"Thanks for thinking of me," he said, his voice steady and respectful but firm. "But no thanks. Good luck with whatever you're planning."
He started to walk away, but Tony's hand shot out and grabbed his shoulder with enough force to stop him in his tracks. The grip was firm, possessive, a physical reminder of the power dynamics that governed street relationships.
"We're talking to you," Tony said, his voice low and threatening.
This was the moment of truth. In his previous life, Luca would have spun around swinging, his fists flying before his brain could engage. The streets had taught him that respect was earned through violence, that backing down from any confrontation was a sign of weakness that would haunt him forever. Physical dominance was the only currency that mattered in that world.
But he'd also learned, through years of escalating violence and its inevitable consequences, that fighting was a trap. It felt powerful in the moment, provided a temporary rush of dominance and control, but ultimately led nowhere good. Every fight created new enemies, every victory demanded an encore performance, and the cycle of violence inevitably spiraled upward until someone ended up dead in an alley behind a nightclub.
Instead of reacting with violence, he turned calmly and looked Tony directly in the eye. There was no fear in his gaze, no anger, no challenge. Just quiet confidence born from having lived through death itself and emerged on the other side with a second chance.
"And I answered," Luca said simply. "I'm not interested."
There was something in his voice, a quality that Tony couldn't quite identify but found unsettling. This wasn't the desperate, angry young man they remembered. This was someone who had found something worth more than their approval, something that made their threats seem insignificant.
Tony's grip loosened slightly, uncertainty flickering across his features.
"You sure about this?" Marco asked, his tone shifting from friendly persuasion to barely veiled warning. The mask of false brotherhood was slipping, revealing the calculating predator underneath. "You're choosing football over family? Over the people who were there for you when everyone else turned their backs?"
The guilt trip was expertly applied, hitting all the psychological pressure points that had worked so effectively in his previous life. The implication that choosing legitimate success over criminal enterprise was somehow a betrayal of his roots, his identity, his people.
"I'm choosing my future over my past," Luca replied, his words carrying a weight of conviction that surprised even him.
The statement hung in the air between them like a line drawn in the sand. Marco's eyes narrowed as he processed the implications, understanding on some level that this wasn't just about refusing one job offer. This was Luca declaring his independence from their entire world.
"Your future?" Marco's voice turned cold. "Let me tell you about your future, Luca. You'll train for a few weeks, maybe get another tryout, and they'll reject you again. Because that's what they do to people like us. And when you come crawling back, looking for a way to survive, we might not be so understanding."
The threat was clear, wrapped in just enough plausible deniability to avoid being actionable. But Luca had heard worse from more dangerous people, and survived experiences that would have broken most men. Marco's posturing seemed almost quaint by comparison.
Without another word, Luca walked away, his steps measured and confident. Behind him, he heard Marco curse under his breath, followed by the scraping of chairs as the group prepared to leave. But no footsteps followed him. They were predators, but they were also practical. They'd find easier targets, young men who were still desperate enough to trade their futures for the illusion of belonging.
As he stepped out into the Naples morning, the Mediterranean sun warming his face, Luca felt the system's response to his choice.
[Choice Made: Refused Criminal Association Despite Pressure and Threats]
[Reward: Mental Toughness increased by 2 points, 1 Skill Point awarded for character development]
[Special Trait Unlocked: Iron Will]
[Iron Will: Enhanced resistance to negative peer pressure and outside distractions that could derail training or personal development]
[Additional Bonus: Respect +1 with System for demonstrating commitment to legitimate path]
[Warning: Previous associates may view refusal as betrayal. Recommend maintaining situational awareness.]
Luca smiled slightly as he read the system's analysis. He'd expected the warning about Marco and his crew. Men like that didn't handle rejection well, especially when it came from someone they'd once controlled. But he'd also gained something more valuable than their approval: proof that he could resist the gravitational pull of his old life when it mattered most.
The trials were still thirteen days away. Thirteen days to continue his transformation from street thug to legitimate athlete. Thirteen days to honor his mother's memory and the second chance he'd been given.
As he walked back toward the park for an afternoon training session, Luca felt lighter somehow, as if refusing Marco's offer had lifted a weight he hadn't even realized he'd been carrying. The past would always be part of him, but it no longer had to define his future.
The legend he was destined to become was still taking shape, but with each choice, each training session, each moment of resistance against the easy path, it grew stronger and more real.
His phone buzzed with a text message from an unknown number: "Thinking of you, figlio. Your papa believes in your dreams. - Signora Castellano"
Luca stared at the message in confusion for a moment before realizing that the old man who'd been giving him training advice must have gotten his number somehow and asked his wife to send encouragement. In his previous life, he would have been suspicious of such kindness, looking for the angle or the hidden agenda.
Now, he simply felt grateful. Even stranger, he realized he'd found something his previous life had lacked entirely: a community of people who wanted to see him succeed without expecting anything in return.
The transformation was already beginning, and it went deeper than just football skills and physical conditioning. He was becoming the kind of person others wanted to support, rather than the kind they crossed the street to avoid.
Thirteen days until the trials. But for the first time since his rebirth, Luca felt like he might actually be ready for whatever came next.