Nic’s Pov The Fight

NIC’S POV THE FIGHT

In Sicily, the Mafia was borne out of a need to protect. I try to remember that in my darkest moments, with blood underneath my fingernails, adrenaline flooding my veins, my gun still hot inside my grip. I tell myself that as the Falcone purpose gets murkier, as we veer further from the course set by our ancestors, turn our sights towards new vendettas.

When Sophie came to me for Sanctuary, stood inside the foyer at Evelina with her arms wrapped around herself, I felt the duty so keenly then. It was a feeling I hadn’t experienced in a long time, the sense that something forgotten was flaring inside me once again – a call to action. A call to protect.

‘I’m glad you came to us, Sophie.’ I took a step, closing out my brothers, until it was just us – the way it was supposed to be. ‘It’s not right what she’s doing. But she won’t be alive for much longer. We’ll make sure you’re kept out of all this, I promise.’

Dom stuck his face between us. ‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Nic.’ He rolled back on his heels, his voice vibrating with a level of amusement that, for him, always accompanied the most serious matters in this house. ‘The Council will decide.’

‘I know that,’ Sophie snapped, fire in her eyes, on her tongue. I felt it warm the air between us, charge me as it always did. ‘I know this is kind of a long shot. I didn’t think there would be so much ceremony involved… I just…’ She turned around, her wide eyes passing over me and resting on Luca.

What the hell?

He was looking at her the same way, like whatever she was about to say was the most important thing in his universe. ‘When you told me yesterday that I could come to your family if I was ever in trouble, I didn’t think I’d ever have to take you up on it. But Donata terrifies me, and I’m sick of taking chances with my safety. I’m taking your advice. I’m being smart. I recognize I can’t get out of this on my own.’

‘Yesterday?’ I said, cutting my eyes at him. ‘What was yesterday?’

‘We ran into each other at Stateville,’ Sophie said quickly. ‘He gave me a ride home.’

I ground my fingers into fists, tried to get a handle on the sudden stab of jealousy in my gut. ‘You didn’t think to mention that to me at any point, Luca?’

‘Uh oh,’ interrupted Dom, his grin elastic. ‘Looks like Sophie and Luca had a prison date without Nic…’

‘Shut up,’ she hissed.

Why was she getting so defensive?

‘Calmati.’ Luca clapped me on the back, and still, that small, wayward part of me wanted to swing at him, tell him to get his hands off me if he was going to keep secrets like that, that if anyone talks to my girl, it should be my business, too. ‘Don’t read into it, brother. It was nothing.’

‘Yeah. It was nothing,’ Sophie added, hardening the words.

I glared at Luca, trying to work out the look in his eyes, the way he was holding himself so tight, like he had coiled everything up. Dom was laughing. Dom always laughs at the worst times, like deep inside someone else’s pain, there’s a joke that only he can see.

When Sophie went to the bathroom, I rounded on Luca. ‘What the hell are you playing at?’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Excuse me?’

‘Are you into her?’

He blinked once, twice, and then the noise came, halfway between a splutter and a curse. ‘Are you kidding me?’

I glowered at him.

‘Of course I’m not into her. Dio. Relax.’

Dom slid in between us. ‘Yeah, Nic, relax. They probably only made out once. Just so he could see what she tastes like.’

Luca moved but I got there first. It took half a second for my hand to be clenched inside the collar of Dom’s T-shirt. I yanked him towards me, but he only laughed harder, pushed off me like a springboard and swept a hand through his hair. ‘Whoa, why you so angry, bro? Don’t you like to share?’

‘Boys, boys, boys.’ Felice stepped between us, a hand on my chest, another on Dom’s. ‘If you want to fight, do it like men. Take it to the sparring room.’

‘I’m game if you are.’ Dom led the way, striding down the hallway with confidence I was about to knock clean out of his arrogant, overly-gelled head. Gino fell into step with me. ‘Don’t let him get in your head. You know what he’s like.’

‘This is about respect, Gino. It’s about time Dom learnt to shut his mouth.’

Luca was behind us, tellingly silent.

In the sparring room, Dom and I ran circles around each other. ‘Come on,’ I taunted, beckoning him closer. ‘Show me what you got.’

Dom was bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was quicker than me but I was stronger. I could bench-press him if I needed to, and he was show-boating, puffing out his chest and rolling his neck around as if Luca or Felice would be impressed. Gino was already asleep in a beanbag chair.

He bounced towards me and I charged him, grabbed his back and the undersides of his legs and flipped him over. He fell, flat as a board, his breath whooshing out of him.

‘Give up yet?’ I laughed, knowing Sophie was standing at the edge of the room somewhere watching me, impressed, no doubt by how quickly I had dropped him.

I flicked a glance over my shoulder. She was talking to Luca. It needled me, the way she was watching him, like she had to see the words forming on his lips to really be part of whatever conversation they were having. Hadn’t she just seen me destroy Dom? Why wasn’t she clapping, or looking , at least?

What was Luca saying to her that was so goddamn important?

Dom lumbered to his feet. He took a swing at me, but I blocked it, almost tripping over his foot as it darted out.

‘Watch your knees, Nicolò!’ shouted Luca. ‘Don’t worry about your face, bel ragazzo !’

‘No helping!’ yelled Dom, coming at me again.

I could hear Sophie talking, but I couldn’t tell what she was saying, only that she was saying it to Luca when she should be watching me defend her honour. Dom came at me again, and this time I almost lost my balance.

‘Watch your knees!’ Luca yelled again. ‘That’s his tactic!’

‘ Stai zitto !’ I hissed, springing towards Dom and trying to tackle him at the waist. When I was sure of my grip, I snapped my head up to make sure she was watching. I leapt backwards, balancing on the balls of my feet. Another glance, and Luca was talking to her again, his head pressed against hers.

Whatever he said made her laugh, and whatever made her laugh made her clap her hand over her mouth, and the fire inside me got brighter and hotter.

‘Focus, brother!’ Luca shouted.

I was focusing. Focusing on the way he was smiling at her and she at him, and I’m standing there, like an idiot, defending her, when it should be Luca in this ring apologizing for sneaking around with my girl.

My attention snapped in two and Dom seized it. He wrestled me to the ground, pressed my forehead against it, my arms twined behind me until it felt like my shoulder was dislocating. Cursing, I tapped out.

I got to my feet – my thoughts drowning in the roar of embarrassment inside me. How the hell did I lose to Dom? Dom who spends more time looking at his reflection in the window panes than concentrating on his footing?

Luca stalked towards me. ‘What was that? I told you to focus. You’re too distractible.’

‘ You were distracting me!’ I clamped the rest between my teeth. You fucking idiot!

‘Stop acting like a baby,’ said Luca coolly. ‘You lost me a hundred dollars.’

‘Why don’t you fight me, then?’ I squared up to him, conscious of Sophie watching us. I would show her which of us was stronger, which of us was worth her time. ‘If you’re so knowledgeable then you’ll beat me.’

Luca waved my words away. ‘Don’t be so childish. We have to go now anyway.’

I pushed the matted hair from his eyes. ‘We’ve got time. Since you’re so concerned about your money why don’t you try winning it back? Five hundred dollars for the winner!’

‘You’re so wound up,’ he said. ‘Calm yourself.’

He always did that – spoke to me like I was a child, but I hadn’t been a child in a long time, and if he wanted to hide away from this challenge then he wouldn’t do it by patronizing me. ‘You’re too soft, are you?’ I said, loud and clear, so everyone could hear. ‘How can you run this family if you can’t even block a punch?’

‘What is this?’ asked Luca. ‘What’s gotten into you?’

I glanced at Sophie, caught her worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. ‘You know what it’s about.’

Luca was shaking his head. ‘Brother, you have gone mad.’

‘Or maybe you’ve gone soft.’

‘Ooooh,’ said Dom, walking a circle around us. ‘That’s fighting talk. Are you going to let him disrespect you like that, Luca?’

‘Do you ever shut up?’ Sophie snapped at Dom. ‘Seriously. Grow up!’

I ignored them, my eyes trained on Luca. I could tell he was wavering and in that moment, there was nothing I wanted more than to beat him in front of Sophie.

Luca is calm, but he can be pushed and goaded, and I knew his breaking point.

I prodded him in the chest. ‘You’re too weak. You’re cooped up here with Valentino like some glorified bodyguard. You’ve lost your edge. You’ve been on the sidelines too long.’

He stepped back. ‘Careful,’ he warned. ‘You don’t want to go down this road.’

‘I get it,’ I said, pushing into his personal space. ‘You don’t want me to embarrass you.’

‘Enough!’ he shouted, and the searing rage flung Dom away from us, Felice too. I was expecting this – the bared teeth, the flashing eyes. ‘If you say one more word, Nicolò, I’ll knock you out. Non mettermi alla prova! ’

I grinned at him. ‘You’re all talk, Luca. You couldn’t knock Ignacio over.’

Luca lunged at me. I slammed my fist into the side of his head. Sophie was shouting. Good. Let her watch. Let her see.

Luca was faster than I remembered. His retaliation came in six lightning jabs to my stomach and one to my chin. I swayed on my feet, re-centred myself.

I caught my breath as he danced circles around me. I roundhouse-kicked him, catching him heavy in the shoulder. He got me by the neck, forced me to the ground before I could push him off. I kicked him in the side, aiming for his healing bullet wound and watched him crumple away from me.

Everyone was shouting at us. They were loving it, and I felt charged by Sophie’s support. I was going to win this for her. Luca tackled me at the knees and we went flying backwards. I slipped towards the ground and he seized the moment, looping his arm around my neck and clamping me in a headlock.

On the floor, he flipped me over, pressing his knee against my back and pulling my arm towards the ceiling. I sucked in a laboured breath, tried to twist out of it, but he was like lead on top of me.

‘Basta,’ he growled in my ear. ‘OK? Enough.’

‘Fuck you,’ I gurgled. He released me and my arm slammed against the floor.

I shot to my feet and lunged, but Luca turned at the same time. He threw himself at me, like a wild animal.

I don’t know which of us started screaming first, all I know is we were both as angry as each other. I was unnerved by him in this state – so unhinged and angry about something that should mean less than nothing to him. He wasn’t motivated by pride – and what did he care if Felice or Dom saw him fall? What did he care about any of this?

He never cared about sparring.

I spat across the floor. Luca whipped out his switchblade, flicked it open and drove it into the wood beside my head and I felt my heart lurch up my throat. He pulled back, heaving, the knife glinting beside my head.

‘Enough.’ His teeth were bared. ‘You’ve had your show.’

He got to his feet, this time being careful not to turn his back on me. He fixed his T-shirt, brushed himself off like it was nothing for him to incapacitate me like that, and before I could stop myself, I was charging him. I grabbed him by the waist, kept driving forward, ignoring the shouting and the screaming, determined to end this the way it deserved to end – with me, as the victor.

When we reached the window, it was too late to stop the momentum – I’m not sure I wanted to, anyway. I leapt backwards and watched Luca crash through it. The glass rained down on him as he slid over the ledge.

I stood there, looking out at him, everything I should have said burning up inside me as he sat up, brushed the shards away from him, like he hadn’t just been annihilated in front of half of his family.

‘Sei fuori di testa,’ said Dom, turning on me, his jaw slack. He wasn’t laughing now. ‘What the hell were you thinking?’

I stood there looking at Sophie as she looked at him.

I know it hadn’t really been a competition between us, but in that moment it felt like one.

And I had won.

I had won.