บท 2: Chapter 2

Roman had seen death over and over in his line of work, but nothing was like seeing his brother, who was left to bleed out amongst a house of crackheads and prostitutes.

"AAAAAHHHHH! Beau! NOOOO! My brother! Not him. Anyone but him. Why? They killed my brother!" Roman tried to cover the wounds while rocking his loving brother in his arms. "No, it's fine. He's fine. We can patch him up."

Trying to pull him away, Anton was holding back his own tears. Beau was a sweet soul who would never hurt a fly and Anton always saw him like the little brother he never had. Beau had a past of drug abuse but had been clean for going on three years now. A born-again believer of a higher calling, he was going to school to be a minister full time and specialize in helping others face their addictions. He was happy now with two kids, remarried, and living his best life. Beau even tried to convert his brother to get him out of the life of crime. Now, he was lying in a pool of blood in a crack house. A wasted life of a good man gone far too soon.

"Roman, we need to go. I'll have our men get him out of here."

"He's fine, Anton. He's just sleeping."

"Roman, brother, he's gone. Let our cleaners get his body out of here. We can't let his wife and kids think he had a relapse. We must get him out of here and find who did this. Leave the rest for the cops to figure out."

As his men went to work, Roman was numb. Looking at his brother's body, he stopped them for a moment when the realization hit him. Taking a second to scan the room, he knew there had to be clues.

Watching as one of his men reached down to pick up a lapel pin, it all clicked what was going on. He had his first clue to the murders, and Roman was going to get retribution for whoever killed his brother, Beau.

"Give me that—"

Quickly, he pulled the pin from the man's hand with his black leather glove that he wore to prevent leaving fingerprints. A man's lapel pin with the logo he had seen before reflected under the dimly lit kitchen light. It was a secret society pin for social elites, and he only knew a few men in Chicago who owned one: all members of a rival mafia family.

"Anton, they shot everyone else, except for the crack whores and tweakers who were too out of it to know what was going on. Why do you think that is? Check this out," he said, passing it to his friend as he wiped his blurry, tear-filled eyes on his sleeve.

Anton looked it over, then back to Beau's body. "Shit… It's the Eye of the Serpent membership pin. They set him up. The rest of these guys are low-life dealers. This was a message to us. But why and who? We have no beef with them."

"Gambino. His men are the only ones with ties to that underground club. Have our guys clean this up. We're going to war."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I've only seen one pin like that one, and I remember where."

Handing his friend the book from the table, Anton asked, "Do you want this?"

"Nah. Clean it up for his wife and kids. I'm about to do some sketchy shit I don't want God to see."

"Where do you remember the pin from?"

"Remember that charity event we attended a while back…"

***

Two months ago…

Roman walked into the ballroom dressed to the nines in his fitted tuxedo. His dark hair and dreamy blue eyes made every woman in the place take notice. Although confident in his skin, he knew he was also on the radar of the men in the room as well. Normally the lieutenants' policemen's ball was the last place Roman and his men would attend, but tonight all of Chicago's elites were there, mingling and having the time of their lives.

"Roman!" A shrill voice came from across the banquet hall, rushing to him and jumping into his arms as she spun around. "You came."

"Of course, turtle. I had to be here to support my brother's hot wife. How else can I take you away from him?" he teased.

Slapping his chest she giggled. "You charmer. Anyway, the food is about to be served. So, go grab a drink at the bar and enjoy yourself."

Watching the woman walk away to greet more guests, he smiled to himself. The woman had turned his brother's life around and now he was happy with a family, just like he hoped for Beau.

His sister-in-law was big in the social scene while his brother played preacher man in the streets on the seedy side of town. Olive helped put together huge philanthropy events on a regular basis. Charity gatherings for inner city youth were her biggest pet project, and the lavish gala was one of many they attended across the city, but tonight was special. The night's event was to encourage unity with officers and the community youth, helping them stay off drugs and off the streets. One of the few things Roman and the officers agreed upon.

Watching an officer walk by, giving him a look of warning, Roman just rolled his eyes. "You're off-duty, cop. Relax. I'll even buy you a beer later."

The officer snarled as he walked away. He assumed he was brooding over one of the many run-ins with him he'd had over the years. Of course, there were a few officers on his own payroll that would be glad to see him there tonight, so he wasn't worried in the least.

They were there for the same reason; to earn money for charity. After seeing his brother struggle with drugs for so many years, Roman was more than willing to attend the police-filled event and push some money around to support a good cause. Even with every eye in the place watching his every move. It also wouldn't hurt to rub elbows with a few city officials while he was at it. He had a huge shipment of weapons coming in and needed a few extra less-than-honorable cops to help him get the product off the ports.

His part in the underground scene was pretty much everything you could imagine regarding crime family's. One thing he and his father, the family's Godfather, agreed on was that drugs were not part of who they were. How his brother even got mixed up in that life was a mystery. Their grandfather died at a young age from an overdose, and their father vowed to keep his six children from that life, even though weapons sales and drug dealers went hand in hand. Whatever happened once they were out of his hands he paid no mind to them. Money was money, and he made a lot of it.

Unfortunately, when Roman and his brother, and oldest sister Remi, came to the US from Italy to run the Chicago family, Beau got in with the wrong crowd. Six months from taking over their various nightclubs, he found himself with lots of money, girls, and a whole lot of white powder going up his nose. A year in, he became a full-fledged drug addict and Roman blamed himself for letting his brother run wild for far too long.

Tonight was different though. Beau was across the room playing co-host to a bunch of cops. The thought made Roman chuckle as he headed to the bar where a couple of women were already there to entertain him.

The struggle of his brother was several years ago, and now he was rubbing elbows with the elite of Chicago's social scenes, just like the event they were now attending. An hour into the charity party, Roman had found himself a little full of himself, with too many drinks and a lot of women by his side. One thing could be said about the D'Amico family; they were all lookers and Roman, being a single man, took full advantage of it. And tonight, was no different.

"Ladies."

"Hi, Roman. We didn't expect to see you," said a busty blonde.

"Well, I come where the parties at; and of course all the lovely ladies. What are you two drinking?"

"Blue Martini," said the shy woman next to the blonde.

Waving to the bartender, he ordered, "Two martinis and a bourbon on the rocks - Top shelf."

"Yes, sir, Mr. D'Amico. Right away."

"Time to party ladies," he said warping his arm around their waist. "Tonight, drinks are on me." He added, mumbling to himself, "I'm going to need it hanging out with a bunch of cops."

When taking his drink from the bartender, he started to take a sip of his drink when across the room in walked the man he loathed more than anyone. Roman's lips curled as he got a devious look on his face. "Luke Gambino. Time to mess with the pretty boy. At least I'll have some fun tonight."