Adam struggled to free himself, but couldn't. At that moment, he realized something was wrong and looked at Henry. He was waving an empty vial in his hand. He took a deep breath. That's why he couldn't free himself from those fragile humans. That bastard, Henry, had poisoned his coffee. And he hated himself for not smelling it. He turned to his brother.
"You'll be sorry Max! I'm going to kill you after I rip every bit of her body off in my teeth in front of you!"
An awkward silence fell in the kitchen after Adam said those words and Anna looked around until she saw Ian, standing in the kitchen doorway, looking at Adam and Maxwell with a cutting gaze that didn't befit a child his age.
"I won't let you go if you keep talking about my mom like she's an object."
Anna turned her eyes to her brothers. They were paralyzed.
"You can kill each other and break the whole apartment, but solve your problems without insulting my mother, she's not a thing."
He said and when he saw the brothers' eyes nod, he left the kitchen and the two started moving again. They looked at each other angrily. They both didn't want the child to have witnessed that episode. But they couldn't ignore the fact that Ian was more powerful than the two of them combined, but the way they always communicated, without saying a single word, they decided that it should only be discussed between Ian's two parents.
"Ian's right. The two of you should stop this shamelessness in the presence of my daughter. Let's all three go into the living room. We have business to attend to like adults." Anna's father said calmly. He seemed to believe that his calmness and lack of surprise at what his grandson had just done would make everyone else realize what had happened. It's strange, but no one really wanted to talk about it. Not at that moment.
"Not at all! I'm part of this, and I want to be part of this conversation!" Anna said, thinking about starting a rebellion, too.
"No, my child. You will be aware of everything that is resolved, but believe me when I say that you don't want to see or hear what might happen today. I know you, and I know that you don't want to see either of these two men being hurt.
The word torture came into Anna's mind. Would they torture Adam in the apartment where Ian was? She couldn't go along with that. Even more so, as Adam was her son's biological father. She wouldn't allow anything bad to happen to him.
"You can't, Dad. Ian's here and he's watching."
"Darling... We'll decide in the living room if we need to leave or if we need to settle things amicably here. What's happening is very serious. You know the problem. You want a solution, right? Then let us have this conversation."
Anna stared at Henry, and a light flashed in her mind, and she had an idea. She looked at Maxwell, with the bottom corner of his mouth bleeding, staring at her with fury, and smiled at him, which made him frown and look askance.
"Okay, Dad. I'll take care of some... Things." She said, and left for her room, where she went straight to her computer and turned on the camera in the living room. It was a good thing there was a microphone. She wanted to hear everything.
...
Adam was flanked by Henry's men, sitting quietly on a sofa, while Max and Henry sat facing him on another sofa.
"Adam... Do you realize the danger you've put your existence in for less than an hour? You threatened me. That, to me, is a crime, but one that can be forgiven. You threatened the lives of my children, that's unforgivable. If it were anyone else, you'd be locked up with me in some basement begging to die and I'd only let it happen after cutting off your fingers, your genitals and leaving you blind... But in consideration of my wife and my son, Ian, I will give you a chance to remove whatever threat is surrounding my other children and I will let you leave the country alive. You know what we are and we both keep this secret. We both know the secret of each other's death. I didn't force myself to reveal it, brother, because when that happens, the woman we love and my children will be left unsafe in a world with a bloody war between werewolves and my kind. Do you know of anything that could prevent them from being killed, after there are no two of us to protect them?" Maxwell said, lightening Adam's mood.
"I know how to kill you both. Anna's mother revealed it to me before she died. I can kill you both and the monsters of your species wouldn't feel the need to take revenge on my grandchildren. They would run after me."
"Old fool." Adam said with a confident smile. "Do you really think that if I die, you'll be free of what I've prepared for you? And your other grandchildren... You can order their coffins. I can kill them with the lack of a phone call in a few minutes. You're all in my hands. You're all my hostages. But make no mistake, Henry. I don't know what your wife said before she died, but it's unlikely that she knew what kills us."
"And you really think it's that easy to destroy me? You're so little for it, Adam, that you make me feel pity."
"You didn't think so yesterday when I demanded that your trusted men not follow me." Adam said. He knew he was overconfident, but he couldn't hide his euphoria. They were all idiots.
Anna's father took a brown envelope from the coffee table and handed it to Adam.
Adam took it quietly and discovered several photos of himself and Anna in the restaurant. Close-up photos that even showed the contents of the plates. Adam looked inquiringly at Anna's father.
"I told you I'd be followed, and you were. But my security guards were around your table the whole time. They posed as customers and could even hear your conversation. You don't have the power to blackmail me, Adam."
"You may not care about your life, but you should fear for your grandchildren."
"Not really. Ian, after that abnormal incident in the kitchen, sleeps peacefully in his room, and my other grandchildren are surrounded by protection. You can't hit them. They're out of your reach, Adam."
"I even know what toys they have in their rooms. The little girl is beautiful. A small version of Anna. I love her red curls... The other two boys seem to be two nerds, and they look for books and stories with their nannies all the time. They'll be a bunch of losers. That is, if I let them live to have a story.