10. Matteo
Chapter 10
Matteo
Matteo typically loved nothing more than cruising around in his vintage Porsche, but this mission called for something altogether different.
Matteo’s Porsche had been perfectly maintained and kept in a condition that could pass as brand new were it not for the fact that it was from another era. And the loud engine purred and roared like a vehicle that was fast becoming a thing of the past in the modern world of electric vehicles. The truth was that Matteo’s beloved 911 was becoming increasingly conspicuous and a real head turner – and a huge signpost to his presence for anyone who knew him in the Fendi family.
With this in mind, a beat-up old Toyota Corolla was the order of the day as Matteo, flanked by Faustino and Michael took a watching brief outside a laundromat in one of the downtown neighborhoods where criminal activity was as blatant as you could find in the whole of the city.
‘You know, this car isn’t all bad,’ Faustino laughed, digging through the selection of CDs in the glove compartment. ‘Whoever owned it before you had great taste in music.’
‘This is my car,’ Matteo said, his eyes trained on the laundromat. ‘It’s strictly for spying missions or when I need to travel a little less conspicuously.’
‘And let me guess, never on official Fendi business?’ Michael asked.
‘Got it,’ Matteo laughed. ‘Not that there’s too much of that, typically. But my old man told me that even when it feels like your safe in the family, you need to keep your wits about you.’
‘Same story I was brought up on,’ Faustino concurred.
‘Yup. And me,’ Michael chuckled. ‘Who would have guessed that having three Fendi fathers would have resulted in the same God damned advice?’
The three men laughed.
Matteo was eternally grateful for having grown up with a father who taught him well. The same was true for Faustino and Michael too. But while it was nice to have had such a solid grounding in the way that the family operated, it had made Matteo cold and ruthless from a young age and sometimes he wondered what he had missed out on. But now wasn’t the time for pondering the past – now was the time for concentrating solely on the issues at hand…
‘What I’m hearing is that some of Alphonso’s right-hand men are running their own hustle on the side,’ Matteo said, nodding in the direction of the laundromat. ‘It’s a sign of weakness on Alphonso’s part. It might be that the men are plotting against him, or maybe they’re just looking to earn some extra money on the side. But it’s a sign of weakness at the top of the organization. It shows us that Alphonso is losing his grip on the crown.’
‘It doesn’t mean he’s not as dangerous as hell,’ Faustino said, adding a note of caution.
‘If anything, it might make Alphonso more dangerous,’ Michael said. ‘A dying animal is more likely to lash out with all its venom. And we don’t want to be there when it happens.’
‘Agreed,’ Matteo said. ‘But weakness is weakness. We need to take Alphonso out before anyone else does. The last thing we need is any record of Kyan, or the fact that I didn’t go through with the hit. Remember, if it’s not us who claim the crown, we might be working under someone else… and we don’t want our names tarnished. New kings will often clear out those who are seen as disloyal or a threat. We don’t want to be those guys.’
The truth was that Matteo had never set out to make a play to be the king of the Fendi family. His days as an assassin had meant so much time alone that the ability to network and plot a way to the top had passed him by – and more than that, Matteo had never felt an urge to work like that either. As far as Matteo had always been concerned, he was a killer: ruthless, deadly, and always ready to serve the family.
Other men had always made their ambitions clear. And often, these men had fallen either before they could make their play for the crown, or when they made their intentions clear. These tended to be the more outspoken men, the ones who never missed an opportunity to push their own cause or seek their own gain.
Matteo, Michael, and Faustino were always more focused on simply doing the best they could for the family – even if that meant not pursing their own advancement in the hierarchy. Maybe things were changing now. Maybe the situation that they found themselves in demanded a new approach… and perhaps a different outcome for them too.
Whatever the future held, the three Daddies were in agreement.
It was certainly a perilous moment in the life and times of the Fendi family, and Matteo knew that him and his two cousins were right at the center of it.
‘We’ll keep a lookout for an hour, or two’ Matteo said. ‘Nothing will happen today. But the more information we gather, the better.’
Matteo took a sip from his bottled water and fixed his eyes on the laundromat’s grimy exterior. All he needed was one sighting, one glimpse into what was going down with Alphonso’s men.
With that in mind, the three men settled in together for the long haul.
Their fates wouldn’t be decided today, but they could all go a long way toward securing their futures.
Later that afternoon, Matteo was busy in his house’s grand dining room. However, there wouldn’t be any four course meals being served there any time soon…
‘Okay, hand me the drill please,’ Matteo said, calling over toward Kyan. ‘Yup, that’s the one.’
‘Daddy, this looks… awesome,’ Kyan said, duly walking over with the drill in his hand and taking a moment to admire the castle style climbing frame that Matteo was assembling. ‘Thank you so much for doing this for me.’
‘Hey, don’t mention it,’ Matteo chuckled as he drilled in one of the final pieces. ‘And who says I’m doing this for you? They don’t call me the king of the climbing frame castle for nothing!’
‘Silly!’ Kyan said, rocking his head back as he laughed. ‘You’re too big to climb on this.’
‘We’ll see,’ Matteo said, the final burst of drilling enough to secure the finished frame. ‘Not bad. Not bad at all. But don’t forget about the other stuff too.’
Matteo watched with pride as an excited Kyan raced back toward the other bags and boxes and continued to unpack the stuffies, games, fancy dress costumes, and coloring book sets that Matteo had bought.
It might have been a serious moment when he was spying on Alphonso’s men, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been able to arrange for the delivery of some seriously fun looking Little toys, games, and general supplies.
As he watched Kyan take great joy in the matching twin elephant stuffies, Matteo couldn’t help but smile. This might have been all very new to him, but it felt so undeniably right.
He’s great.
His spirit, his smile, his laugh…
But I need to hold back. I can’t lose myself in the moment…
‘Bring the elephants over,’ Matteo said, doing his best to direct the play rather than let his rapidly increasing feelings for Kyan run wild. ‘They can be your first guests in the climbing frame castle.’
‘It’s called Kyan’s Fortress,’ Kyan squealed, charging over and immediately shimmying up the castle wall with nimble grace. ‘And these two are actually my Guardian Protectors!’
‘I see…’ Matteo laughed. ‘And who am I? The big bad Prince?’
‘Maybe,’ Kyan said, blushing slightly as the pair of them held one another’s gaze for a moment too long. ‘But even if you are my sworn enemy, I need you to do me a favor and pass Gambit up here. He needs his carrot snacks or he’ll be hungry.’
Matteo rolled his eyes and laughed.
He was more than comfortable in playing the bad guy, but it was heartwarming to know that Kyan still needed him to help out and make sure that his cherished stuffie was well fed and looked after.
And it wasn’t long before Matteo the evil warrior prince had proven that he wasn’t all bad and Prince Kyan decided to let him inside the fortress. Together the two of them had a blast and built a stuffie army whose sole goal was to keep fun and peace in the kingdom.
But when Kyan let out a long yawn, Matteo knew it was time for this particular prince to have a nap…
‘Here, take this,’ Matteo said, walking back into the playroom with a bottle of warm milk in his hand. ‘It’s just the right temperature to drink and keep your tummy all warm.’
Matteo noted a hint of hesitation in Kyan’s eyes as he took the bottle from him. For a moment, Matteo even wondered if he’d done something wrong or crossed a line without realizing it.
Fortunately, Matteo couldn’t have been further from the truth.
‘W-w-w-will you give me my milkies, please?’ Kyan asked, handing the bottle back to Matteo. ‘I want my milkies from Daddy…’
‘Of course, darling boy,’ Matteo replied. ‘Come on, let’s get cozy together. And bring Gambit too. The three of us can hunker down on Beanbag Mountain.’
‘Yay!’ Kyan replied.
Matteo watched on with a loving look in his eyes as Kyan took Gambit under one arm and crawled over toward the stack of colorful beanbags. Kyan was truly in Little Space and Matteo found himself full of awe as this beautiful young man showed him just how much of a natural born Little he was…
‘Up with Daddy, come on, get right in there,’ Matteo said as he crashed down on the beanbags and opened out his arm to welcome Kyan into his embrace. ‘Open nice and wide and then suckle to your Little heart’s content.’
Kyan took his Daddy’s words on board and began to suckle on the bottle’s orange teat. Before long, the milk was going down just as it should, and Matteo could see Kyan’s eyelids getting heavier and heavier. The boy was ready for a nap but at the same time was evidently very determined to get his milk finished up first.
‘Nearly there,’ Matteo said, his voice soft and full of love as Kyan took the final glugs of his warm milk. ‘Perfect. You’re just perfect. Now let those wonderful eyes shut and go to sleep.’
There was a questioning look in Kyan’s eyes as he held the teat in his mouth – and Matteo intuitively knew what the young man was wondering.
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Matteo said, running his hand over Kyan’s silky-smooth hair. ‘You’ll fall asleep in Daddy’s arms, and he’ll be there when you wake up too. You can count on that. I’m giving you Daddy’s word of honor.’
Kyan smiled and shut his eyes.
It was barely a minute before the milk bottle teat had flopped out of his mouth and Kyan was lightly snoring, totally dead to the world. Matteo had to stop himself from chuckling as Kyan lazily wriggled and spoke in his sleep as he got himself perfectly set up in his arms – and Matteo couldn’t help but notice the rather prominent tent that was forming at the front of Kyan’s shorts either.
After affording himself a very quick laugh at Kyan’s adorable, and increasingly prominent sleepy arousal, Matteo focused his thoughts once more.
He’s been through a lot – way too much for a young man like him.
I need to step up my plans.
Keeping Kyan safe is everything to me now, no matter what the cost.
Matteo stared ahead as his darling boy slept in his arms. There was plenty of work to be done on formulating the plan that would remove Alphonso Fendi from both his and Kyan’s lives for good.
Michael and Faustino were able lieutenants and brothers in arms, but Matteo sensed that if he wanted to do this right, he might just need to step out and do it alone. Nothing in Matteo’s life up to this point had prepared him for how strongly he would feel about a boy. Kyan had come into his life and changed everything . And while it was all fun and games at home, Matteo knew that if he wanted it to continue, he would need to strike, and strike fast.