#hashtag BACK FIRED

Chapter One

The stage performance was usually to an exclusive audience, strictly by invitation. The carefully selected, highly paid performers left nothing short of their best. Their best always brought back the guests, whose growing appetite pushed the performers to their limit. The performers themselves never complained, in fact they appeared to enjoy all the attention.

They were not just half nude, belly and lap dancers, they were also dancers for money; and they didn’t look at their guests' faces, because the faces were all the same. What set the men apart was the size of their budget. A good performer needed incentive and nothing worked better than money.

The real performance however, took place in the innermost chamber, often supervised by The Don himself, who ensured that his creme-la-creme audience got maximum satisfaction.

It was tough enough having access to the exclusive stage downstairs, but to get into the inner chamber that was located upstairs on the second floor, required extra clout. It was rumored that one of the strictest conditions was that you had to have nothing less than a six figure income. The other condition was a reference from a friend of a friend.

It was for this reason that The Don was extremely surprised - and that was putting it mildly - when the door to his private auditioning room slid open and Jack, his muscle man, walked in with a stranger in tow, whom he introduced as Tony Fontane. What was more, Jack, the muscle, wasn’t looking at the moment any bit like the muscle man, with his usually well ironed shirt now looking helplessly ruffled.

“What the fuck is this, Jack?” Danny ‘The Don’ Cappuccino inquired in his whiny voice. He waved at the two girls who were kissing each other in the multicolored cage a few feet away. “Can’t you see I’m busy in here?”

“I know, boss,” Jack said rather apologetically, “Tony said it couldn’t wait, and I figured it might be the wisest thing to do under the circumstances.”

While Jack spoke, Danny’s cold, piercing eyes ran over Tony, wondering who the hell Tony was and how Tony had managed to get this far – unannounced, without a prior appointment and without Danny's men stopping Tony.

“What circumstances,” Danny snapped, jumped to his feet and stood close to Jack. Gripping Jack’s chin between his thumb and index finger in a tight, painful hold, he studied the bruises on Jack’s face. “He did this to you?”

Jack winced, nodding his head slightly.

Now, that was something, The Don was thinking. Nobody had the nerves to touch Jack, and if they did and got away with it, as it seemed to be the case here, then perhaps the circumstances demanded his personal attention.

Danny turned suddenly and snapped at Tony.

“I give you five minutes, and that’s your whole life time on earth if what you have to say is not worth my distraction.”

Grinning, Tony stared straight back at the small, chubby man called The Don.

“I guarantee that it will be worth your distraction.”

“You give me guarantee?” The Don’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Do you even have any idea who you are talking to, Tony?”

“Yes, sir.”

The Don straightened himself in front of Tony who was a head taller.

“Fire.”

Tony shook his head negatively.

“It could backfire. Not here.”

Danny shot a quick look at Jack. He looked at Benny who handled the girls. “Benny, hold them for me.