Chapter 18 Luca
LUCA
The only thing that can salvage the wreck of my life is throwing myself into work. So that’s what I do. And thanks to Giulia, there’s no shortage of it.
I sleep as little as I physically can. I keep trying to figure out how I'm supposed to survive the next seventy years married to a woman I can't stand to look at now. When I’m alone in bed, I can’t sleep anyway—all my thoughts are of those nights in the club with Giulia and the night I found out the truth, fluctuating wildly from painful arousal to anger and a confusing mixture of the two.
I can’t even fucking jerk off without thinking of her, so instead I exist in a frustrated liminal space between fury and unfulfilled lust. My body hasn’t stopped wanting her, and I’m around her more than ever, but all the emotion I can feel for her is an anger so deep it feels like it’s settled into my bones.
And the shockwaves of what she’s done have caused consequences that go far beyond my own feelings.
When the news goes out, there’s a brief calm before the storm. Gossip circulates, or so I’m told, and the focus is mostly on that at first. But then, the news spreads out to the smaller families and, once they’ve had a little time, the consequences begin to become clear.
About a week after the announcement, some of the men come back with reports that protection money isn’t being paid.
Instead of maintaining the flawless schedule that they’ve been on for years, without fail because of the threat that the Ciresa family poses to those who don’t fulfill their obligations, our men are sent away with promises that the money will be paid soon.
Dante is furious when he finds out. “I want an example made,” he tells Romeo and me in his office when the news is brought to him.
“I want a dead man. I want it done in a way that the others won’t test me a second time.
You two take care of it. I don’t trust anyone else to see that it’s done correctly at this point. ”
It’s not just trust, and I’m well aware of that.
This is him making me deal face-to-face with the consequences of what’s happening.
I’ll have to get blood on my hands, literally, and while I’ve done that plenty in the past for the Ciresa family, this feels more personal.
This blood is being shed because of Giulia’s decisions, her lies, and my inability to see through them.
I can’t argue that it should be me. I hate that Romeo is being dragged into it as well, though I know it doesn’t affect him. All I can think about is what Giulia would think if she knew, and how badly I want her to find out, to see the extent of what she’s caused.
Romeo calls me into his office the next morning at six a.m. "We have problems," Romeo says without preamble when I walk in.
He's standing at his desk, a map of Brooklyn spread out in front of him, red circles marking various locations.
"Multiple problems. And they all started the moment word got out about your engagement to Giulia. "
I move closer to the desk, studying the map. The red circles are concentrated in three areas—all Ciresa territory. All places where we collect protection money and run operations.
"What kind of problems?"
"People think Dante's losing his grip." Romeo's voice is flat, but I can hear the underlying tension. "They think a don who can't control his own daughter might not be able to control his territory either."
The words land hard, because I know—we both know—that this is my fault too.
I wanted Valentina to be real so badly that I didn’t pay attention to signs that, looking back now, I should have seen.
I believed that she was telling me the truth about not being able to get pregnant because I got lost in the pleasure of it all.
Giulia might be a liar, but I was a fucking idiot.
"Give me specifics," I say, forcing myself to focus on the work, on the problems I can actually solve.
Romeo taps the first red circle. "The Rossi family has been moving product through our docks without permission.
When Vitto and his crew confronted them two days ago, they laughed in his face.
Said that maybe the Ciresa family is too busy with wedding planning to notice what's happening in their own backyard. "
The disrespect is staggering. The Rossi family is small—maybe thirty made men, another fifty associates. They’re mostly involved in loan sharking and gambling. They've never had the balls to challenge us directly before.
"What did Vitto do?"
"Nothing. He reported back to Dante and waited for instructions." Romeo's jaw tightens. "But the fact that he had to walk away from that confrontation without doing anything is already a problem. Word spreads fast in this business."
I nod, my mind already working through the implications. If the Rossi family thinks they can operate in our territory without consequences, others will follow. It's like blood in the water—one sign of weakness and every shark in the city will come circling.
"What else?"
Romeo taps the second circle. "Three businesses on Fifth Avenue haven't paid their protection money this month.
When our collectors went to pick it up, they were told that maybe they should be paying the Benedetti family instead.
That maybe the Benedettis are better positioned to actually provide protection. "
The Benedetti family is one of the older operations. They’ve been around since the fifties, with connections that run deep into the NYPD and the unions. They've always been ambitious, looking for ways to expand their influence. And now they're testing us, seeing if we're weak enough to push.
"And the third?" I ask.
"That one's worse." Romeo's expression darkens.
"Vincent Calabrese—one of our capos, been with the family for fifteen years—held a meeting with some of his crew last night.
He didn't tell me about it. Didn't clear it with Dante.
Just gathered his people and started talking about whether the family is still strong enough to maintain our current position. "
A capo questioning the don's authority. That's a potential fracture that could split the entire organization if it's not handled immediately and decisively. "Does Dante know?"
"He knows. And he's furious." Romeo straightens, his eyes meeting mine. "He wants this contained. All of it. Before the wedding, before anyone else gets the idea that we're vulnerable."
"What does he want me to do?"
"Whatever it takes." Romeo's voice drops. "You're my second, Luca. You're the one I trust to handle situations that require a certain... level of persuasion. So I'm giving you carte blanche. Handle the Rossi situation. Handle the protection money situation. And handle Vincent Calabrese."
The weight of it settles on my shoulders—heavy and familiar… and welcome. This is something I know how to do and that I'm good at—violence and intimidation, making people understand that there are consequences for disrespect. This is something that makes sense when nothing else in my life does.
"I'll need a crew.”
"Take whoever you need. Vitto and his people for the docks, Tony's crew for the protection collections.
And for Vincent..." Romeo pauses, his expression grave.
"For Vincent, I want you to handle it personally.
Just you. No witnesses except the people who need to see what happens when you question the don's authority. "
I nod. Vincent needs to be made an example of—not killed, necessarily, but broken enough that no one else will even think about following his lead. "When do you want this done?"
"Now. Today. Before the sun sets, I want everyone in this city to understand that the Ciresa family is not weak. That Dante Ciresa is still the most dangerous man in New York. And that anyone who thinks otherwise is going to learn a very painful lesson."
—
I start with the docks. Vitto meets me at the entrance to the shipping terminal at eight in the morning, along with four of his best men—all of them soldiers who've been with the family for years, all of them loyal and experienced and more than capable of handling themselves in a fight.
"The Rossi crew has been using Pier 7," Vitto says as we walk through the terminal, past shipping containers stacked three high and forklifts moving pallets of goods.
"They've been bringing in product from overseas—heroin, mostly, some cocaine—and distributing it through our territory without paying the appropriate fees. "
"How much product?"
"Best estimate? Maybe two million dollars' worth over the past month."
The number makes my jaw tighten. Two million dollars in product moving through our docks, and we haven't seen a single cent of it. That goes beyond disrespect—it’s theft on a massive scale. "How many of them are there?"
"Usually four or five guys. They come in around nine, unload the containers, and have the product moved out by noon." Vitto checks his watch. "Should be here any minute."
We position ourselves near Pier 7, out of sight behind a stack of containers, and wait.
The morning is cold, the wind coming off the water sharp enough to cut through my jacket, but I barely feel it.
My focus is absolute, my mind clear in a way it hasn't been since that terrible night when Giulia told me the truth.
This is what I need. This is what I'm good at.
At nine-fifteen, a black van pulls up to Pier 7. Five men get out, wearing casual clothing meant to make them blend in. They move with the confidence of people who think they're untouchable, who think they can operate in Ciresa territory without consequences.
They're about to learn otherwise.
I wait until they've opened the back of the van and started unloading boxes before I step out from behind the containers, Vitto and his crew flanking me on both sides.
"Gentlemen," I say, my voice carrying across the pier. "I think you're lost."