This will be my first ever story, not the short stories I've been conjuring up with as of late. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy it just as you've enjoyed my other one (I can't thank you enough for the reviews you've given me on my last short story ^^) Feel free to drop any criticism in the reviews as I will try to go about fixing mistakes seen here and there.
Characters (c) to Eiichiro Oda, owner of probably the best damn series alive (opinions people, opinions). Story will have graphic depictions of violence, as well as sexual scenes that aren't suited for the faint of heart. If murder, drugs, and incest are triggering in anyway, please do not read this story. Don't say I didn't warn you.
~Enjoy

You can get more done with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone.

Alfonso 'Al' Capone

Chapter 1.
The Royal House

Hey now, hurry up with those drinks! We gotta table over here!"

"Right, on my way!"

The steel metallic shaker filled up Trafalgar Law's ears with the sounds of ice and drink mix before it was equally poured into three wine glasses. Setting aside the mixer, Law placed the lightly peached hued wine glasses onto a metal round plate, before carrying it off to a man dressed in black and white. He received the metal plate and exited the bar, then carried himself onwards to an awaiting table. An incessant ringing from a bell could be heard coming from there.

Law returned back to the drink mixer, where another order was already waiting for him. Three martinis served with limes on the side. Taking the white slip of paper and crumbling it up, Law tossed it into a nearby trashcan and set to work making the order.

Around him, The Royal House was alive with shouts and laughter. Lights reflected off of gold-encrusted surfaces and mahogany counter tops while glowering over velvety red carpets. Men and women dressed in black, dark reds, and other solid colors were settled around poker tables and dining seats, enjoying one another's company and obtaining money. Those that weren't seated at the poker tables, or enjoying the exquisite five-star meals being brought out to their dining areas, stood transfixed at the exotic female dancers towards the very back of the casino.

Taking his eyes away from the drinks to stare at the lively scene before him, Law emitted a low sigh. The Royal House was especially rowdy this Thursday night, which was a rare occurrence to Law. He only spent a couple of days working as the bartender, so he was still knew to the casino, but the raven haired New Yorker could already pick up a good vibe bouncing off the wall. Finishing off the martinis by adding a sliced lime to the rim, Law placed the drinks onto another round plate and carefully slid them to them edge of the counter.

Another male dressed in black and white took the drinks and husked them away to ringing table. Without the presence of another white slip, Law took a seat back and watched the Royal House. His mind, having been focused on mixing alcoholic beverages and serving them, went blank before going to the day in which he stumbled across the job.

"Oi, kid—this ain't a place in which you can just walk on in to. Just where in the hell do you think you're going?"

He stood before two large men, one of them being several feet taller than he while the other was more on the round side. The taller man that addressed him first wore a dark red suit with a black tie and matching colored shoes; a waterfall of wavy brown hair spilled over his shoulders, with some of the dark colored strands resting underneath a red hat.

Law, having swallowed down the fear that was etched into his throat, turned to regard the man of his presence. "I'm here searching for a part-time job. I found this place online, and was—"

"Whoa, whoa, a job? Slow down kid, this ain't no place that's hiring rookies. We have enough workers as is."

"Y-You're not hiring..?" The shock was evident in Law's voice, presenting itself through the stutter of the first letter. "D-Did it sound like I stuttered? We ain't hiring, so run along back to wherever the hell you came from so we can return back to business."

Law couldn't bring himself to turn around; not after spending several hours of the day searching for the place. He desperately needed money, and no other places were hiring around the area he attended school. And if that wasn't scaring him enough, the fact that he was pushing his father into more debt already had him teetering on the edge. "Please you guys, I need this job. I'm sure you have enough room to all—"

"Neeee—we already declared no! Stop persisting and get the hell on!"

The man beside Mr. Red spoke up; his voice sounded nasally, as if he had a cold. A long sniff made that comparison true, and Law took a step back; not out of fear, but not wanting to be anywhere near a sickly adult. "If you don't leave us alone, I swear I'll—"

"Calm down, Trebol. He's just a kid."

The man with the cold, Trebol, could only snort. Mr. Red turned back to address Law; the sneer was ever present on his smirking face. "You say you need this job? Tell me this, how badly do you need this job? Depending on your answer depends if I even think about considering you for the application."

Thinking that he's going somewhere, Law's shoulders began to rise. "I'm… to put it, having little financial problems, you see… It's sort of personal, I hope you guys understand—"

"So you came here looking for easy money?"

"Yeah—"

"HAHAHA!" The two broke into a raucous laughter that rivaled the commotion happening inside the building. Law took a step back in surprise at this; the sounds of hysteria mixed with congestion made him flinch and cringe. Just as soon as they started laughing, they stopped, and a serious expression formed on Mr. Red's face. "Kid, you might as well turn back around. This job here, it ain't easy. Ain't even close to being easy. You think just walking in here and asking for a job to make easy money'll cut it for you? Boy, you won't even make it far in the real world!"

"Behehe, this kid's so stupid! You think you even have what it takes to be in this place? Behehe, I can't even control myself, behehehehee!"

The way they were dissing him made Law's insides turn to ice. The laughter rolled around in his head, filling it with regret for even taking the time out of his day to search for the place. 'This was a damn waste of my time' he thought to himself.

Mr. Red and Trebol finally ceased their laughter to chuckling. Once it was silent, Law resumed talking. "Look, can you at least tell me what it takes to get this job? I'm not asking for much here; just something to tide me over until my year ends."

"Oh, so you're a student in school, eh?"

"College student, not high school."

"Pfft, same difference." Trebol's nasally voice broke a nerve in Law's brain. "Kid, no matter how much pleading or a sob story you give us, we ain't gonna let you in. We can't let you in; it's against one of Do—the boss's policy."

Law caught the slip-up but didn't press too much in it. "Why?" he questioned instead. Mr. Red face-palmed himself, clearly agitated in how much time he's wasted with the man. "This casino that we're standing in front of his a family owned business; privately owned family business, actually. You're already breaking a policy by trespassing on private property."

"Behehe, yeah! To even get in this place, you gotta have an invitation, and I don't think you even have one!"

"Just to get a job?" The incredulity in Law's voice made Mr. Red's smile grow larger. "Now, you see your problem? Not only are you kid, but you don't even have an invitation. So get lost, we got business to att—"

"What do I have to do in order to get a job here? Please, tell me—I really need this job."

Law expected the two to resort to physical violence, but it was only Trebol that had gotten up and advanced towards him. Mr. Red stuck his arm out to restrain the man, earning him a cold glare from his long and black-haired partner. "Diamante—"

"Shut up, Trebol." Mr. Red, his real name being Diamante, got up instead and walked over towards the raven-haired student. Law kept his cool, despite how looming the other figure was, and remained having a passive expression on his otherwise pleading face.

Diamante gave him a thorough look over, eyeing his expression more than anything. "You got guts kid, and that's a good thing to have in the world. Tell me, what's your name?"

"Trafalgar Law."

"Law, eh? Okay Law, I'll give you one more shot; tell me why you want to work at The Royal House. And don't give me no 'it's-personal' bullshit, either."

Law sighed; he did not want to resort giving out his personal business to men he didn't even know. Then again, if he were to ever work here, they would all know his personal business. So he might as well get used to it, right? "I don't want my family to be in debt; they're bordering as is, and my father lives alone with my sister. We're not broke or anything but… I just don't want them to lose the house and all because of me,"

After he delivered the story, Law looked up. He expected to see a scornful smile on Diamante's face and was surprised when he saw a thoughtful one instead. The tall man walked back to his seat next to Trebol, who looked at him with wonder. "Well, you heard it right Trebol? What do you suggest—we let him in or not?"

'Might as well go home..' Law prepared himself to be turned down. A small chuckle slipped out of Trebol's lips. "Beheh, well, I suggest…" Interrupting his sentence was the sudden opening of the door. With this opportunity opening up, Law was able to peer inside the family-owned casino; his eyes and mouth widened in amazement.

Gold of different shades illuminated the area. People dressed in elegant suits and dresses walked around, some in pairs and others in groups. The golden light that spilled between the two men seemed to light up the darkness of the night, and Law found himself staring at it in more amazement than anything else.

Another figure blocked his view of the magnificence. Law's attention was then diverted to a man roughly shorter than Diamante, yet taller than himself. He wore black slacks and a white dress shirt with a red tie checkered with black hearts, and a coat made of black feathers rested on his shoulders. Both Diamante and Trebol turned around to see who the man was, and a smile panned on both of their faces in unison. "Corazon! What are you doing out here, shouldn't you be inside with Boss?"

The man said nothing. Diamante chuckled as if he understood exactly what the man said. "If you're wondering what's taking us so long, we were just getting done accepting this rookie into the business. Can you do us the honors of touring him around the place and getting to know the others?"

Law's excitement was shown through the beaming of his luminous yellow eyes. Yet, that excitement abruptly ended when Corazon sharply turned his attention to him. The man wore black shades that concealed his eyes and had blonde hair that flowed past his ears in wavy rivulets. Lips painted in red were depicted through the night and was presented through a chilling smile. "Yep, that's him. The rookie that calls himself… Trafalgar Law, right? Meet Corazon, one of the co-founders of The Royal House."

As Corazon started advancing towards him, Law stuck his hand out for a formal handshake. "Hi, nice to meet you Cora—"

Instead of getting a formal handshake, Law felt a fist crack against the left side of his cheek. The punch took him completely by surprise and he was instantly sent hurtling to the ground. An even sharper pain contacted his hip, sending shockwaves of agony coursing throughout Law's lower midriff. Behind Corazon, Diamante and Trebol broke out into laughter. "Oh, ahem—I should mention something now that you're going to work underneath us. Corazon here is an executive and, like I said before, co-founder of The Royal House. He's also Doffy's little brother; that's the boss. You might as well know his name now.

For some odd reason, he hates seeing rookies join. Can't really figure out why, since the dumb bastard can't speak and all. Oh well," Diamante shrugged and got up. Before proceeding inside, he turned back to Law, who was still groaning on the sidewalk. "When you're done rolling around in your own blood, get up so we can start you off on the job."

His hand tentatively rose up to where his fingers brushed against the yellowish-gray bruise. It's been a week since Corazon had punched him, and he hasn't seen the crazy bastard since. Good—I'd rather keep it that way. Law lowered his hand and went back to watching the lively people within The Royal House.

Several minutes had gone by and a high-pitched voice jolted Law from his staring. He turned to the only woman that could produce such a volume and rolled his eyes; a woman roughly around his age came rushing towards him, her black curls bouncing all over the place. She wore a black mini-dress with a white vest and black bow tie around her neck. "There you are, lazing around as usual! And to think that you really wanted this job,"

"There's not a single order coming in Baby 5, so calm your tits." Ironically enough, the black haired woman was wearing a revealing outfit. She narrowed her darkly hued eyes before a large smile folded across her lips. "You think you're so funny and clever Mr. Good-Looking. You should be working, not sitting around staring at people."

"I'm guessing you're as deaf as you are loud. Can't you see that there's not a single order—"

Law's sentence got cut off by the sudden appearance of a white slip. The woman that delivered it pointed towards a raucous poker table. "Table 9 wants five glasses of vodka. The usual, he calls it. Get it ready."

Law could hear the smile growing wider on Baby 5's lips as he trashed the white slip of paper. Reaching for the wine bottles behind him, Law popped several of the corks off and began pouring them into the mixer, where he later added ice and a few ounces of salt. "Wow, you haven't worked at the bar for a week and your skills at making drinks are better than those who've been in this business for years. How come?"

"I've worked in situations like these before; setting aside medical equipment for emergencies requires speed and precision. This is nothing compared to that." To demonstrate, Law shook the mixer with one hand while reaching for five glasses in the other. Baby 5 awed out how he held the glasses; each was balanced in the spaces of the fingers with two of them being held in the last.

Law set the glasses down and poured the pale liquid into each of them before carefully assembling them onto a round steel plate. "You're a natural at this; you sure you didn't work at some bar when you were young?"

"Drinks aren't my thing."

Law grabbed the plate by the edge and slid it onto his opened palm. Before he was able to leave the bar counter, Baby 5 grabbed him from the back. "Whoa—what do you want, Baby 5?"

"You're about to deliver drinks to a certain man at table 9—trust me, I know. You're looking a little disheveled at the moment, so just sit tight for a bit and let me fix you up."

By her definition of disheveled, Law's bow tie was a bit uneven. His white dress shirt had its cuffs slightly wrinkled, and his vest had a few hairs from passing by other workers in the back. Baby 5 patted down the rough spots and straightened out the cuffs, then gave the man thumbs up. "Alright, you're presentable. You'll thank me later when you realize who I'm talking about."

Law rolled his eyes and exited the bar counter. That was just an excuse for her to touch me, he told himself while wounding his way through crowded tables. He followed the sound of a ringing bell until he came upon it, where he played a casual smirk on his lips. "Got your order here, sir—the usual for five, correct?"

The table in which Law stopped by had at least ten all around. At the end of one of the tables was a man dressed in red with freakishly long arms. His hair was pulled back into a long braid down behind him, which swung to and fro with dismay. On the other end, where Law stood, was a man with a short height on him. He wore all black with a dark red tie and a black fedora slightly tilted in front of his eyes. Smoke blew out from his lips in great puffs before the man broke into a ridiculous laughter. "Hehehe, looks like you lose again Scratch! Can't you see that you have no chance against me, a pro player in roulette?"

A woman seated towards the middle held up her hand to stop the other from retorting. "Alright you boys, place in your bets!"

"Red!" The man with the abnormally long arms screamed. The other man rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Then I bet black."

The spectators seated at the table started pouring in the bets as well, until the woman held up her hand. "That's enough, no more bets!" She took a small silver ball and tossed it into a mahogany –carved wheel, where it began spinning round and round in an almost dizzying maneuver. Both men rose up out of their seats to see where the ball would land, secretly wishing the color on which it would land. The other spectators murmured against one another and watched too, as this would declare who gets the fifty-million dollar prize.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the ball finally slowed down and fell into the black and red slots. Silence overtook the table, then shouts of surprise and jubilation when the ball had landed on the black. The man dressed in black burst into laughter as he pulled in the others chips. "Hahahah, and you thought you could best me? You lose Scratch—you ain't ever gonna beat the king poker himself! Where the hell's my drink? Winning all of this money's made me thirsty.."

The man turned to his left to see Law standing behind him, watching the winning streak in shock. Law focused his attention back onto his task and settled the plate down on the table. "Wow, that was pretty awesome. You won fifty-million just like that!"

"Heh, I know kid. You can't possibly understand what it feels like to become a millionaire in a night." The man in black took his drink and sipped it. The others at the table took theirs as well, congratulating him on his apparent fifth winning streak. Before Law turned to leave, he stayed to see the ball getting ready to go again. "Would you like anything else, sir? Perhaps something to snack on while you gain another million?"

The man in black snickered at the witty remark. "As a matter of fact, I would like something to eat. Two pounds of hardboiled peanuts; this guy's nuts aren't the only things I want to crush."

Hearing that, the other dressed in red scowled. Law chuckled and hurried back to the bar with to make his order. "I need two pounds of peanuts, hardboiled for table 8!"

"Two pounds of hardboiled peanuts coming right up!"

As promised, a metal bowl came out from the kitchen and was handed to Law. He headed back to the roulette table, just in time to see the other man flip his chair and storm off. "Fuck you and this game! You probably cheated anyway," The other man could do nothing but laugh at the sore loser. Just as his order came in, he stuck his hand in the bowl and peeled apart the shell. "Punk thought he would beat me. Hah, never in a million years!"

Law headed back to the bar, Baby 5 still hanging around there. She gave the raven-haired male a large smirk, as if waiting for him to say something. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh come on, did you even realize who you were talking too?"

Law looked back to where he just left; the male was still sitting around and nibbling on the peanuts, but this time he was engrossed in a conversation with a black haired female. Law shrugged and turned back to Baby 5. "Beats me. What, is he someone big in New York?"

"That's Capone Bege, the nation's king of poker! He runs a family similar to ours in Brooklyn, and has connections all the way to Chicago. You mean to tell me you didn't know who he was?"

Law glanced back at the man named Capone Bege. He looked like a figure in modern society, with his elegant way of dressing and the way in which he presents himself. "No, I didn't. How do you know so much about him?"

"He's allied to us; he and Young Master are like, best friends in the gang business."

Law rolled his eyes once more at Baby 5 and went to sit back and settle down. That day in which he started working at The Royal House, Diamante had told him he would be an official member of the Don-Quixote Family. It still came as a shock that he was even doing this, and to hear words like 'gangs', 'business', and the like fly out of the mouths of half the workers made him cringe. "You're sitting around again, Law."

"Because there's not an order being placed—"

Commotion erupted in the kitchen before Law could finish his sentence. Both he and Baby 5 turned around in unison to see a blonde haired boy emerge from the doors, wearing black slacks and a white dress shirt with white apron wrapped around him. His blonde hair was just as frantic as his eyes, which bore excitement matching a child's on Christmas. "Jora just called; she says they're on their way. She also said we'd better get the food and drinks ready, or Young Master will be pissed."

"Who's on their way?" Law questioned, turning to Baby 5 for an answer. Instead, she nodded at the blonde haired teen, who then raced back into the kitchen. She then turned to Law and started giving out commands. "Wait wait wait! What in the hell's going on?"

"The executives, stupid! The executives are on their way back, and we need to get their food and drinks ready. Now hurry up and start making them!"

"Wait, what do I—"

Baby 5 rushed to the kitchen, possibly to bark out more orders. Law was left in a state of utter confusion at the hurried answer he received; deep within him, a tingling sensation bubbled up.

He was going to meet the executives of the Don Quixote Family.