SCENE: Early 1982. The Corleone beach house in New Jersey. VINCENT rocks his infant son, and then hands him back to Grace, who leaves the room. The doorbell rings and Santino, Jr. arrives.

He walks into the large living room where a fire is burning in the fireplace. Vincent looks absently into the burning flames. An intercom buzzes, and Vincent answers, "Yes?" and a voice responds, "Your cousin Michael, sir." "Send him in, says Vincent.

Michael Francis Corleone enters, nervously. "Wow, what a place," he says to Vincent. "Easier to get into the city from here than out on the Island, eh?"

"Yeah, not bad," replies Vincent. "Fewer problems. I get along better with the people on this side of the river..."

Santino arches his eyebrow. "Wow, I'm surprised, I heard that people in Jersey weren't real friendly to people moving into the neighborhood."

Mikey doesn't catch the barb in Santino's comment. Vincent does. "Well, that depends, Santino, depends on whether it's in their best interest to be friendly." He gives his brother a thin smile.

"Your uncle and aunt are here, Mr. Corleone," says a young, wiry, compactly built man appearing at the doorway. "Your cousin Anthony, too."

"Fine, send them in," Vincent snaps.

"All came over together, eh?" Vincent says, as the three enter the room. "Made more sense that way," responds Michael Corleone. "We were all staying at the Plaza, figured we'd hire one limo under one fake name. Since my semi-retirement, I'm off the 'hot list,' and Connie is..."

"... an untouchable," Connie says, smugly. "They try to hit me, it's the same as taking out a don. Everybody knows that so they watch themselves."

"And Anthony's a civilian," Vincent says. "So you three were relatively safe coming here."

"Yes, Vincent, but we have to have this meeting," Anthony responds. He speaks softly but directly.

"I always thought you wanted no part of the business, Anthony," Vincent says. "You told me so a few years ago. I always heard your mom was dead set against you ever having anything to do with it. Uncle Michael even said he agreed with that."

"I did," says Michael Corleone. "I still agree with it, but apparently Anthony has changed his mind."

"I did, Dad," Anthony says. "After ... Sicily ... I just lost all the desire to sing, and if you don't have that, you're done. I gave up singing, and finished law school ... I had the desire to make somebody pay... to find those responsible for what happened... and get them. Pay them back forever."

"But most of them are dead," Vincent Corleone says, quietly.

"Most, yes," says Anthony, bitterly. "Most of them are dead - everything fell into place with your plans, and the ones who conspired on the deal met their 'accidents.' But not all of them. There are still some out there who were in on the plot, who set it up, who even planned it - they're not dead yet. But it's my job to make them wish they were."

"And your mother agrees with this?" Michael asks, quizzically.

"Not only does she agree, Dad," says Anthony. "She's the one who told me what I had to do - what we have to do. She wants to make someone pay, too, Dad."

"Doesn't sound like the woman I know," Michael Corleone says, wistfully.

Anthony's response is sharp.

"She isn't the woman you know, Dad. Nothing like the woman you know. That woman died on the steps of that opera house."

Michael Corleone stares at his son. "I understand... I think."

"Good," Anthony says. "Because this will only work if you do understand it. And you too, Vincent and Connie..."

Connie looks on her nephew with a faint smile. "Oh, I understand, Anthony. I understand that you can help this family.. it's what you were meant to do. We need someone for our legal affairs - B.J. Harrison really never knew what was going on, and since he took his little swim with the fishes..." Connie chuckles, silently.

"... He's not much help any more, you know what I mean? With the Justice Department investigations going on, the red tape leftover from the Immobliare liquidations, and civil suits, we have legal business every day. We've farmed it out to contract firms, but we need one lawyer, one law firm, whose job it will be to handle the Corleone legal affairs. We need a lawyer we trust to know what's really going on, and who knows why we want to do things and how we want to do them. We need you to keep the family strong, Anthony."