Page 16 of Deadly Avenger: An MM Mafia Romance

With the talk of Xane building his army of thugs and making connections across the city, Luca decided to ramp up his own personal security. He would have done this even if Tommy hadn’t been in the picture, but the fact that his boy was at risk too simply made Luca even more vigilant.

That being said, Luca was determined not to let a wild, unpleasant thug like Xane interfere in his life more than was warranted.

So, with the extra security of two Mafia soldiers maintaining watchful eye, Luca and Tommy went out to dinner.

‘After you, boy,’ Luca said, holding the door open to the cozy little Italian place that was a secret to many, but an absolute must-go for all the true connoisseurs of Italian food in NYC. ‘Age before beauty…’

‘Luca! That’s such a corny joke!’ Tommy said, rolling his eyes but unable to prevent himself from laughing.

‘Hey, boys who don’t laugh at their Master’s jokes get spanked,’ Luca said, chuckling as they walked toward their table.

‘I’d rather be spanked than laugh at your cornball jokes!’ Tommy said, putting on an exaggerated look of disgust.

‘Well, we’ll have to make sure we take care of that later,’ Luca said, taking his seat alongside Tommy in the snuggly corner booth.

The restaurant was compact, lit perfectly for a private, late-night meal in the city. The booth was comfortable, and the small, ornate candle a perfect extra touch.

‘I love it here,’ Tommy said, looking around and taking in the sights.

‘Same,’ Luca said. ‘I actually came here with my parents. So, yeah… many many years ago. Probably before you were even born.’

‘You don’t speak about them much,’ Tommy said. ‘Your parents, I mean. I know it’s a silly question, but do you miss them?’

Luca paused before answering.

He wasn’t used to answering questions like this. As much as Luca and his friends had deep discussions, the topic of Luca’s childhood trauma wasn’t something that they’d ever got into. Or, more precisely, it was an area that Luca had actively avoided speaking about.

‘Um…’ Luca said, momentarily unsure how to respond to his boy’s question.

‘It’s okay, we don’t have to talk about it,’ Tommy said. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.’

‘No, no, not at all,’ Luca replied, wanting to make sure that Tommy didn’t feel bad for his innocent question. ‘I’m glad you asked. And the answer is… I don’t know. It’s not something I think about a lot. I guess with my life always having some kind of drama going on I push things like this right to the back where it’s hard to give them any attention.’

‘Well you can always talk to me about it,’ Tommy said, reaching over and placing his soft, delicate hand on top of Luca’s much bigger hand with its long, diagonal scar running across the knuckles. ‘I know it’s not easy to lose a parent, I’ve been there. But losing both of them, and in the way that you did. Gee. That’s something else.’

Luca could see that Tommy meant what he said.

So many people shied away from talking about their past, especially in such an unforgiving and super-masculine scene like the gangster world was. But simply having a boy who he could trust and share with was a revelation.

‘Some days I just try to remember them,’ Luca said. ‘I’ll never forget the sight of them being shot. And maybe that part of my brain will never be fixed, the part that thirsts for revenge. But as long as I can remember the good times with them, then I figure that will always keep me human, right?’

Tommy smiled sweetly.

Luca returned the smile and leant over to kiss Tommy on his forehead.

This may have been a very deep way to begin a date night, but such was the comfort and ease between them, Luca and Tommy were soon back to talking about all their usual fun topics.

Tommy was excited to tell Luca about his plans for returning to work when Xane was vanquished. Tommy was especially excited about perhaps organizing a joint event between the Velvet Iron and the Sub Space.

‘We could have a big co-party in the park! With balloons and picnic food and games too!’ Tommy enthused, his enthusiasm both heartwarming and impressive too.

‘I like the sound of this,’ Luca said, sipping on his vintage red wine. ‘Although with that many subs in one place the Doms might need to come with earplugs.’

‘Who says Masters are invited?’ Tommy teased, taking a small sip of wine.

‘Damn,’ Luca replied. ‘How could it ever be a real party without big-dicked, gruff Doms?’

The two of them burst into laughter. Tommy decided that he wanted to quickly visit the bathroom before the food arrived and Luca decided this would be a good moment to check in on Antonio and Damian…

LUCA: Guys. Two things. One: we may have a big party in the park soon, so tell your boys to expect an excited message from Tommy. Two: I’ve sent a couple of guys to scope out Xane’s daily routine. I think we need to strike, and soon.

It wasn’t long before both Antonio and Damian responded to Luca’s message, and both of them were very keen on both of his points.

ANTONIO: Party sounds good. Why don’t we time it as a celebration for when we take that scum Xane out? The boys can play and we can sink some cold ones and toast another Sorrento victory?

DAMIAN: Sounds great. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Xane may be street level, but I’ve heard that he’s got some serious weapons stored somewhere. We need to be careful, as I’m sure you’re taking into account, Luca. Have a good evening guys, I’ve got an appointment with a paddle and one very naughty boy any time now… ;)

Luca grinned. It sounded like both of his friends were on board with his idea, and it was also good that Damian was showing some restraint too. Luca knew though that as long as he kept his cool and did all of his usual strategic planning, Xane would be dust before too long.

‘Luca, no cell phones at dinner!’ Tommy said as he returned from the bathroom. ‘Maybe I should spank you later?’

‘Pffft, yeah right,’ Luca said, shaking his head in disbelief.

But just as the waiter walked over and began to put the piping hot pasta dishes down on their table, Luca caught a glimpse of an unwelcome face entering the restaurant.

‘You have to be kidding me…’ Luca muttered.

‘What’s up?’ Tommy said, noting how unsettled Luca looked.

Before Luca had a chance to explain, Olex Ivanov and a posse of three other men were standing at Luca’s table.

‘Awww, how sweet,’ Olex sneered, looking over toward Tommy and back at Luca. ‘Word gets around. I thought I’d pop by and say hi to the happy couple.’

‘You finally made bail, huh?’ Luca said. ‘I guess your parents gave you one last chance, right?’

‘Screw you,’ Olex said, his tone of voice obnoxious. ‘I’ve got more money than you’ve got pairs of panties.’

Luca felt a surge of anger flowing through him and he banged his fist down on the table. This was totally unacceptable. Olex may or may not have been referencing Luca’s kink in a disparaging way, but whatever he was attempting to do, it wasn’t coming from a good place.

‘Easy, old man,’ Olex said. ‘Remember, what happens in the gym stays in the gym.’

‘I don’t know if you hadn’t noticed, but we’re not in the gym right now,’ Luca said, standing up and going face to face with Olex. ‘So if I were you, I’d back the hell up and get the fuck out of this restaurant right this second.’

‘Whatever, man,’ Olex said, clearly unsettled by Luca’s anger. ‘Come on guys, let’s bounce. This place sucks anyway.’

As Olex and his men left, Luca took his seat and looked over at Tommy.

‘That was scary,’ Tommy said, a slight tremble in his voice. ‘He’s not nice. But I think you could kick his butt if you wanted too.’

‘That’s the plan, kid,’ Luca said. ‘But in the gym, not on the streets or in a restaurant.’

The pair of them began to eat their food and soon enough Tommy was happily chirping and describing in more details his plans for a big party in the park.

Luca nodded along as enthusiastically as he could as Tommy spoke. But under the surface he was angry. Luca was angry at Olex for showing up with bad intentions. More than that though, Luca was furious at himself for falling into Olex’s trap and showing so much emotion.

This didn’t bode well for their fight.

And it also wasn’t a good look for a respected Mafia man to be seen losing his cool in public either.

The sooner I kick this asshole’s ass, the better.

Time to train harder. Push myself further.

Olex might not know it, but his MMA career is about to come to an end real soon…

The remainder of the meal passed without incident and Luca did a good enough job of hiding his unhappiness at what had gone down with Olex.

But there would be no fun and games on arrival back at the penthouse.

Tommy was disappointed by this, but he understood Luca’s need to put some hours in working on the bank heist. Luca’s intention had been to drill down into some of the tiny, practical details of the job but the reality was that he spent most of his time brooding over Olex.

As Luca shut the office door and poured himself a whiskey, he walked over toward the large window that looked out onto the city below.

‘So many people, just living their lives,’ Luca said, his voice gravelly and full of richness. ‘We’ve all got problems. But sometimes I wish for the simple life. The nine to five. Fuck, who am I kidding?’

Luca knew that as appealing as a simpler life might be, it just wasn’t what he was cut out for. Luca’s destiny had always been the Mafia. Having grown up in a household where his father was Mafia, and his father before him, there was never really any doubting as to what path Luca would choose.

‘Mom, Dad, I miss you,’ Luca said, raising his whiskey glass to the night sky outside the window. ‘Here’s to another year. And here’s to Tommy, I think you’d love him almost as much as I do.’

Luca turned away from the bustling night streets beneath and paced around the office. But try as he might, he couldn’t keep the night of his parents murders out of his mind.

The sound of the gun, my mother’s scream too.

My father collapsed in a heap on the floor.

No child should have to remember horrors like that.

Luca finally managed to pull himself out of a series of flashbacks from that fateful night. He knew he had to focus on Xane Troppo. Yes, Olex was a problem, but he couldn’t be compared to Xane. It wasn’t even close.

While Olex was a pain in the ass and a disrespectful sonofabitch, Xane was something else entirely. It was like Xane was evil to the core. Luca hadn’t told Tommy for risk of scaring him, but the more Luca had learned about Xane, the worse things got.

It turned out that Tommy wasn’t the only boy that Xane had terrorized or threatened. And with each new story or report that Luca heard about, his determination to wipe Xane out grew stronger.

‘He needs to go, and I need to be the man to do it,’ Luca said, taking a seat at his desk and turning his iMac on. ‘I can’t fuck this up. Tommy is depending on me, and so are all the other boys in the city too.’

Luca knew that his fight with Olex could be resolved in the ring. But Xane was going to need to be fought in a world without rules, trainers, or the safety of a training gym.

It was time to take the gloves off and deliver a knockout blow...