The story begins shortly before the end of World War II, in February 1945: Vito, then fighting in Sicily with the American army, obtains a furlough and returns home to Empire Bay, United States .
There, he finds his mother and his sister, as well as Joe, his childhood friend.
The action mainly revolves around the duo Vito and Joe, the latter having escaped the police at the time of his friend's arrest and his enlistment in the American army, a few years earlier, and who, during the absence of Vito, will have made a place for himself in the Clemente mafia family.
As soon as Vito – who needs money – returns to Empire Bay, Joe drags him into his illegal activities and introduces him to the Clementes.
At the end of February 1945, after having done several jobs on behalf of the Clemente family, Vito was imprisoned for illegally selling gasoline coupons, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
His mother died of illness while incarcerated.
However, thanks to Leo Galante, a very influential prison mafioso, consigliere of Franck Vinci, the most powerful family in Empire Bay, he obtained a reduced sentence and was released on April 10, 1951.
The world had changed a lot in 6 years …