Page 22 of Family Matters

Luca’s head fell back onto the bed as all the strength left him, his legs sliding down Brian’s hips and his arms falling beside him. The Dominant cradled his sub’s upper body in his arms and slowly rocked the man, who felt like a limp rag doll. He slid the other up, placing his head on a pillow. As his eyes were closing, his Master’s smooth voice was sweet music to his ears.

You were amazing, my sweet pet, were the last words Luca heard before falling into an exhaustive sleep.

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“Do you know where I can get more books on horses?” The teenager asked in a hesitant voice. “Like this one, with a lot of photos?”

“I can help with that, I'm a librarian.” Brian offered “ You can come with me or I can bring back as many books as I can carry for you.”

“Librarians are cool!” The kid exclaimed in a lively voice. “However, most of them are old ladies with huge glasses.” He swallowed hard. “Can you please bring the books here? It's not safe outside.” His voice died down when he said the last part.

“Of course I can.” Brian nodded, his voice soft. “I can get an eReader for you to read ebooks on, if you'd like.”

“I... I prefer physical books, if you don't mind.” The boy whispered, lowering his gaze. “When Nonno was alive, I wanted to become a racehorse breeder.”

“Physical books it is.” Brian tentatively caressed the boy’s medium-long, sandy hair. “You know, my cousin breeds race horses, he would be happy to share some secrets of his trade withyou”.

“Really?” The boy’s voice was lively again, his eyes shining with undisguised interest. “Where does he live?”

“My cousin’s name is Nuzzo, and he lives in Italy.” Brian offered the teen a kind smile. “Sicily, to be more exact.”

“Oh, Italy...that's very far, and I can't go there, because I have no legal guardian.” The boy’s voice was a mix of sadness and disappointment. “I... never mind, is just a stupid dream of a stupid kid.”

“Hey, I can always call Nuzzo and you can talk to him. You can also meet my cousin face-to-face, because he visits my family sometimes. I'll also look into finding out how we can take you there one day.” Brian looked into the kid’s eyes. “Your dream is not a stupid, never say that again. You know, I had a dream of owning a Friesian horse, and it came true. You met him, it’s Legend, and I also have a beautiful mare Speranza and her two foals. Legend is the dad.” The man paused briefly, then continued in a thick voice. “Please, don’t give up on your dream.”

“Really? Do you have foals from the beautiful black horse?” The boy’s eyes widened in surprise and started to shine again. “He is so sensible, by the way...when I cried, he comforted me. And I love his name...Legend. And of course, Speranza for the mare.”

“Legend is a great horse.He senses when someone needs comfort. He's a therapy horse for a lot of kids here. My cousin gave Speranza to me as a gift. I wanted to breed Legend and continue his line.” As he spoke, Brian showed the teen pictures of the foals. “Here they are. The male, Thunder, belongs to my son Liam. The girl is named Midnight.”

“Can you please take me where the horses are?” The boy brought his hands together, his doe eyes filled with a mix of hope and fear of being rejected. “Whenever you have time.” He shyly added.

“I can take you after work.” Brian smiled affectionately again. “I'll bring you some books, too, and, if you ever want to visit the library, I can take you early when no one is there if it makes you more comfortable.”

“I... I'll think about that.” The teenager hesitated again. “However, I'd really love to read some more books.”

“I'll bring you as many as you want.” Brian nodded, his voice soothing the kid’s tensed nerves. “Also, I'll take you to the vet clinic after work. That's where the horses are.” He explained, when the boy gave him a confused look.

He progressed so much, Brian smiled at the sight the boy was offering, flanked by Ferris and Liam, all three of them feeding Speranza, Legend, and the two foals apples and carrots. A few days passed since the two of them had that conversation, and the librarian already noticed the first signs of a positive change in the kid since he started to bring him to the stables.

As he headed to where the three youths were, with the same gentle smile on his face, Brian took a walk down the memory lane, remembering the day when he met that teenager. It all started with a phone call from Don Calogero, who asked him to come to his house.

There, without any introduction, the old mafioso asked Brian to take under his protection a boy who recently was put through hell. Unlike other times when he came to the librarian with such a request, in that case Don Calogero was sparse in offering information. At first, all he gave to the librarian was the kid’s name, Mauro, and his age, fifteen.

After hesitating for a few moments, the man added that both his parents were dead and his only relative was a half-brother who, instead of protecting the kid, betrayed him in theworst possible way. He took the teenager to an all-adult party, under the pretext of introducing him to their father’s business partners, and left him there, alone in the middle of a pack of predators.

They laced his water with drugs, making him lose consciousness, and, in that state, the beasts abused him until his heart almost gave out. A couple of the monsters freaked out, took Mauro outside the building, then called the emergency number, lying that they found the boy there and had no idea what happened to him.

For three days, the poor kid was heavily sedated, and when the effect of the drugs finally wore out, he claimed he didn’t have any memories of who was at that party or what happened to him. However, judging by the scared expression that sometimes overtook his features and how he flinched at the faintest noise, Don Calogero suspected the dam keeping the bad memories at bay had some fine cracks in it.

Let it break, Brian said to himself, as he got closer and closer to Liam, Ferris, and Mauro;I’ll be there, not only to help him overcome the trauma and heal his soul, but also to punish those who stole his innocence.Right then, a new message from Don Calogero hit the librarian’s phone inbox, pulling him back from his thoughts. The old man wanted to see him, and he could sense it was something very serious.

CHAPTER 17

“It's time for me to tell you who Mauro is.” Don Calogero started in his usual, abrupt style.“First, please tell me how he is these days.”

“Hello sir.” Smiling, Brian shook the hand the old man extended in his direction. “I hope you’re well. The kid is doing better, but I'm not pushing him. His love of books and horses have helped me reach him.”

“Yes, the love of books runs in the family, but horses...” Don Calogero shook his head with a smile. “I didn't know about that. You see, his mother was my younger brother's only child. I raised her since she was twelve, and, when she died, five years ago, I promised her to watch over Mauro from afar. I failed her, Brian, and I failed that poor boy, whose soul was shredded because of me, too.”

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