Blood in the Golden Palace

Chapter 1: Angelo-3

Charming as ever. “Well, here I am. There something I can do for you, Alex?” By now, a few of Angelo’s bouncers had arrived for backup. Even Ernie drifted to Angelo’s side, despite the fact that a good wind could probably blow him over.

“Yeah there’s something you can do for me,” said Alex. “This place is hopping, but where’s all the honeys at?”

“Excuse me?”

Alex sat himself at the bar, resting his elbow on the counter top casually. “You know, man. Don’t tell me you aren’t selling a good time under the table? Look, I know your dad likes to keep things kosher, at least for the flagship here, but do me a favor and hook me up, huh?” By the look on Angelo’s face, Alex might as well have been asking about the weather.

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” Ernie interjected. “Even if we had ‘em here, we wouldn’t hook ‘em up with someone like you, you slimy piece of s**t!”

Alex glared at Ernie. “Didn’t recall asking you a goddamn thing, you f*****g c*m stain.”

“Yeah, real tough, walking in here on DeRossi territory with your boys ready to back you up!” Ernie gestured to a few meatheads surrounding them. “Bet it’s just cause you’re too scared to take on Angelo by himself—!” He would have gone on, but Angelo held up a hand, stopping him. He returned his attention back to the asshole at hand.

“Alex. We both know you haven’t come all the way across town for some hookers. Especially when you know for a fact that I don’t sell off my staff that way. What do you want?”

Alex smiled, showing off the gold cap in his front tooth. “Nothin’, big guy. What, I can’t be a paying customer now? My money not good enough for you, huh?” Casually, he picked at his nails. “But I guess…you might not want no high profile guests when your place has a rat problem…do you?” He flicked his eyes back to Angelo to gauge his reaction. Fortunately, Angelo’s expression remained hard set in stone. “No comment? Hm?”

“I think you’d better leave, Alex.”

Alex put up his hands, chuckling as he stood off the stool. “Touchy touchy,” he teased. He took a step forward, which would have been threatening, if he wasn’t head and a half shorter than Angelo himself. However, Angelo didn’t need to look around to know that he had goons in the wings waiting to pounce should a scuffle break out. Fortunately, after a few tense moments, Alex was the first one to blink. Pulling back, he unsheathed a wad of cash, leaving two crisp C notes on the bar top. “Be seein’ you, Angelo.” Turning, Alex nodded to the small crowd around him, and he left, followed by five beefed up Corsetti boys.

“Yeah, and stay out!” Ernie yelled after him. He rounded to Angelo. “Boy the fuckin’ audacity of that limp d**k shithead. I swear, you say the word, and I’ll get somebody to wipe the floor with his smug ass face.”

“Don’t bother,” said Angelo. “The last thing we need is a turf war because Corsetti wants his ego sucked.”

“Yeah…” Ernie glanced at Angelo and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Hey uh…what did he mean when he said ‘rat problem’? Does the Palace have pests?”

Angelo hesitated. “One of the girls found a rat in the bathroom. Probably gonna call an exterminator soon.”

“Oh s**t, for real? Nasty…”

“Yeah…” Angelo checked the time. It was getting late. “Look, I got a lot of work to do before I head out. Be seeing you, yeah?”

“Sure, Angelo.”

With a nod, Angelo returned to his office. His mind, however, was not on the rehiring process, like it should have been. While he mindlessly thumbed through resumes, he kept glancing up at the security feed on his screen. It wasn’t easy, but he found Ernie in the crowd. For the next half hour, nothing Ernie did was out of the ordinary much. Got a drink or two, got turned down by a few girls, complained at the bar to poor Lori…All typical Ernie stuff. Angelo leaned back in his chair, wondering if his father’s paranoia was getting to him. After a moment more of thought, he pulled up his phone and sent out a text.

I need eyes on Ernie til further notice. No questions.

The answer came quickly.

Copied.

After that, however, Angelo still couldn’t settle his mind. So about an hour before closing, he packed up his things, took the stack of resumes, and made his exit. The parking lot for the Golden Palace was across the street, and well-guarded by a constant three man patrol. Angelo made no small talk with the guards, and instead headed straight for his car, got in, and took off.

The drive home was smooth and quiet. He didn’t feel like listening to anything, and instead focused on the sights and sounds of the city. Even at this late hour, Santa Notte was lively as ever. Bars, strip clubs, fast food, dark alleys. This was the makeup of the City of Night. Even the nicer parts of town had their cracks. Eventually, he came to the hillside road that lead to his house. It wound up through million dollar condos and townhouses, eventually leading to a gated area of land. Slowing to a halt, Angelo clicked the remote on his sun visor, opening the gate. Once he was through, he came to the single house on the property and parked in the garage.

The house was dark. He didn’t bother switching on any lights as he made his way to his bedroom. Flopping on top of the sheets, he barely made the effort to kick off his shoes and undo his pants. Once he was settled down, he folded his hands over his stomach, staring at the ceiling. With a deep sigh, he muttered.

“I can’t believe her name was f*****g Tiffany.”