Confrontation

HE NEXT MORNING

Dining Room

The dining hall was as grand as the rest of the place, with soaring ceilings and expansive windows that let in natural light. A long wooden table stretched down the center of the room, surrounded by chairs. The table was always neatly set with plates, glasses, and silverware, ready for the pack members to gather for their daily meals.

The walls were decorated with intricate wallpaper, and tall wooden cabinets lined the room, holding fine china and other dining essentials. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a warm, inviting glow.

As the pack members settled uncomfortably to eat, a procession of maids emerged from the kitchen with a variety of dishes. Most of the members of the MC would prefer to sprawl out and eat outside or on one of the couches but Godfather Marco insisted they all dine together when they were at the house. All eyes immediately fell on Velia as she carried the dishes given to her, making her cheeks heat.

"I think you’re the center of attention!" Star whispered to Velia as she placed a generous serving of food in front of Ghost, who smiled warmly at her. Velia tried to smile back

"What’s your name, Hon?" Ghost asked, her voice soft.

Velia looked down, barely audible as she answered, "Velia."

Ghost’s eyes brightened. "That’s a beautiful name!"

"And what about your brother?" Stalker asked, curiosity in his voice.

Velia’s gaze remained downcast. "His name is Hardin."

The gang members exchanged amused glances, and Stalker chuckled.

"How old are you, Velia?" Hacker asked, his interest piqued.

She hesitated before answering, "Nineteen."

Hacker’s face scrunched up in disappointment. "No way! You’re older than me?"

Ghost smirked, her eyes gleaming with amusement. "I told you, Hacker!"

Velia lowered her head even more, feeling overwhelmed by the attention. She just wanted to find her brother and get out of the uncomfortable uniform.

After serving the pack, she returned to the kitchen, relieved to get a portion of food for herself. She had been starving since yesterday and eagerly dug in.

 

***

 

 

"I see you're here too?" Virus smirked, glancing at Venom.

"Marco summoned me," he muttered, his face giving nothing away.

"What do you think he wants?" Virus asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Probably some job," Venom shrugged, his shoulders barely moving.

"My sons," Godfather Marco greeted, emerging from his room with a warm smile and his pipe clenched between his lips.

"Why are we here, sir?" Venom asked, getting straight to the point. His eyes locked on his adopted father's.

"I have a task for both of you," Godfather Marco replied, his eyes sparkling with warmth.

Hacker entered the room, holding his laptop and rolling a lollipop around in his mouth. He gave a respectful nod of his head, a wide grin on his face as he glanced at Venom.

"Three years ago, a group of ministers were involved in some illegal activities. They sold people’s property and took the money," Godfather Marco began. He locked his hands behind his back and paced in front of his large, antique desk.

"They had a special vault created to store the stolen money," he continued, his tone now serious.

Hacker opened his laptop and showed them a picture of the vault.

"One of the ministers, Amando, killed another to take all the money—500 billion euros," Godfather Marco added.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Virus asked, his eyes gleaming with interest.

"Minister Mayorkas will be out of the country by tomorrow morning, which gives us access to his house where the vault is located. We're going to take all the money back," Godfather Marco said, his gaze locking onto theirs.

"Will that be easy?" Venom asked calmly.

"The vault has thick walls, a secure door with multiple locks, and a combination dial," Hacker said, tapping away on his computer.

"Tell us the plan to bypass that, little wolf?" Godfather Marco asked, raising an eyebrow at the young computer genius.

"I've been studying the vault's security systems. I can disable the alarms and motion detectors. With the right tools, we can crack the combination dial," Hacker replied, a mischievous grin playing on his lips.

Virus leaned forward, studying the blueprints Hacker had pulled up. "What about the ventilation system?"

Hacker nodded. "I've got that covered too. We can use the air ducts to our advantage."

Venom nodded, and Hacker smiled.

"So, we go tomorrow evening. You both need to gather the appropriate pack members and figure out how to proceed," Godfather Marco said.

"Also, you'll have competition from other MCs. We’re not the only ones after the money," Godfather Marco added after a moment.

"What about security?" Venom asked.

"I've got that covered too," Hacker said, showing them a live video feed of the mansion. "There are two hundred guards at the mansion. One hundred surrounding the building, fifty inside, and another fifty right in front of the vault."

"Wait," Venom said, his voice cold and detached. He had noticed one of the guards and, judging by the way he was speaking, it was clear he was the head of security.

"I need to know more about the head of security," he said, his frown deepening. His wolf began pacing inside of him.

"His name's Gandhi. Former cop. Very experienced and dangerous," Hacker replied after his fingers had typed rapidly across the keys.

"I want his address," Venom demanded, his eyes hard as steel.

Hacker hesitated, then nodded. "I can get it for you."

Venom simply nodded, his expression unchanged.

The others exchanged uneasy glances, sensing the new level of tension.

"Here it is, Venom," Hacker said, turning his laptop so his Alpha could see the address.

"I have something to take care of," Venom muttered before leaving Marco, Hacker, and Virus staring at his back, wondering what had just happened. 651.662.2035

 

***

 

 

Venom stood in front of the house, his breathing heavy as memories of the past washed over him. Sixteen years ago, he had trusted a cop to help bring his family’s murderers to justice. He had made a video, planning to use it as proof. That day, this cop had seemed like a trusted ally. He handed the man his phone trusting him. The policeman promised to show the evidence to his superior and asked young Xavier to come back the next day.

When Xavier returned the next afternoon, Gandhi denied ever meeting him. When the boy demanded his phone back, the officer had refused, even cuffing him on the head when he persisted. Some officers had dragged him away and returned him to the orphanage. He hadn’t seen Gandhi since. But the betrayal had fueled a vow to make him pay if their paths ever crossed again.

And now, that time had come.

A car pulled up, and Gandhi emerged, older but easily recognizable.

"I knew you'd come for me one day," Gandhi said with a smirk.

"Why did you lie that day?" Venom asked, narrowing his eyes at the audacity of the man.

"What did you expect? Why would I help a poor kid when a better offer came along? Anthonio showed up, offered me ten million euros in exchange for the evidence, so I gave it to him," Gandhi sneered.

Venom’s eyes widened in shock. "You took the money and threw justice away? You were a cop!"

Gandhi shrugged. "Everyone has to take care of themselves. Haven't you learned that yet, boy? Here, I even made a copy of the evidence in case I could use it again someday. You can have it." He pulled a USB drive off his keychain and threw it at Venom.

Venom caught it, his mind racing. "So Dr. Argento bribed you?"

Gandhi nodded. "Yes, and he threatened to kill my family if I didn't cooperate. So what choice did I have?"

Venom's anger flared. He pulled out his gun, aiming it at Gandhi. "More than I did. My whole family was gunned down in front of me. You're going to pay for what you did."

Gandhi drew his own gun faster than Venom could have expected, and the two pointed their weapons at each other.

"Why don’t you let go of all this, Xavier? Anthonio’s gone, probably dead. What more do you want?"

Venom popped off a shot hitting Gandhi's hand, making him scream out in pain. "Listen to me," Venom said coldly. "I’ll hunt everyone involved in my family’s death. And I’ll kill them." He shot Gandhi in the other hand, causing the man to scream.

"You've turned into as big of a monster as that doctor ever was!" Gandhi spat.

Venom was done talking. He took one more shot and a small hole appeared in the center of the old policeman's head. Gandhi slumped to the ground, dead.

Venom climbed onto his bike and sped off, his mind consumed by what Gandhi had revealed.