Chapter 19

Two long, miserable days passed before Tommy returned to Luca's apartment. It was a confusing time for Tommy, that was for sure. He wasn't from the Mafia world, so it was difficult to fully comprehend how the hierarchies operated and just how deadly serious they were taken too.

Tommy may not have understood why Luca couldn't go against the wishes of his bosses, but he truly didn't want to entirely give up on him and Luca.

However, try as he might, Tommy couldn't shake the feeling of having been let down by his Dom. Logically, Tommy could see that Luca wouldn't have backed down from taking Xane out unless it was a serious reason, but emotionally Tommy simply felt the way he felt.

All in all, the atmosphere at Luca's penthouse wasn't good.

In fact, it was pretty terrible…

‘I'm bored,' Tommy said, shutting the refrigerator door a little too forcefully. ‘And there's no treats in here either.'

‘Careful! You'll break the mechanism,' Luca replied, a strong suggestion of impatience in his voice. ‘Maybe there would be treats if you hadn't finished them all earlier?'

‘Urgh, whatever,' Tommy said, his voice sullen and lacking in the usual spark.

Tommy wandered out of the kitchen and began kicking around some of his beanbag toys. The toys slid across the varnished floor at quite a pace, but Tommy took little joy from it.

Why can't Luca just go against his bosses.

Just once… for me.

He knows how much this means to me…

Tommy looked over at Luca and watched as he stared at his iPad screen, seemingly in deep concentration. Tommy didn't know what could possibly be so interesting that it would take all of Luca's attention away from him.

‘If you'd rather me go out so you can concentrate, I will,' Tommy said, hands in his pockets as he idly kicked another beanbag all the way down the corridor toward the penthouse entry door. ‘I'm not bothered either way.'

Tommy was trying to provoke a reaction from Luca.

So far, Luca was remaining focused on his work, whatever that was.

At this point, Tommy was running out of options. He wanted to elicit some kind of response from Luca, so decided to push a little harder…

‘Wheeee!' Tommy cried, flicking up a beanbag with his foot and kicking it across the kitchen, only narrowly missing Luca's head.

‘What the hell?' Luca barked, his deep baritone voice echoing around the high ceilings. ‘You're obviously still pissed off with me. But don't you think that I'm frustrated and angry about the situation too? I know it was you who suffered under Xane, but I took your pain on as my responsibility. And now I'm being prevented from helping. That hurts me deeply, boy.'

‘Argh, this again!' Tommy snapped back. ‘You say you can't help. But why can't you, just once, go against what your bosses say? And don't tell me that I won't understand because it's a Mafia thing. Why can't this be a Master and sub thing instead? Just for once put something else ahead of the fucking Mafia.'

Luca began to explain the situation again. It all sounded exactly like how it had sounded over the various phone calls and messages that the pair of them had exchanged while Tommy was staying at Lyle's house.

Why can't Luca just put me front and center.

I know the Mafia is different, but it's still a job.

I want a Master who would do ANYTHING to protect me…

Tommy had just about had enough of listening to Luca when he decided to ask one more question, and this time he was determined to get a proper answer.

‘You promised me that you would get revenge on Xane for what he did,' Tommy said. ‘How can I ever trust you enough to know that you won't just break every other promise you've made or will make in the future? Masters don't break promises to their subs.'

Tommy felt a sudden pang of guilt. He wasn't sure whether he'd gone too far, and he could see a look of genuine torment and upset in Luca's face.

But Luca didn't give Tommy any time to say anything else.

‘You just don't listen, do you boy?' Luca said. ‘If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. Killing Xane would put both of our lives in more danger than they are now. It would be madness.'

‘Yes, but at least Xane would be gone forever!' Tommy shouted, stomping his foot on the floor.

‘Okay, that's just about enough for me for one day,' Luca said, shaking his head. ‘I have to go out. It's my fight with Olex at the MMA gym today. The last fucking thing I need is to do this, but I made a commitment and I intend to see it through.'

‘Oh, you'll keep that promise but not your promise to me?' Tommy said, rolling his eyes in disbelief.

‘The two examples just aren't' comparable, and you know it,' Luca said, seemingly at the point of totally losing his cool. ‘Now, stay in the apartment when I'm gone. We can have a proper, grown-up talk when I get back. Hopefully both of us will have calmed down by then.'

Tommy couldn't bring himself to respond with words.

Instead, Tommy blew a raspberry and stormed into the guestroom, slamming the door behind him.

As Tommy listened to Luca picking up his gym bag and leaving the apartment, he didn't know what to think.

Everything was so messed up.

Apparently, the senior Mafia bosses had said that Xane wouldn't bother Tommy and Luca in the future in exchange for them not messing with him. This just wasn't enough for Tommy. He hated Xane with every bone in his body. And he didn't trust Xane for one second… Xane just wasn't the kind of person to stick to a promise.

As the sound of the penthouse door shutting made its way into the guestroom, Tommy hauled himself up onto his feet.

‘Luca told me to stay here,' Tommy said. ‘But I've had enough of him. If Luca can break a promise, there's no reason why I have to do what he says either…'

Tommy knew that Luca would be angry with him for going against his orders, but Tommy was a sub on a mission.

After waiting a while to make sure that Luca had truly left the penthouse and gone to the MMA gym, Tommy began packing up a bag for himself.

Tommy zipped up his small backpack and made his way out of the apartment. Fortunately for Tommy, Luca's security detail must have been getting a coffee or taking a short bathroom break. Ever since the news about Xane came through, the threat level had been significantly reduced but Tommy was still glad that he didn't have to go to the effort of persuading the security to allow him to leave.

As Tommy made his way down the elevator to the ground floor, he felt his heart beat with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. This felt risky, but it also was something that Tommy wanted to do.

Negotiating the apartment building lobby was easy enough. A large group of important looking businessmen were gathered, which made dodging past the door security a piece of cake.

As he stepped out onto the New York City street, Tommy took a moment and inhaled. The fresh air represented his freedom, and far from being a boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders, Tommy was determined that he was going to have a wonderful time out on his own.

Tommy chuckled to himself as he began to walk down the sidewalk, a slightly manic grin on his face but feeling more positive than he had in a couple of days.

Luca would be angry when he found out, but that was an issue that could be shelved until later. Luca had promised to take Xane out of the equation, and seeing as he was now saying that wasn't possible, Tommy saw no reason why he should hold up to his end of the bargain and stay at the penthouse.

Tommy was only going to think about his feelings in this moment.

For Tommy, it was all about doing something that would make him feel like the happy, fun-loving sub he knew he was deep down.

The other bonus of sneaking out like this was that Tommy knew he wouldn't have anyone following him. It was real freedom. In a strange kind of way, it felt like the first bit of true freedom that Tommy had experienced since that fateful night with Xane that started this whole nightmare.

Either way, Tommy was determined to at least try and have a good time.

And where better to do that than at Tommy's favorite place, The Velvet Iron?