Page 1 of Checkmate

Prologue

Bright lights against the darkened night sky.

Sounds of music, drunken pedestrians, and slot machines ring out into the otherwise quiet night.

The Vegas Strip.

Sin City.

Oh, how it sins.

It’ll draw you in under the pretense of a good time. Come and join the fun. The thrill of possibly winning some money.

However, there is an underbelly to the strip.

Dark and dirty.

Tainted.

Smeared with debauchery.

Covered in shining lies.

Dig a little deeper and you find the quiet dealing of mafias.

Drugs, sex, and money.

The leader of them all, the King Pin, of them all. Lorenzo Giordano. He has a lot of enemies, some of his own blood. If it’s illegal then you can bet his name is on it. His hands smeared with the dirt and blood of it. King of drugs, smuggling guns, all covered by the lies of a casino and strip club.

Many have tried to take him down and all have lost.

The Gio Casino.

Lorenzo Giordano’s second home.

Lavish and dripping with money.

Golden walls, polished white floors.

Crystal chandeliers and champagne.

Crooked, dirty dealings of abundance.

In the shadows of the night, one moves against the side of the Gio Grand Hotel and Casino. Someone steps out of the back door; it slams with a harsh thud. Million-dollar cars fill the lot where the valet has parked them for the night. The boy, unaware of the threat upon him.

The crunch of a boot on pavement enters his ears but by the time he turns around, it’s too late. Two gunshots ring out. Aim true and fatal.

He falls to the ground.

The moon above is the last thing he sees.

His last breath, ragged and harsh.

The beginning of the end.

A dent in the empire that would start the crumble.

One

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