The House Always Wins

Chapter Four: Business Is Good

Less than a week later, the once old department store was now a full-fetched casino, with its lavish lounges and poker tables to slot machines and roulette boards. It was the grand opening of the casino, called "The People's Casino" and everyone was there. Felix, Wesley, Stevie, Mark, Don Lestima, Lasko, Albert, and Frankie were all at a large dining table, drinking expensive wine and stuffing their faces with pasta and bread. Everything was going perfectly. New faces in the family showed up, such as Charlie Turtoni, Jimmy Yeloni, Macu Ladapi, Lester Manningsfield, and Maxwell Hawkings. These names should be unfamiliar to you, so here are their backgrounds. Charlie Turtoni is an Italian American soldier, and he has been a part of the Lestima family for 2 years. Jimmy Yeloni is also a soldier in the family, but only being in for 5 months has made the Don want to keep him on the sidelines for most things. Macu Ladapi is the family hitman, and he shot up the ranks in the family due to his theft abilities and the Don knew his father before he got into organized crime. Lester Manningsfield is from Ireland, and he used to rob banks, so we made him the enforcer of income, otherwise known as robbing people. Lastly, Maxwell Hawkings is the family's accountant. Born and raised in London, he worked at a bank until his bank was robbed by Lester on an international heist. He then saw the payouts that came with robbing, so he joined Lester in crimes and found us. Lasko saw that many people were winning at a lot of games. That raised concern. "Hey boss. Are you giving away all of your money or what? You want me to rig the machines?" The Don gave him a stern look and replied "No. I made these people pay three times the amount for each machine, and every time they win, the payout is down to the price that every other casino charges just to get in. Every dollar they win is a thousand dollars for me. Every time they lose, I gain ten thousand dollars and they gain nothing." Lasko then looked around at everyone using the machines, before sighing and leaving. Days went by and business kept up. Millions of dollars came in like planes in an airport. Life was good until the next week came.