it was poetic and in this she could see a bit of the woman's soul who had earned her fiancee and his cousin's affections.  Unlocking the door, it occurred to Frankie then that Lucy had not happened upon her by happenstance... but they did share much in common.  For them both to have engendered not just the loyalty of both Frank and Tony, but also their love, they truly couldn't be so very different.

Inside she found a shocking sight... not a war room, or maps and shipping routes plotted - but the remains of a home and the ghosts of those who once lived there.  A dog bed with toys and treats.  Not one, but two bedrooms that clearly had been occupied by loving couples whose pictures still lay about the place.  Pretty trinkets, and odds and ends that spoke of people who held dearly to little thing in life... and not just guns and money.

Food filled the cupboards and a record still sat on the player - jazz, upbeat and happy.  An old man's large size slippers sat at the base of a reclining chair, and a black pair of pajamas which looked like ninja's attire lay out on a bed as if it were meant to be wore in just a few hours time.  These weren't just 'American gangsters' playing at being true Mafioso, the sort she had always known them in Sicily... a family and this was their tomb.  

Up the stairs she climbed to the round room which was no doubt the office of Don Lucy.  On her desk she found a photo of a little girl.  She picked it up to stare into the face of the only other woman on the planet that Tony would gladly die for.  "Hello Katy."  She whispered.  "Good to finally see you."

She put the photo down and began to look through Lucy's things.  She settled in to make a day of it, but before she got too far into her work she found a book, a purchase from a local book store according to the receipt.  Frankie didn't recognize the topic, but it seemed medical in nature and so it was a curious find on the desk of such a woman.  Taking a few minutes to read the forward she came to realize what the book was about - and the discover of a list of names paired with the surname DiCaprio gave her to understand the nature of all that had crossed her hands since she'd set foot in the United States.

Frankie leaned back in Lucy's chair and put a hand to her lips, sucking breath.  All the questions about why Lucy would do all she'd done, why she should want to send away Tony as opposed to embrace him as a willing lover capable of easing her lonely heart - it all made sense.  "She was with child."  Frankie said looking up to Clemenza.

"Tony didn't mention that?"  Clemenza seemed to know already.  

"Grandfather told you?"

"He told me a lot.  Most of it above your pay grade still."  He tried to joke.

Frankie put her elbow on the desk and ran her fingers into her hair and across her face and then pushed the books away from herself.  "These American Gangsters... they shot a pregnant woman?  Did they know?  Was she...?"

Clemenza nodded.  "They tell me the DiCaprio's named the boy and buried him."

Frankie put her hands in a position of prayer, she felt like praying now... for them, for all of them who did this thing.  A woman who was a gangster, she could understand that... but a woman with child?  Was Lucy such a threat as all that?  "May they rest in peace."

Clemenza made the sign of the cross and muttered the same.

Frankie stared off in the distance a while, not speaking.  She could not hear the storm outside but she could see it raging.  Standing she went to the window and looked out across the lake to a shore she could not see.  "My God... Tony's heart... I can't even imagine."  She shook her head.  "Let's box all this up.  We'll have Sonny drive it back to Vegas."

"The personal affects?"  Clemenza asked. 

"Leave them."  She instructed.  "I don't want to disturb the restless dead.  We take only what we need and what she told us we should take."

"Does this mean you're taking over her operations?"

Frankie shook her head, 'No.'  

Clemenza seemed, disappointed?

"I will do my own thing... but, what happened here can't go unanswered.  Being American isn't an excuse for this ... disgusting butcher's work.  Someone has to set a better example.  It's not about rogues and chaos - it's about holding ourselves to a higher standard.  Honor.  Omerta.  Respect... God there is no respect in what was done to Chicago - to this family."  She shook her head.  "Let's get this done.  The sooner I'm back to Tony, the better I'll feel all around."

And so they worked.  All day and into the late of night before finally sleeping at a hotel that overlooked the frigid waters and the distant Ivory Tower.  In the early morning, Frankie was driven to the graveyard to find where they had laid Frank and Lucy to rest.  A shared headstone marked their final resting place and beside a small statue of a lamb marked the place where their son's remains were put - on the other side an unused plot remained, presumably for Katy... the thought sent a chill down her spine though she never met the girl.  It seemed terribly morbid somehow and wrong that any parent should have been buying plots for their children in advance.  It only served to solidify the thoughts in her mind - what needed to be done with Lucy's money and holdings and why.  

Putting flowers down for Lucy she knealt down and put a hand on Frank's headstone.  "Ciao brutto. Quella è una donna infernale che hai sposato. Duro come mai. Sono contento che tu stia di nuovo insieme, ma sono triste che non ho potuto dire addio."  She said to him, putting down a twenty dollar bill under a rock.  "Sono una donna d'onore. Hai vinto la scommessa. Ho intenzione di sposare Tony, proprio come hai sempre detto. Mi arrabbio per il fatto che tu abbia ragione, ma lo amo così tanto che non importa."

"Guardaci, cugino. Proteggici. Prego Madre Maria che lei ci denunci dal male e padre Joseph che dovremmo avere molti bambini sani. Hai la mia parola che ci prenderemo cura di tua figlia e di ogni sua esigenza, quindi rilassati."  She bent down and kissed the stone where his name was etched.

Standing up she dusted off the snow and let her men take her to the airport to fly back to Las Vegas.

------

Frankie ran ahead of her Grandfather's men while they unloaded the car and she raced up the steps to their apartment, throwing the door wide she called out,  "TONY!  Tony!  Are you home?"  

As soon as he came out of the bedroom she ran to him and threw her arms around him and held him tight.  She ran her hands through his hair, whispering, "I missed you so much."  Behind her, her Grandfather's men came into the room carrying boxes of information which would need to be examined for value.

The men, as they set boxes down, removed their hats and inclined their heads to Tony, showing deference and respect to him - even while Frankie still clung to him.

Two hours before

Tony finally opened his eyes as he looked at the alarm clock wondering why it was ringing.  He never sets that damn thing.  He knocked it of the night stand but it didn't break and it was still buzzing and the sound was irritating him to the point that he jumped out of bed and tossed it out of the window while it was still ringing.   He thought to himself I should shoot the bastard that sold that to Francesca better yet the idiot that invented it.  He looked over and saw she wasn't in the bed and that he didn't hear her come in.  He knew then that he was in for it.  He decided that her better get up and face the music because she was going to give him both barrels. 

He stood up and scratched in areas not to be mentioned and then walked into the bathroom and stripped down turning the hot water on with a little cold just the way he liked it.   He lathered up and started singing his favorite Italian opera.  No ne was home so he song as loud as he wanted completely off key as he would do to make Ms. Frankie-Messina scream at him to stop it.  That thought made him laugh.  after his shower and shave he looked again in the mirror and smiled he was a handsome man and he knew it.  He though Frankie girl your a lucky woman. 

As he stepped out of the bathroom to get dressed he glanced at her picture it was her with a beautiful gown on holding flowers at a new years party. A smile rushed across his face and he said Tony your a lucky man but it time to face the music.  Still undress he walked out to the kitchenette he thought she would yell at him in while he was like this she wouldn't be able to focus but she wasn't in the apartment.  So that was an epic fail back to the bed room to get dress.  He put on his dark blue suit white dress shirt with the French cuff and his diamond head cufflinks.  His black alligator shoes and red with gray stripe tie. 

walking back into the Kitchenette he saw a note on the table picking it up to read it.

It's probably late by the time you get back and find this letter in place of me.  Don't worry, I've got my grandfather's men with me including Clemenza - you'll remember him as the sour faced old man who was always glaring at you when you were making eyes at me?  Anyway - I'll be home by lunch tomorrow.  I had to go meet someone, then we can begin making plans for the future. Ti amo mio uomo di pietra. ~Francesca.

PS: 
Puoi chiamarmi capitano.  <3

Tony smiled as he realized that he maybe off the hook then he began to wonder what does she mean plan their future he's been after her for fifteen years and she knows she owns his heart.  Shanking his head he thought lunch sounds good and walked over to the icebox and found nothing he yelled Frankie!  Then he walked to the Pantry and it looked brand new because it was almost empty it contained two bottles of wine.  He realized that Cici was off for a week and it will be three more days before she returns he looked at his wallet then went over to the phone he called the local market and placed an order to be delivered then he called the deli down the block that's when he realized for the last three days they have been eating Roberto's deli food. 

Roberto himself recognized the number and name and yelled it's her get the Francesca's special for delivery.  Tony wondered just how many times they have ordered from Roberto's that he now has a special named after her.  Hung up after they said she has credit on her tab they can deduct it from there.  Tony agreed and hung the phone up.  Then he turned on the radio about fifteen minutes later a the phone rung it was the bell the lobby desk clerk telling him his food was there should they send him up.  They food was fresh as always but the delivery boy Roberto the third refused to accept a tip it was against the rules and he obeys family rules.  Tony thought this kid would make a great member to the family to watch this kid as he grew he asked him what do they call you on the streets he said Sam wings.  Then he left and Tony put the sandwiches on the table. 

Then the door flew open and it was Francesca as she rushed him kissing him he grabbed her and kissed her back. 

I'm happy your home now tell me what was with this dash t Chicago?  And why the suits from the old country?

"Guys,"  She said letting her fiance go.  "Why don't you go check in with Grandfather.  We all know that's what you've been itching to do."  The men looked between themselves.  "You can tell him I've accepted a proposal of marriage from Tony DiCaprio and we're planning a trip home in short order for a proper negotiation of bride price, his blessing, and the wedding.  Also,"  She smirked and lifted her chin a bit in pride.  "You can let him know you've learned that I've been made Caporegime by Don Dovahkiin."  

The men put their hats back on, giving Frankie a nod and then walked out as if soldiers in a line.  As soon as the door was closed Frankie walked over and flopped onto the couch.  "I wanted to put flowers on Frank's grave and to pay my respects. Figured it was a good chance to visit Lucy's Tower and collect her contacts, information, and anything else that can give you and I an edge when we get back and start our own operations."

She patted the cushion beside herself.  "As for the guys... we're going to pretend they're here about my protection."  Frankie said nodding to the door.  "But in truth, they are spies.  I'm sure they were the eyes that Lucy was referring to - but I'm not pushing the issue with Grandfather.  I'll thank him for sending them along with me when we travel home.  I'm going to tell him that my husband will see to my protection going forward and he can take them back."

"I was thinking we could go to a travel agent together this afternoon and book tickets for passage back to Sicily.  I want to get you home to check on that little girl as soon as possible and to ask my Grandfather for his blessing.  Then we can come home and start shopping for a proper home... what do you think of that as a plan?"

Tony looked at the men as they stepped out of the apartment then his eyes focused on her his face was a calm as always but his voice was a note of concern and seriousness.  He stood where he was declining to sit next to her.   

Francesca you avoided my questions with a diversion; which by the way was very good.  When you're are truly serious about going to Sicily I can get us first class tickets on the fastest steamer they have.   Now, in all things holy please tell me what was this sudden trip to Chicago you never mentioned anything about going their nor did Liatto say he had dealings lift in Chicago.   Again why are members of your Grandfather's family here?  

If your going home for a vendetta you must know that the Dicaprio family settled all its debts and has made peace with the remaining families.  I can not bring anything else to them they have lost enough.  I won't have a war anywhere near Kathleen, that child has been through to much already.  She's hasn't begun to live and has everyone that truly loved her and wanted nothing but to give her their love.  Frank gave and wanted nothing but the best for her.  He legitimized over half his businesses to ensure she would have.  In his mind she was his child and I will keep it so and I will not, I can't put her in harms way, no more, not for her, no!  I have failed that baby to many times and I can't make up those losses.

I love you Francesca but that I can not do.  I will support you, I have a smaller family that will help if that is the reason.   They have men and guns, shooters that are very good they maintain the harmony in their village.  If they were in a bigger town they would rival any family in Sicily.

Tony was bracing for the worst. as he waited for her reply.

She shook her head.  "No vendetta.  I really did mean what I said.  I think that my Grandfather's men came here from Sicily to watch over me as I moved through Lucy's letters.  They are likely the ones sent to kill my father for my Grandfather if Lucy failed to do it.  They were following me waiting for me to go to him - happily, you did that for me."

She leaned back and crossed her legs, dropping the bomb that yes, she had guessed what he'd been up to.  "I'm not angry with you for it, actually, I want to thank you."  She takes a deep breath and exhales.  "When I saw you gone yesterday, I knew I had to grab up my grandfather's men and take them away so they didn't puzzle out any clues as to where my father really is or Lucy's letters would end up being true... they'd kill him.  I figured that it seemed like a logical step that I might take, going to Chicago to say goodbye to Frank - my childhood friend, and gathering up her crew's assets."

"I knew they wouldn't read into that anything other than what it was - a woman closing out another woman's books.  This gave you time to see my father and return ... and while I have them running around with me, you can go get the money that Liatto left behind and they will be none the wiser that we found it.  We'll give the money back to my Grandfather and hopefully close the door on this whole ugly part of my life and move forward with our own future."

She took Tony's hand.  "I swear there's no duplicity in what I'm telling you... this is over.  We've gathered the cash for Grandfather, the foundations of a huge operation to launch my own, and... I honestly believe I know what I want to do here in the US when we get back... I mean beyond become the mother of your children of course."  She smiled warmly at him.

"Do you trust what I'm saying to be true?"

Tony smiled and took her into his arms. 

Marriage you sure you want to become Francesca Dicaprio wife to me?  You know if we do this that I must hire a staff t go grocery shopping or Roberto's will end up feeding those kids of ours and calling them his.  All jokes aside you really want to do this?  Francesca I've been chasing you for fifteen years and I love you but if you say yes one more time your locked in. 

Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out and old small gray box inside was his mothers wedding ring.  It was a small 4ct diamond set on 100 percent white gold it was a bit heavy but beautiful.  He put it on her ring finger and kissed her again.  Tony kissed his bribe to be and then went and made a phone call to book passages to Sicily first class.  When he returned to her he had two glasses and a bottle of wine. 

The money I don't want to strong arm your grandfather but I will have to.  He gets it with a vow from the rest of them that your father is forgiven and restored free to return home.  I will add money to it and ensure its enough to agree to terms. 

She took her glass of wine, "To the DiCaprio family."  She said with a bit of a laugh.  "May they never go hungry because of my inability to cook and desire to build a criminal empire the likes of which this country has never seen before."

She touched glasses with his.  "Salute."  She said and drank.

"I know how badly my Grandfather wants me married off... perhaps enough to agree to forgiving my father, but I don't know how wise it is to push forgiveness on Grandfather.  He loves and respects you like a son, Tony.  I don't want to create tension between you as we all become family."

Frankie shook her head.  "My father made his bed when he turned on us and left me behind as a child.  I see no reason to torment my Grandfather for his sake... no strong arming, as you say.  Perhaps we just... encourage it.  Surly there is some way to do that without making him feel forced into it for the sake of my marriage?"

Tony looked as she showed no expression of the ring.  The glass sat on the table and he looked at her.

Why?  Why the sudden change?  When we were in Sicily you dodged me a hundred times.   Are you marrying me because that's what he want's?   I don't remember your grandfather being to fond of me?  He tolerated me for the sake of peace.   

Tony pulled a chair up and sat facing her.  His face showed real concern and the gangster in him was gone and the man that he was, was there. 

Francesca if its not what you really want don't agree to this.  I've waited this long for a reason you marrying me for his pleasure is no marriage. 

Frankie leaned over and kissed Tony.  Her lips gently passing over his as they use to when they stole innocent kisses hidden in the stables from prying eyes.  Her hand came up to the side of his face, fingers brushing there and playing in the gentle waves of his hair.  Over and again, she kisses him, brushing his ear lobes and then letting her hand fall upon the back of his neck.  She pulled him into her, tightly, and her lips parted.  Warmth of her breath, her very life essence, passing into her intended's mouth.  Her heart quickened as it always did when she felt his arms go around her.

"Don't you know,"  She said with a smile, between kisses, "... how much you mean to me?"  She slid over onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Stop worrying that I don't love you or that I'm leaving or that I don't want this - I'm going to be your wife damn it ... unless you're trying to talk me out of it?"  The last bit she said with a smirk and she was clearly joking.

Tony held her in his arms and smiled. 

I just wanted a kiss and the touch of your warm hands.  Trust me I know you love me.  I just to make sure that you're marrying me for all the right reasons Mrs. Dicaprio.   We will be leaving in two days and we have a first class cabin with a good view.   I can't wait to introduce you to Katy you will love that kid she's a tough bambino and smart.  She watches everyone and learns quickly.  I get to see Neri he's a good kid Frank picked up to watch over Katy.  I get to finally tell my brother that you agreed to become my wife. 

Tony started laughing then kissed her once more.

So either tonight or tomorrow we need to pick up the money.