April 15th, 1931 was the day Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseriawas assassinated in a Coney Island restaurant. The man behind it was none other than Charles “Lucky” Luciano. That was the day he went from being just another gangster to one of the men at the very top of New York’s criminal underworld, second only to Salvatore Maranzano.  

     One hundred years later, on April 15th, 2031, another gangster would make his move…  

    It’s an unseasonably cool afternoon in the upper west side of Manhattan. Tensions are high among the city’s mobsters, talk of a turf war is in the air. The reason: A new narcotic has hit the streets, a recreational drug more potent and more profitable than any other available. Its name—Orion. The man responsible for making it available is not Colombian or Mexican; he’s not a part of any cartel, he’s American, and he’s a member of the Mafia, La Cosa Nostra. 

   In the multimillion-dollar penthouse of a luxury condominium building, Francesco “Frank” Capaldi, Boss of the notorious Gambino Crime Family, is eating his favorite meal, steak and fries. Frank is a grey-haired fifty-six-year-old Caucasian man, wearing grey silk dress pants with a white open-collared cotton dress shirt. He's sitting at the head of a long dinner table in his living room. A grey silk suit jacket is draped over the chair next to him. The table is set with gold plated utensils, crystal glassware and a vase of red roses. The room is decorated in dark tones, with black marble countertops and brown leather furniture. Floor-to-ceiling windows display a magnificent view of New York City, the Empire State Building visible in the near distance. A bodyguard stands stoically by the entrance, observing him. 

    He cuts into his medium rare steak and takes a bite, blood dripping down the corner of his mouth. He grabs a napkin and wipes his face before drinking from his wine glass. 

A loud knock on the door alerts them. 

He nods to his bodyguard, giving him permission to open the door. Another bodyguard is standing on the other side next to an expected guest. 

Anthony “Tony” Panzato is an intelligent and ambitious twenty-eight-year-old with chiseled features and broad shoulders. He’s the right-hand man and bodyguard to the Underboss of the Genovese Crime Family, currently the largest and most powerful among the Five Families of New York. 

The Underboss, a man who goes by the name “Gino Mazelli” is the one behind distribution of the new drug Orion. Now available on the streets for close to a year, it has made every drug dealer in the country try to get their hands on a steady supply stream. 

Gino’s boss, the Boss of the Genovese Crime Family and head of the New York Commission, is Aldo Costa, a fifty-nine-year-old narcissistic sociopath with delusions of grandeur. 

In the months preceding this meeting, Aldo and Frank had discovered that Gino not only found this new drug and had been selling it under their noses, but also tried very hard to hide it from them. They’ve been under the impression it was because he wanted to keep all the profits for himself. 

In the Mafia, every member must kick up a large share of their earnings to their criminal superiors, the associates pay the soldiers, the soldiers pay the captains, the captains pay the underboss, and the underboss always pays the boss. By hiding and holding out on something as significant as discovering a new drug source, Gino had not only broken the most essential tradition in the Mob but also incurred the wrath of all bosses in the organization.

After discovering what Gino had done, Aldo and Frank demanded the production and distribution rights to the new drug be handed over to them immediately. They also demanded to know the identity of Gino’s silent partner, the chemist who first discovered the chemical composition and formula of Orion while experimenting in his lab… a mysterious and reclusive criminal chemist who is known only as “Mr. X.” 

Because of his importance as Underboss and also due to the extensive following, Gino had built up in the Genovese Family, Aldo chose to not order his death, at least not before he took Orion and Mr. X all for himself.

 The only thing keeping Gino alive at this point is Orion. Without the new drug, Aldo would’ve put an open contract on Gino’s head the moment he found out about it; it was Aldo’s greed that stopped him. 

Tony enters Frank’s penthouse wearing a black pinstripe suit, a black dress shirt with a solid white tie, resembling a Prohibition-era gangster. He’s carrying a brown leather briefcase at his side.

 Frank looks up from his plate and smiles in amusement when he sees Tony’s clothes. Tony is not dressed the way he is to try and impress Frank, but to throw him off, and it works. 

Tony approaches the table and stands at the foot, then looks up to Frank and waits for him to speak. 

The second bodyguard who escorted Tony into the room walks from the doorway to Frank, places a gold-plated Colt model 1911 handgun down on the table in front of him, then silently walks away to continue standing guard outside the door.

 Frank picks up the gun from the table and admires it for a few moments. He pulls back the slide to check if it’s loaded—it’s not. Then he places it back down on the table in front of him and looks up at his guest. 

“So, why are you here, Tony?”

“I have a message… from Gino.”

Tony gently places his briefcase down on the table in front of him, opens it, and reaches inside. He takes out two individually wrapped kilograms of what looks like Orion. The plastic wrap is clear, but the powder inside is dark blue. The two kilo bricks are stamped with three large black dots in a straight line, identical to the constellation Orion’s Belt. 

The new drug was named after the constellation as a nod to the uplifting and euphoric effects it gives the users. The blue color comes from its high purity; although the color could’ve been changed to another, Mr. X decided to leave it blue because he felt it would attract more attention. He’s a big fan of film and realized he could play off the fictional popularity of Frank Lucas’s “Blue Magic” heroin and Walter White’s “Blue Sky” meth. 

Tony slides one of the two blue kilo bricks across the table towards Frank. It stops directly in front of his plate. 

While Frank is focused on the kilo of powder in front of him, Tony gently places the other kilo on the table next to his briefcase. 

Frank reaches into his pant pocket and takes out a pearl-handled stiletto switchblade, clicks its button, and opens the blade. He pokes his knife into the side of the wrapped kilo in front of him, then pulls out a very small amount of the blue powder and looks at it closely. 

Then, instead of snorting it, like other recreational narcotic powders, he taps his knife onto the edge of his wine glass and drops the powder into the wine. He picks up his wine glass and sloshes it around to mix with the alcohol. He then takes a small sip from the glass and immediately coughs twice before clearing his throat, indicating the new drug is extremely potent, even in the smallest of amounts. 

“Orion… one hundred percent pure…” Tony says. 

“The chance of discovering a drug like this is fucking astronomical. I don’t think you guys realize the potential of being the sole producers of this stuff.”  

“We do realize the potential. That’s why I’m here, to lay the groundwork for our future.” 

Frank’s mood instantly improves—he’s now under the impression the message is a concession on Gino’s part, so he starts to think that Gino is going to give Orion to them as they’ve demanded be done.

“Let’s just say I’m glad to see you and I’m glad you boys finally came around… but the gun… what’s that for?” 

“It’s a gift, that’s why it’s not loaded… It belonged to Pablo Escobar. It was seized at one of his properties in 1985.”

“This is a really good start, Anthony,” Frank says contently. 

“No, this is the end, Frank,” he replies defiantly. 

Frank is caught totally off guard by that remark. Both men stay silent for a few moments as Frank comprehends what Tony just said. 

“Excuse me?”

“These two kilos are the last ones you’ll ever get from us.” 

Frank grows dumbfounded at Tony’s response, and his mood and expression instantly shift from content to enraged and confused. He gives Tony a very mean look. 

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” 

“You want me to repeat myself?” 

“You’re telling me Gino is refusing the Commission’s request? He’s saying no… to us?” Frank asks in disbelief. 

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you!” Tony replies coldly. 

Frank goes into an angry rant, explaining that Orion is bringing in more cash than the Mafia has ever seen before. It’s making more money than their cocaine and heroin businesses combined. He tells Tony he knows Gino is already getting rich and raking in enormous profits from its sale, and he demands his cut. He and Aldo will not change their minds about their demands; if Gino ever wants to use the Mafia’s international smuggling networks or political connections again, Gino must give them Orion. 

Tony’s only response is that they no longer need their smuggling networks or connections—they have their own now. 

Frank then questions Gino’s mental stability before remarking, “If Gino wanted to tell us to go fuck ourselves he should’ve just called. You know what the consequences of this are gonna be?” 

“Yeah…” Tony replies, emotionless.  

Frank enters another angry rant about how Gino and Tony don’t seem to understand or respect the fact that they work for bosses; they’re not their own organization. They can’t just become the sole producers and distributors of a new drug in New York City without giving their bosses a big piece of the action. He reminds Tony that since Gino tried to hide Orion from the rest of the Mob, they don’t just want a big piece of the action anymore. They want all the contacts and all the connections associated with Orion as well as the identity of and full access to the criminal chemist behind the actual production of the new blue powdered narcotic. 

“We’re not taking no for an answer. That’s what happens next or all you fucking kids are dead, simple as that,” Frank threatens. 

“We understand,” Tony replies, seemingly unfazed by Frank’s overt threat.

Frank reminds Tony that neither he nor Gino can make a move on them without unanimous authorization from the other bosses on the Commission. 

In order to kill one of the five New York bosses, the other four must approve the hit. Since Frank is one of those men, a murder contract on Aldo Costa would never be sanctioned by the Commission as it exists today. 

“So why don’t you tell me what you’re really here to say?”

“Gino sent me here to tell you… Orion is ours. We’re not giving you or Aldo a fucking thing.”

 “Who the fuck do you think you are? You’re talking to a boss, what gives you the right to talk to me like this?Last I heard you were still a soldier!” Frank retorts, in slight shock at Tony’s total disregard for authority. 

Tony reminds Frank they’re part of the same organization, that they’re made men just like him. The Mob life is all they’ve ever known. The only difference between them is their age and what they’re willing to do to get to the top. 

“Maybe we decided it’s our turn to be the bosses,” Tony says boldly. 

“You fucking guys are supposed to be working for us! You’re under us! We’re the men who made you!” Frank yells in rage.  

“The Sicilian made me; he was a true gangster, he’s the one who built the families back up, he made all of us, he’s even the one who made you… and what did you do to thank him? You helped Aldo kill him and his sons.”

“The Sicilian” was the nickname of Genaro Palermo,former Boss of the Genovese Crime Family and predecessor to Aldo Costa. Aldo ordered his death ten years prior, in 2021, when he was still Genaro’s underboss. He did this to gain total control of both the Genovese Family and the New York Commission. 

Shortly before his assassination, Genaro Palermo was diagnosed with both Alzheimer’s and dementia. Although he was still fully capable of being the boss, Aldo used this diagnosis as an excuse for ordering his death. Aldo had become impatient and greedy with always being number two—he wanted the top spot, and he wanted it as soon as possible. Genaro’s condition provided the perfect opportunity. Aldo called a secret meeting with the other New York bosses to ask for their blessing so he could kill his boss and become their leader. He made it sound like it would be a mercy killing, as if Genaro had completely lost his mind, while in reality he had just been diagnosed weeks prior and was totally lucid. At this secret meeting, the Bonanno Family Boss approved the hit, the Lucchese Family Boss approved the hit, the Colombo Family Boss approved the hit, and the only man who refused to approve the murder contract was the former boss of the Gambino Family—Francesco Capaldi’s predecessor.  

Since Aldo Costa had gained majority approval from three out of the five bosses, he felt justified that he had what he needed to proceed. He also realized he couldn’t just kill the Sicilian… he had to also kill his most powerful and important allies if he wanted to get away with it and actually become the Boss of Bosses. So, Aldo organized a purge, something that hadn’t been done in the Mob since Lucky Luciano’s era. One thing was clear, the Sicilian had to be the first to die. 

On the evening of October 13th, 2021, Genaro was spending time with his four sons at their fifty-million-dollar Hampton mansion known as the Palermo Estate. Aldo received a tipoff from the mole he had in law enforcement that Genaro, in a moment of total oversight, had sent his armed bodyguards home to be with their families while he was with his. Aldo quickly took advantage of this oversight and immediately dispatched a group of his four best hitmen led by his favorite, Jimmy “Ice Pick” Provenzano, a ruthless serial killer who enjoyed stabbing his victims multiple times with an ice pick before putting them out of their misery. Aldo ordered them to kill Genaro and his four sons as well as burn the entire estate to the ground, he wanted to erase any memory of the Sicilian. Around 9:00 PM, the group of hitmen raided the Palermo Estate armed with fully automatic submachine guns and a dozen Molotov cocktails.

Genaro Palermo was sitting on the couch with two of his sons in their living room eating popcorn and watching a movie. The third was working out in their home gym, and the fourth son was upstairs in an office, studying for his midterm exam. The hitmen took the family by complete shock, using silence and the element of surprise so well that Genaro didn’t realize they were in his house until they were standing in front of him. Jimmy Provenzano killed Genaro with multiple gunshots to the chest, slaughtered him with over fifty bullets. The other hitmen focused on the sons, shooting one in the head and the other in the back as he tried to run away. They stood over the dead bodies for a few moments in pride before Jimmy reminded them the job was still not done—two of the sons were unaccounted for. So, two of the hitmen went looking in opposite directions for the other young men while Jimmy began searching for something in Genaro’s office. He quickly found what he was looking for: a hard drive. The fourth hitman prematurely began burning the estate down. After the first Molotov cocktail was thrown, all hell broke out—the hitmen were attacked by the two sons who had each gotten handguns from their father’s gun safe. A firefight rang out in the halls of the Palermo Estate, with the two young men shooting at their father’s killers and the killers shooting back. Smoke filled the air and it became very difficult to see, the flames growing larger and larger with every moment. At twenty-four and twenty-six years old, Genaro’s two surviving sons were his oldest, strongest, and smartest of all his children. While luck had saved them from the initial attack, escaping the massive fire would be a near impossible task. After a few minutes of shooting at the young men, the hitmen realized the fire had gotten to the alarming point that if they wanted to leave the mansion with their lives they had to give up the hunt inside. 

They decided to retreat and instead wait outside for the sons to try and escape the burning estate, where they would then kill them. The hitmen separated and stood by the front and back doors, the only entry/exit points to the estate as far as they knew. They waited and watched the estate burn for several minutes. Neither of Genaro’s sons came out. The hitmen assured themselves the job was done; they were confident they were successful. As police and firetruck sirens were growing louder in the distance, the hitmen exited the property and made their escape back to Manhattan to report their success to Aldo. After the flames were put out by firefighters, authorities discovered five male corpses: Two were burned so badly they couldn’t be officially identified, even by dental records. The Sicilian was dead. All of La Cosa Nostra was told who did it and why it happened. 

Over the course of the following week, twelve other men and one woman with close ties to Genaro Palermo and his sons were killed in and around New York City. This included Francesco Capaldi’s predecessor, the former Gambino Boss who refused to give unanimous approval to kill Genaro. The one woman who was killed was his daughter, Sara, who was a part of this purge only because she was at home with her father when Aldo Costa’s hitmen made their move. Also killed that week were three of Genaro’s friends and business associates in Chicago, coincidentally another father and his sons. With all of these deaths, Aldo Costa, unchallenged, officially became the Boss of Bosses of the American Mafia. 

“That was a very long time ago. What the fuck does that have to do with Orion?” Frank asks curiously. 

“Old sins have long shadows, isn’t that what the Sicilian used to say?” Tony remarks.

“That saying… who told you he used to say that?” Frank asks suspiciously. 

“Is that important?”

“He only used to say that to people he knew personally. As far as I know you never met him in person other than the day he burned the saint in your hands. So who the fuck told you he used to say that?”

“Why do you need to know?” Tony asks arrogantly. 

“Because I’m fucking asking you!” Frank yells. 

 “It was Giovanni Verano.He told me. Is that a problem? It’s just a saying. I didn’t mean anything by it.” 

Giovanni Verano is Consigliere of the Genovese Family. Being ninety-six years old, he’s the oldest living member of La Cosa Nostra and is considered by many the most reliable for wise advice. For a period of time in the early 2000s, Giovanni was also the street boss of the Buffalo Mob while its official boss was serving a short prison sentence. He was the closest friend of Genaro Palermo and also happened to be “godfather” to Genaro’s four sons. Giovanni was widely believed to have been excluded from Aldo’s purge in 2021 and allowed to keep his power simply because of the influence he held. In actuality, the only reason he escaped Aldo’s wrath in 2021 was because he knew the numbered code to the wall safe Genaro kept in his office. Inside the safe was a hard drive containing the information to a dozen offshore bank accounts holding close to twenty million dollars in laundered blood money. Giovanni Verano gave that code to Aldo Costa in exchange for keeping his life and his criminal position. 

After killing the Sicilian, while the other hitmen were searching for the other sons, Jimmy Provenzano quickly went to the office, opened the wall safe, and took the hard drive that was in there. After the Palermo Estate burned to the ground, he ordered his fellow hitmen to drive back to a social club in Manhattan to tell their boss the job was done and that he was on his way with the hard drive and a celebratory cigar. Aldo waited at the social club all night for Jimmy to show up. After waiting several hours, Aldo finally realized what really happened to the hard drive. Jimmy had betrayed his boss, stole it, and decided to keep all the money for himself. Since Jimmy had no family, no wife, no girlfriend, no pets, and no one who cared for him, it was very easy for him to disappear. He boarded a plane to Boston and was never heard from or seen again. Aldo immediately placed a ten million dollar contract on his head that is still open and uncollected. Everyone, including Aldo believes Jimmy “Ice Pick” Provenzano, now spends his days sipping mixed drinks on a warm beach in Mexico, laughing at his former boss.

Giovanni Verano was still allowed to live and keep his position even though Jimmy Provenzano had stolen the hard drive. Giovanni had done his part and Aldo had to recognize that. Although Aldo Costa is a treacherous and murderous sociopath, he is not an unreasonable man. More importantly, he recognized that if he faulted Giovanni after he had helped in the takeover, more than half of all the mobsters in New York would turn against him. That’s how important Giovanni Verano is to La Costa Nostra. 

“Let’s focus on the present situation over here… not ancient fucking history,” Frank says. 

“Okay, the present situation is, I’m a messenger, I gave you the message, I meant no disrespect. I’m only following orders.” 

“Gino sends you here to start a war… and you say no disrespect? What the fuck are you playing at?”

“We don’t want a war. If that’s the only way we can sell Orion independently then I guess that’s what has to happen.”

“When Aldo finds out about this meeting, how do you think he’s going to react?” Frank asks threateningly.  

“We don’t care how he reacts… Believe me when I say we’re ready,” Tony replies boldly, without intimidation. 

After hearing Tony say he doesn’t care about the consequences of his actions, Frank looks to his bodyguard standing by the door, listening to everything. The bodyguard smiles and shakes his head in disbelief. He turns back to Tony. 

“You really think you can win against us? Are you fucking crazy?” 

“Soon everyone in this city will know how far we’re willing to take this. By the end of today, the whole world will know.” 

Frank pauses for a few moments, thinking to himself. He shakes his head in frustration and chuckles, then cracks a small smile as he starts to think he’s being pranked. 

“Did Aldo put you up to this… I mean…. is this all supposed to be some kind of joke?” Frank wonders sarcastically. 

“Am I laughing?” Tony replies without emotion. 

“I don’t understand… Are you guys actually out of your fucking minds? Have you all lost it?” 

“No, it’s the old men who think they have the right to take the future away from a generation that outnumbers them all nine to one… you’re the ones out of your fucking minds.”

 Frank stares deep into Tony’s eyes while he contemplates his response. He’s trying to scare him with this look but Tony remains unfazed and unafraid.

From 1999 to 2021, under the leadership of Genaro Palermo, La Cosa Nostra membership numbers nationwide rose from under five thousand to over twenty-thousand men. During his reign, he made it a priority to expand as much as possible. He did so by loosening the rules required for membership. Before 1999, in order to be officially inducted into the Mafia, one had to be 100% Italian with roots traceable to his grandparents. After Genaro took over he made it so that only ones father had to be Italian. This opened the floodgates of membership. 

In 1999, 75% of Mafia members were over the age of fifty. 

By 2021, at the end of Genaro’s reign, 90% of Mafia members were under the age of fifty.

 The oldest members are in the minority but now seem to be the only ones at the top of the hierarchy. At thirty-four years old, Gino Mazelli is the oldest member of the new generation above the rank of captain. By bringing in so many new members who were decades younger than their criminal superiors, Genaro’s expansion plan had an unexpected consequence. It divided the entire organization into two subgroups, the old and the young. While the old are the ones with money and power, the young are the ones with intelligence, ambition, and strength in numbers. 

When Gino Mazelli initially refused to give Orion to Aldo Costa, this further divided the Genovese Family into the two subgroups. Now, the young men follow and look up to Gino while the old men follow and look up to Aldo. The only problem for the old men is, as Tony stated, the young men now outnumber them nine to one. 

“You just declared war on Cosa Nostra, war with the Commission. You’re a fucking dead man, Tony.” 

Tony looks at the bodyguard standing by the door, expecting him to pull his gun out and open fire, but the bodyguard remains still, staring at Frank and waiting for the nod. Tony turns away and looks at Frank again. 

“We’re all dead men. But it appears I’m still standing. Why is that Frank?” Tony asks, as if he had been expecting to die. 

“Aldo told me to let you leave this sitdown alive, no matter what you said, but I’m sure he wasn’t expecting this. He liked you young guys, he respected your ambition, up until now. That’s the only reason you’re still breathing. But don’t worry, five minutes after you leave I’m gonna call him, then by the end of today there’s gonna be contracts on you, Gino, Rocco, Giuseppe, Mario, Cristiano, Vincent, and all the other punks you hang around with. Now get the fuck outta here before I change my mind and kill you right now. Go!”

Frank angrily slides the gold-plated handgun back across the table towards Tony. It stops when it hits his briefcase. Tony picks up the handgun and places it back in a concealed shoulder holster. He then turns around and proceeds to exit the room. 

Tony leaves both kilos on the table as he proceeds to exit. One of the kilos is in front of Frank, the other is still placed at the foot of the table where he was just standing. Tony speaks to Frank with his back turned.

“You can keep the powder. It’s our gift to you.”

“Thanks. And you can tell Gino we’re gonna kill every last one of you pieces of shit. You’re all fucking dead.” Frank threatens. 

Tony gives a subtle smile. He turns around and looks at Frank. 

“We know,” Tony says deviously. 

“You’re fucking crazy,” Frank replies, baffled. 

Tony looks at Frank for a moment before nodding and walking away. The bodyguard opens the door and lets him out. He exits the penthouse. Frank continues eating his steak, enraged. 

Tony walks through the hallway and patiently waits for the elevator. After a fifteen-second ride he exits the elevator to the building’s elegantly decorated lobby, no one else in view. 

He walks through the lobby towards the exit. 

A sleek all-black Cadillac Escalade ESV with a chrome side trim and dark tinted windows is waiting for him right outside the large glass paneled doors. 

Instead of exiting the lobby he pauses, stands still, and waits for a few moments. 

He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a small remote. He presses a button.

Francesco Capaldi’s penthouse violently explodes in a massive, devastating blast.

All the windows are immediately shattered and blown out from the shockwaves, small pieces of glass falling down onto the sidewalk in front of the lobby like snowflakes in a winter storm.

 The entire penthouse floor is totally destroyed. Frank and his bodyguards are instantly vaporized and turned to ash.

Tony, unaffected by the explosion, calmly exits the lobby and gets in the backseat of the waiting SUV. 

The SUV slowly drives away as police and firetruck sirens grow louder in the near distance. A small cloud of black smoke rises from the penthouse into the sky. 

While the kilo that Frank poked his switchblade into and got high off was in fact the new drug Orion, the kilo that Tony left placed on the other end of the table was not. It was two-point-two pounds of the plastic explosive Semtex, commonly used in commercial blasting, demolition, and military applications. Only one ounce of Semtex can totally destroy a car. Tony had just used thirty-five ounces of it to kill Frank. 

The Boss of the Gambino Family is dead.

Across town on Mulberry Street in New York’s Little Italy, Don Michael Prado, Boss of the Bonanno Crime Family, sits at a poker table in his privately owned social club sipping on a shot of Strega. Michael is a black-haired fifty-five year old with a small frame and a large gut. The social club is filled with mobsters of all ages, all sitting or standing around drinking and smoking. A large flat screen TV at the back of the room displays the news. Also sitting at the poker table with Michael is his underboss and his consigliere, with whom he’s having a quiet discussion. 

“We hear anything from our friends in Detroit?” Michael asks his consigliere. 

“Everyone wants to get their hands on Orion—the Asians, the Russians, the cartels. We need to get to the source.” 

“Aldo won’t give us his source in Detroit. Frank and him have a silent partner they’re keeping silent. Besides, we got bigger problems now,” Michael says. 

“What problems?” the underboss asks. 

“Gino’s beef with Aldo… Frank told me it’s all about Orion. I got a bad feeling about this shit… Next thing you know we’ll all be going to the mattresses,” Michael answers. 

“You think that’s possible… in this day and age?” The underboss asks, concerned. 

“Of course it’s possible. We’re living in the future. Fucking anything is possible.” Michael replies. 

“There hasn’t been a war since 2013, with the Rizzutos” the consigliere says. 

“What happened in ‘21, that wasn’t a war?” the underboss asks. 

“No, that was a transition of power. What the army calls a coup… It’s only considered a war if both sides have a chance of winning. The old man and his sons had no chance, it was time for them to go,” Michael answers. 

“Don’t worry about this shit. What we need to worry about is getting a steady supply stream of the blue stuff before it goes mainstream. Fuck Gino, Aldo, and their little beef,” the consigliere resolves. 

“Yeah, that’s what all the other families are thinking, too. We’ll find out who the supplier is and make a deal with him eventually,” Michael assures. 

“Aldo can’t just refuse to share him with us,” the Underboss states. 

“He’s the head of the fucking Commission. Aldo can do whatever he wants; he always has, ever since he took out the Sicilian. Nobody has the balls to go up against him. What are you saying… you do?” Michael asks.

At that moment, a live breaking news report shows on the flat screen TV at the back of the room. A reporter is standing outside the lobby of the luxury condominium building in which the massive explosion that killed Frank Capaldi just took place. The news report catches Michael’s attention, as he recognizes the exterior of the building. He had been there before. 

“Turn that up!” Michael yells loudly across the room. 

A young mobster frantically searches for the TV remote and turns the volume all the way up so everyone in the room can hear. All turn their attention to the screen. 

The reporter says the authorities deny claims the explosion was terrorist-related. He says that what is confirmed by the NYPD bomb squad is the explosion was caused by a detonator wirelessly connected to a kilogram of plastic explosives. It’s clear to police the blast was strategically targeted to one individual, as no other residents were hurt or killed by the explosion. Three fatalities are confirmed on the penthouse floor. He claims that a source on site informed them the penthouse of the building is officially registered to the wife of Francesco Capaldi. They cannot confirm if he was one of the victims as of yet, but the building’s security cameras confirmed he was present in the building at the time of the explosion. However, the cameras were suspiciously turned off shortly before the explosion and hadn’t been turned back on until authorities arrived. The reporter says Francesco Capaldi is currently unaccounted for. 

As the news reporter continues to speak, Michael disconnects with reality. He cannot believe what he’s seeing and hearing. He instantly realizes what this means… Gino Mazelli has just declared war on the Gambino Family and successfully eliminated its most important member, the boss, all in one shot. 

Michael erupts in a fit of anger and rage. He quickly rises from the table and knocks it over onto the ground. 

The underboss and consigliere, very startled, also shoot up from their seats. Everyone in the room turns from the screen to Michael. 

He grabs a full bottle of whiskey from the bar top and angrily throws it directly at the TV, smashing the screen. 

There’s a brief moment of total silence in the room. 

“Get the fuck out,” Michael says quietly. 

Everyone in the social club, except for the underboss and consigliere, quickly exit to the street and walk away in different directions. 

Michael walks behind the bar, grabs another bottle, and pours himself a big drink. He gulps the alcohol down like water. He finishes his glass and pours himself another. 

“What the fuck was that?” the underboss, asks concerned.

“You think someone killed Frank?” the consigliere questions.

A few moments pass in awkward silence. 

“We’re going to the mattresses,” Michael decides. 

At that moment, three young mobsters wearing black business suits and black medical face masks enter the social club. All three are suspiciously carrying something behind their backs. 

“Oh! What the fuck do you guys think you’re doing?” the underboss yells. 

As they enter, Michael knows right away why these three men have come to his social club, on this day, at this time. He closes his eyes and lowers his head in defeat. He knows he’s about to die. 

The three young mobsters move their hands from behind their back to reveal they’re each holding MAC-10 submachine guns. 

They point, pull the triggers, and open fire.

The underboss, consigliere, and Michael all violently die in a hail of bullets.

The three mobsters empty their clips, drop their guns on the floor, then exit the social club to the street. They get in an SUV waiting for them by the sidewalk, the tires screeching loudly as they drive away and make their escape. 

The Boss of the Bonanno Family is dead. 

Later that day, during rush hour, there’s a traffic jam close to Union Square in Midtown, Manhattan. A silver Bentley Flying Spur sedan is sitting in the midst of all the other cars waiting bumper to bumper. The luxury vehicle belongs to Don Nino Bianchi,Boss of the Lucchese Crime Family. Nino is a short and skinny sixty-year-old with slicked back white hair. He’s sitting on the left-hand side of the backseat reading a newspaper. While he’s patiently waiting, many of the cars around him honk their horns in frustration. 

A man dressed in black jeans, a black leather jacket, and a solid black helmet drives a black Yamaha motorcycle illegally in the middle of the road in between the two lanes of stopped cars. As the other drivers watch the motorcycle cut ahead of the long line, they honk their horns and flash their middle fingers. The motorcycle slowly approaches the silver Bentley, stopping parallel to Nino’s window on the left side. 

 The driver looks into the backseat at Nino, who couldn’t be bothered to look back. Through his peripheral vision he notices the driver staring at him for an uncomfortable amount of time. 

Finally, Nino lowers his newspaper and looks to his left at the motorcycle driver.

The driver sadistically waves his hand goodbye to Nino.

Suddenly another man approaches from the sidewalk, on the opposite side of the silver Bentley, wearing a red bandanna over his face and holding two machine pistols. 

He points them at Nino and opens fire. 

The entire backseat of the silver Bentley becomes instantly riddled with bullet holes. 

The bullets pass through Nino’s body into the luxurious white leather seats and stain them red with his blood. 

After shooting Nino over twenty times he turns his focus to the front seat and kills the chauffeur with two bullets to the back of the head.

The assassin gets on the secondary seat of the black motorcycle and taps the driver on the shoulder. The motorcycle speeds away and disappears into the concrete jungle. 

The Boss of the Lucchese Family is dead.

A modern upbeat remix of Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” begins to play through the million-dollar speakers of the most popular and expensive nightclub in Downtown Brooklyn. Over two dozen people are standing in a line next to the entrance waiting to get in. 

A cherry red Lamborghini Aventador drives up to the VIP parking spot in front of the club’s entrance. As it drives up and parks, some of the people standing in a line on the curb take photos of the beautiful car. 

Don Luca Giuliano, Boss of the Colombo Crime Family, gets out of the drivers seat. Luca is balding fifty-eight-year-old wearing an open-collared sky blue dress shirt with a navy blue vest and black dress pants. He approaches the bouncer, who immediately recognizes him, then hands him a hundred dollar bill on his way into the club. The bouncer opens the doors for him. He enters and walks past the dance floor over to the VIP section. He sits down at a reserved table and looks around at the room. 

A very attractive young Caucasian waitress with flowing brown hair, large breasts, and bright green eyes approaches Luca. She gives him a smile, which he returns. He orders a bottle of champagne. He’s celebrating tonight. 

The waitress walks away, and Luca focuses on the dance floor again. 

After a minute or so, the waitress returns to the table with an opened champagne bottle and a filled glass. She places the glass down onto the table in front of Luca. He nods to her and tips a hundred dollar bill from his pocket. She smiles widely before thanking him and walking away to the bar. 

Luca takes a drink from his glass. Then another… and another… He finishes the glass and pours himself one more. 

As the song plays through its second chorus, Luca coughs. Then again… and again…

He pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket and raises it in front of his mouth as he continues to cough. 

 He starts to realize something is wrong—he isn’t choking on champagne, this is something else. 

He stands up from his table and starts to fumble towards the exit. He approaches the dance floor, coughing the entire way there. He enters the crowd of people dancing. Before making it to the other side of the dance floor, he drops to his knees and falls flat facedown on the ground in the middle of the crowd.  

After noticing him fall, the DJ turns the music off and all the lights on. Luca is lying in a large circular pool of his own blood that seeped out his mouth and nose after hitting the floor. He was poisoned. 

The Boss of the Colombo Crime Family is dead. 

Around midnight, the man who orchestrated this massacre reveals himself and gives an explanation of his actions to Aldo Costa before shooting him one time in the head. 

Aldo Costa is killed point blank range, execution style, at the stroke of twelve. 

All bosses on the New York Commission are now dead. 

By 12:01 AM on April 16th, almost every single vacant position in the Five Families becomes occupied with new men. Men that have new names and new faces—part of a new generation.