MARENGO

11 | Patriarch

Victoria's POV

"You're crazy!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, staring deeply at Jackson, who was shifting around the room. "How the fuck are we supposed to go after these people?"

"Victoria," Jackson spoke with a deeper, more serious tone. "You and your whole family are in danger. If we don't get to them first, this could become fatal."

"Why can't you just come to an agreement with them or something? Do we really have to go into some sort of war?" I suggested, noticing his expression hadn't changed.

"That's not how it works around here," he stared intently at his phone. "Santos is dead and they want revenge. It's an eye for an eye."

"So, you don't care about going back to prison? Or dying? Haven't you been trying to turn your life around? Do you not care about me?"

"Victoria," he sighed. "Believe it or not, but all of this is for you. I'm doing this to protect you. I didn't have 18 years to raise you into the wonderful woman you are, so this is something that I have no choice but to do."

Feeling teary-eyed, I gathered all my belongings and headed for the hotel room door.

"I appreciate the kind words," I began. "But I can't let you die for me."

I grabbed the vase on top of the bedside table, and with all the strength and might I had, I flung it till it smashed his temple, and he toppled and headed straight for the ground. This was something I knew that I would regret later, but I was sure of one thing:

I didn't want another dead family member.

Alejandro's POV

"Dad," I stepped forward towards him, noticing his cold glare. "You can't possibly go after these people. They're dangerous!"

"Alejandro," he placed his hands on my shoulders. "Do you know where your name came from?"

I lifted an eyebrow as I knew he knew that I knew.

"Of course," I replied with an awkward tone. "Your brother, who died."

"Who was killed, Alejandro. By these people that we're going after."

I rolled my eyes at the thought of that. So my dad was telling me that he was going after the people that killed his brother, yet he was going with Jackson? The guy that pulled the trigger?

"Dad, you're going with Jackson," I scoffed. "On what planet does that make any sense?"

"Whether you or I like it or not, he's Victoria's biological father and she knows that now. Trust me, he would have been long gone if he wasn't."

Taking a deep, long breath, I thought about the whole situation. Dad was right. Jackson had gone to prison for his crimes and told the police about The Bronze Dragons. As much as any of us hated him, he was on our side now.

"So, what's the plan?" I inquired, following my dad up the long spiral staircase and into his office.

"You're going to stay here with your mother," he stated. I stormed after him.

"WHAT?!" I shouted. "You can't just expect me to stay put whilst you guys bust into their territory guns blazing!"

Dad completely ignored me and pinned in his code for his secret safe, and as he opened it, I noticed an array of firearms, SMGs, LMGs, you name it. I had stumbled across this collection before, but to have it this close was a breathtaking moment. My mouth shot open as he brought out a huge AK47 which I had only ever seen on TV. To think that I had multiple of them in my house, still irked me to this day. He then brought out boxes of ammunition that were just sitting in the drawers of his wooden desk and started loading them into the submachine gun.

"Give me your hands," Dad ordered. I placed my hands out and he came closer, putting the AK47 in my hands. I gulped loudly as he adjusted my hands to hold the gun. "You see this here, this is the receiver."

"No, no," I stepped back, my eyes wide open and my body trembling. "Dad, I can't handle this."

"Son, I know this is tough," he replied. "I would have given you a pistol, but I don't have any left."

"No, Dad," I screeched. "I can't handle a gun, period."

He dragged out his office chair and sat down in it. He looked up at me with fierce eyes.

"Both you and your mother's life are in danger, Alejandro. I would never give you something like this if I didn't think that you could handle it. I know this is hard, and I wish there was another way, but this is my world now. Our world. I tried so hard to protect you all from this, but the past always comes back to haunt us."

I shut my eyes for a second and held my breath.

"We're the men here, son. I'll go and protect your sister, and you go and protect your mom."

Suddenly, his phone rang. He answered immediately.

Seconds passed, and the room was completely silent.

"WHAT?!" Dad yelled. Concerned, I signaled a look towards him and he mouthed: Call Victoria.

I sprinted downstairs and grabbed my phone on the couch, with mom sitting with her face in her palms, staring intensely at the floor.

"Mom, are you okay?" I asked as she looked up slowly.

"Call her," she whispered. "I know she's done something stupid."

I called, but the phone went straight to voicemail. Dad's footsteps grew louder as he approached us from upstairs.

"I just got off the phone with Jackson," he began. "Victoria knocked him out and disappeared."