It was fastly approaching late evening in Philadelphia on what was a rather hot and humid Wednesday.. The sun was all but gone as the city found new life in the night.. Men and Women were already walking the streets in fine attire as they headed to their favorite Speakeasy for the night.. Luis sat in the back of his limousine as it glided slowly down Arch Street in Philadelphia and finally coming to a stop outside his establishment 'Perry's Supermarket'..

The building was a front for Luis' new bar and poker game that operated out of the rear of the building, the warehouse which was supposed to house goods for the market was where the action took place but it had a very elegant feel to it and when you passed through the rear doors and inside it was like entering a whole new world...

"Evening Godfather.." one of his men said as they held the door open for him as he got out of the limo

"The poker game is already underway sir.. your spot is reserved at table one with your chips already in place..."

The man said as Luis brushed down his suit on the sidewalk before smirking at him and replying..

"Thanks fella.."

Luis handed him a 100$ bill and proceeded inside with his company Carla DiMarco, his goomah, and his top bodyguard, Joe Delorenzi.. As Luis stepped through the doors the reception was overwhelming as people greeted him all the way until he finally made it to the table he was playing at tonight... Table #1 was reserved for high rollers only.. The mayor, city judges, business owners.. anyone with deep pockets were found here..

"Evening gentleman.. hope your all ready to gamble tonight.." Luis said softly as he sat down

"Oh you bet I'm ready to gamble, I'm on a hot streak tonight!" the mayor said eagerly

"I've been staring at those chips all night, wondering who would walk in...." he continued

"Now it all makes sense!" 

The table laughed as the dealer dealt the cards.. Luis was a natural at poker.. he learned from Arnold Rothstein back in his days growing up in New York, his father used to run a poker game that Mr. Rothstein frequented.. Luis let the Mayor get comfortable for awhile.. losing a few games while he continued to buy drinks of whiskey for the man.. An hour went by and the mayor was up 30k and feeling real confident and cocky about his position in the table.. perhaps it was the constant flow of whiskey...

"It's like stealing candy from a baby!" he smirked as he pulled the pot in towards him again

"You keep going like this, your gonna have no money in the envelope for me this week..." he said mocking Luis who smiled and replied

"Maybe, maybe not.. the night is still young friend.. who knows.. maybe my luck will change..." Luis took a long drag off his cigarette and smiled

"I don't think luck can help you now friend!" the mayor laughed again with his buddies at the table

Luis called for another round of Crown & Cork whiskey before giving the dealer at the table the 'signal' and continued playing.. The dealer started to feed Luis the better hands now, leaving the mayor with the shitty hands.. sure it was cheating.. but Luis was the one taking the shitty hands all night and the mayor was drunk off his ass, none the wiser was he... A few hours went by and the mayor was all but broke.. Luis was chip leader and it was down to the final hand...

"I don't understand.. I was doing so well..." he said with slurred speech

"This has gotta be my hand..."

The round of betting finished as the dealer dropped the river card on the table, the mayor's eyes light up as he had a straight.. no way was Luis going to beat that.. The mayor was all in... Luis called with a smirk on his face before the dealer called out...

"Show your cards..." 

The mayor turned over his cards quickly and smiled as he had a straight all the way to the king... Luis held back a face for a few moments before turning his cards over...

"Royal Flush... Mr. Mayor..." Luis chuckled to himself as the mayor lost it all.. he slowly sat back down in his eat and muttered to himself...

"I don't understand.. 200 grand.. gone..." the mayor let out a deep sigh

"Guess it wasn't your night friend.. get this man another whiskey will ya?" Luis called out to the woman bringing drinks to the table

As Luis sat there counting up his chips he couldn't help but grin.. When the Whiskey Flows.. So does the money...

It was nearing a quarter past 2am now as Luis continued his hot streak into the night, he was up about 300 grand, sent two high rollers packing for the night, and the man was feeling as drunk as a fish.. The party was starting to calm down as only most of the serious gamblers were left in the building.. all the drunkards who come for the action and booze all but left...

"Luis!! I want to go home already.. it's past 2am and I'm tired.." Carla complained to him as Luis continued playing cards

"Soon dear, another game or two and we will take off.." Luis replied

Luis played another 5 games before Carla said something again and he finally cashed out his chips and retired for the night.. it was 15 minutes past 3am and he ordered his men to close up for the night as well.. The place grew real quiet quick as the sound of music stopped and the players all stumbled out.. but not before another round of drinks of course...

"Make sure the place get's locked up tight Sonny..." Luis barked at him as him, Joe, and Carla all made their exit outside to his limousine..

"You got it boss..." Sonny called out to him

Vito was patiently waiting by the car and quickly opened the door for them all as they too stumbled into the back of the car before Vito shut the door behind them and slowly hobbled his way around to the driver seat and climbed in.. Luis ordered him to drive on back to his manor in the hills of South Philly..

"I think I had too much whiskey..."

Luis thought to himself as the limousine took off from the curb and off into the shadows of the night...

It was about 45 minutes later, as Luis' manor was far in the hills of South Philly, before the limousine was arriving through the gates.. Luis was smoking a cigarette with the window down as he stared off into the night sky, thinking about the cash he won tonight at the card game.. Carla was already sleeping, she was a lightweight when it came to drinking and Joe.. well, he was quiet.. probably just happy to be back at the house.. he didn't find the same luck as Luis tonight...

The limo came to a halt just at the front steps and before Vito could hobble around to open the door, Luis had already opened it himself and stepped out.. stretching and letting out a loud yawning noise before climbing the steps to the house and finding the door being held open by one of his guards..

"Put the money in the safe upstairs for me will you Joe" Luis barked at him as he trudged through the door carrying Luis' bag of cash..

"Take your pay out of course.. put make sure the rest does find its way inside of it..." Luis poured himself another drink

"Sure thing Luis.." Joe scoffed, he was still upset about losing that 25 grand..

Vito and Carla finally emerged through the front door, she was a bit drunk and falling all over the place as Vito could barely manage to keep her upright.. Luis downed the contents of his glass before placing it back down on the table and walking over to her and lifting her off her feet into her arms, she smiled as she laid her head on his shoulders..

"Thank you Vito, that will be all..." Luis said as he turned and walked towards the stairs

"Yes sir.." he said tipping his hat to his boss before closing the door behind him and finding a seat in the living room

Luis slowly climbed the stairs to his bedroom, trying not to fall over himself as he had plenty to drink tonight.. As he passed his study he stopped and stared in to find Joe putting the cash into the safe as he was instructed..

"I'll be in my room Joe, gonna get some sleep.. you and Vito do the same.." Luis said softly

"Well, Carla is already asleep..." he said chuckling

"Leave some guards at the gate and outside and take off.. go be with your goomah.."

"Sounds like a good idea, need to forget about that loss I took tonight.. 25 fucking grand..." Joe said shaking his head

"Goodnight boss..."

They both nodded at each other before Luis disappeared from the doorway and went off to his room for bed....

It was the following morning when Luis was abruptly woken up to his phone ringing on his night stand.. His head was throbbing with each time the phone rang, getting worse and worse the longer it drew on before he finally slumped himself over and pulled the receiver off and brought it to his ear...

"Luis speaking..." he muttered into the phone as he flopped his head back into the pillow and began listening

"Mhm..."

He gave a few more one word responses as he was agreeing to Joe Delorenzi on the phone before he sat up in his bed abruptly.. he was wide awake after Joe told him Las Vegas had been wiped out throughout the night.. Luis jumped out of bed before he heard Joe chuckling on the other side of the phone and stopped...

"The fuck is so funny Joe?" Luis barked as he grabbed his throbbing head

"War is already over boss, I took care of things for us.. you go back to sleep. See you this afternoon I'm on the first flight home..."

Before Luis could reply, Joe hung up the phone.. Luis let out a deep sigh before placing the receiver back on the hook and making his way downstairs to the dining room table where he found his guard, Vito Rigazzo, sitting and drinking a glass of whiskey..

"Morning boss... you're gonna need one of these yourself..." he said as he poured Luis a glass of whiskey

"Coffee will do fine.... hand me the paper.." Luis said as he sat down, alcohol was the last thing he needed...

"Uh, boss.. you might want to rethink that..." Vito placed the newspaper in front of Luis

Luis eyes went wide as he picked it up, the mob war was front page news.. they even had the Obituary section for the fallen mobsters on the side.. as Luis scanned the names his heart sank... He pushed the newspaper away and leaned back in his seat as he shook his head.. 

"On second thought... give me that glass of whiskey Vito..." he stammered as Vito handed it to him quickly

"Fucking Cliff, my good friend shot..." Luis sighed again before swirling the contents of the glass and pounding it back

"Rest well my good friend..."

Luis slammed the cup back down on the table before retreating back upstairs to his room...