The Blood of Family

Hello, my fellow readers. It is I, the great James Stryker bringing you another great chapter of The Blood of Family. I hope you all have been watching the second season of Riverdale and oh boy is this a great season. If you watched last night's episode you probably knew that Moose and Midge lived after Black Hood strikes again and I almost got mad at the show a certain scene involving Kevin Keller and that guy in the car making me think that they were going to kill off Casey Cott's character. Here's what I said after seeing that dream sequence Kevin had, "Never and I mean never pull that shit again, Riverdale. Never again." Also, let's talk about Hiram Lodge and for what the girls call him a "DILF". Boy, Veronica's mom is a smoking hot MILF and her dad is a DILF. Speaking of Mr. Lodge, Archie and Hiram had a conversation with each other in his study and talking about Archie's "vigilante" squad. Plus, we met Toni Topaz, the bisexual Southside Serpent at Southside High, let's hope that she doesn't get in the way of Bughead. Also, I have been reading about some theories about who Black Hood is and that Sheriff Keller is the guy who killed Ms. Grundy and shot Fred. What if it was Sheriff Keller? Something's fishy is up with Kevin's dad. What the hell, Riverdale? What the hell, Riverdale? Anyway, last time in The Blood of Family, Christopher goes crazy and kills Vlad. Today, we get some Archieronnie interaction right when he has a meeting with Hiram. So here it is, chapter seven of The Blood of Family. Enjoy.

Chapter Seven

Who Did This?

Central Park. Hiram Lodge's Penthouse. Monday December 22nd, 2025. 10:00 AM

Archie stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall to Hiram's penthouse to have a meeting with him about Christopher. His mind could not grasp the fact that Christopher is certifiably crazy after that stunt he pulled with Vlad last night. Archie stepped in front of the door and knocked on it, only to be greeted by their butler Smithers.

"Ah, Mr. DiConcini. Welcome. May I take your jacket?" Smithers asked as Archie enters the penthouse.

"Hello, Smithers." Archie said, handing Smithers his suede jacket. Is Hiram in?"

"Yes, he is. Mr. Lodge is sitting in his study doing some work." Smithers said as he led Archie to Hiram's study.

Smithers knocked and opened the door to Hiram's study, only to see Hiram sitting in front of his desk and signing some papers.

"Mr. Lodge, Mr. DiConcini is here to see you." Smithers said.

"Yes, please come in Ralph." Hiram said as Archie enters his study while Smithers walks away. "How are you doing today, Ralph?"

"I'm doing fine, Hiram. Just a bit tired from last night. Did some Christmas shopping for my friends' gifts and for my parents." Archie said.

"That's nice of you. Would you like some café con leche?" Hiram asked.

"What's that?" Archie asked as he sits down.

"It's a Spanish white coffee beverage. It's Spanish for "coffee with milk". It's extremely common in Spain, in many Latin American countries, the Philippines and communities around the world. It is a local breakfast staple in the Cuban bastions of Tampa and Miami." Hiram said as he pours a cup of café con leche for Archie and sits down at his desk. Archie takes a sip of the Spanish coffee and looks at the painting of Hiram's daughter Veronica that was hanging on the wall behind him. Hiram began to notice that Archie was staring at the painting. "I like having her up there looking over my shoulder. Keeps me honest."

Archie chuckled a bit as he continued to drink his cup of coffee.

"How's the coffee?" Hiram asked.

"It's pretty good, Hiram." Archie said.

"Good, I'm glad that you enjoyed it. So, what brings you here? Veronica told me that you made a great impression on her." Hiram said.

"Yeah. She's really sweet. But there's something else that I want to talk to you about. It's about Christopher." Archie said.

"What about Ralph?" Hiram asked.

"Christopher has gone too far. He did something last night while I was out with him." Archie said.

"What is it? You can tell me and I'll do something about it." Hiram said.

"Alright, Christopher…." Archie said until Veronica entered her father's study.

"Morning, daddy. Ralph, hi." Veronica said, greeting Archie with a smile.

"Good morning, Veronica. You look lovely this morning." Archie said as he noticed how beautiful Veronica looked.

"Thank you, Ralph." Veronica said.

"Mija, you know the rules about my study." Hiram said.

"Daddy, those are the old rules." Veronica said.

"They still apply." Hiram said, sipping his cup of coffee.

"Daddy, I was wondering if Ralph could escort me to work." Veronica said as Archie looked at Veronica.

"Is there anything wrong, Veronica?" Hiram asked.

"No, there's nothing wrong. I just figure that Ralph could be around and make sure to keep me safe." Veronica said.

"Hmm." Hiram said. "Of course he's welcome to escort you to work, mija."

"Thank you, daddy." Veronica said as she walked over to her father's desk and kissed him on his cheek before leaving his study.

"So, what were you going to tell me about Christopher?" Hiram asked.

"Nothing, I'll tell you about it later." Archie said.

"Are you sure?" Hiram asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure it can wait. Besides, I know you have a couple of things for me to do while I'm out." Archie said.

"I'll let you know if something comes up. I'll be at the office for a business meeting and lunch with my wife. I'll talk to Christopher to see what's up. I want him to do something for me." Hiram said, finishing up his cup of coffee.

"Okay, thank you sir." Archie said, shaking Hiram's hand before stepping out of his study. The redheaded agent entered the dining room only to see Veronica sitting at the table drinking a mimosa while reading the newspaper.

"Hey, Ralphiekins. Want to join me for breakfast?" Veronica asked.

"No, thanks. I already ate breakfast. I had breakfast with an old friend. We've decided to catch up for a bit." Archie said, sitting down at the table.

"That's nice. What does your friend do? Is he an old associate of yours?" She asked.

"No, actually. He's an old high school buddy of mine. We were on the same football team." Archie said.

"So, I see that you're a bit of a jock back in high school." Veronica said, grinning at Archie.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Archie chuckled as Veronica's phone starts ringing. The beautiful Latina picked up her phone from off of the table and began to answer it.

"Hello? Hi, Ashley. So, do you have the new designs for the dresses we're working on? That's great. I can't wait to see them. I'll be there shortly. My dad's bodyguard is dropping me off at my job and he's going to have him babysit me." Veronica chuckled a bit. "No, it's not Christopher. It's the redheaded hottie who's sitting across from me at the table. Yeah, he's really cute if you've seen him. Alright, see you when I get there. Bye."

"A co-worker of yours?" Archie asked.

"Yeah. You probably heard of Lodge Designs?" Veronica asked.

"Another company your father founded?" Archie asked.

"Nope. Me. I'm a fashion designer and I design wardrobe for people. That's why I was in France for a fashion show to show off some of the wardrobe that I designed. Maybe you might buy your girlfriend one, if you have one." Veronica said, taking another sip of her mimosa.

"Actually, I don't have a girlfriend." Archie said.

"Interesting." Veronica said.

Hiram stepped out of his study and entered the dining room, noticing a bottle of Cristal was opened by his daughter.

"I see that somebody opened the bottle of Cristal. That is not okay, mija." Hiram said.

"I know, daddy. I'm sorry. I didn't know that you and mom were going to save it for New Years." Veronica said as she finished up her breakfast. "I have to get going. I have a meeting with Ashley about the new designs. See you and mom later for dinner?"

"Sure, mija." Hiram said as he kissed his daughter on her forehead. "You have a good day at work."

"I will. Come on, Ralphiekins. Time to escort me to work." Veronica said as she put on her coat and grabbed her purse before leaving the penthouse with Archie following her.

"Ralph." Hiram said.

"Yes, Hiram?" Archie asked.

"If you're having problems with Christopher, you'll let me know and I'll have a talk with him. Okay?" Hiram asked.

"Yes, sir." Archie said.

"Good. My daughter is waiting for you to take her to work." Hiram said.

Archie nodded, shaking Hiram's hand as he left the penthouse to take Veronica to work.

Brooklyn, New York. Comrades Bar. Monday December 22nd, 2025. 10:15 AM

Police officers arrived at the crime scene along with CSI, taking photos of the late Vladimir "Vlad" Glebov. The scene was pretty gruesome. Vlad's body was lying face down on the ground, a pool of blood surrounds his head. Another officer of the law, a New York lieutenant looked at the body, then looked over at the table to see the white powder lines on the table. The lieutenant was a middle-aged man of average stature, around 5' 9" in height, tan skin, grey hair and hazel eyes. The lieutenant was wearing a black tactical suit with a light blue dress shirt and a black tie.

"So, what happened here?" The police lieutenant asked the young police officer.

"This guy was taking a sniff of cocaine until somebody decided to pop him in the back of the head, Lt. Keller." The police officer said.

"I see that the guy fired off extra shots on him as well after he shot him in the head." Lt. Keller said. "Do we know who this guy is?"

"The stiff or the shooter?" The second police officer said.

"I'm talking about the dead body. Who is he?" Lt. Keller asked.

"We found his ID and we know who he is. Vladimir Glebov, also known as "Vlad". Age 41. And get this, he was a senior member of the Faustin Family." The police officer said until Lt. Keller realized who he is.

"Jesus Christ. The Faustin Mafiya? The ruthless Russian organized crime syndicate in New York. They're affiliated with the Blossom crime family and they're enemies that biker gang the Southside Serpents." Lt. Keller said.

"Apparently, this guy decided to do a deal with the shooter. Maybe wanted him to try the product for himself but…." The second police officer said.

"But the shooter realized that he was conning him, thinking that the product was pure so he capped him in the state of grace. You see this? He was about to hand him a brick of drywall, letting it pass up as cocaine. He wasn't going to fall for that." Lt. Keller said.

"And he gave him The Sopranos treatment." The police officer said.

"Okay, I want you to question everyone about what happened that night. I want to know who was meeting Mr. Glebov in the back and I want to know who shot him." Lt. Keller said as he looked down at Vladimir's dead body. "Christ."

And Lt. Tom Keller is on the scene. Will he catch the person who shot Vladimir. And Christopher killed a member of the Russian mafia! This won't be good. Next time on The Blood of Family, an old flame from Veronica's past tries to win her back. Ladies and gentlemen, we will meet Nick St. Clair and we get to learn a little something about Veronica and Nick's relationship. Wait until he meets Archie a.k.a. Ralph. Don't forget to review this story, add this to your favorites and follow it for future updates. I'll try to update this story and Return to Riverdale if I'm not too busy with work. Sorry if I'm taking too long with updates, just bear with me. And I know that some of you have been wanting to read some new Archieronnie & Bughead & Beronica smut, I'll get right to them and I'll probably do a Betty/Toni smut one-shot. If you have any ideas for The Blood of Family for me to put in the story, feel free to help me out. I'll see you guys next time for chapter eight. Till next time, my fellow readers.