Chapter 14

After evading Sloane’s men, Antonio had found a quiet side street and called up Luca for some assistance. Within half an hour, Luca had personally driven to Antonio’s location on his jet-black motorcycle and the pair of them had burned rubber back to Antonio’s house.

The journey on Luca’s motorcycle may have been quick, but it wasn’t half as fast as the thoughts that were going round and round in Antonio’s head. The situation with that scumbag cop Sloane looked to be reaching breaking point. It would have been foolish in the extreme to think that what just happened was some kind of one off.

Sloane, for all of his faults, was clearly a highly determined and bold individual. He wouldn’t back off now he seemingly had Antonio on the back foot. If anything, Antonio expected that this would be the beginning of a sustained period of pressure. It felt like make-or-break time. And if Antonio knew one thing, it was that this was one battle he simply could not even contemplate losing.

There’s too much at fucking stake.

But it’s not just me or the mafia men any longer.

It’s the boy’s future that’s in jeopardy too…

As Antonio stepped off Luca’s motorcycle and removed the black helmet, it must have been clear that he was deeply troubled by this new turn of events.

‘Brother, let me come in with you,’ Luca said. ‘We’ll break bread, sink a few drinks. You know, just like the old times.’

Antonio shook his head.

As appealing as it might have been to bring Luca in and go through everything, Antonio felt that what he really needed more than anything was total silence. Antonio knew that he needed to put his laser focus on the problem and having a hot-head like Luca in the room almost certainly wasn’t going to help.

Luca was a great brother and a brilliant warrior, but calm strategic thinking was not his forte.

‘I think I need to think this out alone,’ Antonio said, offering his hand to Luca. ‘But don’t worry, when I put the plan in place I’ll call on you.’

‘I get it, I get it. I’m no Albert Einstein,’ Luca said, laughing. ‘But you can bet your ass I’ll be ready when some bullets need spraying. Stay safe, my brother.’

With that, the two men shook hands. Antonio stood at the bottom step and watched Luca loudly roar off into the night. Antonio felt grateful to have Luca in his life, but now was the time to go it alone.

Antonio turned and walked up the stairs and into his house.

This may have been a quiet, upscale neighborhood. But whether Antonio’s neighbors knew it or not, Antonio was about to attempt to put a plan in place that would shake the city’s police force up for good – and send some dirty cops away for a very long time, and quite possibly to an early grave too.

Antonio paced up and down his office. Normally, the subtle and classic décor of his office was the perfect surroundings for Antonio to think through a problem or conflict and come up with the perfect solution.

Antonio had set the top-end speaker system to play his favorite classical music mix, the pure sound of the orchestra filling the room. But instead of calming Antonio down, it only served to heighten the turmoil inside him.

This wasn’t normal.

In fact, so much about this situation wasn’t normal for Antonio. He was a brilliant thinker, a natural born strategist. But the answers simply weren’t coming to him. It was frustrating, and the longer it went on the more frustrated and angry Antonio got.

No matter what mental avenue Antonio went down, he faced problem after problem. Taking Detective Sloane down wasn’t going to be easy no matter which way Antonio tried to envisage it.

In fact, the more Antonio thought about it, the harder the problem got.

Sloane was a decorated and well-respected cop with no blemishes on his record. Sloane also seemed to have the all-important media backing too – and this meant that he was also popular with the public. Rightly or wrongly, Sloane’s reputation in the public was of an all-action, go-getting cop. This was far from ideal.

Of course, the public perception of Sloane was a far contrast from who Antonio knew him to be. Sloane was corrupt scum. A man with no honor, zero integrity, and probably a whole ton of unpleasant secrets in his closet.

But how was Antonio going to either expose him or take him down?

‘Jesus. Damn it,’ Antonio barked, the frustration getting the better of him as he picked up one of his cherished signed baseballs and tossed it across the office.

The sound of the baseball shattering an antique vase only added to Antonio’s anger. He knew that he had to stay calm and in control, but there was something about Sloane that made it harder for Antonio to keep his composure.

Dealing with corrupt cops was always unpleasant. They were lower than the lowest criminal in Antonio’s experience, and there was something about their hypocrisy that simply drove him crazy with rage.

But Sloane was a whole other level of corrupt cop.

The way that Sloane had made threats about Lyle was the real evil in this situation. Going after family wasn’t something that Antonio ever approved of. Sure, it happened in some mafia families from time to time, but as far as Antonio was concerned it was a despicable act. Rivals were fair game, but their families were not.

Antonio was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Something had to give.

I cannot risk Lyle’s safety.

The boy means too much to me.

He means so much that I… have to let him go?

The reality of the situation was making itself clear to Antonio. Sloane’s threats toward Lyle only applied if him and Antonio were together. Lyle would have no value to Sloane if they were no longer a couple. As much as it pained Antonio to even think it, he realized that the best way of protecting Lyle would be to cut him loose.

It wouldn’t get Sloane off Antonio’s back, but it would keep Lyle out of harm’s way. Antonio had seen to it that no one in the criminal world would ever hassle Lyle again after the incident in Balthazar Bar. That had been relatively simple work for a man of Antonio’s reputation and connections.

So with that done, it meant that Antonio could let Lyle leave his protection and return to his normal life without having to deal with threats from the likes of Sloane.

It hurt Antonio to contemplate it, but deep down he felt like it was the only way he could guarantee Lyle’s survival. And although that was the most important thing to Antonio, he also knew that his war with Detective Sloane was also placing the whole crime family in danger.

Sloane had to go down, and he had to go down for good.

Blood would almost certainly be shed, and good mafia men would fall.

But Antonio had to give himself the best chance of leading the family to victory – and that was best done with Lyle safely out of the way.

The only problem Antonio had now was how he was going to tell Lyle…

‘Antonio! Antonio!’ Lyle called out, his voice sounding troubled. ‘Where are you?’

Antonio took a deep breath.

As he stepped out of the office and walked toward Lyle, Antonio steeled himself for what he knew was going to be an exceedingly difficult moment.

To say that Antonio wasn’t looking forward to telling Lyle that their relationship was over would be something of an understatement. Antonio had delivered tough news many times over during his time as a senior member of the mafia, but this was deeply personal to him.

‘You need to hear what happened,’ Lyle said, soaking wet and looking very down. ‘It was-’

‘Before you speak, I need to say something,’ Antonio said, his voice cold and devoid of emotion. ‘This is important. I want you to listen very carefully.’

‘But Ant-’

‘No, I said listen,’ Antonio said, his voice louder and firmer than it should have been. ‘This isn’t happy news. I’m going to have to end our arrangement. And by that, I mean you staying here and also our relationship.’

‘No! No! No!’ Lyle said, tears falling down his face. ‘I… I… don’t understand!’

‘Boy, it’s the only way,’ Antonio said, placing his hand on Lyle’s shoulder only for Lyle to jerk out of the way. ‘Don’t react emotionally. This is for the best. I need to think of the business. I need to think about your safety. Making decisions is what I do. I’m the expert. And after giving it a lot of thought, this is just how it must be. That’s the final word on the matter as far as I’m concerned.’

Antonio’s heart was beating hard, and he tried everything he could to hide just how difficult this was for him. Antonio figured that if he could seem as cold and calm as possible, it would keep the situation from becoming too emotional.

The last thing that Antonio wanted was to open up and get into his own feelings. If that happened, there was even a chance that he might let Lyle convince him to change his plan. And that simply couldn’t be allowed to happen. There was too much at stake.

‘You can stay tonight,’ Antonio said. ‘In your own bed in the annex, of course. But you’ll have to leave tomorrow.’

‘Fuck you!’ Lyle said, waving his arms wildly. ‘If you don’t want me here, I’ll leave right this second.’

With that, Antonio watched as Lyle ran past him and stomped all the way up to the annex. The sound of doors slamming and clothes being flung around was heartbreaking for Antonio to hear, but he was determined to remain detached.

This is the only way.

Lyle’s life is worth more than our relationship.

I have to do what is right.

As much as this hurt, Antonio thought back to the memories he still held of Gio, his old love. Gio may have been involved in crime out of his own choice, but that didn’t change the pain that Antonio felt when his life was so devastatingly cut short. The idea that this could happen to Lyle was too horrible to imagine.

Antonio would have rather never, ever see Lyle again if that meant Lyle didn’t become collateral damage in his war with Detective Sloane. The possibility of losing two boys in the same way was not something that Antonio was going to countenance for even a split second.

Detective Sloane had shown that there was no low he wouldn’t sink to. And with a team of corrupt cops working to his orders, Antonio knew that the sooner Lyle was out of his life, the better.

Lyle might cry all the way back to his place that night, but he would have his whole life to look forward to. By keeping Lyle around, Antonio couldn’t guarantee that Lyle would be safe and that simply wasn’t acceptable.

Antonio heard Lyle running down the stairs, his stuffy Stripes in one hand and his bag slung over his shoulder.

‘Goodbye Lyle,’ Antonio said, his words barely audible as Lyle charged past him and headed straight out onto the street.

Antonio watched as Lyle jumped into a waiting Uber.

As the car drove off, Antonio shut the front door and stared back into his house. It may have been full of noise and fun recently, but Lyle was gone now and the house already seemed empty and lacking any of the life that he brought to it.

But this was fine. Lyle’s absence may have made the house a quieter place, but at least the boy was safe. And as far as Antonio was concerned, the only other person on his mind from now on would be Sloane.

It was time to go to war.