Chapter 77 - Mr Bugatti

**Hopes pov**

The sound of the shutter opening next to the door and the smell of fried bacon wakes me up. I don’t want to open my eyes, I know exactly where I am, maybe because Luna is already awake. She is annoyed and growls quietly at something in the room. I soon realize I’m not alone and reluctantly sit up and rub the sleep out of my eyes.
“Good morning Hope. I hope you slept well.” It is neither Mr. Landrover’s nor Mercedes’ voice that I hear, but a new one. I open my eyes and try to focus on the person sitting in my armchair. The man is much older than me, fifty-five maybe..he is wearing a suit, it looks like a very expensive and modern one. He has a shirt with no tie and the top button is casually unbuttoned..as if he knows he has a high enough rank and doesn’t need to impress anyone. Thick brown hair, a little grey. He is clean shaven, probably because he is aware of his very masculine chin. His skin has a healthy tan and his blue eyes are surrounded by thin laugh lines. There is something very familiar about him..maybe he is some hotshot who has been in the papers? The man in the chair watched me with as much interest as I watched him. His eyes wandered up and down, from my hair to my face, my arms, I thought I saw a shadow of disapproval as his gaze landed on the needles in my arms but it disappeared just as quickly. When his eyes met mine he gave me a smile and I feel my heart stop..That smile is so familiar..so much like..my own. I don’t return his smile..instead I bite back and continue watching him..the man who rocked me to sleep when I was little, the man who made me think cigars and cigarettes smelled like security..the man who left me.. my father. I don’t know how to know..but I’m sure, the man in front of me is my father. I have no real memories of him, just a feeling here and there..probably the occasional fantasy..I was too young to remember anything really. There weren’t many photos of him either..mother said that he was always the one holding the camera, that he didn’t like to be in the pictures and that he said she adorned them better and he wanted to immortalize her beauty. She never talked about him with bitterness but more sadness..something I never understood. He left her, he left us. I feel a flame of anger ignite in my chest and I narrow my eyes at him.
“ I’ve got your breakfast..” he points at the tray on the table..”And I’m sorry for..your..your new jewelry..but I’m sure you understand we can’t let you shift in here..” He gets silent, waiting for me to speak..I don’t. I reach out against the tray and Luna emerge, pissed at being under lockdown, she lets her claws out and spikes some bacon slices and I can’t help but laugh inside, even more when I see the surprise on my father’s face. *“Good girl”* I whisper to her. I retract my claws and lick my fingers before clasping them in my lap, clearing my throat and looking him in the eye.
“Mr Bugatti I presume?” Again he seemed surprised.
“I must say that I had hoped to introduce myself..but apparently you know more than I thought..”
“Your employees have a tendency to talk when they think no one is listening..After meeting Mr Landrover and the subdued Miss Mercedes, it’s not that hard to figure out that the price of the car follows the rank in your little band of brothers..” I glance up at the camera and hope Landrover is watching..I wonder if I can make him angry enough to act without orders from his boss.
“I hope they have treated you well?” He says..Is he kidding me?
“ Oh..you mean when they are not draining me for my blood?..or when they shock me for not hearing what they say?”
“What do you mean, not hearing?”..He frowns
“Well..between you and me I think Mr Landrover has some sadistic traits..Yesterday he whispered into the microphone, when I didn’t hear him he gave me an electric shock and said he didn’t like repeating himself..a bit childish I think..if he is the tough man he wants to impersonate, then he should be able to push the button for no reason instead of acting like an ..old Nissan.” I give the camera a cocky smile as I hear the beep from the microphone.
“Miss Hope, I am warning you. One more lie or insult from you and I..” He falls silent when Bugatti puts a hand in the air as a sign that he is going to do just that.
“ I don’t think its so smart to irritate Mr Landrover..” Bugatti say
“Why is that?..What can he do?..What can any of you do? Drain me? Electrocute me? Shorten my stay?..” I glare at him
“ He can make your stay here much less comfortable.”
“Is that important? That I’m comfortable until you take my last drop of blood?”
“If you cooperate we won’t have to take the last drop..Hope..we have the best scientists and engineers..they are working hard mapping your blood..if we can recreate it synthetically…” He goes quiet when he sees me roll my eyes and shake my head..I can’t help but giggle a little and he looks confused.
“You really don’t know anything do you? Don’t you know why my blood is poisonous to the vampires? There is no substance that can be found..no abnormality in my DNA..it is a judgment from God himself..his punishment to Ambrogio for intending to kill an infant..the infant was my ancestor, the firstborn werewolf .”
“God?” He looks at me skeptically
“Is it so hard to believe?..You know werewolves and vampires exist but you have a hard time believing in God?”
“I find it hard to believe that God would allow such abominations” Even though I felt nothing for the man in front of me, his words hurt surprisingly. He got a guilty look on his face.
“Hope..I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Of course you did. I’m a big hairy beast that can tear anyone to pieces without the slightest effort..I elongate my teeth in both my upper and lower jaw as I speak, Luna comes to the surface and looks through my eyes so I know they change color .
“You have locked up your own daughter to drain her on blood under threat..In the story of you and me dear daddy, I am not the monster.” I growl the last part and in the corner of my eyes I see the juice in the paper cup vibrate. He doesn’t even flinch. The speaker beeps again.
“ Mr Bugatti? Do you need me to knock her out?” Mr Landrover ask.
“NO!!! And turn of the fucking camera! Don’t you have anything better to do?”
The red light showing the camera is on turns black, he turned it off.
“ So you know?..You know I’m your father..”
“ I do.” I retract my teeth and make Luna back away.
“ How?..You were so little when I left.”
“ Call it a sixth sense..or a wolf thing..we can smell our own, I guess that applies to both the human and the wolf side of us.” I watch him while he thinks..apparently he wasn’t prepared for this.
“Would you rather I didn’t know? Is it easier for you if I’m just an ordinary beast and you’re the one who managed to catch me? Does it even matter? That I’m your daughter?”
“Well..first of all, you are not an ordinary beast..In the mapping of your blood, there is much that differs from a normal werewolf. We still can’t pinpoint what it is exactly, but they are working on it around the clock.” He looked like he found the idea exciting..like he was working on a difficult puzzle or riddle he was close to solving.
“ As for you being my daugther, I want you to know, I didn’t want to leave you..I loved your mother very much..I loved both of you..In my work I make a lot of enemies..even though many of us live double lives and have our aliases the idea of someone would find out who I was and that would lead them to you was too terrifying..so I left. A few years later I returned..you see..this organisation is passed down generation by generation..You were my heir and I came to get you. In order to be initiated into our organisation as an heir, the DNA must be documented. I bribed your school nurse to get a test if the opportunity arose and in second grade you came to her with a severe nosebleed. The mapping of your DNA showed that there was no doubt that you were my daughter..it also showed wolf DNA..it was weak but it was there. If I had brought this to the table..they would have voted for your death..so I buried the evidence.”
“ So, you couldn’t kill me as a child, but you have no problem bleeding me dry now?”
“ It’s not like that Hope…I’ve worked hard to be Mr Bugatti..As I told you, everything is passed down..you can also be given a possision in the low ranks if you are close to any of the original familys or if you did something significant for the organisation.” He takes a paus
“ So..wich one are you?..the heir or apprentice?”
“ Both actually..The former Mr Bugatti was my grandfather..He only got one daugther and at that time only sons could take the fathers seat at the table. My mother..your grandmother didn’t care much for the familybuissness..so when she met my father, they eloped.” Even thou I feel so much anger at the man..my father..I can’t help to enyoj hearing about that side of my family tree.