Chapter 8: Always Like This
Compared to Luca, Leon was truly elusive; besides working, he mostly stayed at home, occasionally going out to watch a movie, usually a musical with minimal dialogue.
This was a man with absolutely no social connections outside of his mission intermediary, even more reclusive than Matilda.
But Leon was actually very soft-hearted; otherwise, he wouldn't have risked opening the door for Matilda.
In the end, he even sacrificed his life to redeem Matilda.
This hitman was indeed not too cold.
Luca opened the door first, proving he was the new resident here, then turned around to greet Leon, "Hello, I'm the new resident who just moved in."
His friendly smile caught Leon's attention; his face, wearing sunglasses, turned to look at Luca, then nodded indifferently.
"Hello."
With that simple greeting, Leon brushed past Luca and walked directly to the room at the end of the corridor.
He had no intention of further conversation.
Luca smiled faintly, not caring; he knew Leon's cold personality was his disguise and protective shell.
No rush, they would have plenty of time to get to know each other slowly in the future.
The next day.
Henry and Jimmy found Luca, bringing him 5 million in cash. Luca kept a portion for himself and then gave a portion to Maurizio as a tribute.
This is how outside members of the Mafia family operate: they pay "protection fees" to the boss, and in return, the boss protects them and covers for them. He will make sure everyone in the area knows that Luca Greco is backed by Maurizio of the Mafia family, thus deterring others from harming Luca.
However, this doesn't mean Luca is a family member; their relationship is more like "partners." Maurizio will introduce some "business" to Luca, and Luca has to share a portion of his earnings with Maurizio.
Including Henry and Jimmy, they both also had to pay regular protection fees.
This money had to be given, because they operated conveniently under the family's name, and people showed respect due to the family's reputation, even the police treated them politely, so of course, a portion of the money earned had to be given to those above.
Maurizio happily accepted the money and, by the way, inquired about Stan's progress.
"I've already got some leads..." Luca still concealed Norman's specific identity, only saying that he had found one of Stan's informants and could follow the clues to find Stan's other drug hiding places.
Maurizio was very confident in Luca's efficiency and didn't ask further, only urging him:
"Luca, you need to hurry. Your application has already been initially approved. You are now considered a recruit, understand? You are already half a family member. Complete this mission, and you can officially join our business!"
Maurizio pointed to the street outside, "Then you'll also have a share in the business in Little Italy."
Doing business, Luca was still interested in that. Fighting and killing was too tiring; how could it be as comfortable as sitting and counting money?
Then he could only hope Stan would die quickly.
The life of surveillance was always monotonous; Luca had to stake out for long periods, eavesdropping on Norman's conversations.
Unfortunately, for several consecutive days, most of what he overheard were the neighbors' quarrels, with hardly any quiet moments, and there wasn't much content about drug deals.
There wasn't much progress on this end, but Luca and Matilda's relationship was growing closer.
The little kid would come over to play for no reason, sometimes to watch TV, sometimes to freeload meals, and would even bring her homework to do, claiming it was quieter here and she wouldn't be disturbed.
Luca, of course, welcomed her with open arms.
Her sister, Isha, also frequently came to visit, even actively asking Luca out on dates.
And whenever this happened, Matilda would stand by, looking at her sister with a disdainful gaze.
You toad, wanting to eat swan meat?
Isha, whose dates failed every time, would be furious, at one point believing that Matilda was behind it all, surely having secretly badmouthed her to Luca, leaving a bad impression.
But she still refrained from beating her sister, because Luca said he didn't like violent girls.
The little kid, however, had a much more comfortable time recently, at least she didn't get beaten at home anymore.
Until a few days later, a stranger visited Norman's home.
Luca overheard their conversation.
Stranger: "Bro, are you crazy? You dare to touch Stan's goods! Aren't you afraid of being killed?"
Norman: "I don't understand what you're talking about."
Stranger: "Don't play dumb! What I gave you was 100% pure blue magic! You know what blue magic is, there's no better stuff in all of New York! But when I took it back, the purity was only 90%! Where did the other 10% go? Stan and his people have already found out!"
Norman: "What does that have to do with me? I'm just a custodian. I never touched what you gave me. It was the same when you took it as it was when you brought it."
Stranger: "It's fine if you lie to me, but Stan will come for you soon! Listen, Stan's nose is sharper than a drug dog's, your lies are useless in front of him!"
Norman: "I really don't know... Get out! Who let you in?"
There was a slap, then a sound of hurried footsteps, followed by Norman continuing, "I swear! I absolutely did not touch that batch of goods!"
Stranger: "You won't believe it until you see the coffin, Norman, you'll regret it! If you want to die, don't drag me with you."
Then the two erupted into another argument.
Luca also picked up on something.
Of course, he knew Norman had embezzled the goods, and he also knew Stan would come knocking soon, but...
blue magic, that stuff wasn't very auspicious.
Luca remembered clearly, this stuff belonged to a black family in the Harlem area of New York.
Luca had even met the boss of that black family once before...
Thinking of this, he opened his panel.
【Character Card: Frank Lucas (Unlocked)】
【Frank: A】
【Source: 'American Gangster'】
【Skills: Cross-border Transport, Corruption Infiltration】
【Bond: Stranger】
Luca rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
What made Frank so impressive was that he had established connections with the U.S. military, flying directly to Vietnam to find the source manufacturers in the Golden Triangle, getting goods from the remnants of the Kuomintang forces, and then directly transporting them back via U.S. military planes.
Guazi Used Cars… wrong, understanding the U.S. military, U.S. military used planes, no middlemen making a profit.
Relying on high quality and low prices, Frank seized the entire Harlem market in one fell swoop, and also radiated to all of New York and several surrounding regional cities.
Furthermore, over half of the police officers in the New York Police Department had taken his money.
Now it seems, this egg-headed Stan even got Frank's goods?
Just as Luca was contemplating, there was a sudden knock on the door.
Opening it, he saw Matilda standing outside, covering her nose, her eyes looking wronged yet stubborn at Luca.
Luca noticed the bloodstains between her fingers.
She was hurt.
"Luca, do you remember what you said? If my father hits me again, you'll kill him..."
"I remember."
Luca stepped aside, "Come in first, I'll help you treat the wound."
The injuries on Matilda's face weren't particularly severe; all the blood was nosebleed, but her emotional wounds were deeper.
By the sofa, Luca knelt in front of her, helping her wipe away the blood, then applying ointment to the bright red five-finger marks on her face.
Looking at Luca's close-up face, Matilda observed him for a long time.
She murmured:
"Luca, is life always this painful, or is it only like this when you're little?"
"Always like this."
Luca gently touched her cheek, smoothing out the ointment, and said with a smile, "Pain, like light, doesn't disappear, but we can learn to find our way in the dark."
He pulled a candy from his pocket and placed it in Matilda's palm.
Matilda clutched it tightly, but her voice softened, "Luca, you're so good to me."
"I just hope you don't get too pessimistic."
Luca clapped his hands and stood up, "You stay here, I'm going out to do something."
"To avenge me?"
"You guess?"
【Bond: Familiar】
Downstairs in the apartment building.
The stranger who had just talked to Norman walked out and drove away in a car parked by the road.
At the same time, Luca also started his car, following closely behind.
Adjusting the sunglasses on his face, Luca whistled and casually called his two good guys, "Guys, we've got work."