Chapter 20

Luca hadn't wanted to leave things like he did with Tommy, but time was against him, and Luca knew that he couldn't miss the fight with Olex.

So much time and effort had gone into training for the matchup and the whole ethos of the gym was built around mutual respect, working hard, and staying true to your commitments.

In many ways, the gym mirrored Luca's life in the Mafia. Only slightly less deadly perhaps. Oh, and the MMA gym life didn't involve making heartbreaking decisions that related to Tommy either…

I wanted to stay with the boy.

But Tommy needs time to think.

And I have a fight to win…

Upon arriving at the gym, Luca attempted to focus his mind. There was no other option but to blank out all thoughts of Tommy and focus only on the task at hand.

The gym was packed. Everyone was there. Fighters who were competing that day were busy making their final preparations as loud music boomed over the gym's speaker system. Trainers and non-competing fighters watched on with interest, possibly wondering who they might be facing in the next intra-gym tournament.

There was a tangible sense of anticipation and adrenalin in the air.

The atmosphere was truly electric.

It all served to add an extra layer of determination to Luca. This wasn't going to be an easy fight for him. The chances were that Luca would have to fight the best technical fight of his life to beat Olex.

Getting the better of Olex truly wouldn't be easy. Far from it. Olex was younger, bigger, and he had some serious combat skills too.

But Luca was no slouch either. Luca was hoping that his commitment to training and the wisdom that came with age would help him outsmart and ultimately beat his younger opponent.

‘You good?' Tyron said, a slightly concerned look on his face as he began to wrap Luca's hands in protective wrap. ‘Word travels fast. I heard about your difficulties…'

‘I'm good,' Luca replied, a steely determination in his voice. ‘I'm here for the win, nothing else. I'm ready to rock and fucking roll.'

‘That's the spirit,' Tyron replied, flashing a typically positive smile. ‘Some people are making Olex the favorite. But my money is on you. All the way. You've got this my man.'

‘Thank you, I appreciate it,' Luca said, high fiving Tyron.

‘Okay, now it's time for your game face,' Tyron said, noting that it was just about time for Luca and Olex to go head-to-head in the cage together. ‘Heart. Mind. Intensity. This is your fight to win.'

Luca nodded and stepped through the cage door.

Across on the other side was Olex. He looked in supreme shape, as he always did. Even with his partying lifestyle, Olex was one of those guys who could still look like a million dollars. In part, it was probably down to his relative youth. Certainly, Luca wasn't unable to stay out all night and then train the next day.

‘Ready to lose?' Olex called out from across the octagon. ‘Your ass is mine, old man.'

Luca shook his head.

This kid thinks he's the cat's pajamas.

And that's going to be his downfall.

It's time to show him how Luca Sorrento fights for real…

The starter buzzer sounded and the two men moved toward one another in the center of the octagon. Luca held out his fist for a customary fist bump, but Olex refused.

Olex may have thought he was being clever, but all this minor disrespect did was focus Luca's mind even more on what he needed to do to win.

After a few moments of testing each other out and figuring the distances between them, the two men clashed in the center of the octagon. Fists were flying and so were kicks and elbows too. This may have been an intra-gym tournament fight, but Luca and Olex were going after each other like it was a world title fight with millions of dollars and the championship belt on the line.

After a pulsating first round, both fighters retreated to their corners, ready for water and words of advice from their respective trainers.

‘How's it looking?' Luca said, taking a seat and sipping on some water.

‘Looks good, you're definitely in this fight,' Tyron said. ‘Keep working, keep making him waste shots. You'll tire him out, I know you will. Remember, you have the superior fighter IQ.'

‘Got it,' Luca said, slowly working through his breathing techniques to slow his heart rate and get rid of as much fatigue as he could.

All the while, Olex hadn't even bothered to sit in his corner. Instead, he was calling out to his friends in the audience, bragging and hollering about how he had gone easy on Luca in the first round.

‘Big fucking mistake,' Luca said, looking at Tyron and exchanging a wry smile. ‘I think this sonofabitch is ready to face the hardest round of his life.'

As the two men met in the center of the octagon for the second round, Olex swung wildly not once, not twice, but three times. Each punch missed the target due to Luca's fast reaction times.

Olex let out a yelp of frustration.

‘Not getting tired are you?' Luca said, smiling and leaving his chin dangling for Olex to take another swing at.

‘Argh! Screw you, old man!' Olex bellowed, yet again missing with a series of punches and kicks.

Luca then threw a few shots of his own, each one connecting with Olex. The temptation was to keep on going on the attack, but Luca held back and offered Olex a chance to retaliate.

This time, Luca held his guard close to his body and allowed Olex to land a series of blows. The kicks weren't scoring any points as they were all landing on Luca's arms or gloves.

Luca could see Olex's frustration. And his tiredness too.

He's ready to go.

His gas tank is almost empty.

I just need him to unleash one more barrage...

Just as Luca wanted, Olex unleashed a huge series of punches, each one with the sole aim of knocking Luca down. But by this point, Olex was fatigued and his punches had far less power. He had burned himself out and it wasn't even the end of the second round yet.

This was Luca's moment.

Seeing that Olex was breathing hard and looking worn out, Luca pummeled his rival with body shots, winding him hard and sending Olex staggering backward.

‘Take him down!' Tyron shouted from outside the cage. But Luca was already well on the way to enacting his trainer's wishes.

Three stiff jabs to Olex's guard broke his defense, and one huge left hook to follow up sent an exhausted Olex to the canvas. Luca charged to finish him off, but the referee could see that Olex was done and stepped in and called the fight off.

Luca had won.

The crowd cheered and applauded what had been an explosive match up. Luca looked down on a bruised and tired Olex. The truth was that some of Olex's shots had hurt Luca, but Olex just hadn't had the right game plan.

‘Good fight,' Luca said, offering his hand to Olex.

‘Fuck off,' Olex said, standing on wobbly feet. ‘You got lucky. Don't think you've heard the last of this. I'll spring a surprise on you when you least expect it…'

Luca couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was totally uncalled for. The look of anger on Olex's face was like that of a spoilt child. But it was also worrying that Olex seemed to be implying there would be a beef outside of the gym walls.

‘Security, get this asshole out of here,' Tyron said, anger in his voice. ‘It was a fair fight. We fight hard in this gym. We show honor. And we certainly don't act like that in defeat.'

‘Don't worry,' Luca said, turning to Tyron as several burly gym members dragged Olex out of the gym. ‘Olex knows he's in the wrong. It's just a question of when he'll be willing to admit that to himself.'

‘You fought a hell of a fight,' Tyron said. ‘How about sticking around to watch the other fights? We can grab a beer afterward?'

‘Thank you, but I've got a certain someone I need to see,' Luca said, his thoughts now back on Tommy. ‘This fight has given me some real clarity on some things. Catch you in training next week, Ty.'

Luca and Tyron embraced.

It felt great to win the fight, but as far as Luca was concerned it was time to head back home.

Luca had a very special boy who he needed to make things right with.

Luca raced back home without even taking the time to have a shower. Fortunately, he was being driven back by his own personal driver so didn't have to worry about stinking out an unsuspecting Uber driver's car.

On arrival back at the penthouse, Luca felt determined to make everything okay with Tommy. There simply had to be an answer to the Xane situation that would at least go some way to pleasing everyone.

I don't know what I'll say.

I just know I have to make it right.

Tommy is too important to lose. He's means way too much to me…

However as Luca entered the penthouse, a sinking feeling came over him. There was an eerie silence in the air. Somehow, Luca just knew that Tommy wasn't at home.

‘Tommy?' Luca called out. ‘Where are you?'

Luca went from room to room, but there was no sign of Tommy. After checking each and every room, Luca looped back round to the bedroom.

‘Oh no, what have you done, boy?' Luca bellowed.

Luca saw that Tommy's stuff had been moved around and some notable items were missing too.

Tommy was gone.

But where?

And, worst of all, Luca didn't know if Tommy was safe or even if he would ever see him again. Luca had arrived back home with every intention of making things right. But now it looked like that chance may have gone. Luca's only hope was that his chance to have his happy ever after with Tommy hadn't gone… for good.