I'll take this one.

The assertion that Albert feared/respected Luciano enough to control him was demonstrated by a number of different instances to back up that assertion. Albert was one of the first men to know about Luciano's plan to remove Masseria and switch to Maranzano's faction. He pledged loyalty to Luciano that he would kill whomever necessary for Luciano to get to the top. Evident by him being included in the Masseria hit.

Luciano then chose Albert to lead the Italian faction of Murder Inc. along with Lepke to run the Jewish faction.

One of the proposed murders was the potential murder of Dewey who Dutch Schultz wanted killed. Albert agreed with Dutch and worked out a plan where it was possible to knock off Dewey. Fearing the heat it would bring Luciano would call it off.

Years later after Luciano is deported, Albert who by now is boss of the Gambino family orders the hit on a civilian, Albert Schuster because he "ratted" on a bank robber.

Do you really think it possible that if Luciano called off the Dewey murder because there was too much heat, he would allow Albert to commit an essentially random murder of a state witness that had nothing to do with the Organization.
That perfectly shows the difference Luciano played in Albert's behavior.

Furthermore, Albert played a vital role in the plan to get Luciano sprung from prison...

I could go on and on about the examples that show the level of fear/respect Albert had for Luciano.