The Justice Department's case against the Outfit has been destroyed. Ray Luca, Max Goldman & Steve Kordo now rule, on behalf of Manny Weisbord's national crime syndicate, Las Vegas's biggest casino operation. Now rich, powerful & even admired, now completely safe from prosecution by Mike Torrello & David Abrams, Ray Luca has only one enemy left: his own addiction to violent, risky excitement. As the Task Force starts over again from scratch, Ray flagrantly cheats at cards, assaults casino patrons & starts an affair with Goldman's wife. Though the Task Force has identified the Outfit's skim courier, Abrams warns that hindering him without a warrant will blow the whole case. Torrello outlines a strategy to use Luca's faults against him, first bringing a case to suspend his gaming license, then making Weisbord believe, through a deception worked on Goldman, that Luca is stealing from the skim. When Luca retaliates violently against Goldman, Abrams & Torrello try to turn Goldman into a protected witness, but without success. Yet Ray Luca can't fight the enemy within: drunk with victory over Goldman, Torrello & Abrams, he celebrates by violating the girlfriend of the last true & loyal friend he has: Paulie Taglia.