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A Deal You Can’t Refuse
Felinus had known Issac was in a bad way the second he had put his hands on him. His cousin, Lucio, had once nursed a starving dog back to health that had looked better than Issac did. But he hadn’t fully prepared for the gravity of it all when he had been called back to talk to the doctor and Issac in the exam room. Words like organ failure, hospitalization, and death were thrown around a fair number of times by the Indian woman as she alternated from staring down Issac then Felinus as if her glare would make the words sink in any faster. He hated that it worked, particularly when she locked eyes on him to say that Issac needed a near-perfect support system or an in-patient treatment center if he was going to survive to New Year’s.
He got the impression she was hoping he’d agree to the latter, but Issac had launched into a panicked rant about not going into any such thing and only stopped when Felinus wrapped a hand around his cold, bony fingers.
“I have a support system that can extend to him,” he told the doctor, lacing his fingers into Issac’s. “Just tell me what he needs.”
Brutus was no doubt confused when Felinus sent him a list of food he was going to need for the house, and the medications and vitamins Doctor Najjar had prescribed, but like always, he didn’t ask any follow-up questions in the moment. He just said he’d have it taken care of.
Felinus had had plans for how tonight was going to go, taking Issac to different locations and ending with reservations to literally wine and dine the young man into the palm of his hand. But much like last night, his plans were changed by forces outside of his control as he pulled into the parking lot for Ma’s Kitchen.
“I’m going to be honest,” Issac said, speaking for the first time since they left the clinic, “with this car and those shoes, I didn’t expect you to take me to a mom-and-pop restaurant.”
“And I didn’t expect to be told the last actual meal you ate was three weeks ago,” Felinus replied as he turned off his car. “So we’re even. Come on. They have the best food you can get outside of a mother’s actual kitchen and portion accordingly.”
He thought he heard Issac mutter something about not knowing what that was like, but the young man didn’t argue as he got out of the car wearing Felinus’s coat against the freezing temperatures. Issac had a defiant stubbornness that Felinus hadn’t seen much of last night. There were others in positions like Felinus who would be angered by the change, but it pleased him. Knowing Issac could go from a mewling kitten to someone who didn’t back down from anyone was something Felinus liked to see. Particularly when by every right, the man shouldn’t have the strength for it.
He was fearless, except for when the plump Italian wife of the Capo who ran the restaurant promptly cursed Felinus out in rapid-fire Italian at the sight of them. She took Issac’s arm to bring him to a table, switching to English only to coo at Issac when he stared at her blankly.
“Maria, you’re scaring him,” Felinus said, staying well out of arm’s reach of the short woman as she fussed about Issac’s hollowed cheeks and pushed him into a table near the kitchen.
“Chooch micio, he is fine,” she snapped at Felinus, brushing her fingers in what Felinus knew to be a loving gesture over Issac’s cheek but by Issac’s wide eye expression looked as if he expected the fingers to turn into vipers. “Angelo, you wait right here. Ma will bring you something good to eat to fatten you right up.”
Issac flinched as the woman turned away from him and started shouting towards the kitchen. He looked at Felinus as Felinus finally sat down. “Does… she do that with everyone you bring here?”
“I don’t bring people here,” Felinus told him, taking one of the wrapped hard breadsticks from the vase next to them and opening it to hand over to Issac. “The only people who come here are people who know it or people who accidentally stumble into it.”
Something flickered in those dark eyes and Felinus watched as Issac lowered his head and looked around the room. It was a trick Felinus had spent years learning how to do under other men in the Family, yet he could not do it as effortlessly as Issac did, taking in all the little signs of what this place really was. It excited Felinus to watch. Snake hadn’t found any ties to the Underground in Issac’s history, but besides juvenile records sealed tighter than a duck’s ass (Snake’s words), there hadn’t been anything. Issac Maus had no background and that was more damning to connect him to some sort of mob ties than a tattoo could ever be. The near black orbs flicked up to him at last and the hardness of them sent a shiver down Felinus’s spine. “Why-”
Maria returned suddenly with another woman in a flurry of half-yelling. Hot plates of ziti and garlic knots practically swimming in butter were set on the table. “Eat, eat,” she cooed at Issac, putting a fork in his hand. “You are skin and bone.”
“Are you going to feed him like an infant next, Maria,” Felinus asked her, not sure if he was still amused or annoyed by her interrupting the moment.
She cursed at him and smacked the back of his head, but swept away with a threat of calling his mother later.
“Eat your dinner,” Felinus said before Issac could speak again, smoothing back his hair where it had been tousled. “I’ll explain while you eat.”
Jaw tightening, Issac made several stabbing motions at the ziti with far more violence than was necessary, but he did start eating, his head down but still never focusing on one spot for very long. “Well,” he asked after the third bite when Felinus hadn’t started talking.
“You are not a particularly patient person, are you, baby boy,” Felinus noted, “but I suppose I knew that from last night.” He smirked as dark eyes glared at him through the mess of tawny hair across his eyebrows. It was shockingly effective for a guy who weighed less than a hundred pounds. He imagined it was used on Little Volkov quite a bit and wasn’t sure if that pleased or annoyed him. Something to examine with his therapist another day. “Fine, fine. I know what your degree is and what sort of career prospects you have to look forward to with said degree. My offer is this: allow me to finance the remainder of your schooling, including room and board, clothing, doctor’s appointments, and other needs or wants you have. I will see to it that you receive a well-paying position after you graduate with your Masters, that you meet the right people to advance, and are put on the right path to achieve everything you want in life.”
Issac swallowed as he laced his fingers together, the fork hanging between them, cold, calculating eyes staring into Felinus. “And… what’s in it for you?”
Felinus let out a small laugh. When you offer them the chance to be kept and have their every need met, most people fell over themselves to accept the terms without knowing the fine print. Only three people in the last five years had ever asked what Felinus got for his generous offers. Two he called his closest friends. “All I ask is that, in the future, when you are stable in your career you remember who invested in you before you completed your degree. Who saw your potential and made sure nothing got in your way as you crossed the finish line.”
The fork twitched between Issac’s palms but that was his only reaction as he continued to stare Felinus down. “If you want to bribe legislators and political figures into doing what you want,” he said after a moment, still not moving, “there are easier ways to do it than going after a nobody in grad school. There are a dozen people in my class alone that already have pull and power just by their family names that would be tickled pink to be in your pocket before they even started their thesis.”
Felinus narrowed his eyes. “Careful how you talk about my investment, baby boy,” he said quietly. He didn’t like that Issac called himself a nobody and liked it even less how likely it was that those dozen people he mentioned probably made a point of telling him that. It was clear to him that Issac was far from a nobody. He might act like one, hiding who he was from the world, but someone had taught him the skills to be a big boss and he had the nerve to back it up. He had no doubt Issac could make the calls that made lesser men squirm and stay up at night. “I don’t give a shit what those spoiled brats at your school could possibly do with mommy and daddy’s money and the morals and ethics they would bend or break to get more of it. This isn’t about money. This is about respect. You’ve earned mine simply by what you have achieved so far. That makes you worthy of a reward. To not have to worry about freezing on the streets for another winter while you study, to have someone else take care of you for once and give you those basic human needs that the doctor went on about. And that is only a fraction of what you are worth. Give me more time and I’ll show you the rest.”
Issac’s jaw tightened, eyes somehow harder than before. “And what if I decide I feel safer on the streets than in the debt of one of The Family’s caporegime?”
Felinus smiled. There was no denying it now. “Whoever you are running from, Issac,” he said softly, watching those stony eyes go wide. “Whoever is after you? You can’t hide from them once you go into this career path you’ve made for yourself. You probably thought that if you made friends with enough legitimate powerhouses the person or people you’re afraid of wouldn’t dare try anything. That’s a mistake a lot of people much older than you make. Most politicians and backers are just the Underground making their interests legal. There are no truly honest men in politics.” He let out a soft laugh as Issac’s expression twitched. “And you know that. I can see it in your face. You just held onto the hope that you could keep outmaneuvering and outsmarting whoever wants you. I have no doubt you’ll put up a great effort, but much like the stacks, the best hiding places are also the best traps. If you want to stay out of them, you need powerful men who are ready and able to do what needs to be done backing you up.”
“Like you,” Issac breathed, his fingers tightening on the backs of his own hands.
“Like me,” Felinus confirmed. “I am really not asking for very much. I will even shift my offer. Do things my way for the remainder of the year. Let me show you the life you could have. If, at the new year, you don’t like what I have to offer working closely together, I will make sure that the apartment you tell people you live in is paid for a full year, completely furnished, and an allowance for necessities is put in your account each month. Any gifts I buy for you between now and then will be yours and I will not darken your doorstep to call in my favor.”
“Last time we made a deal, you promised you’d forget last night ever happened then stole my student ID and showed up at my school,” Issac pointed out, but Felinus could see how his eyes twitched.
Felinus smiled at him. “If I had, there wouldn’t be this great opportunity for us both, and you’d be dead in the streets either from the cold or starvation before the year was out.”
Issac looked away, clearly thinking hard and Felinus bemoaned the private room he had reserved at Tony’s where he could have used all the buttons he had found last night to make Issac more pliable. The man was like hardened clay, stiff and unyielding but with the right pressure would mold into Felinus’s touch. As it was, he wouldn’t dare even play footsie with Issac here, not with Maria glaring at him from the kitchen window. He didn’t need a frying pan to the head. “My studies come first above all else,” he said finally, begrudgingly.
“Second,” Felinus countered, feeling his heart soar like it always did when he knew he had won these negotiations. “Meals and food come first. But eat while you study for all I care. I just need you to get to a healthy weight and take care of yourself before you keel over.”
He watched Issac’s jaw work, muscles in his temples flexing before he put out his hand. “Fine,” he said flatly. “We’ll do it your way and re-evaluate this… deal on New Year’s Day.”
Felinus took the hand and matched his grip. “You will not regret this, baby boy,” he promised him, absolutely stealing the opportunity to caress the inside of Issac’s wrist where it was still slightly off-color from his tie. “Now, finish eating. We have other places to go before I take you home.”
