Mafia Betrayal

Chapter Ten

Luca (16 years ago)

What the fuck had I gotten myself into this time? Tommy Porreco just wouldn't stop, just had to keep antagonizing me, calling my dad names, bashing our family business. The little bastard had no idea what he was talking about, but he knew all the right buttons to push. He knew I'd do whatever needed to be done to defend my family and now here I was sitting outside of my 8th grade principal's office waiting for my mother to pick me up. What was I supposed to do, let him run his mouth like that? No, no way.

He'd gotten one good punch in. That was my only mistake. I should have taken him out before he got the chance. I landed three good fists on his face before they broke us up and hauled us down here. As I pressed the ice pack to my bruising eye, I glanced over at Tommy. At least he looked worse than me, but if I'd had another fifteen seconds, Tommy would have been out cold.

It also would have meant immediate expulsion. Right now, I was only looking at a two-day suspension. I'm sure my mother was going to love that, not to mention my father. They'd be upset for different reasons, though—Mom, because I was being suspended from school, and my father, because I let Tommy get a punch off and hadn't knocked him out.

"Come on." My mom said, emerging from the principal's office. She looked pissed. I grabbed my stuff quickly so I didn't irritate her even more.

We were nearly home when I finally got the courage to speak. "I'm sorry, mom." I said, bowing my head. I hated to disappoint her. It was worse than anything else.

She sighed heavily. "Luca, I just don't know what to do with you. That's your third fight this year, and they want to expel you."

I tensed at her words. Getting expelled wasn't an option. School was my one saving grace from my father, the one thing he didn't have his hand in, the one thing that wasn't solely focused on my training.

"Why do you do it?" She asked in exasperation. I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. Without school, there was nothing to stop my dad from putting me into training full time.

That was his goal for years. Most Mafia heirs were taken out of school around 6th grade so they could put their entire focus on training. It was a miracle I'd made it this far, and my father was searching for an excuse to pull me out. My stomach turned, knowing I may have given him that excuse today.

I immediately got defensive. "He called Dad a criminal. I tried to ignore him, but he just kept pestering me and Angelo at lunch. I just snapped."

"We'll discuss it later. You've got to get control of that temper, Luca." My mom gripped the steering wheel tightly, her face set in a pensive stare. She had a lot on her plate, and I was only adding to it.

"Where are we going?" I asked, noticing as she passed our turn.

"Your father is going to be late. I thought we could pick up some pizza for dinner." She pressed her lips into a tight-lipped smile.

I looked back at her suspiciously. We never had takeout pizza unless my dad was out of town. Mom cooked everything we ate, and that was exactly how he liked it. Takeout was usually like a fun little treat between the two of us, and it definitely didn't seem like something we should do on a day I got suspended from school.

I certainly wouldn't complain about it, though, so I kept my mouth shut.

Later that night, my mom and I sat in the kitchen eating dinner. We were laughing and joking and she was doing a pretty good job of taking my mind off the impending doom that awaited me once my father got home. This was always her role. She'd overcompensate for him in the love and affection department. It was unbelievable to me how my parents were ever attracted to each other. They were polar opposites and didn't even seem to enjoy each other anymore. Where my father was cold and harsh, my mom was warm and had the biggest heart I'd ever encountered.