America, the land of opportunity they called it all around the world. It was the place where you could do anything and be anything you so desired to be. That was what they like to tell you and on the surface it seemed so. But in reality, that was not the case. Antonio Maldonado, born in Sicily to a home of two parents and an older brother found this out first hand himself, after migrating over to America from his home in Italy.

He didn't leave in the best of circumstances so he was looking forward to a fresh start. Over in Italy, organized crime was very much in control of things, and they didn't go about hiding their power. Lethal executions to their enemies in the streets, taking from the average person hard working person, and doing whatever else they pleased, were normal occurrences over there. Though they called themselves "men of honor", honor was rarely found in any of these men. Antonio's father was one of these rare men who did carry himself with honor and didn't stoop to the lows some others had to obtain his power in the criminal underworld. And it was his position and honor that had gotten him killed.

He was a caporegime, or captain in one of the families in Sicily. He served his boss dutifully and faithfully and for that he was rewarded with the position. Though that should have meant he was important enough to earn protection, and usually he would, that would not be the case. The boss who he was working for was a selfish one. He was all about money and whoever could get him the most of it was most valuable to him.

For the longest time that was Antonio's father. Though his methods were questionable to some of the more ruthless and uncaring mobsters who worked with and for him, to the Don as long as he was bringing in money that's all that mattered. That kept him safe until one day another earner with ambitions of his own came up with ways to out earn Antonio's father. The more money this ambitious man brought in the more attention he received from the boss.

Getting the boss's attention and having his ear was just not enough for the ambitious man. He wanted the official seat of power that Antonio's father had. So he began to plot for it. Seeing what was going to happen, Antonio's father reached out and tried to work something out with the ambitious earner. Eventually the two had finally agreed to meet. Antonio's father was wary but for the sake of the family, he went in trusting that a solution could be worked out. His trust was rewarded with a bullet in the head.

The ambitious earner under normal circumstances would die for taking out another member of his family without the bosses approval. But circumstance was a funny thing. due to the government attempting to wage war with crime families all over Italy, the boss decided that he needed all the money he could get, and with nobody else seeming to be able to handle such a high earning position and with such high earning businesses it was left to the ambitious man who had killed his predecessor. He would take Antonio's father's place and receive protection from the boss that was promised to every made member, but only reserved to those who were most important to the boss.

Outraged at this blatant disrespect for his family, and the rules, Antonio's older brother swore vengeance for his father's death publicly. He was old enough to know what his father was up to and even help him out with things from time to time. Shortly after his swear of vengeance he was also gunned down, on the orders of the ambitious man who had become the head capo of the crime family.

Fearing for her youngest son's life, Antonio's mother had a friend of hers smuggle him onto a ship that was headed for America. He was reluctant to leave her behind but she was determined to stay in the country where she had lost her husband, saying that "her place was by his side, even in death."

With that, Antonio was headed for America. The fate of his mother was unknown to him but seeing as he lost his brother and his father, he assumed the worst. He was 17 at the time of his departure. He arrived in America, New York city to be exact, and was luckily able to find work. It was hard for immigrants like him to find anything decent, so he took what he was given. For a year he worked at the rail yards. After working that job he moved to working at the docks earning slightly more money, but in reality it wasn't much.

Most of the Italian immigrants all lived in the same place. Little Italy, is what they called it. A bunch of rundown apartments, barely well kept stores, and a few well of restaurants and bakeries were pretty much all that was around at the time. As more time went by he begun to pay attention, and he noticed some of the elements of crime that he seen back in Sicily here as well. Men who looked as though they hadn't done much physical labor but had more than enough money to throw around. They owned cars and fancy suits. Whenever they came around the women would always flock to them.

In truth it disgusted Antonio, but he couldn't blame them for living their life. He also couldn't blame THEM for the death of his family, as they were not the ones responsible. After awhile Toni begun to get tired of his meager pay from working at the docks. His body would ache everyday and he would damn near kill himself to earn just enough change to feed himself, and to have a halfway decent set of clothes. This was no way to live, he didn't escape certain death, and leave his mother behind probably to her own demise to die as some street urchin scrapping for pennies.

Seeing no other options, he began to make connections with these people who reminded him of those who had wiped his family out back in Italy. Over time he learned how things worked in the underworld over here. He learned of organizations, who's turf was who's, how things were set up and how people earned. He found that most of this stuff came natural to him and he never needed to be told the same thing twice. Over time he carried out small jobs on the side. Deliveries, collections, being a lookout to heist, all the while keeping his ear to the streets and keeping up with events happening in the world.

He continued to do small jobs until he was introduced through a friend of his to a leader of an organization working outta the Bronx in New York. It was a woman leading this organization, which took him by surprise as he didn't believe such a thing would ever be possible based on his experience with criminals in Italy. She quickly earned his respect based on that fact alone but after talking to her, he saw that she was rare like his father was. She was an honorable person, and that meant the most to him. She later earned his gratitude as she decided to give him some work directly and later take him into her organization.

He finally began to feel like things were starting to ring true about America. He was starting to see all the opportunities that laid before him. And he intended to take all of them, but like his father he would keep his honor. He never forgot his father or his elder brother and how they were always men of honor and respect no matter what. His mother had saved him from sharing their fate, so he wouldn't stop working until he made sure he repaid their sacrifice. This was his land of opportunity, and he intended to make the most out of it with his honor intact.