Page 115 of Protection (Mobsters + Billionaires 2)
“On it, boss.” I change the subject because this is a celebration after all. “It was good to see Ford here before anybody else got here.”
Luca’s smile is everything. “Yeah, we had a nice conversation. He’s so good with money, showing me how to set up retirement plans for all of our escorts.”
“Really?”
Leaning in, Luca says under his breath, “He’s also showing me how we can take the money we have now and grow it faster on the market than we can in the family business.”
“How much does he know about the family business?” I ask, adjusting my collar.
“Enough, I suppose.” Luca smiles fondly, shaking his head. “It was actually sorta…cute. He was careful to use neutral language, referring only to my ‘employees’ and ‘the structure of my organization.’”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. And…I’m not getting my hopes up or anything, but Anthony…he wasn't nervous when he was talking to me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He joked with me in much the same way Mads does.”
“You think you he might be warming up to you?” I ask, remembering his very personal admission before all of this went down.
“If I can settle this dispute with the Irish families, maybe I can move entirely out of the federally illegal operations and keep us running on the barely legal stuff, you know?”
Huh.
I run my hands through my hair, wondering if I hadn’t hit my head somewhere along the way.
“What’s this look? Tell me,” Luca insists.
He might laugh me out of his apartment, but I know he’ll at least listen to me. “You know that book about the Five Families by Raab, right?”
“I haven’t read it, but I’ve skimmed the particulars.”
“The Sicilian mob started out by fighting against invaders, those who would take advantage of the weak. Literally ‘acting as a protector against the arrogance of the powerful,’ according to Raab.”
Luca chuckles to himself. “A little bit like how Joe took Rand down a notch or two.”
“Kinda, yeah. It’s more than that though. Going to Jakarta and witnessing those people reunite with their families might have changed something in me. A little more than I realized, you know?”
“You’ve always had a conscience, Anthony. It’s why I trust and depend on you.”
I shake my head. “I had a code born out of fear. Charlie Wills, the guy Hopper found? He’s an aboveboard sort of guy, but he had no problem with breaking the law to save people.”
“He’s an interesting one, no?”
I nod. “I’m curious about his history, to be honest. Something made him decide to help the most vulnerable people, and I can’t imagine he regrets a single moment of it.”
“You do know we’re not a charitable organization, Anthony.”
“I don’t think we have to give up making money to help out. If I learned anything from Mads, those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. I’m just saying that maybe we can figure out how to use one to power the other.”
Luca drops his chin, nodding and thinking. “Let’s keep talking about this.”
Ford emerges from the kitchen and shares a look with Luca, which lasts longer than usual. I wonder what Mads told him.
Luca drops his serious expression for a wide smile. “Gentlemen, let’s get set up in the library with some drinks.”
Ford’s smile is shy. “Sounds great, Luca. Thank you.” With a sharp glint in his eye, he continues, “Though…plying me with alcohol won’t improve your odds. You’d have to learn how to bluff to do that.”
