I hadn't expected to kill him; hell, I'd only brought the gun along for my own protection. With the trouble on the Strip lately, the gun had been a necessary precaution. With the Lombardi brothers moving in from Reno, a man in my line of work couldn't walk the Strip safely without packing a gun.

The man I killed had been a business owner for Fort Izzel. It was one of the smaller hotels, actually. Out of some of his rooms he ran an escort service, and he was renowned throughout the criminal underworld for his ladies' skill between the sheets. The normal collector was sick that week, so I had to go collect for him. Its all good business; he would've done the same for me, had I asked.

The trip there, from my small penthouse apartment to the hotel, had been an uneventful one. When I arrived, one of the valets parked my car in the VIP area of the lot (reserved for celebrities and 'friends' of the owner), and I walked inside.

The atmosphere was a pleasant one; people were happy and smiling. Probably a third of the men had plans to employ the girls; some were older men who didn't want the action so much as they wanted a pretty lady on their arm. Others were younger men trying to make their stay in Sin City all that more pleasurable.

Nothing seemed strange until I stepped onto the elevator; the attendant, a zit-faced teenager, had seemed nervous when he saw me. Everyone in the hotel knew who I was, especially him. It had been I that had gotten him the job in the first place. He should've been happy to see me.

I realized something was wrong when the elevator brought me to the top floor, where the manager kept his office. Two men stood near the elevator that I didn't recognize. What I did recognize, however, was the bulge in the breast pocket of their jackets. They were packing guns.

I continued my way to the office, acting nonchalant even as there were people around me, some trying to get with the girls, others already with them. It was only business.

When I opened the heavy wooden door and stepped into the manager's office, I saw a face I recognized.

Oh shit, I thought, looking into the face of a man I recognized, shaking hands with my employee.

Ronnie Lombardi.