16. Paolo

After a quick coffee and catch up with his old friend Roddy, Paolo soon found himself back in his car and burning rubber back toward the city. Only now his car was full of explosive sniper rounds that had been stolen from the military, grenades, and a new sniper sight prototype that was heat sensitive so could in effect help Paolo to track targets through walls.

Paolo and Roddy went back a long way, and Paolo was very humbled that Roddy broke out some of his most highly treasured and rare weaponry for him. Paolo paid Roddy handsomely of course, but not everyone would have been treated so well by Roddy.

However Roddy was a Daddy too and had been in a relationship with his boy for nearly seven years. The second Paolo explained that his boy was in danger, he could see that this changed the situation as far as Roddy was concerned.

But for all his new weaponry, Paolo knew that this was still coming down to one hitman versus another. He might have taken Mick Teale's status as number one sniper in the past, but there was the possibility that Teale had improved during his years of exile.

Paolo had received information from Danilo that Teale had in fact been working across Europe and the Middle East for years. And alongside some very well paid jobs for government agencies and corrupt administrations, Teale's reputation had soared.

There were even rumors that Teale was offering his services to rival mafia families intent on making a move against the Doni family. Paolo knew that Teale would do anything to reclaim his spot as the number one hitman, and it was becoming clearer that he had used his time away from the city to enhance his skills.

This wasn't going to be a walk in the park for Paolo.

But then again, Paolo never expected it to be.

‘Where are you, Teale?' Paolo growled, his mind beginning to enter hunting mode.

Paolo cast his mind as far and wide as he could. While it was unlikely that Teale would be foolish enough to reveal his hideout location, there was every chance that he was moving around the city and making use of cafes and bars. And the fact that Teale had obviously known that Paolo and Tommy were at the café when he shot at them told Paolo that Teale wasn't working alone.

Paolo slowed the car down and pulled into a small layby at the side of the road.

With the rain lashing down, this certainly wasn't the time to write a text message while driving. Paolo decided that he wanted to keep Danilo in the loop – after all, any shooting that did go down would potentially see Doni men implicated by the police so it was important to clear things with Danilo ahead of schedule.

PAOLO: I'm making my move on Teale. Respectfully, there might be a situation developing in the city. I won't be needing any support soldiers, but wanted to let you know my intentions. No location as of yet but will keep you up to date.

Paolo sent the message and was about ready to pull out of the layby and continue his journey back into the city. But before he did that, Paolo couldn't resist the urge to check out Tommy's social media to see how the boy was doing.

‘Well I'll be damned…' Paolo said, a smile on his face as he saw an update on the Ice Bears Instagram saying that a certain Tommy Jane had been promoted to the senior playing squad. ‘You deserve it, kid.'

Paolo felt himself getting lost in his emotions for a moment as his heart swelled with pride. This was sensational news. Even if it meant that Tommy was done with the academy and they'd be together less during the day, Paolo knew that this was what Tommy had been dreaming of for pretty much his entire life – and Paolo was happy for the boy from the bottom of his heart.

Despite knowing that he needed to leave as soon as possible, Paolo couldn't resist quickly checking out Tommy's Instagram account to see if the boy had made a post celebrating his success. As Paolo scrolled through the posts and stories on Tommy's page, something dawned on him with a creeping sense of dread…

‘The boy's tagging locations in all of these posts,' Paolo said, his voice with a rising sense of tension in it. ‘And if I can see that, then…'

Wasting no more time, Paolo tossed his phone on to the seat and floored the accelerator. The frequency that Tommy was posting and revealing his location was like an open invitation for Mick Teale to hunt him down and take him out. The more that Paolo thought about it, the more it made sense. Tommy had even posted the location of the café they were at when the mysterious gunman shot at them.

With Tommy having updated his Instagram story with a photo and tag of the Ice Bears famous playing stadium, Paolo knew full well that the boy was there, probably being given a tour ahead of game day later in the week.

It might have only been a hunch, but as Paolo considered the inner workings of the stadium, he felt his heart skip a beat.

‘High vantage points, distance, sitting duck targets,' Paolo muttered, the horror of Tommy's vulnerability hitting home. ‘Teale would have Tommy just where he wanted him…'

And while Paolo knew it was him and not Tommy who was Teale's primary target, there was no reason to think that Teale wouldn't continue his mind games by taking the boy out first. Teale didn't know any boundaries, and the days of him following the hitman's code of conduct were long gone. This was personal as far as Teale was concerned, and Paolo knew that the boy was under threat each and every time he made his location known.

Paolo banged the steering wheel in frustration and cursed himself for not thinking of this before. And suddenly, something else made sense. If Paolo wanted to find Teale, he might just need to find Tommy first.

From his position high up in the rafters of Ice Bears Stadium, Paolo was looking down his sniper sight and tracking the movements of Tommy, Coach Tremaine, Danilo, and Jack Steele.

The four men were oblivious to Paolo's presence. And while that was good, it also meant that they might just be oblivious to another gunman's presence too…

‘Assess, focus, and assess again,' Paolo whispered, echoing the words of his former mentor.

While Paolo had been in a thousand situations like this before, this one was hitting different – and it was all because of Tommy. If anything happened to the boy, Paolo would never, ever be able to forgive himself.

All Tommy wanted to do was play hockey. He might have some pretty useful sniper skills and shown enthusiasm for what the academy training was set up for, but ultimately Tommy had hockey running through his veins.

‘Finish the damn tour and leave,' Paolo whispered, scanning his sight over Tommy once more and seeing the look of joy on his face as Jack seemed deep in an anecdote, no doubt recounting one of the several championships he had won as an Ice Bears player.

Paolo held his sight over Tommy and felt something that hadn't touched him in a long time. And that thing was love. After being betrayed by his former boy, a big piece of Paolo had died. But through Tommy, Paolo had learned that it was possible to trust again and give himself to someone else.

Tommy was beautiful, determined, sassy, and sweet.

The boy was the full Little package, and Paolo wanted nothing more than for the pair of them to come out on the other side of this smiling. But more importantly than that, Paolo wanted to make sure that Tommy wasn't harmed by Mick Teale – and if that meant that Paolo gave up his own life to ensure Tommy's life, then he was willing to do that.

Paolo pulled his sight off Tommy for a moment and for the briefest moment caught a glint coming from across on the other side of the stadium, high up near the VIP boxes.

Paolo didn't need to second guess himself.

He knew precisely what the glint was, and who was behind it.

Teale was in the stadium and was ready and waiting to take his shot.

Instinctively, Paolo threw himself to the floor and heard the sound of the plastic seat next to him being split in two by a heavy duty sniper bullet.

With the sound of gunshots filling the empty stadium, Paolo heard Tommy screaming in panic. There was no time to think. This wasn't two hitmen stalking one another anymore. This was game time.

Paolo reached into his rucksack and loaded his sniper rifle with the explosive rounds. With his nimble fingers preparing the gun, Paolo instinctively knew that he didn't have time to prepare and fix his aim like he would normally. He would need to rely on his instincts – and given how powerful the explosively charged shots were, his accuracy wouldn't need to be as high as normal either.

But there was no doubt about it, Paolo was still taking a huge risk with this play.

In one swift movement, Paolo sprung up from behind his cover and took a shot at the VIP boxes without using the sight. And then another. And then another.

The explosive rounds certainly did their job, and the sound of shattering glass filled the stadium. But what about Teale?

Paolo looked down his sight and saw a fallen body.

Whoever it was, wasn't dead.

And despite not being able to see the man's face as it was obstructed by a collapsed seat, Paolo knew in his heart of hearts that it was the face of his nemesis.

Without wasting a single second, Paolo dropped his sniper and ran around the perimeter of the seating toward the VIP boxes on the other side of the stadium.

‘Daddy? Is that you?' came the call from Tommy down on the ice.

‘Paolo!' Danilo and Jack called out together.

But Paolo didn't have time to respond. This was all about moving as quickly as he could. It looked like the fallen man was injured, but the severity of the injury wasn't clear. For all Paolo knew, whoever it was could be dusting themselves off now and making an escape.

Paolo knew that he simply couldn't let the sniper escape.

Whether it was Mick Teale or not, the man had to be eliminated.

However as Paolo approached the other side of the stadium seating, he could see that it very much was Mick Teale. And judging by the anguished look on his face, he wasn't going to be getting up any time soon.

‘You fucking piece of shit, Totti,' Teale said, through bloodied teeth. ‘Explosive rounds?'

‘That's right,' Paolo said, realizing that Teale was bleeding out. ‘You know this only ends one way. But first… tell me why.'

‘Screw you,' Teale spat, groaning in pain as his shirt quickly turned from white to red. ‘You know why. We're killers. It's what we do.'

‘We kill for money,' Paolo said. ‘And we don't take out innocent civilians either. Well, most of us don't.'

‘Typical. Always riding on that moral high horse of yours,' Teale said, letting out a cry of pain as his body began to shut down. ‘So… are you ready to take me out?'

Paolo paused.

He could see that there was no chance of Teale escaping. And judging by his injuries there seemed a low possibility that even a double-quick journey to the hospital could save him.

He wants me to kill him.

He needs this to be over.

So maybe I don't do what he wants this time…

Paolo shook his head.

‘I think we're going to see if you can make it through this alive,' Paolo growled. ‘You might make it, you might not. But who knows what information you'll be able to provide us once we get your injuries looked at.'

Teale spat blood on the floor in disgust.

And just as Paolo was about to smile triumphantly, he saw Teale making a subtle hand movement toward his pocket. He was reaching for a pistol, Paolo knew it.

‘Okay, you persuaded me,' Paolo said, flicking his hand in and out of his jacket pocket and finishing Teale off with a single shot to the head. ‘I guess I'll never learn…'

Paolo felt no guilt in killing Teale.

Even in Teale's injured condition he was still ready to shoot Paolo.

It was kill or be killed.

But Paolo didn't have long to take in the magnitude of what had just gone down. No sooner than Teale had slumped back onto the shattered VIP box wall, Paolo was joined by Tommy, Danilo, Coach Tremaine, and Jack.

‘Daddy!' Tommy said, tears flowing down his cheeks as he ran into Paolo's arms. ‘You saved us. You saved me.'

Paolo held Tommy tight to his body.

With every emotion under the sun running through Paolo's body he felt like he was lost for words. But he knew that he needed to say something. Paolo had to make it clear to Tommy just how he felt and he needed to do it right there and then.

‘Tommy,' Paolo said, pulling back from the boy. ‘I have to tell you something.'

For a brief moment, Paolo recalled all the years that he had spent closing himself off emotionally and going through life not able to trust anyone or even open his mind to the possibility of finding a special boy to care for, nurture, and love. But the moment didn't last long.

‘I love you, Tommy,' Paolo said. ‘And if it's okay with you, I'd love nothing more than to be your Daddy. Forever.'

‘Yes!' Tommy replied, smiling his wonderful smile. ‘I love you too. I love you more! I love-love-love you all the way to the moon and back.'

Paolo and Tommy embraced and as far as Paolo was concerned everything was right in the world once more.

‘I hate to break up this touching moment,' Danilo said, a serious look on his face. ‘But we need to get a clean-up team in here ASAP. The last thing we need is the media latching on to this. I suggest we all get our asses out of here as quickly as we can.'

‘And you need to rest up ahead of the game,' Coach Tremaine added, proving once again that his brain never switched off from Ice Bears business for even the briefest of moments.

‘Yes, Coach,' Tommy said, a shy smile on his face.

And with that, the group made their way out of the famous Ice Bears stadium and went in their separate directions. Well, all apart from Paolo and Tommy…

‘Come on, let's swing by your place and pick up some stuff,' Paolo said. ‘I want you close to me. We'll stay at mine. How about it?'

‘Yes please, Daddy,' Tommy said, his hand locked with Paolo's. ‘That sounds perfect.'

Paolo nodded and soon enough they were driving away from the stadium together. Paolo knew that his life was different now. He had a Little to look after with every last fiber of his being. But that was okay. Paolo would always be a ruthless hitman, but now he was a true Daddy too…