As soon as he got home, he noticed something was different.

It was too silent.

He was going to call for the wife and kids, but the words stopped at his mouth. He knew they weren't home.

He went diretly to the kitchen and he prepared his evening scotch on the rocks. He prepared it as if it was his last one.

"Where are you?", he asked.

"I'm right here", a voice came from his library.

He walked to the library and he saw Godfather Prati looking at his collection of books.

"My father left me a lot of books. He was a very educated man."

"I can see that", Prati replied, still looking at the books.

"Mobsters killed him because he refused to pay for protection"

Prati just nodded.

A silence set in.

"My wife and kids?"

Prati finally took his eyes from the books to look in Mickey_Bowers eyes and reply "You know how it is, bud. They will be okay, they will be taken care of, they will never lack anything."

Mickey sat down in a big chair, sipping his scotch.

"I wasn't running away, I just needed to get out, you know?" Mickey said, with his voice trembling a bit. "I didn't know what to say... I still don't..."

"I understand, my friend." Godfather Prati made a pause before continuing "You know the rules, once you get bold, you can't step down."

Mickey nodded in agreement, and drank the rest of his scotch in one sitting, getting a small shiver down his spine.

"It was an absolute pleasure, my friend. Everything we went through, together." Prati paused again "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I pushed you for auth."

Mickey nodded "I know. Just get done with it..."

Four gunshots were heard all across Palermo, Sicily.

Yeah just heard about what happened to her old friend, her old best friend.. 

It won't be easy through this world without him.. 

She looks at GodFather Prati's eyes, she knows it is not easy for him too.. 

She nods him and understand life must go on although it won't be the same anymore.. 

Be rest in peace dear friend you will be missed.. 

It had been days since I had heard from the Boss.   He wanted out and although I wished things could be different I knew that wasn’t going to happen.  I had a terrible feeling in my gut all day.

Then the phone rang and my heart sank. It was the news I had dreaded. Mickey_Bowers the man that I known for years was gone. I placed the receiver back on the hook and sat down.  I started thinking and a big smile came to m face.  I started thinking about all the good times we shared.   The smile turned into laughter.  We did have some good times.  We lived on the edge but it was exciting.  I am going to miss my dear friend but I will never forget him. I went over to the bar and poured a glass of his favorite whiskey.  I lifted the glass up 

To you Mickey.

Vivian and Mickey went way back. They had grown up on the streets of Summerlin together. They had been the best of friends, they did a lot of small time stuff together, and had had a lot of fun. Hell, he had stolen her first beer for her. She smiled at the memory of how proud he was, and how she drank it, even though it tasted awful. But, she did it for him, just as he had stolen it for her. Once they had hit their teen years, he started running in a different group, but they still kept in touch. Then came the day that she found out he had moved to Chicago with Prati . She had been devastated to hear the news, but, still, they kept in touch.

They met for drinks at least once a week, either she would fly to Chicago, or he would fly to Vegas. Then Prati had given Mickey the keys to his own HQ. She had been so very proud of him. Not too long after, Angy gave her the keys to her own HQ. The days were busy for both of them, as they worked hard to build their businesses. Once a week for drinks, turned into a couple of weeks in between visits. But they kept the postman busy with letters. In the last couple of years, she hadn't seen him as often as she would have liked, they were meeting every couple of months. She sensed something different about him. There was something in his eyes, but, when she asked him, he flashed his million dollar smile and changed the subject. She never thought he would want out of the life they had be destined to live. 

When she got news of Mickey's death, she spent the next week locked up in her penthouse suite at the Wilshire. She drank, A LOT. She slept, she cried. This man, was like a brother to her, her confidant was dead. She wasn't angry. She was devastated. She was sad. As the days went by, she started to pull herself together. She knew that she had to go speak to Prati, to offer her condolences to him as well. She knew that this was not an easy thing for him to have done, but, they all knew that once you rose to the rank of Crew Leader, you were in for life, and if you decided you just didn't want to do it, then, your life was over.

As she walked into the Carrot Company headquarters, she looked around, and saw traces of Mickey in the hq. She smiled, even though tears were streaming down her face. She was deep in thought, when Godfather Prati walked into the room. She hugged Prati hard. "It's so good to see you again. Although, these circumstances are not how I would have liked this to go. I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am for your loss, I know Mickey was like a son." 

She reached into her bag and pulled out a package, wrapped in brown paper. On the label, it said "To Prati - with Respect and Love, Mickey." Mickey had sent this to her years before, to be delivered to Prati, in the event of his death. She handed the package to Prati and watched as tears formed into his eyes when he read the label. He slowly unwrapped the package, and inside was 2 items. The first, a letter, written by Mickey. The second was a watch. When she saw it, she smiled, because she recognized the watch.. It was from a robbery that he, Prati and Viv had done years before when they were just learning the ropes of this life.  She saw that Prati recognized it as well. That had been such a long time ago, but they had all been such great friends. 

She stood and hugged Prati again.. "my dear friend, I have to go back to Vegas, but, please do not be a stranger. You always will have a place to stay when you come "home". "