Today was Dean's twenty-second birthday.
The main reason, of course, was that Old Laine had once wanted to adopt Dean and have him continue the Lucchese surname. This led Sheila to watch him closely and rarely allow Dean to stay here alone, so the cowboys weren't very familiar with him.
But these were all minor matters.
Dean downed a small jug of corn whiskey in one go and was immediately welcomed by them.
During the conversation, Dean realized that this group of cowboys must be the Mafia who had sided with Old Laine's generation. Having lost in their struggles, they had followed him here to make a living.
In fact, they had left just in time. A few years later, the FBI conducted a massive purge against these Mafiosos.
While they weren't eradicated, those once-glamorous bosses had either gone to prison or bled out on the streets. In contrast, the early departees like Old Laine's group now mostly had families and successful careers.
