And for the first time, Vinny understood. The Mafia 2 Trainery wasn't a place to learn how to fight. It was where you learned how to disappear a problem. And in Empire Bay, that was the only skill that mattered.

He set up three bricks on a cinderblock. "That's a lock. That's a kneecap. That's a skull. Use the crowbar. Hit the middle brick. Only the middle brick. In this life, collateral damage is expensive."

Vinny spent an hour just tapping bricks. Too hard, he'd be doing twenty-five to life for manslaughter. Too soft, the guy gets up and testifies. Precision. The lesson sank into his bones like a winter chill.