Chapter 8

A few days later, and Luca was back in the MMA gym and building up one hell of a sweat. It was a cardio and endurance session, and Luca was pushing his forty-five-year-old body to its limits.

Luca could feel his blood pumping around his muscles, desperately trying to give him what he needed to keep on going. It was painful work, but the good kind of pain that meant progress was being made.

The gym was full of noise. A hardcore techno beat thumped and thudded over the noise of the trainers shouting out instructions and driving their pupils on toward levels they had never imagined possible.

Luca loved to be challenged in the gym. The feeling of being totally at the mercy of his trainer and with the sole goal of making a new gain or pushing his body even further was more than enough to motivate him.

The fact that the competitive fight with Olex wasn't too far off was only serving to add an extra level of determination to Luca's mindset as he grunted and thrusted his way through a brutal set of weighted thigh-thrusts.

‘Okay, and that's a fucking wrap on that one,' Tyron said, smiling as he handed an exhausted Luca his water bottle. ‘Fucking awesome work, Luca. You've got this.'

Luca nodded and attempted a smile. In that moment though, all Luca could do was sip on the water and wait for his heartrate to get back to something approaching normal.

The last few days of looking after Tommy had been wonderful, and as Luca took in his rest period, his mind went straight back to Tommy.

Tommy may have been a little too over enthusiastic at times, but he was a good kid. Luca could see that Tommy had absolutely everything it took to be the best boy a Dom like him could ask for.

That being said, Luca also knew that as fun and fulfilling as it was to have Tommy around, the primary concern was in how to best dispatch Xane Troppo and his men.

I have to do it right.

Xane is a punk, but he's dangerous.

He's growing his gang too, which spells trouble…

After putting the word out about Xane, Luca had learned that Xane was a man of ambition. He may have shown all the characteristics of a typical flash in the pan street thug, but sometimes they were the most dangerous to deal with.

This wouldn't be a simple case of putting a hit out and removing Xane from the scene. From what Luca could gather, Xane was attempting to place himself in the service of different gang factions across the city.

‘He may be a flashy thug, but that's smart…' Luca grumbled under his still-heavy breathing.

Luca knew that you simply couldn't take someone out without permission once they were associated with a big boss. That kind of thing could be a complex, drawn out affair. If the rumors about Xane embedding himself in various gangs was true, then Luca would have to truly consider exactly how he was going to move.

Ultimately though, the goal was the same.

For Tommy's sake, Xane was going down.

It was just a question of how…

But Luca couldn't dwell too much on Xane. After his rest time came to an end, it was straight back into another punishing workout. The only problem was that somehow Olex had worked his way over from the other side of the gym.

With his cocky smile and Russian gang tattoos fully on display on his sweaty, ripped body, Olex strode toward Luca like he was looking for trouble.

‘Hey, Olex, take it easy,' Tyron said, stepping in between Olex and Luca. ‘We don't need any shit going down. This is a fitness session. We ain't fighting yet.'

‘Sure, whatever,' Olex laughed. ‘I can see the old man is wasted. What's up, moving your body too hard in your old age?'

‘Plenty enough left in the tank to smash you to pieces,' Luca said, growling as he stepped forward, not willing to give an inch to his cocky rival. ‘Now why don't you just crawl back into your hole and let the big boys get on with things?'

Luca could see that he was getting to Olex.

But Olex had one round left to fire in his gun, and it was an explosive one too…

‘Okay, old man,' Olex snarled. ‘Oh, and by the way, your kinky secrets are safe with me. For now…'

Luca immediately felt furious. He wasn't sure whether Olex was referring to him being a Dom, or even to his love of delicate panties. Either way, it was a low-blow and Luca had to focus extremely hard to ensure that he didn't give Olex what he so desperately wanted and lose his cool.

‘Like I said, time for you to get back in your hole,' Luca grunted, standing tall and refusing to take a backward step as a grinning Olex cackled his way back to the other side of the gym.

What had been a thoroughly satisfying and intense workout had taken an unfortunate turn. Luca was angry. Seriously angry. It was time to finish off the session and get the hell out of there.

Luca arrived at the coffee spot and was glad to see a friendly face in Antonio. Taking a seat on the street-side dining area, Luca fist-bumped Antonio and couldn't help but get straight to unloading about Olex…

‘This God damned asshole is too much,' Luca said, trying his best to remain calm but not exactly succeeding. ‘I know what he's trying to do. Whether he knows about me being a Dom, or my other kinks… I don't know, I just need to not let him inside my head.'

Antonio nodded and sipped on his double espresso.

‘You're right,' Antonio said. ‘But it's easier said than done. Trust me, I've been there myself. Assholes like Olex will always try and get any advantage they can, they don't know anything about respect or doing things the honorable way.'

‘True,' Luca said, comforted by Antonio's support. ‘The crazy thing is that I don't think he's bad all the way down. He's from a decent family, very respectable Russians with a long history of doing business the right way. I guess maybe he's just a bad apple.'

‘Either that or he's got a thing for you?' Antonio chuckled. ‘You know, this is how some guys go about showing their love.'

Luca and Antonio laughed together. This scenario was possible, albeit unlikely. Still, it was good for Luca to see the funny side to the situation rather than allow it to eat away at him.

‘And if he does know something about your kinks, so what?' Antonio added. ‘It might be a bit embarrassing, but you're Luca Sorrento… not one single person will have the cojones to say anything. Not to your face, anyhow.'

‘So what you're saying is that I definitely need to keep this beef in the gym?' Luca said, knowing full well what Antonio's response would be.

‘One hundred percent yes, keep it in the gym,' Antonio said. ‘You know the rules, man. What happens in the gym, stays in the gym. Unless you want a city-wide civil war breaking out? Jesus, that's the last thing we need.'

‘I agree,' Luca laughed. ‘You're right again Senior Sorrento.'

‘Damn right I'm right,' Antonio laughed, the pair of them raising their espresso glasses to one another. ‘And enough of the senior.'

The Sorrento men stuck together through thick and thin. It was important that they were able to talk and call each other out when necessary.

Finding truly loyal and open-hearted allies in the Mafia was a tricky business. The wrong word spoken to the wrong person could have deadly results, so having a close-knit group of diehard friends was something to cherish.

Speaking of which, Damian may not have been present for the coffee, but he sent a message to Luca and Antonio letting them know that they were in his thoughts…

DAMIAN: Guys – make sure to have an extra coffee for me. I'm tied up with some pretty serious shit that's going down. I'm calling in a few familiar faces to help. I think when the time comes, we'll be good to make a big push and do something VERY big. Anyway, take it easy and see you soon.

Luca and Antonio exchanged a knowing look. Damian was a seriously good operator, and if he said something big was going down, he wasn't likely to be exaggerating.

But with their coffees finished and a swirl of wind in the air, Luca and Antonio knew it was time to go their separate ways…

‘My boy Lyle is due his weekly maintenance paddling,' Antonio grinned. ‘I swear he's sassing me on purpose to make sure I give it to him good. Hell, I'm not complaining…'

‘Ha! Well, I'm not at that stage with Tommy yet, but it's going well so far,' Luca said, embracing his good friend Antonio before the pair of them turned and headed off in opposite directions. ‘Take it easy, brother.'

‘You too,' Antonio said, flashing a knowing smile and disappearing around the corner.

Suddenly, the drama with Olex couldn't have been further from Luca's mind. Now it was all about getting home as quickly as possible to Tommy and seeing what his sweet little boy had been up to…

Luca opened the door to his apartment and immediately knew that something was amiss.

‘Are… you… kidding… me?' Luca muttered, his quiet voice suddenly getting louder. ‘Boy! Where are you? Come to me right this instant.'

As Luca waited for Tommy to show his face, he surveyed the damage around him. Thankfully there was no damage to any of his furniture or works of art, but that seemed more like a tiny shred of comfort than anything to be overly pleased about.

The entire stretch of the main hallway was a total mess. There were trails of food crumbs, video game equipment, and even clothes scattered across the floor.

Luca needed answers, and he needed them quickly.

‘Yes?' Tommy said, biting his bottom lip and looking more than a little sheepish. ‘I was going to tidy up…'

‘Really? When? Tonight? Tomorrow? Next week?' Luca said, his voice firm but under control. ‘That's not even the point. I'm all in favor of you having fun, but this is just out of control.'

‘Jeeze, it's not that bad,' Tommy said, kicking a game controller from under his feet. ‘You should see the mess I make back at my place. If anything, you're lucky it wasn't worse!'

That was the last straw as far as Luca was concerned.

A verbal dressing down wasn't going to suffice. In fact, it wasn't even close to being enough. And neither would a hand spanking do either. It was time for the boy to feel the paddle on his messy, sassy butt.

‘Come with me,' Luca barked, walking toward Tommy and taking him firmly by the arm. ‘It's time for you to learn that as a guest here, you need to show the basic respect of not turning my home into a total crash site.'

‘Bullshit! This isn't fair!' Tommy squawked, stomping his foot on the floor. ‘You're being a big, mean man! I should be allowed to make a mess!'

Luca shook his head.

It was clear to see that Tommy was being a brat, and it was time that he learned his lesson.

‘You are going to show your Master that you know you deserve this paddling,' Luca said, letting go of Tommy as they entered the bedroom. ‘Pull your pants and briefs down yourself and present those buttocks for me. Do it, and do it now.'

‘Urgh. Fine!' Tommy said, stomping toward the center of the room and doing as Luca instructed. ‘Happy?'

Luca looked at Tommy as he stood in the center of the room, his naked lower half on display and his dick very much showing signs of excitement.

‘Now walk over to the desk and place your hands on either side as you bend over,' Luca growled, his Dom instincts truly kicking in. ‘If you thought your hand spanking was hard, you'd better be ready for a whole new world.'

Tommy did as he was told yet again, except this time without and verbal sass. Clearly, the very real prospect of a painful paddling was becoming far more real to him.

‘Good, but stick that little booty out a bit more,' Luca said, fetching his paddle from the cupboard in the closet.

Luca swished the paddle through the air and saw Tommy's body tense up at the sound of it. For all of his bravado, Tommy was clearly nervous now that the paddling was imminent.

‘I will paddle your butt twenty times,' Luca said, his voice cold and in control. ‘Your feet will not move from that spot. Not once. If they do, we start again from zero. Understood?'

‘Y-y-y-yes, Sir,' Tommy said, his voice wavering. ‘I understand.'

‘Now, I'll have a few more warm-up swings and we'll be good to go,' Luca said, taking a moment to get his perfect swing motion in full flow.

Luca wanted this paddling to make a statement, and it was important to him as a Dom that he gave the best possible account of himself. Luca wanted Tommy to like him, but he was more concerned in this moment with ensuring that Tommy learned that Luca needed to be respected above all else.

After prolonging the moment for long enough, Luca duly set to work on giving Tommy his punishment.

The first paddle swooshed down and crashed onto Tommy's cheeks, immediately turning them a glowing red.

‘Good, you took that well,' Luca said, impressed that Tommy wasn't up and hopping around and grabbing his cheeks. ‘But we've got another nineteen to go. Let's see how we get on, shall we?'

‘Awww, yes Sir,' Tommy whimpered, clearly anticipating what was ahead.

And as Luca continued to bring down his paddle and crack it onto Tommy's little butt, Luca continued to be impressed by Tommy's resilience. In fact, Tommy was taking the paddling so well that Luca wanted to make sure that Tommy wasn't simply putting a brave face on things.

‘Remember, boy, you can always use your safeword,' Luca said, pausing the paddling with ten left to go. ‘There's no shame in it. I won't think any less of you.'

‘No, I'm good,' Tommy said, evidently in pain but managing to hold it together. ‘Paddle me. Don't hold back.'

‘Don't worry, I won't,' Luca said, a hint of a smile on his face as he felt proud of his boy. ‘Let's get this final ten wrapped up nice and quickly.'

With that, Luca unleashed two sets of five rapid-fire paddle swats onto Tommy. Tommy was gasping and whimpering in pain from the stinging sensation but was as determined as ever to remain in position.

‘And… there's… twenty!' Luca bellowed, the final swat crashing down and echoing around the bedroom.

Tommy remained in position, his submissive obedience impressing Luca a great deal. But Tommy had taken his punishment, and now the focus was all on the aftercare as far as Luca was concerned.

Without wasting a second, Luca picked Tommy up and cradled him in his arms before walking into the adjoining bathroom and breaking out his cooling creams.

‘That feels so good,' Tommy said, his demeanor surprisingly upbeat. ‘I think I realized something too.'

‘What's that, boy?' Luca replied tenderly as he lightly massaged the cooling cream deeper into Tommy's glowing butt cheeks.

‘I totally deserved that,' Tommy continued. ‘I'm not trying to make excuses, but I think what made me act so wild was feeling so safe and secure again. You know, after everything that's been going on. I haven't felt like letting loose like that was an option since that thing happened with you know who.'

‘That's a fair assessment,' Luca said, proud that Tommy was showing good self-awareness while still owning his actions. ‘But don't worry, soon enough all will be resolved and you can go back to living your life as you were beforehand.'

‘Except…'

‘Yes?' Luca said, lightly stroking Tommy's smooth, blonde hair. ‘Except what?'

‘Except you'll still be a part of my life, won't you?' Tommy said, hope in his voice as he looked up into Luca's eyes.

‘Of course,' Luca replied. ‘I think I'll be in your life for a very long time. As long as you want me there.'

Tommy simply smiled.

Luca felt like a real Dom for perhaps the first time in his life. Having Tommy in the apartment was like nothing Luca had experienced. This wasn't a quick hook-up or infatuation. This felt like something else entirely.

Luca didn't want to tempt fate, but he couldn't help wonder whether the relationship between him and Tommy was about to go to a whole new level, and soon…