The music throbbed in Rosario's ears, the air in his lungs vibrating with the beat of the all too loud music being played over the speakers by a really mediocre-at-best DJ. But no one came here for the music, or even the drinks. No, they came to watch the women on stage flaunt their bodies, and if they tossed enough green bills onto the stage, get taken to a private room where they could only look, not touch, lest they get thrown out by one of the bouncers who looked he could win a game of chicken with a freight train. Tonight, Rosario was on of those people.
Rosario couldn't even recall the last time he'd been to this club. Perhaps some time in college, when he was still a fresh-faced kid. One who'd only just started to have designs beyond the family business. He'd wanted a quiet life. Well, not exactly quiet, but one where he didn't have to install blacked out bulletproof windows in his car, and have three or four bodyguards nearby all the time.
That was why Rosario hadn't been back to the Heartbreaker in almost a decade. His father owned the club. And every time he stepped into an establishment owned by his family, he risked being pulled back into the business. Not because of his father, but because of his father's rivals. Rivals who wouldn't hesitate to try and get to his father through him. Rivals from outside the Family, and within.
Yet he was here. Pleasantly, there were some perks to being the boss' son, even if he wasn't in the game anymore. The bouncers didn't even take a second glance when skipped the line and walked in through the front door. The bartender, spotting him approaching, was already pouring out his preferred drink. By the time Rosario reached the bar, the glass was already sitting there waiting for him atop a napkin. "Grazie," Rosario said, lifting the glass to his lips and turning towards the stage to see who was performing tonight.