Marco reluctantly brought Veronica to the club for fear of leaving her alone.

"I really should be going to work." She muttered as he guided her with his hand at the small of her back towards the door of the under-the-table establishment.

"Your uncle understands."

"I have to make money, Marco." She argued, stopping short just in front of the door.

Marco groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You don't have to do anything, kitten. I can take care of it. You don't have to worry."

She glared at him, considering this concept for a moment, considering the sincerity in his eyes. "You can't do that."

"I can, and I will. I take care of what's mine. Whatever your little heart desires, you'll have it." He wasn't going to take no for an answer. He cradled her face in his hands, taking in the soft curves and flawless features. He brought his lips down to her nose, the most innocent of gestures, really. "Let's go." He whispered, holding the door open and ushering her inside.

"Ronnie!" Vinnie exclaimed to Veronica before turning his attention to Marco. "Morning, boss."

"Yeah." Marco mumbled.

"Jimmy got a lead this morning, Philly said not to call, though. They went to take care of it."

"Fucking morons." Marco muttered. "You need anything?" Marco asked Veronica to which she replied a simple no. "Be right back." He said, leaving her there with his cousin.

"How you doing, kiddo?" Vinnie asked.

"I'm being held prisoner." She joked with a giggle.

"When we get these guys out of Brooklyn, it will be okay." Vinnie admitted.

"I feel kind of like I'm in the way."

"God, no! We need to keep you around! You're good for business." He winked. "You keep Marco off our backs. He has actually been relatively calm the past few days. The guys love you."

"What about them?" She nodded to the group of Velvets by the couch. Some hung around the necks of various men she didn't know by name, some more or less passed out.

"Don't let those broads get to you. They aren't anymore than a piece of ass. They might not like you, but they'll sure as hell respect you. They're jealous. You didn't have to drop to your knees to get in the front door."

They could hear shouting from beyond the door. A few minutes later, Philly came in with Jimmy close behind him, dragging in this guy by his arms. Everyone turned and gaped at the spectacle as they tried to make their way to the backroom, even Marco. He looked at Veronica before following the boys into the backroom.

"Guess you're stuck with me." Vinnie joked. "Wanna play cards or something?"

"They'll kill me if I tell you, Vendetti." The guy, Serge, sputtered, coughing up blood and spitting it by Marco's feet. A tooth was in the red slobber.

"I'll kill you if you don't, so start talking." He growled, wrapping the chain tighter around his knuckles and threatening to punch him again.

He rocked in the chair he had been tied to, almost tipping it in his rush to get as far from Marco's fists of fury as possible.

"Louis just said to watch you and get you running scared. After we watched you for a few days, we realized who the girl was. Thought it was pretty strange so we told him. He had us rile her up, hoping it'd be enough to throw you off."

"That worked out well for you, didnt it." Marco spat, kicking the chair out from under him. "I want you to give your boss a little message for me." He snickered, straddling the chair and leaning down, pulling out his blade. Serge flinched at the sight. "No one threatens me and my girl and my business. He'll have to do worse if he wants to get rid of me." He sliced into the man's exposed cheek, a long sliver of red liquid appearing in the blade's path. "I'm coming for him."

"Marco's right. You do cheat." Veronica smirked, watching him carefully.

"I do no such thing." Vinnie said in a sarcastic tone.

"I'm watching you. You draw from the bottom."

He sighed, laughing to himself. "How'd you get so good at cards anyway?"

"All girls' school. We didn't have much to do between periods." She smiled.

The door to the backroom opened and the guy Jimmy had brought in ran out the front door in a hurry, dripping blood, a limp to his gait.

Marco followed close behind, rubbing his knuckles. He dug in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes, taking one and lighting it for himself. "Kicking his ass, yet?" Marco smirked, watching Veronica intently.

"He started cheating." She said snidely.

"Had to, boss. It was pitiful how bad I was losing."

Marco chuckled, drawing on his cigarette. Veronica caught his hand and stared at the bruises forming in weird patterns around the fresh scabs from his rumble the other night. "It's fine." He muttered under his breath, dealing with the pain. "Philly's gonna take you to my house, okay? We're gonna try and fix all this by tonight."

She knew not to argue. Arguing with Marco in front of his guys seemed like something you would do if you wanted to get slapped. "Bye, Vinnie."

"See you later, doll face."

Veronica stood from her chair, looking at Marco, silently asking his permission to touch him in front of his men. He pulled his cigarette from his lips, turning his cheek to her and tapping the corner of his lips. She sighed, a little disappointed, and kissed Marco's cheek before following Philly out of the club.