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Luca was pleased when Michel started to relax into the role of being a mafia accountant.
He had barely moved or talked during the first few gatherings, letting either Vincenzo or Luca guide him around the room.
Now though, he was almost fluent in Italian speaking to friends of the Family and others with ease. Yes, Luca could see that he was putting on his ‘chairman’ act, but there were still traces of Michel behind that smile.
So long as Michel didn’t fall completely into his old role, Luca was content to leave him be.
He knew that Vincenzo and other loyal men were keeping a cautious eye on the younger man, as well as him.
They were meeting with a much smaller organisation, who were hoping to join forces (and get the benefits of being all chummy chummy with a powerful mafia). Every employee of Vincenzo was armed, including the waiters, just in case anything went wrong.
Speaking of something going wrong.
A man who Luca didn’t recognise, was making his way over to Michel.
He watched the exchange with narrowed eyes but remained where he was for the moment. They were just talking for the moment, and the stranger wasn’t too close to Michel.
He was probably a minor member of the new group.
He watched for a moment more, noticing how Michel’s body language changed, clearly uncomfortable with whatever they were talking about.
Luca started to make his way over.
The man (whoever he was), wasn’t happy about being rebuffed, taking a threatening step forwards, making Michel flinch, eyes widening slightly, making Luca speed up.
“… that suit, you’re practically begging to be fucked! Those big eyes of yours may look innocent, but I know the truth!”
The entire room fell silent, all eyes now on the confrontation, hands moving to concealed weapons as Vincenzo stalked forwards.
Luca got there first, just as the man reached out to grab Michel, clearly oblivious to the tension he’d caused.
“I don’t think so.” He gritted out; jaw clenched so tightly that he felt like he might crack his teeth. He grabbed the man by the shoulder, yanking him around to punch him in the face.
He heard Michel gasp sharply but was too consumed with the scum in front of him.
It wasn’t a very long fight, ending with Luca slamming the man’s head into the pool table, not knocking him out, but definitely making him think twice about getting to his feet any time soon.
Michel definitely yelped at that, and that caught Luca’s attention, eyes darting over to Michel, who was giving the entire scene a wary look.
Shit…. Shit, shit, shit!
How often had Michel been in that position with his brother in Luca’s place?
The thought made his heart sink down to his stomach.
Taking a step back, he glared down at the man, “Apologise.” He stated, hoping that his voice wasn’t shaking, “Now!”
“Luca- “
“I’m sorry!” The man slurred, “I’m sorry.”
“Say you’re sorry for the disrespect you’ve just shown to your host and his brother.”
“I-I’m sorry for my disrespect!”
“Luca.” This time, it was Vincenzo who said his name, placing a hand on his shoulder, “I think he’s learnt his lesson.” Cold eyes turned to the man on his knees, “Leave. If your bosses had any sense, he’d kick you out of his home as well.”
The man looked over to his right, where an older man was watching the scene with interest, nodding when Vincenzo followed the gaze.
“I apologise for the actions of my employee.” The minor boss whispered, “I promise, it won’t happen again.”
“It had better not.” Vincenzo was all steel and tension, like he was mere seconds away from enacting his own revenge, “Let’s talk about what you and your friends can do to make reparations for this.”
The other boss looked as though he was going to argue, before turning his gaze to the ground and nodding. “Yes Don Cassano.”
As Vincenzo had a few words with the other man, Luca made his way over to Michel.
“Are you okay?”
Michel nodded shakily, “I-I’m fine, he just… startled me, that’s all. He didn’t touch me or anything.”
“He still disrespected you though. We weren’t going to let him get away with that.”
Michel looked a little stunned at the words, an obvious story on his face, before he forced a smile onto it. “Thank you.”
Gently, Luca pulled him into a hug, mentally sighing in relief when Michel didn’t flinch away from him.
He was worried that he’d gone too far.
“Come on.” He whispered, “Let’s get you out of here.”
“I-I can stay, I- “
Luca pulled back, quickly spotting how Michel was shaking ever so slightly, the events of the evening creeping up on him.
Thankfully, he didn’t need to say anything before Michel was sighing.
“Alright… maybe we can step out for just a minute.”
“Just for a minute.”
As they headed towards a side room, Luca caught Vincenzo’s gaze, the mafia don giving him a thankful nod.
He did the right thing.