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Luca missed working.

He loved Damien. Loved their home, their life, the way every morning started with a sleepy kiss and every night ended with tangled limbs and whispered words.

But.

He was so damn bored.

For years, he'd been used to doing something—spending hours behind a café counter, brewing the perfect cup of coffee, chatting with customers, and dodging a life-threatening situation or two whenever Damien's enemies got too bold.

But after getting one too many threats (and one very memorable incident where a gang tried to use the café as collateral against Damien), Luca had finally caved and quit.

Not just for his own safety—

But because if he didn't, Damien would've worried himself into an early grave.

Now, though? Now it had been years. Things had calmed down (as much as things could in the world of mafia), and Luca had been itching for something new.

And that's how he found himself sitting across from Damien at breakfast, stirring his coffee with a thoughtful hum before finally saying—

"Hey, I want to start a business."

Damien paused, fork halfway to his mouth.

Luca could practically see the five hundred different worst-case scenarios flashing behind his golden eyes.

"...Define business," Damien said slowly, already looking like he was preparing to shut down whatever reckless thing he assumed Luca was about to do.

Luca rolled his eyes. "Relax. I'm not opening another café."

Damien visibly relaxed. Then immediately tensed again.

"Wait," he frowned. "That means you've thought about it."

Luca grinned, sipping his coffee. "I think about a lot of things that would probably give you a stroke."

Damien groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Luca—"

"Anyway," Luca cut in before Damien could launch into one of his overprotective speeches (which, honestly? Hot. But not the point). "I was thinking of something safer. Like... an online clothing brand."

Damien blinked.

"...Clothing?"

Luca nodded, spinning his spoon between his fingers. "Yeah. I've always liked designing, and I have the time, so why not?"

Damien tilted his head. "That's... actually a good idea."

Luca smirked. "I have them sometimes."

Damien kicked him under the table. Luca giggled. Giggled.

If there was one thing Luca had learned from dating a mafia leader, it was that Damien took business very seriously.

Which meant that within twenty-four hours of Luca mentioning his idea, Damien had—

Cleared his entire evening for a 'business discussion.'

Summoned his best financial advisors.

Reserved an entire section of his office for planning.

And that was how Luca found himself sitting in Damien's ridiculously large, intimidating office, staring at multiple projected screens while a team of professionals discussed his little clothing brand idea like it was the next global empire.

Luca leaned toward Damien, whispering, "You do know I was just thinking of selling cute shirts, right?"

Damien, completely serious: "And those cute shirts need a solid business strategy."

Luca: "..."

He was in too deep.

Within a week, Luca had—

A fully registered brand name.

A high-end manufacturer who was personally vetted by Damien.

A fully functional website, designed by some ridiculously expensive tech company (Luca wanted to cry when he saw the price).

A marketing plan so detailed it had color-coded graphs.

Luca sat on the couch, staring at Damien, who looked way too proud of himself.

"Babe," Luca said, voice weak. "This was supposed to be a little side project."

Damien, completely unbothered: "And now it's a profitable business venture."

Luca groaned, flopping against the cushions. "You literally made a mafia empire from the ground up. I should've known you'd go overboard."

Damien smirked, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

"I don't do half-measures, sweetheart."

Luca sighed, but honestly?

It was kind of hot.

Despite the... intensity of Damien's involvement, Luca had to admit—things were going well.

Orders were coming in.

People loved the designs.

And even though Damien threatened one of their first rude customers (Luca had to ban him from the emails after that), everything was smooth sailing.

One night, Luca sat back in bed, scrolling through all the positive feedback they'd gotten.

Damien walked in, drying his hair with a towel. "You look smug."

Luca grinned, wiggling his phone. "People are buying my clothes, babe."

Damien smirked. "Told you it was a good idea."

Luca rolled his eyes but leaned in for a kiss anyway.

His days of working at the café were long gone.

But now?

He had something new to build.

Something that was his.

And Damien would be there for all of it.

Luca figured that was a pretty damn good trade.

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