Pawn Of The Mafia Lords

Chapter Three

As Luca reclined back in his chair, his eyes never leaving Dominic, the air seemed stifling. His stance softened, yet he was not mistaken for the poisonous calm he radiated.

Luca remarked abruptly, his voice icy and contemptuous, "You should go."

Dominic stood there looking Luca down for a little while. Like two predators sizing one another, the two guys were Dominic's fingers twitched at his sides as if he was thinking of a comeback, but at last he nodded sharply and went towards the door.

Dominic turned to Bella, his eyes meeting hers, just before he departed. Her spine shivered at the quiet challenge he pointed at. Bella should not forget, he remarked with a hushed voice, "there are other choices in this world." Not everyone operates according to Luca's guidelines.

He left the room and the warning was obvious, hanging in the air like a menace. Bella was left in a stifling stillness as the door locked behind him.

The tension persisted the minute he was gone. Luca remained still, his expression indecipherable. Bella could sense the weight of the occasion, the traces of the power struggle still there in the distance separating them.

"Are you okay?" Luca turned to face her as his voice became abruptly quieter. His eyes seemed to soften just slightly, a flutter of worry peeking through the icy façade he wore so well.

Bella nodded, her throat dry, but she doubted if the inquiry was sincere. Luca's quiet after such a passionate conversation seems strange. Dominic's comments still carried a warning that rang true in her head. She was being dragged into a lethal game where survival and allegiance were everything, not just stuck between two men.

"I'll be fine," she answered, her voice firm despite the quiver of doubt threatening to burst through.

Lean back in his chair, Luca regarded her with narrowed eyes. Her spine shivered as he watched her; there was something almost predatory about his approach.

Luca remarked, his voice low and strong, "You shouldn't worry." Bella, you are right now with me. Nobody will harm you.

Bella couldn't get rid of the sense, however, that she was being pulled farther into a world in which survival would come at a great cost and trust and allegiance were brittle as the words left her mouth.

The evening seemed to breathe beneath the neon glow of the metropolis, and the streets outside the mafia-run club hummed with the sound of motors and muted conversation. Even hours after the clouds had parted, the air smells like diesel and rain, the kind of humidity that would cause the wetness to remain on your skin. With their headlights cutting through the haze, cars lined the streets creating long shadows at every angle. But the activity occurred just outside the huge, iron doors of the pub, not on the streets.

Bella stood by the broken window sills, peering through them and having her breath fog the glass. She could hear the faint buzz of voices, the odd shout piercing the noise. The men inside the pub were not under control of their tempers. She knew the mood was heavy with violence without hearing the words.

Her stomach knotted in familiar, pit-stopping tension as she saw Sal and Tony approach each other in the middle of the alley, their guys in tow. She was not unfamiliar with the two mafia men. She had seen them at other events, but never this close, never this belligerent.

Sal DeLuca was a big man with a nearly-equal jaw to neck width. His face was carved from stone; his heavy forehead and continuous scowl made people shun him without even knowing why. He moved in a way that seemed to cause the air around him to feel heavier, as though the space changed in reaction to him. Not only in his physical form but in his every word and deed, he radiated sheer might.

Tony Caruso was leaner but as lethal. Even with the turmoil surrounding him, his well-groomed hair and keen features always helped him seem calm. His eyes were always calculating, seeking for possibilities, simply waiting for someone to slip. His smile was a weapon.

Bella started from the window and could clearly feel the conflict between them; the kind of tension that causes the skin on her arms to crawl. Negotiating this was not what it was. It was a collision.

"Get out of the way, Caruso," Sal said, his voice low and frightening like a creature poised for attack. His feet skimming the damp concrete, he stepped forward. "You know this is my turf.”

Tony laughed in a dry, almost contemptuous manner. Your turf, then? According to the last checks, this bar was free. Nobody owns it unless they have earned it.

Though the words hung in the air, their meaning was not what counted, that was the rage behind them. Bella sensed it coursed through her bones, a raw, unadulterated power. She was born into a world, but the mafia was one the people around her had dragged her into. These men possessed not only words but also a power derived from their daily carrying of a threat of violence.

"You think you could just claim everything as yours and stroll in here?" Tony taunted, approaching Sal, his fingers twitching at his side, as if poised to grab the revolver buried under his coat. "DeLuca, I don't need your permission to run things here.

Bella remained motionless in the darkness of the rear room, her pulse thumping as she saw the men in front of her, all so much bigger than her square off. Though she could not hear every word, she could sense the hate in their voices, the tension in the room like a thick cloud.

Sal's lip twisted, a smirk tugging at the mouth corners. "You believe I would let you leave this? Caruso? Think twice. He then moved suddenly forward, his hand dragging Tony closer by the collar. Bella's breath seized in her throat at the gesture's raw intensity.

Tony's eyes flicked with something black. He seemed not to be terrified. If anything, he seemed to relish the anarchy and power struggle. His hand moved quickly, taking a knife from his belt and pushing it to Sal's side, expanding his smile at the touch.

Tony remarked, his voice cold and piercing through the night air, "Now you've made this personal. You ought to have known better than to challenge me.

The landscape beyond the window became a blur of motion. Bella watched the two guys fight, pushing and shoving, the heat between them fast building in her heart. Though it was the silence between the muffled sounds of moans and the scrape of fists landing against flesh that caused Bella's blood to run cold. This was not a standard debate. It addressed control. It revolved on authority.

Bella's breath seized as the pub door creaked open just then; Luca Moretti emerged from the alleyway, his presence a sharp contrast to the turbulent scene before him. Standing tall and still, he exuded authority that begged respect. When Sal and Tony were engaged in their physical altercation, he showed no hesitation. Rather, he moved forward, his motions measured, under control as though he had seen this a thousand times before.

The world seems to stop the instant Luca's voice pierces the clamour.

Just enough.

His quiet, firm voice cut through the babble like a knife. His tone was beyond doubt. It was a command, unquestionably, unequivocal.

Bella gazed in wonder; her heart skipped a beat when the two men stopped. Towering in their own way, Sal and Tony paused mid-strike and looked towards Luca. Everything was quiet for a minute, Bella could sense the weight of the moment, the raw force Luca emitted. The very air around them seemed to bend to his presence.

Luca moved another hesitant step closer, his eyes fixed on the two men. His calm authority was a far cry from the violence that had exploded just moments before. In Luca's shadow, the men who had seemed frightening and relentless now seemed little.

Luca murmured, his voice still calm, reflecting none of the annoyance Bella could detect hiding within. "Do I have to remind you whose power resides here?"

The two guys silently and briefly looked at one another before turning away, each respecting Luca's might. Bella could feel her heart quickening as she understood just how much power Luca possessed, how readily he managed the very guys who had seemed so threatening only seconds before.

Luca's eyes moved to Bella, still staring out the window. His eyes still showed calm, but this time there was something else, a flutter of identification.

Luca's voice cried to her, "Come outside," the directive obvious but somehow not forceful. "I will explain."

Bella hesitated. Her body was still cold, her head spinning of uncertainty, but something about his presence, about the serenity with which he managed the turmoil, drew her towards him. She could not reject the magnetic attraction, the implicit invitation to enter his world.

She turned back at Sal and Tony, who were now far apart and their bodies stiff, as she moved towards the door. She could sense the quick change in the power relations. She was no

more just observing. She engaged in this. Whether she aimed to be or not.