An Offer they Can't Refuse

[Knight Errant]

Stephen Carter, a 28 year old man of medium build and brown hair walks down the bare linoleum hallway... his business partner to his left... as on each side of them a wall of black indicates the pair of 'gentlemen' who are 'escorting' them. He thinks he can see the bulges of various weapons under their suits... but he tries not to stare.

Its not smart to stare at Mafioso.

Instead he looks at the floor and wonders how they could have been so stupid. Everyone always said to steer clear of the Rough Diamond Casino. The fact that it was the front for the Mafia was the worst kept secret in Las Vegas. Some people liked to flirt with danger... but rumor has it that people who won too much had a habit of disappearing. Stephen had the horrible feeling he was soon going to join the ranks of the disappeared.

But at the time it had seemed so logical... he had seen an opportunity to start a business, one that would make money hand over fist... but try as he might, none of the banks would lend him or his business partner anything. He was extremely wary of taking money from gangsters... but they had approached him. Almost as he was exiting the last bank that had refused his loan application... a man in a expensive suit approached him and made him an offer... one he couldn't refuse. All the money he needed to start, low interest rate, it seemed too good to be true...

Which is probably why it had been.

Almost from the moment he had taken the money, things had started to go wrong. The building contractor's workers he had hired went on strike... all the suppliers he contacted vanished one after another... his business practically bled money away. It had all come to a head last night... an electrical fire, presumably because of the horrible construction work, had torched their building to the ground. Leaving his business with nothing but ashes. And almost on cue... another suited man had appeared, inviting them to come to the Rough Diamond to... discuss the situation.

It was a offer they couldn't refuse.

[muffinstud]

William Robertson gulped loudly as he walked down the hall. He had black, short cropped hair and was slightly shorter than his business partner. He tried to ignore the slabs of meat posing as men in the black suits to either side. He tried, but failed miserably.

Everything had been perfect, their plan had finally come to the light. Will and his business partner couldn't have been more excited than the day they finally got their dream off the ground. They were so sure they had made it. Then, that's what made it hurt all the more when it came crashing and burning around their feet. Seriously, their store burned down and imploded on itself. There's not much a struggling small business can do to recover from that.

Which brought Will back to the hall he was currently trudging down. How fitting, he thought. Of all the places to take a gamble and lose big time, it just had to be Las Vegas. And the worst place to lose it big was here, in the Rough Diamond. He'd heard the stories. He never believed them though. Looking at the walking brick walls escorting him and his business partner, he was soon becoming a believer.

After all, when the only person that will help you with your life's dream turns out to be a loan shark and a mafioso, you find yourself in a bind.

Because when they reached the end of that hall, anything that got presented to them...

Would be an offer they couldn't refuse.

[Knight Errant]

All too soon, the pair of them are led to the end of the bleak back hallway in the depths of the casino. Who would have thought that beneath the glittered interior of the Rough Diamond would be such depressing hallways? Maybe it was just his mood imprinting itself on the faceless decor...

Regardless, soon they are in front of a reinforced steel door. One of their escorts reaches up with a meaty hand and punches in a code on a keypad. With a metal clank, the door swings slightly open as the lock is drawn back. That same faceless henchman grabs the handle, swinging the door open and nodding meaningfully towards the open doorway.

Stephen doesn't need anymore prompting... he heads inside the door quickly and looks around. He wasn't sure what to expect... a torture room... a vault... maybe a expensive lounge where Mob Boss Samuel Marcone would sit staring at them while smoking some expensive cigar...

What he wasn't expecting was a simple looking office. Filing cabinets, a wall safe, a simple desk with a pair of empty chairs in front of it... and sitting behind it, a man.

[muffinstud]

Describing this man in one word was simple.

Greasy.

Everything about Donatello Marcone was just greasy. His slicked back hair shone in the pale fluorescent lighting. The shoes on his feet as he rested them on the desk glistened with a fresh spit shine. His red suspenders accentuated the pit stains in his black pinstripe dress shirt. When he spoke and introduced himself to the two businessmen, they could almost smell the snake oil on his breath.

"Gentlemen! Please, take a seat! Make yourselves comfortable." He gestured to the seats in front of the desk as the steel doors behind the two men shut with a reverberating clang. "And don't mind those goons, they've never been people persons. People. Whatever."

"The name is Donatello Marcone, and your names precede you. As you know, you've defaulted on your loan. And so, we must have a look at your contracts." He smiled. Even his teeth looked greasy.



Will gulped again as the doors crashed behind him, then wordlessly took the left seat.

[Knight Errant]

Stephen winces in tandem with Will as the steel doors shut behind them... he takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself. They haven't pulled out the baseball bats, and this Donatello didn't look like a bruiser that was going to knock out their teeth for the fillings. Not that he had any.

With that thought, he nods... sitting down at the right hand seat next to Will. He looks up at the man. "I can assure you, Mister Marcone... we didn't mean to default. Our business just came under some... extraordinary circumstances. I'm sure I speak for Will when I say we will do whatever we can to pay your family back..."

He felt his stomach dropping even as he said that sentence... but... he didn't want to end up in some unmarked grave.

[muffinstud]

"That's right! I mean, it was a lot of hard work to set up that business, so you can see we can work and get the money we owe." Will was practically shaking as he spoke.

"Don't worry, boys. I'm on your side." He pulls an e-cigarette out of his shirt pocket and takes a puff, the smell of battery acid and nicotine mingles with that of the bare concrete. "You see, we appreciate a good work ethic when we see one. And boys, you have it in spades. So when I look over this contract, I see two things."

Donatello pulled his feet in and he rolled forward to slam his hands on the desk at the same time he slammed his feet on the floor. "I see the clause in your contract that states your bodies as collateral on your loan, along with any money from any life insurance policy you may hold." He took a pencil from the top of his desk and grinned. "Said clause would be very easy to enforce." He snapped the pencil in his hand.

"I also see another clause stating that any debts incurred may be repayed through direct service to this casino. Said service is to be indicated by the owner of said casino. Length of service is entirely dependent upon debt incurred, and service expires once all debt on the loan and to this casino is paid in full."

He took another puff of his e-cigarette and leaned forward further. "So, what'll it be, boys?"

[Knight Errant]

Stephen's eyes nearly pop out of his head as Donatello mentions... basically... killing them and taking the money from their life insurance. It was all of his fears realized... and the threat was very real. After all, this deep into the casino... in a no doubt soundproof room... the two goons behind them could probably break both of their necks with their bare hands.

So when he mentions the second clause... it was a no brainer. "Y-yeah! We will take the second one... You said we had a good work ethic, right? We will work for you, sure. Of course, no problem." He says, nearly hysterical and babbling.

[muffinstud]

Will nodded his head frantically. "We'll do whatever you say! Just don't kill us, please!" He shut his mouth tight, frantic and panicky. It was all he could do to hope this guy would have some kind of pity on the both of them.



"Boys, boys, relax. Like I said, I'm on your side. I'm gonna help you out of this situation. Consider this your interview to work at the Rough Diamond Gaming Hall and Hotel. Congratulations, you're in." Marconi smirked and leaned back in his chair. "Now, as part of any job application, I'll need to see your photo ID, social security card... anything you might have on you so we can identify you for our records."


Will slowly pulled his wallet out of his jeans and frowned at it. If they took their ID, he'd be stuck with these goons until they decided to give it back... if ever.

"Now." Marconi grunted the word, forcefully. Will tossed his wallet onto the desk like it was going to bite him.

[Knight Errant]

Stephen takes another deep breath... trying to relax. He had no idea what they had planned for the two of them... but if it wasn't death he could live with it... While pondering the irony of that thought, he gets out his wallet... taking more time than his friend Will. He pulls out his most current drivers license and the social security card behind it, as well as his medical insurance card. Placing them on the table neatly as he folds his wallet back up and goes to pocket it.

"That will be fine... I hope?" He asks Marcone. "And thank you... for... um... giving us this opportunity." He figured saying 'not killing us' was a bit obvious. Besides... if they wanted them to do something illegal, at least they would be kept alive to do it... Then they could slip away to the witness protection program or something.

And if the job was actually... a job... well. Working for the Family was better than being on their hit list.

[muffinstud]

"Good enough. Now, you boys look stressed. I have orders from Big Sam that you two are to work the floor. Now, we can't have you working the floor when you're stressed, now can we?" He shakes his head slowly. "No, we can't. You'd understand if you've seen our customer service." Indeed, one other thing the Rough Diamond Hotel was infamous for was the extremes their employees would reach to please their clientele. Most of the women were very pretty, and many of them had animal ears or the like as part of their costumes. The men were touted as the most reliable in the business, taking care of the needs of the most demanding blue bloods.

They wouldn't be living the high life, but they'd be very close to it. To think, they had come so close to dying in some musty basement!

"I understand the last few weeks have been very stressful and tragic for your business and your personal lives. So the Boss wants you two to take a small vacation. We'll keep you under tight supervision, of course. When you're relaxed, we'll start your training and you'll be off on your new careers here at this wonderful hotel. How does that sound?"


Will just stared blankly at Marconi as he leaned back and put his feet back up on the desk. This... was too good to be true. They had gone from a certain death one minute to... a vacation? He wanted desperately to say something against it... but when the only other option on the plate is a pair of cement shoes, one doesn't argue with the terms. "S-sure, sounds good."

[Knight Errant]

Working the floor on a casino wasn't Stephen's idea of an ideal job... but... it wasn't death, and it wasn't anything illegal. And not only that... but the mobsters wanted them to take a vacation first? He couldn't help but think they were playing some kind of joke with them... get their hopes up and such before stabbing them in the back... literally.

But until he had evidence to the contrary... he wasn't really in the position to refuse. So he nods! "Of course... do you, uh, have any restrictions on where we can go for this... vacation?"

[muffinstud]

"Of course. Since this is a sponsored vacation, we'll be sending you to a corporate retreat. I've been there before, it's very nice." Marcone touched something under his desk, causing the steel door to open with a harsh electric buzz. "I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves while you're there. In fact, you'll probably feel so relaxed, you won't even recognize yourselves." He chuckled to himself as he watched the goons enter the room behind the two men.

"Sit back, relax, and welcome. Welcome to the Rough Diamond Casino."

And with that, both Will and Stephen got a face full of chloroform.

[Knight Errant]

Stephen's stomach drops further at the notice he was going to be sent to a corporate retreat... a mafia corporate retreat. That didn't sound like anything he wanted to visit. But just as he opens his mouth to protest he gets a face full of chloroform! He has barely enough time to struggle uselessly against the goon behind him before darkness closes in... sending him to uneasy sleep!

[muffinstud]

Will put up more of a fight, smacking the goon and yelling muffled words at Donatello Marcone. Like Stephen, he still had to breathe in the chemicals, and the fight slowly left him as well. He slumped into his chair like a rag doll and closed his eyes. The last thought to cross his mind was a question.

Would he wake up at all?

[Knight Errant]

Will's answer was a yes! Though from his pounding headache, he might wish for the moment it was a no. Weather from the chloroform or the clock the goon had landed around his head, he couldn't tell. But he didn't seem to be wearing cement shoes and holding his breath... in fact besides for the headache he felt... rather comfortable!

He was lying down on a cushy bed... the mattress supporting his spine perfectly as the pillow cradles his aching head in its down fluffyness! Looking up and around would reveal a very fancy looking hotel room with all the amenities. Mini fridge, microwave, television, a door that seemingly leads to the bathroom, one to a closet... another to the hallway outside... there is even a bookshelf filled with novels and magazines!

And through it all weaves a girl... she seemed young... her hair shoulder length, her curves flat but definitely there... as if she was experiencing puberty much later in life than usual. She had to be at least eighteen... She is dressed in a frilly black and white maid's outfit, her face filled with nervousness as she attacks dust, real and imagined, with a feather duster. She dosent seem to notice his consciousness yet.