The Caporegime's Song (1)
About an hour had passed. Felicia lay sprawled across the bed in her suite, chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath. Completely naked, of course.
"Luke... you damn lecher!"
"What? Me?" I reminded her that she had been the one to jump me first, not the other way around.
"Fine, let's say I am a lecher. But that's all thanks to you, Felicia."
"..."
To be completely honest, I had zero experience with women before Felicia approached me. Enduring the brutal training the wolves put me through under my father had felt like it would actually kill me. Then... through her, I learned how warm another person's body could feel. Of course, it might have something to do with her being a dragon.
Meanwhile, my words seemed to have hit their mark. Felicia's face flushed crimson and she couldn't find a single thing to say.
"Whatever. Pass me that drink beside you."
"Got it."
The ice had mostly melted, so I drank the watery portion first before filling the glass with cold, amber whiskey.
"..."
Felicia watched me from behind without saying a word.
"Here you go."
"Thanks, little wolf."
"You were practically dying a little while ago. Already feeling better?"
"Does this look like I'm feeling better to you?"
Felicia gestured at her sweat-drenched body.
"Still looks pretty damn attractive to me."
"Hmph."
Come to think of it, the day my father died had felt similar to this. No, better not dwell on such ominous thoughts.
"Kiiiik!"
The sudden sound from behind made me lift my head quickly. I knew exactly who it was just from the noise. It was Hev, naturally. The creature clung tightly to my back, healing the fresh scratches that had just appeared there.
"Ah..."
Felicia belatedly remembered the passionate marks she'd left on my back during our lovemaking.
"Felicia, aren't your nails a bit too long?"
"Th-that's because you were too intense!"
Her expression, stripped of its usual composure, looked refreshingly new no matter how many times I saw it. Teasing her never got old.
"Anyway, how have things been with Elena lately?"
"...What do you mean?"
The question was too broad.
"I mean your relationship with her. It seems a lot better than before."
"Ah, yeah. It's gotten much better. And that's all thanks to you too."
"..."
She would understand what I meant. Her presence had become a catalyst for Elena. Comparing herself to Felicia, wondering what actions would truly be for my sake, how to capture my heart. The Elena who now agonized over such things was something I could never have imagined before.
"Then... maybe..."
Felicia made an extremely explicit gesture with her hands.
"Hey!"
She formed a circle with one hand and repeatedly inserted and withdrew a finger from the other into it. I shouted in alarm at the blatantly sexual gesture, then pinched the bridge of my nose in disbelief.
"Not yet... It's not time for that yet."
"..."
The way Felicia visibly relaxed with relief was actually kind of cute.
"But it's a bit strange."
"What is?"
"She's desperate to look good in your eyes. Yet you still haven't done it?"
"We didn't even do it on our first night together, so it's not that surprising."
We might not share blood, but we'd grown up as siblings. In fact, forming a physical relationship between us was the stranger thing.
"Still, it makes me a little jealous."
"You've got plenty to be jealous about."
Felicia narrowed her eyes as she spoke. Was she jealous that my relationship with Elena had grown so close without any physical element? Pure love without physical pleasure. I think they called this kind of emotionally focused connection platonic love.
"But one thing's for sure."
"What?"
As it turned out, Felicia was delighted that she'd gotten ahead of Elena. She even held out her glass for a toast, so I obliged.
"Luke, if we have a child together... what should we name them?"
"...Isn't that a bit sudden?"
"We're officially husband and wife now. No need for contraception anymore."
She wasn't wrong. Our lovemaking had moved beyond adultery. It would have been nice if I could have shown my child to Father. I allowed myself only a moment to mourn what was lost before suggesting several name candidates to Felicia, considering both a son and a daughter.
"Luke, aren't you taking this too seriously?"
"It's a child's name. Of course I should be serious."
Watching my reactions one by one seemed to bring her genuine joy.
"Luke."
"Yeah?"
She hadn't properly dressed, merely draped her clothes on, and now pressed her body against mine.
"I'm sorry. And thank you."
"Sorry for what? Thank you for what?"
"For being with someone like me."
I'd asked two questions, but she gave one answer.
"You always underestimate yourself. That's your problem."
"Do you really think so?"
"Of course. A woman like you is almost too good for me."
"..."
Felicia's face turned noticeably red at my words. Normally she would have fired back with something immediately.
"We're married now. No need to get shy about something like that."
"S-shut up!"
"Luke, Sarina and Armo are here. Come over for a moment."
The next morning brought sad news for Elena, but I planned to stay in Felicia's suite again today. After all, this Sunday was supposed to be my day with her.
"I wish every day could be like today."
"Isn't that being a bit too greedy?"
"It wouldn't be impossible if Elena weren't around."
"There you go again."
Whenever Felicia said things like that, her eyes would change. Of course, I would never allow such a thing. I decided to feed Hev, who had somehow appeared beside me.
"Hev, come here. Let's eat."
Now that I thought about it, I recalled that silkworm moths didn't have mouths. But this world's giant silkworm moth, being a pet, clearly had one.
"Thanks for yesterday."
"Kiiiik!"
It was thanks for cleanly erasing the marks Felicia had left on my back. If Elena had seen them, it probably would have caused another scene.
While I was spending this leisurely time with Felicia, a call came from Elena in the next suite.
"..."
Felicia, curious about what she was saying, pressed close to my side as I held the receiver.
"Elena, what's going on?"
"Luke, Sarina and Armo came by. Come over here for a bit."
"Alright, I'll be right there."
I hung up the phone. As I headed toward the suite I shared with Elena, Felicia naturally picked up Hev and followed me.
"You don't have to bring Hev, you know?"
"She'll definitely freak out if I don't."
Honestly. Seeing her like this, I had to admit Felicia wasn't exactly the nicest person either.
With a click, I closed the door and entered Elena's suite. Sarina and Armo were waiting and greeted me immediately.
"Luke, ah..."
Sarina's face lit up when she saw me, but then she spotted Felicia and Hev behind me and frowned deeply.
"Isn't this too much? I'm Luke's wife now too."
"..."
"Alright, that's enough. Let's get to the point. What's going on?"
"Luke, there's been some movement on Lumini's side."
"What kind of movement?"
Carso had conveyed our intentions to him, and he had accepted. I wondered what could have happened after that. Not to mention how Sarina and Armo had learned about it so quickly. I decided to let that slide for now. It seemed Sarina had planted someone on Lumini's side.
"It looks like he's starting to properly clean up his own territory. Just like Vanella did."
"Yeah, that makes sense. It's the first thing that needs to be done."
"However... it seems the Russo Family has approached Lumini."
"One of his regular members told me."
"What's his name?"
Sarina gave a name, and Armo confirmed that he was indeed one of Lumini's regular members. According to Armo, the guy had been under Lumini for quite a long time.
"You managed to recruit even someone like that."
"Well, it was simple enough."
"Still, next time, run it by us first. Understood, Sarina?"
"...Yes."
Elena didn't forget to give Sarina the necessary reminder. Unlike with Felicia, Sarina showed a bit more respect toward Elena, the boss of the family.
"Armo, what was Lumini's reaction?"
"According to that member, he basically told them to get lost."
I thought that meant there wasn't a problem. But that wasn't the end of it.
"Not reporting to us is an issue, but he might have been planning to."
Elena suggested we wait a little and see how things developed.
"Yes, miss. However, before saying that openly in front of the other members, it seems Lumini had a brief private conversation with the ones sent by Russo."
In other words, what Sarina and Armo were suspicious about was the content of that private conversation when no one else was around. They even considered the possibility that he had pretended otherwise afterward in front of the other members. In a way, it was a very Lumini-like response.
"I wasn't there, so it's hard to say for sure... but it could be the Russos trying to drive a wedge between us."
"..."
"..."
Felicia's opinion also made sense. Elena and I decided on this approach: we would wait to see if Lumini properly reported the incident to us, while Sarina, Armo, and Carini, who controlled the western area near Lumini, would make separate preparations. If Lumini showed any signs of betraying us and siding with Russo, we would strike him from three directions and eliminate him immediately. Until then, we were not to touch him first.
Time passed, and the following Tuesday arrived. While pondering how Lumini would respond, I spent my time at the Academy and Elena at the port. Then, while I was in the union office, Elena called.
"Lumini contacted us."
According to Elena, Lumini had reported that the Russo Family had approached him. They had offered all sorts of conditions and told him to coordinate with their attack. However, Lumini had rejected the proposal and chosen to inform us instead. He had once again proven his loyalty. Of course, this report itself could be false...
It was a precarious relationship, but Elena and I instructed Sarina, Armo, and Carini to stand down from any immediate attack preparations on Lumini. Instead, they were to monitor his movements closely at all times.
With that, the immediate issue with Lumini seemed to have been settled. It wasn't completely resolved, but it felt like a problem that could flare up again at any moment. Instead, trouble erupted from another direction.
Fabio Carini. He was a regular member who had been active under Elena ever since she received the Academy as her territory. Now he had become the caporegime responsible for the northern part of River West.
Carini was originally an amateur boxer. It wasn't that he lacked talent, but he had realized the truth that using his strength for crime rather than sports would earn him far more money. Therefore, the first thing he did in his new territory was to establish an appropriate gym as his base. He planned to train his subordinates there while employing the suitable guys who gathered at the gym as associates.
However, this gym became famous for another reason. Especially among junkies.
After the death of the wolf, Vito Fellini, it goes without saying that various problems arose in Hevilly. But there was also the minor issue that the drug supply had been temporarily paralyzed, causing the drugs to dry up completely. Of course, that problem was quickly resolved. The suppliers from Tirenia had resumed providing drugs to the city through the Fellini Family.
So if junkies wanted to get drugs, they had to seek out the Fellini Family—specifically, the caporegimes of each territory.
While Carini was swinging his fists at a sandbag in the gym as usual, someone came looking for him.
"Excuse me."
"..."
Carini paid no attention to the guy speaking to him. He'd never seen him in the gym before, and he was too focused on throwing his punches to bother responding.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Carini?"
"...Who the hell are you?"
At the repeated questioning, Carini finally responded, irritation rising.
"Didn't Gabriele call you?"
Gabriele... He was definitely one of the drug brokers operating in the River West area.
"I asked who you were."
"Didn't Gabriele call?"
"...What do you want?"
"I need some stuff."
Carini found dealing with the guy annoying, and since he claimed to have been sent by a broker, he handed over what the man wanted. The problem was... the guy turned out to be a cop.
That's how Fabio Carini was arrested. Along with the cop who had actually bought the drugs. It turned out the cop was both an officer and a junkie, and his fellow officers who knew about his habit had caught him at the drug deal.
It was truly a situation that was impossible to laugh at.