6. Nico

Chapter 6

Nico

Well God damn, that was one hell of a first date.

And now it’s 01:30AM and I’m watching what could be the boy of my dreams walk back up the steps and into his own apartment.

Part of me wants to call him back to the SUV.

And I know he’d come on my command too…

But I have to be patient. I have to tease it out and build the anticipation until it just can’t be held for a single second longer.

I want to enjoy every moment of getting to know this special boy, and I know in my heart that sometimes holding back can make the eventual release feel even better.

We had drinks.

I spanked his ass.

We played Master and puppy.

And then we napped together under my large, heavy blanket.

I’d call that a successful first date – in fact I’d say it was close to perfection.

But I’m glad I brought matters to a close when I did. Had we gone to bed together, I know full-well what would have happened between us. I’m no fool. I know that the second we got underneath my soft, sensual bed sheets that my hands would have been all over Eddie’s soft, totally-fucking-squeezable body.

And from there… well, I think it’s pretty obvious what would have gone down.

Eddie’s got a shift at East Side Sugar tomorrow, and I’m glad that he’s at least going to get a few hours sleep before he has to be wide awake and getting his bake on.

Me?

As far as I’m concerned, this night still has some time to go in it.

And just like that, I look at my cell phone and see that my good friend Rico is thinking the same thing too…

RICO: Word. Time to hit Red Rum Bar. We’ve got this asshole Luca Conte to deal with. And I know that it’s going to be a hell of a lot easier to do that with a couple of drinks inside us.

NICO: For sure. See you there. Last one at the bar is buying.

With that, I watch Eddie close the entrance door to the building behind him. He’s a great boy. I just know he is. Call me an old fashioned romantic, but this is special. There’s something going on between us that doesn’t come along very often.

In fact, the connection between me and Eddie is making me feel all kinds of things. This ain’t a passing crush or some kind of infatuation.

I might have a fearsome reputation in the crime world, but as far as Eddie goes he could live a hundred and fifty years and he wouldn’t see that side of me – well, unless it was part of a roleplay…

No, what I truly want to do is to get to know Eddie.

I want to discover everything about him and see exactly what he likes and doesn’t like.

I want to give him everything he needs to be the happiest baby boy in the whole of New York City.

But before I can do that, I need to haul ass over to Red Rum Bar.

If Rico arrives before me and I lose the forfeit, I just know he’ll be picking the most expensive vintage liquor they have on offer.

In fact, for all I know Rico might already be only a couple of blocks away.

Still, that sounds like a challenge – it’s time to put the metal to the floor and get this SUV roaring its way over to Red Rum Bar.

And when I triumphantly arrive first, business and pleasure will never have tasted so good.

‘You low-down, cheating-ass, dirty sonofabitch!’ I roar, pointing my finger squarely in the direction of a smirking Rico.

‘Hey, it’s not my fault you drive a tank and I drive a Ferrari,’ Rico laughs, shaking his head in disbelief as I attempt to protest. ‘Don’t be a sore loser and get the drinks in, brother.’

I don’t know whether Rico cheated or not.

If it was anyone else, I might continue to cry foul.

But this is Rico, my oldest friend and as close as any friend could be to family.

No, that’s wrong.

Rico and I may not share the same biology, but he is my brother.

‘You total asshole,’ I say, a big smile on my face as we embrace. ‘I’m assuming you want some vintage wine? Probably something dating back to before either one of us was born?’

Rico flashes me a look of his dark eyes with those striking green flecks of color in them.

With the scar above his right eyebrow looking as dangerously distinctive as usual, I can see why so many boys chase after him.

‘I think tonight I actually feel like a humble beer,’ Rico says. ‘So don’t say I never do anything nice for you. Your bank balance can live to see another day at least.’

‘Yeah, even if Luca Conte wishes both of us would drop dead right here and now,’ I retort.

‘He’s a problem,’ Rico agrees, nodding his head. ‘We’ve got more than enough in us to take him out. But these things aren’t always easy. Sometimes, the easier a target someone is, the harder it is to make a successful hit. Luca’s got contacts in high places.’

‘Really?’ I say. ‘You mean in legit places?’

‘Yup,’ Rico says, nodding and taking hold of two beers from the attentive barman. ‘We need to be careful. This ain’t a simple blazing guns maneuver.’

‘True,’ I reply, going against my desire to simply find Luca Conte’s location and turn up there with a semi-automatic and a full cache of bullets.

‘The problem is that Luca is buying up too much real estate,’ Rico continues. ‘And with real estate comes connections. What makes it real bad for us is that he’s doing it on our patch. If he starts to own too many properties on our side of the city, then that could quickly turn into a bad situation for us.’

‘That asshole shouldn’t be buying any properties in our part of town,’ I say. ‘Conte knows he’s crossing a line with us, but he’s doing it anyway. That’s some serious disrespect. And I ain’t going to stand for it.’

‘Me neither,’ Rico says. ‘No fucking chance in hell.’

I can see that Rico knows this is serious, the same as I know it is.

I’ve seen other mobsters try to gain influence and control of rival territory before, but never like this.

Usually an up-and-coming gangster will make a war in the streets and take out a rival family’s street soldier or something along those kinds of lines.

But Conte’s making a more sophisticated move.

Conte’s got serious money behind him, and with money there is always a connection to authority. It might be that Conte is bribing judges, the police, and he certainly has his hands involved with the city planning department too.

But all of this will count for nothing if Conte is dead.

No – I mean when Conte is dead.

There are no ifs in this game.

It might be up to me and Rico to come up with a plan of action to remove Conte before it’s too late. I know that these situations can escalate quickly, and it’s usually the player who moves quickest who comes away with the spoils.

‘What are you thinking?’ Rico says, breaking me out of my thoughts.

‘We need to strike,’ I reply. ‘It’s just about finding that angle.’

Rico nods and we clink our beer bottles together.

‘Hey, anyway,’ Rico says, gulping down a long slug of beer. ‘Tell me more about this boy…’

‘I don’t know, I…’ I say, unsure whether I’m ready to open up just yet.

‘Hey, don’t bullshit me,’ Rico laughs. ‘I know you. And I know when you’re getting feelings.’

‘Well…’

‘Oh shit. You’ve got it bad,’ Rico bellows. ‘You almost don’t need to say any more. But definitely do say more. Like, much-much-much more…’

‘Okay, I’ll start from the beginning,’ I say, knowing that Rico won’t give up until I spill every last drop of the situation.

As I begin to talk and the words soon start to tumble out of my mouth, it becomes obvious to me that Eddie is pretty much the boy I have been looking for my whole life.

I kind of felt this already, but somehow the process of speaking my feelings out loud is just making it all the more obvious to me.

‘And that butt…holy hell, that butt ,’ I chuckle, signaling over toward the barman for two more beers.

‘So why the hell haven’t you… you know ?’ Rico says, being unusually coy by his regular standards.

‘I’m taking my time,’ I reply. ‘The longer I wait, the better it will be. And not just for me, but for Eddie too. I want this to be the best fuck of his whole life.’

‘Damn, you’ve got it bad,’ Rico laughs. ‘But more power to you. I respect it. I wish I had a boy in my life.’

‘You had about five the last time I checked,’ I fire back, knowing full-well that Rico is normally dating at least three boys at a time.

‘Yeah, well, that’s probably not all it’s cracked up to be,’ Rico says. ‘Don’t get me wrong, it can be fun as anything. But… listening to you talk about Eddie is maybe the kick in the butt I need. I’ve been feeling a growing sense that being a Daddy about town has a shelf life. You know?’

I know what Rico’s talking about.

I’ve had my wild times too.

And the truth is that is does get old.

But my connection with Eddie is more than just a desire to settle down. I would have been stopped dead in my tracks by Eddie at any point in my adult life, I know that for sure.

I think it’s time for a toast…

‘To success, happiness, perfect boys,’ I say. ‘And taking out our enemies.’

‘I’ll drink to that,’ Rico adds, raising his beer.

We’ll drink tonight and enjoy the moment.

But when we wake tomorrow, all thoughts will be on Luca Conte – oh, and I might just spare a few moments for my special baby boy Eddie too…