A mafioso must not become involved with the wives of his colleagues, and in general must be seen to lead an irreproachable family life. If these rules have any purpose other than to uphold conventional values, it must be to safeguard reputation; that is, a protector must protect his wife's virtue first lest he end up a cornuto. A less obvious aim might be to prevent the pleasures of illicit sex from becoming a vehicle for the release not only of passion but, unwittingly, of confidential information as well (a weakness to which secret agents seem particularly prone).

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 312