Roses & Ruin

Chapter 2 (Anthony)

        "Who's coming tonight?" I looked around at my group of cousins and a few friends. We were at De Luca's having a meal at the table reserved for us crime families. The restaurant itself is run by the head crime family, the De Luca's. The Rizzo's are a close second. 

"I'm down to watch" Enzo tapped the table between us. He's my cousin, but also the underboss of the Rizzo crime family in the New York Italian mob. We aren't a table full of angels. I'll tell you that.

Enzo's got himself a moderate attitude. I'd say I'm the more laid back of the two, though in recent months I've formed an edge to me I didn't used to have. A few particular events might have catalyzed the start of that.

        "I'm out. My girl's still pissed about the last one" I heard one of my other cousins grumble. "Way to keep your balls," somebody commented. He threw them the finger. "Lombardi? Romano?" I looked at two of my buddies across the table from me. 

One still had his face hovered over a bowl of pasta with I don't know what the fuck mixed in it. "Not to fight. You're looking for someone to fight, aren't you?" Romano called me out. 

"You guys are all fucking pussies. Why don't you wanna fight?"

"Rizzo, you busted my fucking lip so bad last time. That shit still pisses me off" Lombardi grumbled, still over the pasta with a mouth half full. Enzo slapped him upside the head and told him to eat with his mouth shut.

        "Aye, Rizzo, have you been hitting the gym harder? Or is it all that fighting that's got you solid. That's why this fat fuck doesn't wanna fight you" one of my cousins fucked with the other. I flexed just to be a douchebag. I have been working out more. Let's call it my outlet for certain frustrations.

The Rizzo crime family runs a few businesses as fronts for our less legal activities. We have the Rizzo Construction Company, the smaller branch of the De Luca sex club Illusions, and I have my own personal side hustle. I run the most popular underground fights in all of New York City. 

I put Brad Pitt in the movie Fight Club to shame.

        It started small, but it's expanded over the last few years. We've gotten busted a couple times, but the Italian mob has the chief of police in their pocket, so not much ever touches us. I just relocated, and now I have a couple officers in on the fucking fights.

It was an underground parking garage at one point, but the building that it once served isn't there anymore. They changed it into something else, and since Rizzo Construction's who built the damn thing I had them leave the underground garage alone. Now that's my location for the illegal fights.

You enter that building's side staff door, you go down a long flight of stairs and you round the corner to the first ramp leading up to the lot.

If you wanna watch you pay entry fees and whatever illegal bets you wanna place. If you wanna fight you don't have to pay entry, but you can't bet on fights you participate in. We serve beer and smokes at an extra cost. 

No seating, you stand in a large circle around the concrete ground of the parking lot. There you watch the two assholes who are beating the hell out of each other in the middle of it.

        A small piece of most of each crime family's businesses is meant to go to the De Luca crime family who are the bosses, but once upon a time I had Domani De Luca's blessing to run my small fight club independently. When it grew in size he changed his mind.

That and the fact that we used to be buddies, but now dislike each other. It started because of Mia Fiore, his current girlfriend, my former hookup in between whatever bullshit drama those two were having.