Chapter 12

After dealing with a minor crisis over on the West Side of the city, Antonio had returned to his secret office to shower, clean the blood off his hands, and change into a fresh suit.

Sometimes, Antonio still had to get his hands dirty. And despite wanting to move away from the physical side of the business, it was still occasionally necessary.

Plunging a knife deep into another man’s chest was something that Antonio had done plenary of times over the years - and today was a return to that kind of form. But as much as Antonio was now a master thinker and strategist, the ability to do what needed to be done was never going to desert him.

But that wasn’t to say that Antonio relished physical battles in quite the same way that he maybe used to…

‘Fuck. I’m getting too old for this,’ Antonio said, stepping out of the shower and looking at the developing bruise on his rib cage. ‘Still, that guy won’t be causing any more problems for us at least.’

Antonio shook his head and walked through into the dressing-room. As he began to change, an idea came into Antonio’s head. After doing one of his kinks last night with Lyle, Antonio figured it would be fun to return the favor.

Two of the kinks that Lyle had seemed most keen on was the idea of being approached by a naked stranger in public, and then also to be punished in public. Antonio immediately connected the two different kinks and put together a way of giving Lyle the best of both.

It was time to get himself ready and head over to Lyle’s workplace. It would be the boy’s lunch break soon enough, and Antonio wanted to make sure it was a lunch break that Lyle wouldn’t forget in a very, very long time…

Antonio waited outside the doors of the Tribune’s office building. With his dark glasses and formal grey coat that came down to his shoes, Antonio looked inconspicuous. In fact, he looked like one of the dozens of journalists and businessmen making their way up and down the block.

Except there was one difference.

And it was a pretty damn big difference too…

Underneath Antonio’s long coat he was wearing precisely nothing! It may have been another chilly day, but Antonio was totally naked. But before Antonio could worry too much about the dipping temperature, he spotted Lyle skipping out of the main entrance.

Lyle looked delightfully cute in his blue shirt, white bowtie, and pinstriped trousers. All it took was a quick whistle and Lyle spotted Antonio.

‘Boy, you must come with me right this second,’ Antonio commanded, taking Lyle by the hand and walking the pleasantly shocked sub down a quiet side alley. ‘Now feast your eyes on this!’

Lyle gasped as Antonio opened up his coat to reveal his naked body and rapidly hardening cock.

‘We can’t. I mean… I don’t know what to say,’ Lyle said, his eyes widening at the sight of Antonio’s erection.

‘Don’t say anything, just get on your knees and suck my cock,’ Antonio barked. ‘Anyone could walk down this alley. And if they do, they’ll see a horny boy working his Master’s cock. So you’d better hurry up!’

Lyle did exactly as he was told.

Antonio loved to see Lyle so submissive and willing to do whatever he commanded. This may have been high up on Lyle’s list of kinks, but Antonio couldn’t deny that he was absolutely loving it too.

In fact, Antonio made a mental note to do some more research into this kink. It felt like something he would love to explore more of in the future. But that could wait, now it was all about making sure that Lyle got absolutely the most out of the situation – even if that did come at a cost to Antonio’s own pleasure.

‘On your feet, now!’ Antonio growled. ‘You’re a good little cocksucker. But you’re not fast enough. And for that, you’re going to get a punishment.’

Antonio put his hand into the deep pocket of his long coat and pulled out his favorite brown paddle.

‘W-w-w-what? Here?’ Lyle said, his mouth wet with saliva and his hands reaching out and gripping on Antonio’s throbbing cock. ‘But what if someone hears? Or sees?’

‘Turn around, hands on the wall,’ Antonio growled, ignoring Lyle’s concerns. ‘You will take ten cracks of my paddle on each cheek, and you will thank me for each one of them. Understood?’

‘Ten! On each cheek?’ Lyle said, his voice trembling as Antonio yanked his pants and briefs down to his ankles. ‘I don’t know if I can…’

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK!

‘Yowwwwww! Thank you, Master,’ Lyle said, his voice quivering as Antonio went straight into another triple-fire of paddle swats. ‘It’s stings!’

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK!

Lyle tried to keep as still as he could, his cries blending into the loud, hectic sounds of the city. No one could see or hear Lyle, but the threat of being discovered was still there, and Antonio could tell that this was a major turn on for Lyle.

After landing the final paddle swat, Antonio spun Lyle around and put his hand on Lyle’s shaft, working it up and down and rapidly bringing him to a hot and heavy climax.

It felt so good for Antonio to know just how turned-on Lyle was by his surprise visit. Antonio hadn’t felt so sexually connected to another boy for a long time, and yet he knew that this was more than just physical.

As much as Antonio would have loved to take Lyle back home to continue the fun, he knew that Lyle had to get back to work. And so did Antonio too, of course.

‘That was amazing,’ Lyle said, poking his head out from the end of the alleyway and taking a quick step back onto the main street. ‘I’d like to do that again!’

‘Oh, you can count on it,’ Antonio said, reaching down to ensure that his coat was completely shut and leaving nothing on display. ‘Now get that butt back to work and show the world who the number one up and coming reporter in NYC is.’

Lyle reached up on his tiptoes to give Antonio a kiss on the lips before turning and making his way back to the office.

For Antonio, it had been a successful first half of the day.

But now it was time to get back to serious business…

After making a quick stop at one of his many apartments, Antonio changed back into his typical all black suit and smart shoes. The agenda for the rest of the day was more admin-based than normal.

Bank meeting. Check.

Mafia strategy sit-down. Check.

And finally… a financial planning meeting with his accountant.

After consuming a ton of pasta and glass after glass of sparkling water at the strategy sit-down meeting, Antonio was in the mood for a quick pick-me-up. As he sat in the back of his Uber, Antonio realized he was in one of his favorite neighborhoods for coffee.

‘Stop here please, just on the corner,’ Antonio said, nodding and tipping the driver generously as the car pulled up to the sidewalk. ‘Have a good day.’

The Uber driver smiled as he saw the size of his tip and drove away. Antonio always ensured to tip generously. Manners meant a lot to Antonio, and he knew from growing up with very little that everyone had a story to tell. Hard workers often didn’t get the rewards their efforts deserved, and it only felt right to pass on some of his wealth to the hard-working Uber drivers of new York City.

Antonio was feeling good about life in general.

Being with Lyle has given Antonio a renewed passion and zest for life. Although Antonio still had fond memories of his former boy, he felt like it was time to truly move on from him. There would always be memories of good times with Gio, and the tragedy of his early and untimely passing would never completely go away.

However, the future was all about Lyle.

Antonio may have made his name through his cutthroat decision making and eagle eyed planning skills, but the softer side of his mind and soul had been opened up by Lyle in a way that never happened while he was in a relationship with Gio.

Maybe it was to do with the fact that Gio was involved in the life too, but all Antonio knew was that life was feeling sunnier and warmer than ever before. Even looking back into his childhood, Antonio could hardly recall ever feeling so at peace with the world as he did in that moment.

Then, just as Antonio was crossing the quiet road and approaching the Barista Blaster café, he found himself surrounded by cop cars. They weren’t marked cop cars, but the flashing lights told their own story – as did the sight of several cops jumping out of the cars.

This felt bad.

It felt seriously suspicious too.

Then, right on cue, Detective Niall Sloane emerged from the car set back from the rest.

‘Sorrento, what a pleasant surprise,’ Sloane said, a smug grin on his face as he kept his distance. ‘I’m glad I bumped into you. You’re usually such a hard man to pin down.’

‘What the fuck do you want?’ Antonio said, a flash of anger in his voice.

‘What do I want?’ Sloane laughed. ‘Guys, check out Mr. Sorrento. Thinks he’s in charge here! Thinks he can ask me questions?’

The other cops laughed. It was clear that they were Sloane’s men. If Sloane was corrupt, Antonio knew that he would most likely have a squad of obedient similarly corrupt cops beneath him too.

This was all valuable intelligence that Antonio could use. But in this moment there was the clear and present threat of precisely what Sloane intended to make of this moment.

Antonio didn’t have to wait too long to find out either…

‘Listen, asshole,’ Sloane said, stepping past his men and standing toe to toe with Antonio. ‘I know you’ve been digging around after me. Well, if you want to survive in this city, you need to back the hell off. I could be an ally. If you earn my trust. Think about it. But one thing I won’t tolerate for a God damn second is you trying to take me down.’

Antonio could see that Sloane had come prepared. His words sounded rehearsed, and this suggested that Sloane had been aiming to have this meet-up for quite some time.

Keep cool.

Don’t bite. Give nothing away.

Let the asshole talk.

‘But just to make it clear,’ Sloane continued, running his hands through his slicked-back blonde hair. ‘If I think you’re going to be any trouble for me, I’ll wipe you off the face of the earth. Either jail or death, I don’t care. And the same goes for that slut of yours too…’

Antonio felt like he wanted to explode into a fit of rage.

Sloane bringing Lyle into things was a step too far. Lyle wasn’t involved in the business, he was a civilian. Sloane was a low-down rat, and Antonio knew that there was no way they would ever be anything less than sworn enemies.

‘I’ll do what I need to do,’ Antonio said, his voice cold and emotionless. ‘I’m Antonio Sorrento. I don’t work with scum.’

‘Fair enough,’ Sloane said. ‘Boys, teach him a lesson.’

Antonio saw the cops move in toward him. He was outnumbered. Fighting them off was possible, but unlikely – and certainly not worth potentially getting his ass kicked.

Sometimes the best form of offence was in fact defense.

Antonio swallowed his pride and turned and ran. No one knew the streets like Antonio, and he was free from the cops in less than a minute.

But Antonio knew that this was far from over. Realistically, Antonio knew that it was only just beginning…