With midday nearly passing, Luis takes his first steps out of the Patangeli Manor in the hills of South Philly.. He stops at the top of the steps and takes a gander around at the surroundings, grinning while taking a long drag off his cigarette.. Today was the first shipment of Crown & Cork set to leave Philadelphia to New York to find its way into the hands of the thirsty New Yorkers...

Joe Delorenzi, Luis' unofficial Right Hand Man, was set to oversee the shipment during transportation.. A job Joe has performed plenty of times over his long mafioso career, but this one was the most important.. atleast to his boss. 

"The limousine is ready boss" Vito Rigazzo said as he stammered up the steps

"Joe is already waiting for you in it.."

Luis nodded at him before taking one last look at the hills surrounding him before quickly making his way down to his limo.. Vito was slowly waddling behind.. taking an eternity to finally open his boss' door.. Luis let out a deep sigh and climbed in..

"How many times do I need to tell you Vito.. lay of the fucking cheeseburgers." Luis barked at him as he got in the front

"Sorry boss.. emotional eating an all" Vito muttered

Luis shook his head and leaned back in his seat as the limousine gracefully pulled out of his compound and made its way to the industrial section of South Philly where the Crown & Cork distillery was operating out of a warehouse.. Joe was pretty quiet, he seemed to be lost in thought staring out the window.. Luis took a final drag off his cigarette and put it out in the ashtray before nudging Joe, startling him in the process...

"Everything alright Joe, haven't heard a peep out of you this entire ride.." Luis said with a grin

"Just going over the route in my head boss.. which highways to take.. you know... the gameplan." Joe replied

"Ah don't worry about a thing, they can't even search the vehicle! Illegal to search a car being towed as it's not your property.. you just say you had no idea what was in the thing if worse comes to worse..." Luis said with a smile as he gripped Joe on the shoulder

"You fret too much over the small things friend, now pour us a drink..."

Joe nodded at him before pulling out a bottle of Crown & Cork whiskey and filling two cups with ice.. Joe slowly poured the drinks, taking careful note of the bumpy roads of South Philly and managing not to spill a drop, he handed Luis his drink and raised his up to him in a toast...

"To you Godfather, and to being back in business again.." Joe said as the cups clinked together

"Cheers Joe"

 Luis replied with a smile before downing the contents of his glass and placing it back down on the makeshift table causing the ice inside to rattle.. The limo slowly came to a stop as they pulled up out front of the warehouse, a few goons immediately came out carrying guns but quickly holstered them when they realized that it was their Godfather.. Vito quickly waddled his way to the back and opened the door for Luis who slowly stepped out of the vehicle.. the goons took note that Luis was wearing a finely tailored pearl white suit, probably worth more than a years worth of their salary..

"Afternoon gentleman" Luis said as he stepped out and approached the goons on the sidewalk

"I trust everything is in set to be shipped out on time tonight?" the two men nodded

"Good... well.. come on now.. show me to the office. I hope Sonny is here already.."

Joe joined up with Luis now on the sidewalk as he gestured the two goons to start walking, they both were still so nervous to be in the presence of Luis they didn't know what to say, so they just started walking to the office as instructed... Luis and Joe glanced at each other and chuckled before following closely behind them as they were lead to the office...

A few minutes later, they arrived at the entrance to the Distillery's office, Sonny Strazzi was sitting behind the desk and quickly rose to his feet and walked over to embrace his Godfather Luis... he gestured for him to seat before barking at his brother John to get up and fetch them a fresh bottle of whiskey from downstairs...

"Your here a bit early, I wasn't expecting you for another three hours.." Sonny exclaimed before taking his seat behind his desk

"No matter, the shipment was all ready to go this morning, per your request Godfather.."

"Perfect, I am most pleased with your efforts Sonny, you come along way around here my friend.. my father would be proud of your accomplishments if he were still alive..."

Luis leaned back in his chair as he pulled out his pack of smokes and pulled one from it, he quickly stuck it in his mouth and began patting down his suit for his engraved zippo 'Lucky', when he finally found it he smirked and pulled it from his pocket and flicked open the lid, igniting the flame in the same process and raising it to his cigarette that was dangling from his mouth.. he took a long drag and exhaled a large cloud of smoke as he stuck his zippo back in his pocket and continued...

"This shipment is very important, that's why I'm going to be sending Joe with your boys to oversee the shipment..." Luis barked

"I know Big Mike Lebowski is a trusted made man around here and all, probably the toughest son of a bitch too.. but he doesn't have the brains for this operation.. I'm surprised you didn't have Tony Landuchi take care of this.. that one's got a good head on his shoulders..."

John came back with the drinks just on time so Sonny had a few moments to think over his answer, he set them down on the table and assumed his seat once again in the corner of the room..

"Ah yes, Tony.. He's been calling in sick alot lately.. something is off with the guy.." Sonny cleared his throat before continuing

"I'm happy to have Joe in on this run, no problems here boss..." he said as he picked up his drink and took a swig

"Then everything is settled. At 5pm I want the trucks heading out those warehouse doors got it?" 

Luis stood back up, it seemed this meeting was short lived.. He did pick up his drink and down the contents, the Godfather was starting to feel a bit buzzed.. Sonny nodded at him and embraced Luis one more time before he took his leave, Joe Delorenzi stayed behind as it was only 2 hours way until the trucks were set to leave..

Vito waddles over to the back of the Limo and opened the door for his boss once again, Luis took another drag off his cigarette before tossing it into the gutter nearby and hopping into the back.. The door slammed shut behind him and Vito waddled over to the driver seat and climbed in.. Luis leaned back in his seat and let out a deep sigh as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes, succumbing to the spinning a bit now... back in business he thought to himself again.. I'm too old for this shit....

It was nearing 45 minutes past 5 o'clock and the shipment was still sitting in the warehouse, Joe was distracted with one of Sonny's prostitutes.. that man always had a soft spot for the ladies.. The telephone on the table rang for a minute straight before Joe let out a deep sigh and picked it up off the ringer...

"This is Joe speaking..." his stomach dropped when he heard Luis on the other line, he was furious to hear Joe pickup as he was supposed to of been gone 45 minutes ago

"I'm sorry boss, I got distracted-" 

He was cut off again, he let out a deep sigh and let Luis yell at him, only saying what he knew Luis wanted to hear.. A loud knock came at the office door before being abruptly opened, much to Joe's surprise it was his brother..

"Yes boss.. I'm on it.. 15 minutes and we are leaving." Joe gracefully hung up the phone and stood up to hug his brother

"Paulie, what are you doing here? How did you know I was here..." Joe questioned

"Ah, Luis sent me down here... told me to catch you before you leave..."

"Well, you would have been late for that.. I was supposed to be gone 45 minutes ago.. enough small talk, plenty of time for that on the drive.. lets get the boys assembled.."

Joe reached for his glass of whiskey on the table and took a large swig before slamming the cup back down and quickly kissing the girl goodbye.. The second he stepped out of the office, he was barking orders to the idle mafiosos sitting around.. They immediately jumped up into gear and began quickly piling into their respective tow trucks, each of them towing their own van full of whiskey crates...

"Alright boys... It's gonna be a long drive.. nobody do anything stupid and we should be okay."

Joe whistled and motioned for them all to exit the warehouse doors as they raised up, hopping into the last one as it exited and making off into the shadows of the night...

About an hour into the drive and it was full on pitch black outside minus the dim headlights of the trucks... The city was long gone behind them, far out of distance now as the caravan was nearing the much more rural parts of the country as much of it was still vastly underdeveloped.. The engines rumbled in the silence of the night as they barreled down the road with smoke leaking from the very last truck's windows...

"I have never seen you smoke so much Joe.." Paulie said glancing at his brother

"Ah, yea.. this whole thing as me feeling really uneasy... When things seem so simple, they tend to end in disaster.." Joe scoffed

"Well, so far so good.. haven't even seen a single cop.. you worry too much..." Paulie chuckled

Joe shook his head and went back to staring out the window, drifting away into his thoughts.. The night was getting colder as it continued to drag on causing Joe to scuff up his coat around his neck as he took another long drag off the cigarette he was smoking and tossed it out the window... It was another 20 minutes or so before he spotted some headlights coming up in the side mirror...

"We got some company Paulie..." Joe said as he smacked Paulie on the shoulder with his left hand

"I see them..."

The cars were gaining in speed on the caravan, getting closer and closer before turning their headlights off and coming up alongside the rear truck.. A masked man leans out the window with a tommy gun and begins spraying bullets into the side of the truck, Paulie slammed on the brakes and jeered the wheel causing the truck veer off to the side and flip.. The trucks ahead realizing what was going on began to slow down and pull to the side as the two cars emptied and converged on the flipped truck and van... 

The men in masks began ordering the men to stand down, but a gunfight ensued quickly as two of the mask men fell to the floor as Luis' men began shooting back.. Joe climbed out of the truck and pulled his gun from his waistband and began laying down shots in the direction of his attackers.. it appeared his shoulder was broken but he still had one good arm...

"Do you know who's fucking shipment you are trying to steal??" Joe yelled as he continued firing his gun, hitting and wounding a attacker

"Luis will have all your fucking heads on a stick when we are through with you..."

The attackers fled into their cars and fled off onto the opposing highway and took off into the shadows of the night, leaving Joe and the rest of Luis' men to tend to their wounds... Fuck... Joe had to get to the nearest phone and alert Luis...

It was early morning now as the caravan pulled into a nearby diner, Joe had his arm up in a makeshift sling as he hopped out of the trucks once they came to a stop.. There was a payphone nearby that caught Joes eye and he made his way over to it and began to dial out back to Philadelphia to alert Luis of the complications.. The nickels jingled as they fell through the slot until the receiver finally clicked and made a monotone bzzzzz sound...

Joe barked at the other men to go get them a table inside, but ordered 2 men to stay behind to guard the trucks, before punching in the number to Luis' residence.. It rang and rang until finally the phone clicked and Luis answered...

"Who the fuck is calling my house so early?" Luis barked into the phone

"Luis.. It's Joe.. there's been a problem.. Fucking hijackers tried to steal one of our trucks.. whole van load is gone.."

Luis began to yell into the phone some real obscure obscenities as Joe let out a deep sigh and lit a cigarette, taking a long drag off his cigarette as Luis continued to berate him.. Finally, the ass chewing was coming to an end and Joe was left with his final question...

"So what are we gonna do boss?" Joe muttered

"You mean what the fuck am I going to do? Right.. fuck me Joe! I thought you had this covered. I'm on my way out there.. stay put in Jersey. We are gonna get to the bottom of this fucking shit..."

Luis slammed the phone down on the receiver and leaned back in his seat as he took a long drag off his cigarette himself and exhaled.. Back in fucking business he thought to himself again.. Fuck me.. IF you want something done right you gotta do it yourself.... Luis got up from his chair and barked down to Vito to get the limo ready.. it was time to go meet the Don of Jersey...

The following day Luis made the trip out to Jersey where Joe had stayed behind to await his Godfather to meet with the Don of Jersey.. The ride was long and boring, besides for the occasional smoke, Luis did however have much time to think over who may have hit his shipment to New York.. A faction that has been around Philadelphia for some time but had recently been pushed out to Jersey was the likely candidates.. Vinnie "The Snake" Romano was head of their family and him and Luis had been rivaling for power ever since Luis found himself cast into the Philadelphia underworld..

Vinnie was ambitious and eager to seize the title of Chairman for himself but needed to show his strength to the other mafiosos under Luis that he was the 'big shot' in town and Luis didn't have the muscle to take him on... a bold move on his part.

"We'll be on Don Frivino's house in 15 minutes boss.." Vito called out to Luis who was still in midthought

"Joe said he will meet us there...."

Luis nodded at him and took another long drag off the cigarette he was smoking and let out a deep sigh as he exhaled the large cloud of smoke.. Don Tessio Frivino was a man of honor, so Luis had heard.. He had a brother who has deep mob ties to the Mafia families back in Sicily, and he was real old school and prided himself on loyalty... Luis' father had worked with Don Frivino during his tenure in New York but don Frivino was getting into his late 60's and supposedly his Underboss, Willie "The Steward" Tarantino was running things in Jersey, and him and Romano were rumored to be good friends...

15 minutes had come and gone and the limo was pulling through the gates of the Frivino Compound.. It was lightly guarded for being the compound of a Don, but everyone in Jersey knew Tessio was no longer really calling the shots.. he was just the figurehead of the organization.. Luckily for Luis though, he still carried heavy influence among most of his Caporegime, which was the ultimate reason why he was still alive... Joe walked over and opened the door for his boss and grinned before they both climbed the steps and made their way inside...

Upon entering Don Frivino's office the smell of booze and musty cigarette became pretty evident, but Don Frivino wasn't the one drinking as he liked to be in control of his thoughts.. the things alcohol did to a man was not something he liked to watch, but he was limited on loyalty these days and if a drunk was loyal to him then so be it...

"Good Evening Don Frivino.." Joe said as they entered the room, Tessio turned his chair around and smiled before slowly standing up..

"Welcome friends! Don Delorenzi, Godfather Patangeli..." Tessio said with a weak voice

"Please sit..."

He gestured for them to take a seat across from him and sat down, Joe quickly sat down but Luis was a bit hesitant but did manage to fight off his paranoia before sitting down..

"I can imagine you both did not come all this way for a social call..." Tessio said getting straight to the point

"I heard of the attempted hijacking of one of your booze shipments to New York, nothing in Jersey flows through my state without me knowing about it, Godfather Patangeli.." 

Tessio started coughing a bit before picking up a glass of water and taking a sip, he cleared his throat and continued

"I know who hit your truck.. It wasn't me I can assure you of this..."

Luis pulled his pack of smokes from his suit pocket and stuck one in his mouth as he offered one to Tessio who quickly took one and smiled.. Luis put his pack away and took his engraved zippo 'Lucky' from his pocket and flicked open the lid igniting the flame so he could light his and Tessio's cigarette before replying..

"I knew you had nothing to do with this old friend, you and my father did business for many years.. your a true man of honor and loyalty, but I have my doubts about your Underboss.. perhaps he is working with a rival of mine.. Vinnie Romano? Have you heard this name?" 

Luis leaned back in his chair and exhaled a large cloud of smoke after he replied

"Ah yes, Mr. Romano has been quite the headache for me too, you don't mind if I call you Luis?" they both chuckled

"Anyhow, It's my understanding that my Underboss tipped them off of your shipment moving through the state.. he's been trying to take power from me for years now, I just never saw it until now.. they both need to be clipped..." Tessio said exhaling a cloud of smoke of his own

Luis liked what he was hearing, he took another long drag off his cigarette and glanced at Joe and nodded before replying to Tessio..

"Say no more my good friend.. With your blessing of course, I'll have these two men sleeping with the fishes come nightfall tomorrow..."

Don Frivino nodded and they all stood up and shook hands with smiles before Luis and Joe made their way back out of the Compound and back into the back of the limousine where Vito was already awaiting them behind the wheel.. Luis barked at him to drive and off into the shadows they went..

The following day around mid afternoon, just as the sun was just passing overhead and casting the buildings shadows in the summer heat.. Luis sat outside a local cafe smoking a cigarette and watching the goomba's on the other side of the street go in and out of a tenement building.. Luis wiped the sweat off his brow as he exhaled a large cloud of smoke into the air for it to slowly rise away into the atmosphere..

"Still no sign of Romano boss, you sure this is the place?" Joe questioned as he was dripping in sweat

"We've been out here for hours.. fuck..I'm going inside to get a water you want one boss?"

Luis nodded at Joe, and without saying another word, Joe disappeared into the shadow of the building entry leaving Luis still sitting there as he closely watched the men... A few moments later, a pearl white cadillac comes cruising up and parks out front, Luis recognizes the driver as no other than Vinnie Romano who quickly got out and approached the opposite side and opened the back door for another fellow.. Luis couldn't make out who it was but by the look of him, it had to be Willie Tarantino..

"Holy shit, that's him boss..." Joe muttered as he quickly sat down at the table with the two cups of water for him and his boss

"Hopefully they didn't spot me... are they looking this way..." he said cautiously glancing across the street

"No Joe, they don't even know we are here..."

Luis chuckled to himself a bit before leaning back in his seat and taking a final drag off his cigarette and smiling.. he tossed it to the side as the smoke from his last exhale quickly bounced off the table sitting in front of him... Luis pulled a pistol from his waistband and nodded at Joe who put his fingers together in his mouth and made a loud whistle, this caught the men's attention across the street who immediately began to draw their guns but were immediately caught under gunfire...

The front window of the cafe had a M60 Machine Gun hanging out the front unloading its line of ammunition into the building, bodies, cars, whatever was in it's path of destruction across the street as Luis, Joe and other goons began converging on the complex and firing at anyone who came running out the front door... When the shooting finally drew to a close, Luis and Joe made their way inside and found a dead Vinnie Romano full of bullet holes.. and a bloodies Willie Tarantino who was clinging to life on the second floor with more than 10 gunshot wounds..

"Please.. spare my life... It was all Vinnie's idea.. please Godfather Patangeli.." Willie said as he tried to sit himself up, spitting up blood in the process before giving up due to lack of strength..

"Don Frivino will never allow this..." he said getting angry now

Luis grinned and chuckled a bit before kicking the bloody man in the gut which caused him to shriek out in pain.. Luis laughed even more now, with a evil grin on his face as he pulled another cigarette from his pack of smokes and stuck it in his mouth as he flicked upen the cap on his zippo lighter and igniting the flame in the process.. Luis took a long drag from his cigarette and exhaled a large cloud of smoke at the man on the floor...

"Don Frivino is the one who gave me the green light on your death Willie, he knows all about your plan to take over the family.. this is just check mate buddy... no hard feelings it's just business..." 

Before the man could even complete another word Luis unloaded his pistol into the face of Willie, causing blood to spatter across the walls and his suit.. Luis continued firing until his clip was empty.. he yelled out in anger and tossed his pistol at the unrecognizable face of Willie Tarantino who's blood was beginning to drain everywhere on the floor...

"It's fucking over... get this shit cleaned up Joe...." Luis said with anger as he turned and walked away...

Luis stormed out of the building and went walking off down the street, followed closely by his bodyguards and Vito who was driving the limousine closely behind.. He continued smoking like a madman taking drag after drag until he finally tossed his cigarette away when he found himself near a fountain at a park nearby.. staring into the fountain Luis could see his reflection.. He was covered in blood spatter from head to toe and he took note of the fear in people's eyes around him.. he smiled with an evil grin and muttered to himself as he stared at his reflection in the fountain...

"It feels good to be back in business..."

Chapter 2:

More Problems In New York Town

It was late Thursday evening when Luis and Joe finally made it into New York after taking care of Luis problem out in Jersey.. The weather was doing nobody any favors as the rain was coming down hard, cars were spun out all over the road and Joe was trying his best to keep clear vision on the road as the windshield wipers were not fast enough to keep the water splatter off..

Luis still had more unfinished business in New York as he still had 3 full vans full of Crown & Cork Whiskey to offload to his customer, Nelson Van Cleef who was a Colonel in the United States Army, one who loved to drink and was fairly well connected politically and used the military trucks to transport his booze around the city. Van Cleef was also a politician, holding the treasures spot on the cabinet in New York City, he was a fairly well known man..

"This fucking rain won't let up..." Joe said breaking Luis' train of thought as usual

"I'm gonna pull over just ahead, we are already in New York anyways boss.. what's stopping the night gonna hurt?" 

Luis nodded at him and ordered him to take the next exit as he knew the Columbia Heights Hotel was nearby and that it used to be an old refuge for mafiosos.. It wasn't long before they had arrived and Luis found himself inside and getting a hotel, only to be greeted by a high ranking woman in the United Nations family known as  Roxie who accommodated him with the penthouse suite and a complimentary bottle of cognac..

As Luis lay there sipping on his bottle of cognac he found himself slipping off into the dreamworld as the sound of rain splattering against the glass of the penthouse suite lulled him to sleep quickly...

As the night grew longer, Luis woke up from his slumber to find himself still holding that cup of cognac still upright, amazing he thought to himself as he normally tossed and turned as he slept at night but this mattress was something else... He grumbled to himself as he forced his aching body up from the comfort of the soft bed and dragged himself into the bathroom so he could take a leak... As Luis stood there staring at himself in the mirror in the bathroom rubbing the sleep from his eyes, his bodyguard Joe Delorenzi appeared at the door with a grin on his face..

"Evening boss, thought you would surely sleep the night away.." he said with a chuckle as he took a drag from his cigarette

"Godfather Tim sent us an invitation to the FullHouse Lounge, said some special talent know as the Andrew Sisters would be performing.."

Luis grumbled to himself again as he turned on the faucet in front of him and splashed hot water onto his face before wiping it with a cloth nearby and replying to Joe..

"Sounds like a good evening, great way to mingle with some of the other folk around here... go and get our table reserved I'll be up in 15 minutes.."

Joe nodded before he took his leave and left Luis to himself in his suite.. The FullHouse Lounge was located on the roof of the Columbia Heights Hotel, it was notorious for having huge parties and special guests, especially high ranking mafioso... Luis quickly got himself ready, throwing on a fine black suit with a red tie to match before lighting up a cigarette of his own and exiting the suite.. Vito was stationed at the door and as Luis quickly exited his room and made his way to the elevator down the hall, Vito could be seen chasing after him with a slight waddle.. The man really needed to lay off the cheeseburgers...

A few minutes later Luis was stepping off the elevator and onto the roof of the Columbia Heights Hotel where the FullHouse Lounge was located.. It was extremely well lit and to his surprise it was fairly warm even though it was partially open to the night sky.. Luis was greeted by the woman who helped him with his suite arrangements Roxie as soon as he stepped off the elevator and was shown to the table where Joe Delorenzi sat with the company of another woman..

"I see you already found yourself a date.." Luis said as he sat down at the table with Joe

"Aye, you want a girl of your own? Only cost ye' 30$ for the night boss..."

Luis chuckled to himself, Joe loved his prostitutes.. He pulled a cigarette from his pack and stuck it in his mouth as he searched around his pockets for his engraved zippo 'Lucky' before realizing he didn't have it with him.. It must be in the pants of his slacks back in his room... He was immediately overwhelmed with the fear of losing his grandfather's family heirloom that he quickly rose from the table and dashed over to the elevator...

"Where you going boss? You just fucking got here the sister's are just about to sing..." Joe called out to him

Luis almost knocked over a person serving horderves before finally reaching the elevator where he jumped into it and pressed the suite house button and close doors button repeatedly before he almost broke the button as the doors shut... It was a few moments before the elevator dinged and the doors opened sending Luis dashing towards the suite door and opening it with his key...

"Where the fuck is it..." He said with anger as he searched around for the pants he worse the night before

Luis practically tore the place apart before finding them pushed up underneath the bed.. He quickly patted them down and let out a huge sigh of relief as he pulled the golden engraved zippo from his pocket and restuck the cigarette back in his mouth.. He plopped himself down on the edge of the bed and flicked open the lid of the zippo and igniting the flame as he did so.. He took a long drag off the cigarette and exhaled a large cloud of smoke as he sighed again in relief...

At the same moment, the phone on the hotel nightstand rang which startled him to shit.. Luis picked up the phone and was immediately taken aback by the sound of gunfire on the phone.. it was one of his men guarding his whiskey shipment, apparently the cops were trying to raid the place and they were in a shootout with the law...

"FUCK" Luis yelled out loud before slamming the phone down on the ringer and grabbing his pistol from the nightstand drawer

"One fucking day of peace that's all I ask for...."

Luis said cursing to himself as he left his penthouse suite and ran into Vito who chased after Luis as he walked by, taking note of the pistol in his back waistband as they got onto the elevator.. Luis didn't even bother to alert Joe.. He had to get over to the safehouse quick...

As the limousine stopped and Luis exited from it, he bumped into a woman who seemed like she was in a hurry as she tried to bob and weave herself through the crowd.. Luis called out to her, angry that she had just bumped into him and continued walking without even saying 'Excuse me'.. He sighed and threw his hands up in a 'whatever' gesture and continued on his way..

"God damn New Yorkers don't have any respect these days..."

Luis muttered under his breath as he glanced around at the fairly well populated neighborhood that was brightly lit and seemed to be in the center of attention... The corrupt cops his goons were in a shootout with seemed to be long gone from the warehouse with booze in it... Luis scuffed up his coat around his neck and motioned for Vito to follow him inside...

Upon entering, the goons immediately fired a shot off, almost hitting Luis and sending him into a fury as he began to yell at them for being complete fucking idiots.. The corrupt cops were indeed long gone but one of his goons lay there in a pool of blood as he bled out from his stomach..

"Come on let's go, get this man to the Doc downtown.. did anybody catch their face?" Luis said angrily

"Yea boss.. it was that guy Bill Roper... think he used to be a friend of yours?" one of the goons replied

"Son of a bitch..."

This wasn't the first time a cop on Luis payroll has backstabbed him, but it was going to be the last time Mr. Roper did... Luis sighed and took a long drag off his cigarette and exhaled.. The words his father told him so many years ago seemed to mean nothing now.. 'Just remember kiddo, you can never kill a cop..."

Luis grinned as he took another drag off his cigarette.. Killing a cop was just what he was gonna do...

A few hours later Bill Roper was located eating at a local Cafe which was a cop hangout, it was packed full of NYPD's Finest and Luis knew killing him here was just not going to happen.. but he wondered why did he even turn on Luis.. The man was a King in Philly, driving a brand new Cadillac and living in the richy rich hills of South Philly among the many politicians and other Mafia heads in Philadelphia... Luis flung open the Limousine and quickly hopped out, behest the warning of his bodyguard Joe, he slammed the door shut and walked straight into that Cafe..

He immediately got stares and scowls as he entered, some cops even muttered some things under their breath as they recognized the famous esteemed Luis Patangeli, son of Don Roberto Patangeli of New York, and cursed him as he walked by.. Bill Roper in the corner immediately recognized him and gestured for him to sit down...

"Luis.. what are you doing here....." Bill said nervously as Luis sat down

"Should be asking you the same question old friend, why are you in New York.. and why did some of my guys say they saw you outside my warehouse in Little Italy?" Luis barked back at him

"Luis, er- Godfather.." He said with a low tone

"I don't know what your talking about... I am here for a police conference.... I was never at your warehouse I've been at the conference the past 6 hours..." he slid his ticket across the table to Luis who picked it up and sighed

"Well one of my goomba's pointed at you.. someone is fucking lying here..."

Luis threw the ticket back at Bill and leaned back in his seat before he cleared his throat and continued...

"I'm going to take your word for it, well, your story checks out...." Luis said

"But only a few people knew where that shipment was being kept... get your eyes out on the street will ya? Report anything you hear to Joe.."

Bill Roper nodded before letting out a deep sigh himself as Luis got up from the booth and left the place.. So I guess he would not be killing a cop after all.. But then who the fuck did his man see.. Luis quickly got back into the limousine and barked at Vito to return to the warehouse.. shit didn't seem right...

The limousine skirted around the corner and onto the block where Luis' warehouse was located in Little Italy, catching the attention of people on the sidewalk as they watched it come to a jolting hault outside the warehouse and Luis and his few goons with him emerged from the car and ran inside with guns drawn...

Just as expected, most of the booze was gone.. only one van full of Crown & Cork whiskey remained.. Luis went into a fury as he kicked over things and cursed...

"Those fucking bastards are fucking dead...." Luis yelled

"Every last fucking one of them..." Luis kicked another empty crate to the side

"Who boss?" Joe said as he stuck his gun in his back waistband

"It was Romano's men.. his Street Captain that is loyal to him, John Torrio... we should have wiped them all the fuck out when we had the chance..."

Luis calmed himself down a bit before he too stuck his gun in his waist side and sat down at a table nearby and beckoned one of the men to bring him over one of the bottles of Crown & Cork whiskey that was still left in the warehouse and ordered him to pour him a drink...

"Get on the horn with our friend Don Frivino, tell him to find out where that fucker is holed up back in Jersey.. I bet our booze is there with him.." Luis said as he picked up his glass and took a swig

"I'll get in touch with the Colonel and let him know about the unfortunate series of events... This whole shipment was fucked..." Luis said with a sigh

"Only 100 crates of whiskey left.. fuck..."

Joe nodded and gestured for the men to follow him outside the immediate area in order to give Luis some time to think and collect his thoughts as he slowly drank the bottle of Crown & Cork Whiskey under the dim light of the warehouse...

It was nearing midnight now as Luis stood up from the table, drunk as shit and could barely stand but with clear intentions in his mind.. The Romano family had to be put down and a new shipment of Crown & Cork would have to be arranged to New York in order to fulfill this year's city parade festivities.. Joe had already worked his magic and discovered the location of the remaining men who were still loyal to the late Vinnie Romano and just as Luis expected they were holed up in a warehouse.. possibly with the liquor..

"Perhaps you should stay behind boss, you look like a fish out of water.." Joe joked as he walked over and caught Luis stumbling forward

"No no... Just take me back to the hotel.. we will hit them in the morning...." he said as he slurred his speech

"Nobody dies until I say so...."

Luis had slipped into a drunken dream state at that moment, almost collapsing on the floor if not thanks to Joe who shook his head and carried his boss outside and stuck him in the back of the limousine and slammed the door shut.. He ordered Vito to take him back to the Columbia Heights Hotel where he was to stay and be protected at all times until the 'war' was over... Vito nodded and hopped into the driver seat as a few other goons got into the Limousine and it sped off into the shadows...

Joe was all alone again.. IT was his time to shine.. He ordered what men he had left into a car that was on the premises and took off into the shadows of the night himself towards Jersey...

It was about 3am in the morning when Joe and his small crew of goons pulled onto the deserted industrial road and spotting the warehouse just at the end of the block.. Joe killed the lights on the car quickly and pulled over as he tried to see if there was any guards outside.. The place seemed like a ghost town as there was nobody stationed outside of the building, nor was there a soul in sight...

"Alright boys.. lets just get this over with.. place seems pretty fucking barren around here so lets go in guns blazing.. shoot first and ask questions later you got it?" Joe said as he cocked his pistol and glanced at the crew

"Got it boss" they said in unison before all 4 of them got out of the car

Joe took point as they all approached the warehouse, the street lights themselves were pretty dim and something just didn't seem right.. Joe carried on and peeked inside the door where he saw the muzzle of a machine gun that immediately started firing upon the doorway as the man behind it screamed "They are here!"... Joe jumped back as he nearly got his head blown off and ordered the men to retreat across the street and take cover...

Just as they got settled, two goons emerged from the warehouse and were met by a barrage of bullets from Joe's crew directly across the street, sending them both flopping over onto the sidewalk.. The machine gun fire continued, ripping bullets into the cars that Joe and his men were behind but luckily for them the steel made cars they were sitting behind were holding up against the gunfire...

"Fuck.. what do we do boss this shit was a setup.. are we even certain the booze is in there?" one of the men questioned

"My intel was solid.. we stay and take this fucking building.... Paulie go and get the molotov it's in the trunk...." Joe barked

"We have a fucking molotov in the trunk? Jesus christ Joe if that thing bounced while driving..." his brother Paulie said 

"We don't have fucking time for this...." Joe yelled angrily before shooting over the car at the machine gunner

"GO GET THAT FUCKING MOLOTOV"

Paulie nodded before the crew began laying down some covering fire as Paulie ran over towards the car trunk and popped it open.. He grinned as he picked up the molotov and slammed the trunk shut... He lit the cloth on the end and ran back towards the front of the warehouse and tossed it through the front door where the machine gunner was located, sending him and the place up in flames... He shrieked in pain as he began to burn alive, attempting to run out the front door but only caught bullets like the rest....

"Alright lets get the fuck in there.. run through the fucking flames let's get out vans and go..." Joe ordered

They all ran inside through the front door, hopping over and through the flames to the other side of the front office and into the warehouse where there was a single man left who tried to take a pop shot at Paulie as he was the first man through, but caught a bullet between the eyes instead.. The two vans were all sitting in the warehouse, still full of Crown & Cork Whiskey... Joe barked at the men to get inside as he opened the warehouse doors and they all took off into the night back towards New York...

Joe and his brother Paulie Delorenzi rand across the street and stood on the sidewalk as the turned around and looked at the building going up in flames.. They both glanced at each other and smirked before Joe stuck a cigarette in his mouth and flicked open his silver zippo lid and raised the flame to his cigarette... He took a long drag and exhaled before getting into the car and taking off into the shadows himself...

The next morning the small caravan was pulling into the heart of Little Italy in New York where Luis' warehouse was located for storing his booze.. As they drove in and parked, they all took note of Luis sitting at the table smoking... Joe was the last car in before the warehouse doors closed and they all gathered around as Luis stood up and slowly clapped as he came around the table...

"Bravo gentleman..." he said sarcastically as he continued to slow clap to a stop

"You managed to retrieve the liquor.. but there's one small problem....."

Joe put his head down as Luis went into a full fledged fury as he began screaming at them for disobeying orders, drunk or not the standing order was nobody did anything without their Godfather.. Luis threw anything within reaching distance before he slowly regained his composure and approached Joe...

"An the Ring Leader... you of all people I would least expect to be among this group.." Luis said with anger

"Boss.. it was I who lead them.. I wanted to make up for my earlier mistakes of losing one van..." Joe said nervously

"This was my time to do it..." 

Luis socked him in the face which sent Joe flying back to the floor before Luis walked back over to the table and lit up the cigarette he pulled from his pack... He took a long drag as he watched Joe get back to his feet and exhaled..

"The next time any of ya's disobeys me again.. I'll line you all up again myself and gun you down.. have I made myself clear..." he said sternly

"Yes boss..." they replied in unison

"Good.. now get to work unloading these crates.." Luis said as he gestured the men to return to work

"Joe come to the office real quick..."

Joe let out a deep sigh but followed Luis and Vito into the office before Vito shut the door behind them as Joe and Luis sat down at the desk in the center of the room.. Luis shook his head as he took another quick drag of his cigarette and exhaled before clearing his throat..

"You disappoint me today.. I apologize for hitting you old friend.. but I needed to set an example to the men.." Luis said with upset tone

"You've always been loyal, and a good friend to me.. let's keep it that way huh? No more shenanigans of this sort.. kapeesh?"

"Sure, I apologize for disobeying orders... but we got the booze back.. can't say it wasn't worth it?" Joe muttered

Luis sighed as he ordered Vito to pour them both a glass of whiskey before pushing Joe's glass towards him and picking up his own glass..

"I suppose your right in that sense. The Colonel will be happy when he shows up today for his shipment to learn the rest of his load is here as well..." Luis took a swig off his drink

"Go get everything ready, we can talk more when we get back to Philly in the morning.. I've got us tickets on the first flight home.. Vito will drive the limousine back with the other guys..."

"Yes boss.."

Joe stood up and tipped his hat to Luis before leaving the room to Luis, Vito tried to re enter but Luis barked at him to get out as he downed his cup and slammed it on the table... He leaned back in his chair and put his head back as he took another drag of his cigarette and drifted off into thought...