His parents died in a robbery gone wrong when he was only six.
That’s when he started floating from foster family to foster family.
They usually found a good reason to kick him out.
Of course, the fighting didn’t help his case, but defending himself wasn’t something he’d stop doing—not even to stay in one of the crappy foster homes.
He never found the families worth staying with, so it never mattered to him that they’d pack up his shit and have him sit on the porch to wait for his social worker to show up and cart him off to a new home.
None of them ever felt like home to him, and none of the families ever felt like his family.
When he was eighteen, he aged out of the system and found himself on the streets, fighting to earn enough money to eat.
He’d find underground bouts and put his name in.
Sometimes, he didn’t get picked, but when he did, he’d earn enough to eat for a few days, and that left him wanting more.
He started to dream of finding a place to live—his own place.
That was something that he never had. He really didn’t remember his mom and dad, or the house he lived in until he was six.
He never felt that safety or security, and that was something he started to crave.
“You have a hot date or something?” He really didn’t date while he was training. Jonesy insisted that sex wasn’t allowed, so he didn’t bother. He really wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, and with sex off the table, he didn’t see the point.
“No,” he said, giving no further explanation.
“That’s it? Just no,” Tony said.
“Who has a date?” Rocco asked, walking into the locker room. Luca groaned, knowing that he might never get out of there now. His friend Rocco started training at the gym about the same time that he had. Jonesy was his promoter too. Hell, the guy had most of the fighters at the gym under contract.
“No one has a date,” Luca practically shouted making both guys laugh.
“Yeah, you don’t sound like a guy who doesn’t have a date, man,” Tony insisted.
“Don’t you have a wife and kids to get back home to?” He asked pointing at Tony. Most of the guys were bachelors, but Tony had met his wife, Aurora about five years prior, and they were popping out kids faster than Luca could keep track of.
“Aurora doesn’t keep me on a leash,” Tony said.
“So, to answer your question, no, I don’t have to get home to my wife and kids.
And I definitely have time to give you some shit, because you are clearly trying to dodge my questions.
” Tony was like a dog with a bone. He was notorious for his determination and telling him no usually ended with him pushing harder for answers.
“I’d like to know the answers to Tony’s questions too,” Rocco said, smiling over at him.
“Fine, if you have to know, I’m going to visit a friend,” Luca admitted, hoping that would be enough information to keep Tony happy. But from his friend’s shit-eating grin, he was wrong.
“A man friend or a woman friend?” Tony asked.
“That’s none of your business,” Luca insisted.
“Okay, so a woman friend,” Rocco teased. “But it’s not a date?” he asked.
“Not a date,” Luca repeated. He grabbed his gym bag from the bench and started for the door.
“We’ll have a good time with your woman friend on your—what’s the opposite of a date?” Tony asked.
“Assholes,” Luca called back over his shoulder, flipping Tony and Rocco the bird.
He left the gym to a chorus of laughter, and he had a pretty good feeling that he hadn’t heard the last of the subject from his so-called friends.
But he’d worry about having to deal with them later.
Right now, he needed to drive across town for his meeting, and he was already late.
Luca just hoped that whatever Sophia needed, he’d be able to help her out because there was no way that he would have ever survived his last year in foster care without her.