14. Luca
14
LUCA
H olding down the pressure of this secret building up in the back of my throat starts to burn. As I sit here and look him directly in the eye, the warmth I feel listening to him put himself out there and talk to me honestly is already bittered by me discarding the truth.
Someone who feels far too close than they should be has been plotting Dominic’s downfall and waiting for him to take the Rossis and Valentis down with him for far too long. Knowing the weight knowing this holds, I know I can only bear it myself in fear that letting Dom share the burden could be the final straw that breaks his back .
Despite my intentions, it still feels dishonest.
“So what now?” I ask him, trying my best to smile and hide my inner conflict.
Looking at me, something in his head clicks. Dots connect, and he grabs for the base of his shirt and starts to pull it upward, the lower half of his abs on display between his clothes.
Grabbing his hand and stopping him going any further, I freeze for a moment and can’t help but just stare at hi,. “I didn’t mean it like that.” It takes me slightly too long to remember that I’m still holding his hand and let go. As the fabric falls to cover his torso again, my trance seems to end as his body’s spell over me is broken.
“Then what do you mean?” he inquires.
“I kind of have a class I need to get to.” I have to admit it’s not exactly the end I would like to have in this conversation; it’s nowhere near as dramatic or romantic as we’re used to. Usually, when one of us leaves any conversation we have together, it’s because they’re being dragged away, storming off, or purposefully leaving with one last dramatic line. I guess that’s what our whole situation will need to be if we want it to continue any further.
“Oh right, of course,” he replies, straightening out his shirt. “I’ll uh…I’ll leave you to it.”
Standing up and heading across the room to the door, Dominic goes to leave. I rush after him, taking hold of his shoulder and spinning him around on the spot so that we face each other.
“What is—” he starts to ask, but I interrupt his question with a kiss.
Wrapping his arms around my waist, he pulls me in closer. My hands hold either side of his face, keeping his lips against mine long enough for me to be satisfied.
Pulling away from his face, I let him go and smile. “Now you can go.”
“See you around,” he says. “And maybe I can come over again soon?”
“I’d like that. Just make sure no one sees you.”
Dominic nods in response, turning back for the door and walking out. As the door closes behind him, leaving me by myself, I am overtaken by my guilt again.
It feels so wrong to keep what happened from him, but I don’t have a choice, and if I can handle this by myself, hopefully I won’t have to lie to Dominic for long.
My afternoon lecture seems to crawl by; the drone of my professor’s every word fades from my consciousness and becomes completely incomprehensible. My mind has wandered far from the topic of the lesson and returned back to everything that has happened in the last week. It’s all just so much to take in at once.
My father marries Sofia Rossi, the woman who was married to our family’s worst enemy not even a year prior. As our families merge, I am faced with my brand-new stubborn and asinine stepbrother, Dominic, a man who seems to be my opposite in every single way possible and who wants to start fights with me on sight for next to no reason. All of a sudden, however, after I’ve done nothing but fire back and taunt him, we kiss and soon devolve into a spiral of lust and spite.
Then once I learn that he’s in trouble and an entire family wants him out of the picture, a thought that only days ago would have me jumping for joy and begging to help in whatever way I can, leaves me terrified to lose him and trying to find any angle I can to help him.
What choices do I even have, though? My father won’t listen to any of my concerns and is even intrigued by the idea now, so he’s no help. The Rossis are just like Dominic in all the worst ways; all of them are too headstrong and self-reliant to handle this whole situation delicately.
I need to be delicate. I need to handle this quickly and simply make sure this doesn’t create any waves. I can’t have this rippling out into something bigger. I’m not even sure that I can handle this as it is, but I know I won’t be able to deal with something worse.
My hand twitches slightly, shaking the pen held loosely between my fingers, reminding me it was there in the first place and that I am in class and not just in my own head.
Shifting my eyes toward the clock on the wall, the minute hand taunts me with its position. I still have half an hour left of this mind-numbing hell.
Hanging my head, I lock my eyes back on the blank page of my opened notebook in front of me, giving up any hope of it being filled.
Collecting my belongings together, I stuff them all into my bag by my feet and prepare to leave early.
I stand up in the middle of the class—not caring what anyone, even my professor might think— and walk out the exit.
Breaking out into the open air, I stride away from the lecture hall and leave my class behind. I’ve never been one to leave or skip class before, only missing lectures when it was absolutely necessary. There isn't a definitive time crunch or ticking clock in this situation yet—at least not one that I know of—but I can’t focus on anything else. Every time I try to distract myself, whether it be with class, my family, or parties, my head always seems to come back to Dominic and the constant threat from the Grecos .
Somehow, I need to work all of this out and get it sorted. I need to take a walk. A long walk.
Listening to the rhythmic taps of my feet on the sidewalk, I do what I can to break my thoughts into manageable sections.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The Grecos want the Valentis and the Rossis to separate. They’re somehow getting Dominic to involve himself in dangerous and illegal activities to get him to slip up and tank his reputation.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
His reputation reflects on his family, so if Dominic looks bad, then all of the Rossis look bad. The Rossis lose their reputation, then Dad will lose his reasons for siding with them and will cut ties with them soon enough.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
With the Rossis out of the picture and having masterminded the entire scheme themselves, the Grecos take their place alongside the Valentis.
Tap. Tap.
Unable to fight the feeling that there’s more pieces to this puzzle, I stop walking. Is that their whole plan? Is there anything I’m missing? What angle am I not seeing?
What can I do to stop it?
There has to be some string to pull that makes this whole thing unravel, but what is it?
Wracking my brain for any idea of what the missing piece to the puzzle could be, I relent the attempt for now. Before I can make any major moves against the Grecos, I need to learn more about their plot. Right now is not the time for action, but for reconnaissance and planning.
Interrupting my mind’s spiraling, my phone begins to vibrate against my leg inside of my pocket, and as I take it out, I look over the screen to see my father’s name plastered across it. With a deep breath, I accept the call and hold the phone to my ear.
“Luca,” he declares. “Where are you right now?”
I take a look around my surroundings, having been lost in my own head as I was walking. I managed to lose track of how far I’d gotten away from the college campus. “I’m just out on a walk at the moment,” I explain. “About half a mile down Harbor Street. Why?”
“Filo will be there with the car soon. I need you back home,” he instructs. “The Grecos will be paying us a visit.”
Falling silent, I let the silence build between us. This is their next step, and this is how I can find out more. “Of course. Have they said why they’re coming by?”
“Well, after your attempt the other night,” he digs, “we’ve all decided that another meeting is needed to properly work this all out.”
His spiteful attacks at me cut deep, but I can bear them for now. Knowing that if I bide my time and prepare myself to cut down the Greco’s plan, I can recover my standing in my father’s eyes.
“And don’t worry about getting in over your head this time. I’ll be taking the lead from now on.”
Biting my tongue, I swallow my pride. This will let me focus on figuring them out while Dad navigates their games. “Just let me know what you need me to do.”
“Excellent. I’ll brief you once you arrive.” The phone line clicks, and the call ends .
Sighing deeply, I prepare for my next round against the Grecos.
Sitting beside my father in his study makes me feel like his lapdog, just here to look good and play nice while he handles everything. Which is exactly all he wants me to do.
Antonio Greco relaxes in a chair on the opposite side of the dark oak coffee table from us, keeping his entire posture and attitude loose and almost carefree. Being the patriarch of the Greco family, I had always expected him to act far more focused when it came to meeting a man like my father or even the former Franco Rossi, but instead he opts for a more informal approach. It is this very same nature that makes me suspicious of their recent success and growth. Not to say that the Grecos were entirely unsuccessful before, as they certainly had power and renown in the city. However, they always acted more like vultures, picking off their rivals at their lowest moments and snatching control when others weren’t looking, a strategy that worked perfectly well for them up until recently. But their new approach is far more cunning, thought out, and long term than I would expect from Antonio.
Which is all to say that, for tonight, my attention will stay on the young man beside him instead. At face value, he doesn’t seem to be all too threatening. He’s young like myself and hasn’t said a single word since he got here, but knowing about Antonio’s mysterious conspirator from last night, I am inclined to believe that this is the same man. That he’s the one who’s behind this whole scheme.
One thing that I am unsure of is who exactly he is. He sits beside Antonio the same way that I do beside my father, so is he his son? I’ve never heard of Antonio having an heir of any kind; even his relations with women have only ever been brief from what others have said. So who is Antonio’s business partner, and why is he making his first appearances now?
My dad pours a glass of whiskey for Antonio, handing it across to him, and then pours one for himself. Antonio swirls the amber drink around the glass before taking a sip .
“Are we ready to begin?” my father asks him, getting a nod in response.
Already, I am unsettled by the stinging sense of deja vu. This entire situation is all too similar to our negotiations with the Rossis only months ago—meeting with Sofia and her children in this very room and discussing every detail about their wedding and how the joining of families would go. I can’t help but feel like this is the very reason the Grecos are here.
“My son told me what he could from the short meeting he had with you,” my father says. “So why don’t we continue from there?”
“Actually,” I interject, “I don’t think I’ve ever spoken with him before.” I look the stranger directly in the eye. “Have we met?” The man returns my question with a shifty grin, letting Antonio do the talking. “You wouldn’t have,” Antonio says. “He wasn’t able to make it last time, so you met with whoever we had available.”
“Well then, it sounds like we’re all on pretty equal footing then,” Dad says. “Plead your case.”
Antonio places his glass on the coffee table in front of him and sits forward in his chair. “Look,” he begins. “Every single one of us here knows that your whole wedding with the Rossis is all for show and that your alliance is fresh.” His words are strange, almost rehearsed from a script someone else wrote. “What we want to offer you is a better option.”
“And what makes you a better option?” I ask, shooting the question straight to the mystery man.
Instead of answering, he decides to hide behind the bangs of his dark brown hair.
“Well, our methods align better with yours. The Rossi’s tendency for taking things by force isn’t right for your preferences for formal matters,” Antonio continues to explain. “And I’m sure a man like yourself knows that the Rossi reputation isn’t something you want to associate yourself with.”
My father pauses, taking another sip of his drink and contemplates how to answer. “What about their reputation?”
“Well, they’re known for their violence, recklessness, and their all too public illegal activities,” Antonio elaborates. “Is that really the kind of people you want to associate with?”
“We all know that none of us are completely clean in the eyes of the law,” I defend. “To me, it just sounds like they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty. Isn’t that needed sometimes?” I taunt them.
“Doing what needs to be done is one thing, but street races in downtown Montcove and fight clubs in the dead of night are another.” The stranger speaks for the first time, and his monotone voice sends a chill down my spine, tearing me from the space around me and throwing me straight back to the locker room last night. This is the same guy. But who is he?
“Is this true?” my dad asks Antonio, who nods back in confirmation.
I push my way back into the conversation. “Do you have any actual proof of this? How can we know you’re not making all of this up just to get what you want?”
Before I even seem to finish talking, the conspirator pulls a phone from his jacket pocket and displays a readied set of photos of all of Dominic’s escapades: Dominic gripping the steering wheel of a luxurious sports car, the very same car tearing down a city street with cop cars in hot pursuit, and Dominic throwing heavy punches at the fighter from last night the one of Dominic lying on the floor out cold.
I was there last night too. For all I know, they have pictures of my attendance, so I need to tread carefully here. They have me playing their game in my own home.
“These activities are only growing more severe and frequent as time passes. He’s showing no signs of stopping.” The man delivers the end of his speech with a proud smirk on his face.
My father looks at me, wondering if I had any knowledge of this, and if so, why I hadn’t told him. “Thank you for bringing all of this to our attention.”
“Of course,” Antonio remarks.
“Do you have anything else for us?” I sneer.
“We’ll leave the next step to you. You know where to find us.” The stranger stands, and Antontio immediately follows.
“We certainly do.”
The moon commands its control of the night sky, cresting high over the many surrounding buildings, taunting the stars like that man did to me for the entire meeting.
Stepping from the car, I call back to the driver, “Have a good night, Filo.” My tone is tired, and I feel drained both physically and mentally. Everything has become too much throughout this entire week, and I haven’t had any kind of distraction yet today.
“You, too, Luca.” His words cut out once I shut the car door lazily behind me and stagger away from the curb.
The short trek from the parking lot to my dorm building has never felt so far, each step seeming to make no headway in my journey.
Rising into the edge of my eyesight, Dominic rears his head into my vision. Standing outside his own dorm, his faint blur of a face still clearly calls for my attention.
He’s in danger. I need to handle it myself, but so far, I’ve only made things worse.
There is not a single part of me that can bear to face him tonight. So I won’t.
Turning from his direction entirely, I fake ignorance and head back to my room, leaving him behind by himself.
I hate that I keep having to do this, but I can’t do anything until I know more about this.