12. Matteo
Chapter 12
Matteo
The following morning, Matteo was up early – and so too was Kyan. With the sound of classical music playing on the small portable speaker, Matteo sipped on his double espresso as Kyan crunched on a thick slice of buttery toast.
‘Yum,’ Kyan said, wiping away a trickle of melted butter from the corner of his mouth. ‘This bread is the bee’s knees.’
‘I can’t quite claim credit for that,’ Matteo laughed. ‘But I’ll be sure to tell Mr. Maclure when I’m next in the bakery.’
‘I think I might like another slice,’ Kyan said, a hopeful note in his voice as he waited for Matteo’s approval.
‘Of course, help yourself, boy,’ Matteo answered, smiling kindly. ‘I want you to feel at home here. I know it’s only temporary, but for as long as you’re here, I want you to be as comfortable as you can. Within reason of course. I’m not inviting you to turn all four floors into the Bubble Palace.’
‘You know the Bubble Palace?’ Kyan asked, looking ever so delightful in a pair of short bed shorts and matching vest.
‘Yup,’ Matteo answered. ‘I know it’s more for couples, or single Littles. But I’ve been to a few of the club nights. Hell, we might even have been there on the same night without realizing it.’
‘Imagine!’ Kyan chuckled. ‘And if we had, maybe none of this would be happening to me now…’
Matteo watched as Kyan set about putting another slice of sourdough in the toaster. He could tell that Kyan was feeling down about his current situation. And who on earth could blame Kyan for feeling that way? Matteo might have been used to life in the mafia, but he was well aware that living in fear of your life was hardly normal for the vast majority of people.
‘Don’t worry, I’m working on it,’ Matteo said, getting up from his chair and standing behind Kyan. ‘I’ll get you through this. And once everything is okay again, maybe we’ll hit up the Bubble Palace together. How does that sound?’
‘That sounds cool,’ Kyan smiled. ‘And maybe I can take you to a casino and show you how good I am at poker?’
‘Damn, I bet you will,’ Matteo. ‘And I can’t wait. But for now, these are dreams. In the real world, I need to get my chess pieces lined up so I can make my move.’
‘Are… are... are you and your friends going to kill someone?’ Kyan asked, the slight tremble in his voice making Matteo wary of giving too much away.
Matteo simply patted Kyan on his shoulder and gave him the kind of look that told him everything he needed to know. Death was part of life for Matteo. But for Kyan, it was something scary and traumatic. Matteo was going to shield him from it as much as he possibly could. But with this in mind, Matteo did wonder how exactly their relationship could work out in the long run.
He’s so innocent.
And I love that about him.
But I can’t hide everything about my life from him, certainly not forever…
Matteo was broken out of his thoughts as Kyan turned to face him. With a slice of sourdough toast in one hand and a mug of milk in the other, Kyan looked up at Matteo and then went up onto his tiptoes to kiss him on his lips.
‘Thank you for looking after me,’ Kyan said, his voice almost heartbreakingly sweet.
‘Thank you for letting me,’ Matteo answered, his heart thumping inside his chest.
From being sent to kill Kyan, Matteo was now plotting to kill to keep the boy safe – and with each passing second, his need to protect this fine young man was getting stronger and stronger.
Matteo was just about to continue the kiss when he saw a message on his phone. It was one of Alphonso’s men. The boss wanted a meeting at Fendi House, and he expected Matteo there in two hours.
‘Who is it, Daddy?’ Kyan asked.
‘Just business,’ Matteo answered, smiling and walking back to the breakfast table with Kyan. ‘It’s nothing your Daddy can’t handle.’
But beneath his calm exterior, Matteo’s mind was racing. He hadn’t been expecting another meeting with Alphonso so soon. The only question was whether Matteo was going to be given his next target – or whether it was Matteo himself who would be in the firing line…
The drive to the Fendi family mansion was one that Matteo had always enjoyed in the past. It was a great opportunity to take the Porsche out of the city limits and truly open the engine up to see just how much fire the old German speedster was able to produce.
This time however, the mood was different.
Matteo felt the tension in his hands as he gripped the 911’s steering wheel. With his eyes focused on the road ahead, it even crossed Matteo’s mind that he might be ambushed at one of the blind corners or red lights.
Indeed, the further into the backroads and country roads that Matteo got, the more his paranoia increased. Typically he would stop at one of his favorite roadside diners for a coffee… but not this time.
‘Keep driving,’ Matteo muttered to himself. ‘If I’m getting whacked, I’m getting whacked. But not on some backroad like a common hustler or rat. If Alphonso wants me dead, he can do it face to face.’
Of course, all of this was speculation on Matteo’s part.
The reality was that Alphonso’s assistants never stated the reason for Alphonso requesting a visit. After all, Alphonso was the king of the Fendi family – a mere invite was all that was required from him and any man who valued his life would attend without question.
With the war brewing between the Fendi family and the Pirlo clan, there was every chance that there could be a new hit on the cards for Matteo. And while this was hardly convenient given the deception he was running with Kyan, Matteo would at least know that Alphonso was none the wiser.
I need to stay calm.
Give nothing away.
Show up, be polite, act normal…
As he got closer to the mansion, Matteo had just about got himself into the kind of frame of mind that would be needed for when he came face to face with Alphonso. And to seal the deal, Matteo thought back to the times when his father would take him on a long walk in the forest and explain the ways of the family to him…
“A neutral face, a ruthless heart, and lethal brain…”
‘I think you were on to something, old man,’ Matteo smiled wryly as he replayed his father’s words in his head. ‘Salut.’
Matteo decided that he would toast his father for real later that evening once he was home again. But for now, it was all about keeping his mind totally concentrated on the task at hand.
And as he pulled up to Fendi House and parked his car, Matteo felt a surge of steely resolve coursing through his veins. This was a dangerous moment for him, Matteo wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. But if there was one man equipped for it, it was Matteo Fendi…
‘I’m here to see the boss,’ Matteo said, addressing the security guard as he walked into the house. ‘Have a good day.’
‘You too, sir,’ the security guard replied.
Matteo walked into the main lobby and was about to take a seat when he was approached by Jackson, one of Alphonso’s lieutenants.
‘I’m here for my appointment,’ Matteo said, noting a somewhat frazzled look to the lieutenant’s face.
‘ Um . Yeah. About that,’ the man replied, a bead of sweat on his forehead. ‘The boss has had to make an unplanned trip out of the city. You just missed him. He sends his apologies.’
Matteo wasn’t sure whether to reach for his gun or burst out laughing.
Evidently, this wasn’t a hit – but at the same time it made very little sense that no one had informed him sooner about this change of plans. Clearly, something was up. But fortunately for Matteo, it didn’t involve any of Alphonso’s men attempting to take his life – well, not today anyway.
‘If you’ll excuse me,’ the lieutenant said, distracted and jittery. ‘I have meetings to rearrange. We’ll be in touch. And feel free to have a drink and then see yourself out.’
Matteo nodded.
It hadn’t been in his plans to drive all the way to Fendi House only to be told there was no meeting. And he had wasted a ton of emotional energy on getting himself in the right frame of mind too. Matteo wondered whether it had all been a test… was there ever going to be a meeting at all? It certainly felt like it might have been a test to see whether Matteo showed up.
Either way, Matteo was now presented with an opportunity for more than a free drink. This was a chance to have a quick and subtle snoop around the mansion. It couldn’t be anything too blatant owing to the security cameras, but if Matteo could pick up just one bit of intel, then it would be more than worth it.
With this in mind, Matteo bade farewell to the nervy lieutenant and set about locating the bar. And if there happened to be a talkative security guard, soldier, or spy around then that was all the better…
‘Little man, where are you?’ Matteo called out as he arrived home. ‘Let me guess… watching a movie.’
Matteo had arrived back from Fendi House armed with a couple of tidbits of information that might just prove very useful indeed. But before he could do anything with the recently gathered intel, Matteo knew that he would need to talk with both Faustino and Michael. After all, if the three of them were going to take down Alphonso together, then they all needed to work as one – there was no sense in Matteo trying to do everything himself, especially when he had two trusted men to lean on.
Faustino and Michael could wait though.
All that was on Matteo’s mind was casting his eyes on his darling boy. And as he undid his suit jacket buttons and walked into the cinema, he was met by an unexpected but seriously appealing sight…
‘Daddy! OMG! I didn’t realize you’d be back so soon!’ Kyan hollered, immediately covering up his naked torso and moving his stuffie Gambit away from his nipples. ‘It’s not what it looks like!’
Matteo felt the urge to laugh. He’d clearly caught Kyan in a very private and naughty act. But rather than play it for laughs, Matteo was suddenly very much in the mood to take the moment and run with it…
‘Move your hands away, let me see that body,’ Matteo said, walking closer toward Kyan. ‘In fact, you can stand up and walk over toward the projector screen. Stand in front of it with your hands on your head. Right now. And that’s Daddy’s Orders.’
‘Please, don’t punish me, Daddy,’ Kyan said, nervously scurrying over toward the warm glow of the projector’s large screen. ‘Seriously, I wasn’t doing anything…’
‘Oh, is that right?’ Matteo asked, noting just how big the tent was at the front of the boy’s briefs. ‘I want to see this so-called nothing . Show me. Show me exactly what it was you were doing, and I’ll decide whether it’s worthy of discipline.’
Matteo looked Kyan up and down, from his feet to his briefs, to his naked upper body, all the way up to his blushing face.
‘I’ll count down from three,’ Matteo growled. ‘Show Daddy what you were doing. Three… two…’
Kyan then proceeded to take Gambit and trace his long, silky-soft ears over his nipples, circling and then moving down toward the package at the front of his briefs.
Matteo watched as a clearly highly aroused Kyan pleasured himself in a way that was both undeniably sweet but also incredibly horny too. The perfect combination for a young man who called himself a Little, in fact.
I could paddle him.
I could tie him up and turn that ass red-hot.
Or maybe… or maybe this warrants something else altogether…
As Kyan repeated the pattern, Matteo could feel his cock straining up against the confines of his briefs. The boy had indeed been very naughty in his Daddy’s absence, but as far as Matteo was thinking it was time to offer him a little reward to go along with his punishment…