Out for blood

He lied—ok partially lied—but a lie of omission is still a rotten lie...right? White lie or not, omitted truth or not, a lie is a lie.

And Adrien didn't tell Mia the whole story, he just made it brief, summarized well enough to make sure she didn't suspect anything and so that she had no reason to worry.

He turned to look at her. Mia was sound asleep on his bed and for the first time that day, she looked less stressed. He hated that he was the cause of her worries, and to him, he didn't deserve her. Brushing her brunette hair away from her face, Adrien leaned down and kissed her forehead, she looked beautiful while she slept and he let his stare linger for a bit, almost forgetting the rage that had built up in his chest. The wound in his abdomen closed up finally, putting Adrien in a harsh amount of pain and snapping him out of his ephemeral dream. He gritted his teeth together, he made sure he made no sound—not even a squeak so he wouldn't wake Mia up, she was a very light sleeper and now that she was trying to watch over him, she would sleep even lighter.

Recounting all that had transpired that day, Adrien grew more furious.

That morning, he was at home, he had no meetings or anywhere to be but all that changed when he got a call. His assistant passed him his phone as he never personally carried any phone on his person.

"Hello," a gruff voice at the other end of the phone greeted.

"Who is this?," he replied in a monotone voice.

"Your enemy." The man at the other end chuckled. The chuckle made it seem like they were good pals and very familiar with each other. "We could change that y'know."

If this man thought he was being funny…he definitely was not.

Adrien scoffed, his face in its natural stoic position. Adrien could tell who it was just from the sound of his voice, it was his rival. If this guy thought he was being all mysterious and shady, he must really think Adrien to be a fool.

The enmity started between them years ago and due to this bitter relationship between them, lives were lost from both sides. Adrien 's henchmen, the competition's henchmen, all played their parts and lost their probable, purposeless lives to their pathetic fight. The reason for this was simple—business.

Adrien dealed illegally in drugs—specifically cocaine—and firearms. He could have dealed in firearms legally but the best firearms were the ones issued to the army. Ones that couldn't be obtained legally because they couldn't be bought or sold so, the higher the risk he took to obtain them, the higher the price he got to sell them for and make a fortune from it.

It was good business. And to be honest, he owned a business dealing in real estate, ranking in the top three best businesses in the country. Would it be good rep for people to see he also dealt in firearms?

So there came Patrick who felt he was too powerful to be messed with. Patrick claimed one of the locations Adrien did his business was under his jurisdiction where he also sold drugs. He dealt in cocaine and a particular anesthetic that was rare and extremely dangerous. This anesthetic had made headlines in previous months due to the fact that it had claimed a number of lives. Investigations were still ongoing about these cases but had not brought anything of use that could give the police a lead.

Adrien refused to leave, he had been in that area long before Patrick. So the bad blood between them ensued, with Patrick killing one of his men first. Patrick obviously had no idea who Adrien was, at least most people only knew his name and not his face. Which was why he felt Adrien was another amateur trying to make a lot of money while messing with the wrong people.

And now here the joker was, on the other end of his line, talking about putting a stop to years of enmity.

"Let's make a truce. We can both do business peacefully without fighting each other. What do you say?" He sounded patronizing.

"I could just kill you off, how about that?" Adrien 's jaw clenched tightly. Was Patrick playing with him right now? Did he think this was a joke?

"Don't be like that. I'm fucking serious. Aren't you tired of all the fighting? That's why I called you myself this time."

“What's the catch?” There was no way Patrick could just decide to back down now and just be best buddies after all he lost. Adrien did not trust his sudden truce.

“There is no catch.” Patrick sighed. “I am just tired of the constant death and struggle, I am a man of peace, I just got distracted and let my ego get in the way. We can all do business without affecting each other.” He almost sounded believable but Adrien wasn't buying it.

"Where?" Adrien went straight to the point. He was impatient and was more than ready to end things.

"You know that abandoned museum off West Park? Meet me there."

The phone clicked. He had hung up.

A low growl emanated from his chest. It was most likely a trap so he was going to be prepared and he would take just one person—his best shooter. She was good at survival and used to be in the army. He would take her just in case things went south.

They arrived at the abandoned museum and walked in. Everything seemed dusty and broken down. Some sculptures were still left but had chipped off in some areas, the walls now had uneven holes in them making it easy to walk through some and see the bushes and trees around. Leaves from the surrounding trees had been blown in, they now covered the floors like some form of interior decoration and crunched beneath his feet as he walked towards the center of the museum.

Inching closer, he immediately saw Patrick. He looked quite younger than what Adrien had imagined. Curled, ginger coloured hair, with freckles running from one cheek to the other on pale skin. His eyes looked like he was squinting and he was shorter than Adrien. He stood with confidence and an air of pride surrounded him. He didn't have much muscle, so Adrien could tell he didn't fight much. All he needed was a pair of glasses and he would pass for a high school nerd.

In another world, Patrick would be a nerd, but here he was, playing mafia with people he shouldn't be messing with.

Before Adrien could understand what was happening, he had been shot twice and he had shot Patrick clean in the head—one shot. It didn't take long before sirens could be heard and he was arrested. His shooter had gotten away with two of Patrick's men. And that was how he landed in that police station.

Adrien seethed, the anger rippling throughout his body causing him to shake violently. He carefully got up from the bed and stepped out of the room. He went in search of his personal assistant.

"Get me information on Patrick's people and his family!" He requested firmly. The assistant slightly bowed his head and left immediately.

It only took an hour before the assistant came back bearing news of everyone and every location Patrick had set up.

"We will pay them a visit tomorrow. Ready my men."

************

"It can't be!" Harold exclaimed, shooting up and letting the bed covers slip, revealing part of his cock. He had just finished a heated session with Addison, and here she lay—a hand propped up in place holding her head—naked in his bed and telling him how she now had a mating bond with his son in the most casual manner.

"I forbid you from seeing him again." He stated through clenched teeth.

"Calm down, it's not that serious. A mating bond remains forever, there's nothing you can do about it." She gave a teasing smile. Almost like she got off at the idea of Harold being jealous.

Harold was getting red on the face and for a brief moment his eye color turned a pale grey. If it was one thing that was constantly slipping from Harold, it was control, control over his life and his wolf form. The view of Harold losing control seemed to get Addison more excited. It's not like she liked Harold anyways, it was for the fun, the excitement...and his money. She never knew the plot was going to take this turn but she was going to use it to the best of her advantage.

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