Sinners Condemned

Nine years before the story begins, Raphael Visconti stands in a fortune teller's wagon in Vegas the night he buries both parents.

Nine years before the story begins, Raphael Visconti stands in a fortune teller's wagon in Vegas the night he buries both parents. His eldest brother Angelo has abandoned the family's Cosa Nostra dynasty, leaving Raphael's future as underboss in ruins. The gypsy reveals he has two fate cards — the King of Diamonds for power, or the King of Hearts for love — but never both. He touches the King of Diamonds, choosing empire over intimacy. Then comes the doom card: the Queen of Hearts, the red-haired lady who will bring him to his knees. He ties the wagon's door handles shut with his silk tie, sets it ablaze, and walks into the Las Vegas night — a man who has chosen his fate but cannot stop wondering what he has condemned.

Penny's bar trick wins a Breitling off Raphael Visconti

Penny Price steps off a Greyhound in Devil's Cove with zero dollars and a vow to go straight — right after one last con. She steals a dress, ducks into a bar, and targets a suited man nursing expensive whiskey. He dismisses her coldly. She persists, proposing a game: five questions he must answer incorrectly. He agrees, not realizing the fifth question is the trap. When she wins, his security closes in and he calls for a hammer. She braces for broken bones — but he only smashes the security tag off her stolen dress and slips his Breitling watch into her coat pocket. Only then does the bartender whisper his name: Raphael Visconti, casino king of Las Vegas. Penny flees with a six-figure timepiece and the terrifying certainty she picked the most dangerous mark on the Pacific coast.

Raphael drops his gun in Penny's drink to end her game At Angelo's wedding in the Devil's Preserve, Penny discovers the celebration is crawling with Viscontis. She reconnects with Nico, the cousin who taught her swindling as a child at the Visconti Grand Casino. Then Raphael materializes — pretending not to recognize her, though his glint says otherwise. He stoops close and whispers a vulgar rejection against her earlobe before vanishing into the crowd. Emboldened by champagne and a friend's cash bribe, Penny finds him again and proposes a drinking game: her two waters against his three shots. The trick requires trapping his glass under her empty one. But Raphael sees through it instantly. He pulls a gun from his waistband and drops it into her water with a soft plunk. Game over. He warns her that luck disappears when leaned upon, and tells her to find the…