Damon always thought James hated casinos simply because of the loud music and the nonstop alcohol and money. James wasn't one of these party animals and enjoyed simpler things like a glass of cold beer and a good movie. You would never see him dance in a club or make out drunk with a random chick in the corner of a bar.

When James was twenty-one or so, he worked at a casino as part of the security team. God knows how many terrible things crossed his young eyes. Sometimes he had to kick people outside or beat them up because they were cheating at the games. There were times that wives would catch their cheating husbands with prostitutes and create a whole scene, and James had to calm the spirits down even if he hated it. Plus, the constant loud music was driving him insane; he had to visit a doctor to check his hearing multiple times.

When the doors opened, a wave of strong alcohol and expensive cologne hit James' nostrils. He brought his arm close to his nose for a couple of seconds, coughing unused to such strong smells. Damon laughed before patting his friend's shoulder twice with a grin. Lazaro was in front of them, walking relaxed with his hands in the pockets of his pants. He didn't look affected by the music and lights at all.

A smirk took over his lips as he opened his arms, seeing a man by the bar. The man grinned as he stood up, rushing towards Lazaro. They exchanged a handshake and some laughs before turning towards Damon and James.

"Guys, this is Giovanni Perego, a good friend of mine and also the owner of this whole thing!"

Lazaro spoke with a wide grin as Giovanni laughed, his eyes falling on Damon a couple of seconds later. Lazaro pointed at his nephew with his fingers talking close to Giovanni's ear.

"Giovanni, the is my nephew, Damon."

"Damon, you said? A pleasure to meet you, Damon!"

The drug baron shook the grey-haired man's hand with a smile.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr Perego!"

"Oh, call me Giovanni, it's fine!"

Giovani laughed before turning to James; his usual smile disappeared as he scanned the hitman with his hazel eyes. James gulped, seeing the man's face changing emotions quickly. He raised his hand for a shake; the Italian man grabbed it quickly, shaking it before patting James' hand with his free one.

"You must be James... Vitale."

"Yes, that's me, Giovanni."

James laughed, but the man growled in return holding the hitman's hand with more strength before letting it go. James saw the bitterness on his face even if the lights were changing colours quickly.

"Who told you to call me by my name, kiddo? No respect for your elder ones, hu?"

James said nothing in return, sitting there confused. He started playing with his fingers in discomfort, not knowing what to say back. Giovanni laughed before patting James' shoulder harshly. The man received in return some awkward giggles from the hitman.

"I'm just kidding, James; calm down! You must be Deetra's boyfriend, hu?"

James nodded quickly, pushing his hands in his pants pockets.

"You got the best girl, James! You have no idea how many men wait for you to be gone to take your place!"

Giovanni grinned abroad as James gasped softly, not knowing how to react. He glared around, still laughing in awkwardness, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Deetra is truly a diamond; I can see why they want her...."

James shrugged while talking; both Lazaro's and Giovanni's eyes were on him. Giovanni smiled before pushing Damon and James deeper into the casino; both the men were glancing around. Damon's face lit up when he saw a poker table, and a smirk took over his lips, looking forward to joining the men sitting around it. On the other hand, James wasn't that fascinated by the games and chuckled in disgust when he saw some women sitting by the bar. They were checking him out with giggles and big smiles mumbling about him. They were probably prostitutes or gold diggers.

"Oh, wait here!"

Giovanni left them alone for a couple of minutes; Lazaro stood between them with his arms behind his back. "Do you like it here, boys?" Lazaro shouted, getting both their attention. Damon nodded quickly with a broad smile and thrill in his eyes. James glared away, mumbling "yes", the Italian man barely heard him as he chuckled. Giovanni returned holding two glasses; he handed the one to Damon and the other to James. James brought the glass to his nose as he couldn't understand what it was. Soon, he found out it was whiskey, a double dose, to be exact. The hitman wasn't a big fan of alcohol, but he wanted to be polite. James had a sip from his drink before seeing Damon downing almost half of the glass.

"Oh, seems like Damon is the alcoholic between the two of you!"

Giovanni laughed as Damon grinned wide, showing his teeth to his friend. James said nothing in return and just rolled his eyes. The Italian man wrapped his arm around Damon's neck, bringing him closer to his body to talk to him.

"I insist you'll play some poker with me, Damon!"

"With pleasure, Giovanni! James, will you come along?"

The question caught his friend off guard as James turned to look at Damon with an open mouth. He stepped closer to him and started speaking.

"I'll go check the fruit machines and find you later."

"Are you sure?"

Damon narrowed his eyebrows, having another sip from his whiskey. James nodded with a reassuring face as Giovanni raised his eyebrow and glanced at Lazaro, confused. Lazaro laughed, explaining to him that James meant the slot machines. Giovanni chuckled in return.

"Yes, yes, no worries!"

Damon nodded, understanding his friend before walking away with Lazaro and Giovanni. James sighed and had another sip before going to the closest fruit machine.

A couple hours later, James had finished his whiskey and had already lost around five thousand pounds. He waited in his seat, the screen's bright light hitting his face before seeing two sevens and a lemon. The hitman chuckled, leaning back.

"These things really empty peoples' wallets...."

He mumbled to himself, holding the glass and bringing it to his lips before understanding it was empty. He stood up and decided to leave the games for a bit and get another from the bar.

James sat at a leather stool ordering another whiskey. He started drumming his fingers on the bar's wooden surface before seeing with the corner of his eyes a tall woman taking a seat at the tool beside him. She ordered a straight up martini before checking James. The bar wasn't busy at that time, but the woman got her drink before James. The hitman chuckled, but soon his whiskey arrived, too. He brought it to his lips; he could see the woman studying each one of his movements carefully but didn't say anything. James turned his head, seeing Damon nearby; he was still playing poker. Damon had many chips in front of him, most of them being coloured light blue and brown. A wide grin was always on his face as he was winning against all these old men. James narrowed his eyes, seeing young women sitting at some of the men's laps.

James turned around and almost jumped back, seeing the strange woman being even closer to him, leaning on her arm and glancing at him with her big brown eyes. James growled under his breath and tried to enjoy his drink calmly but soon saw the woman opening her mouth, ready to talk.

"I haven't seen you here before."

The hitman left the glass down and glared at her. The woman smiled, a small gap being visible between her two front teeth.

"Because it's the first time here."

"Oh. Lovely accent, are you British?"

James licked his teeth, wanting the conversation to be over quickly.

"Yes."

"My name is Raimona; what's yours, handsome?"

James puffed but decided to answer back. He turned his body so it will point at her as he started talking.

"James, and I am in a happy relationship."

"I didn't ask if you're single, idiot!"

Raimona giggled, bringing her palm in front of her lips, trying to appear cute. James glared back at his drink; he could see his face on the whiskey's surface.

"A lot of those men have "happy relationships", too, at that table you were checking previously."

The woman pointed at the table while looking at it. James scoffed, glancing back at it.

"Do you the guy with the red shirt, James?"

"Damon? He's my friend."

"Oh! Your friend is really lucky tonight! If he keeps winning, the owner will probably give him a free room."

"Yeah, I know...."

James mumbled and returned to his drink, thinking the conversation was over. Soon, he found out he was wrong.

"Why aren't you playing poker with him?"

"I don't like poker."

"Oh... I wonder why...."

"It's just not my cup of tea."

The man's answers were short and quick. He wanted to show that he wasn't interested in real.

"I am not a prostitute, James."

"I said nothing."

"You'll probably think I am because I wear a short dress and tall high heels acting all giggly. Actually, I am Giovannis' niece."

James looked at her having another sip from his drink. "Oh," he mumbled in awkwardness.

"I didn't mean to -"

"Oh, it's fine, no need to worry, James."

Raimona smiled before laughing softly, drinking some martini.

"I guess you know about me, hu?"

"Not at all. My uncle told me that you are with Lazaro's niece. Is that right?"

"Mhm...."

Her eyes widened, and a happy expression took over her face.

"I know Deetra! I mean, not personally, but we've played together a few times when we were kids, and she was visiting Italy with her brother."

"That's her brother."

James pointed at Damon, who had won another round just now. Raimona glared at him before gasping, whispering "Damon" under her breath.

"Damon! I bet he is a real womanizer."

"Oh, he is."

James laughed, drinking some more whiskey. Suddenly, his stomach felt like hell, and his vision started getting blurry. He held his head between his palms leaning on the bar. Ramiona put her hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently, worried before checking if he's okay.

"James, are you alright? You look pale...."

"Yes, it's just my head started spinning around out of a sudden, and I have the urge to... vomit."

"Do you need to lie down? I can take you to a room; my uncle will be fine with that -"

"No, no! I'll just call a taxi and go home...."

James stood up and tried to take a step but almost fell down. Ramiona held him and pushed her arm around his waist, keeping him in place even if it was difficult.

"James, please, let me take you to a room! I'll just talk to my uncle quickly and come back, please!"

"Fine, fine...."

Ramiona rushed to her uncle, whispering to his ear about what was going on. Giovanni nodded before looking at James from far away. The woman returned back and, with slow and steady steps, took James to a room upstairs.

Giovanni's niece helped the hitman lied down before closing the door behind. Her high heels were causing a headache to him as she walked towards the window before opening it so fresh air would come in. James closed his eyes, puffing but relaxing. His body felt heavy as Ramiona sat by his side with her fingers through his hair. She rubbed his head softly with a worried smile. Soon, James was feeling better as his urge to vomit had disappeared, but his head was still spinning around severely.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Kinda...."

James could barely move his arms and legs around. His eyes shot open, though, when he felt a pair of lips against his neck. He managed to push Ramiona off him even if he was weak.

"What are you doing... !?"

"Well, I-I thought...."

"I don't care what you thought! Stop it!"

"But James...."

Ramiona had already undone his shirt's buttons as she was leaving kisses down James' abs. It wasn't difficult for her to bring her face even closer to his private area.

"Ramiona...."

"James, shush...."

"That's not right...."

"No one will know, so just enjoy the moment...."

After that, James closed his eyes. He had no idea what was going on as he couldn't move his body at all anymore. He couldn't talk or act or do anything. A moan escaped his lips at some point as his mind was on Deetra. His brain was scattered inside his head, and he had no idea what was happening.

That night would lead to catastrophe.