Second Chances [Sweet Pea x OC]

Chapter 10

I watched Veronica pacing the small living room, surprised neither she nor Jughead hadn't seen any of this coming. Hiram Lodge was a crooked businessman himself, of course he'd know the books had been altered. And Cheryl and Toni had spent almost an entire month breaking into houses around town. Jughead's decree about outlawing crime among the Serpents had obviously infuriated Cheryl, and it made sense that she'd react by going over the top and break into The Pembrooke.

"You need to fix this, Jughead," Veronica demanded.

"If Cheryl took the egg, why did you come to me?" Jughead asked. "Why didn't you just go directly to her?"

"She's dodging my phone calls," she replied. "Besides, aren't you her king?"

I struggled to hold back a laugh. "When has Cheryl Blossom ever listened to anyone else?"

"Fair point," Jughead said. "But since when are you and your father aligned?" he asked, turning back to Veronica.

"We're not," she answered, finally standing still. "He's squeezing me, he's squeezing my business."

"I guess this means you cooked the books a little too well," I said. "And now he's breathing down your neck even more so than before."

Veronica nodded in defeat. "He's ordered the Gargoyles to attack Reggie on his supply runs, and just last night Josie backed out as my lead singer because of them. Not only does my father have me paying him for protection, he's got me on this wild-goose chase to get my mom's stolen egg back."

"You're paying him protection money?" Jughead asked.

"Against his very own Gargoyle Gang," Veronica confirmed.

"What if you were to pay less money not to be in business with him?" I asked, thinking quickly. A smile spread across Jughead's face as he caught on to what I was proposing.

Veronica looked between the two of us in confusion. "What are you suggesting?"

"Let the Serpents come work for you," Jughead said. "You get real protection from your father's goons and the Serpents get jobs with a steady income."

"It's a win-win," I added.

"Get me that Glamourge egg back and we have an accord," Veronica said after a moment. I watched the two shake on it, Veronica promising to draw up an official contract before making her way out of the trailer.

"How do you think everyone's going to react to working for a Lodge?" I asked once the door was shut.

Jughead sighed, pulling his beanie off as he thought. "It's a deal with Veronica, not the Lodges."

"She's still a Lodge though. It's because of her family that everyone's living here. It's because of them and their crooked business dealings that the Southside was lost. Veronica's already shown she's not above shady business dealings for all her talk about being different from her father."

"I know, Abigail, I know," Jughead replied. "But you were there yesterday, you heard what Fangs said. We have no money coming in, and this is an opportunity for the Serpents to earn some legit money."

"Go ahead with it if you want, but I want to look at that contract before you sign it," I said. "And remind the Serpents that Mr Andrews is willing to take them on as well, even for part-time work."

Jughead nodded. "I will. But why don't you tell them? You're the one working there already."

"You're the Serpent King, this is your responsibility. Yours and Betty's, not mine," I replied. "Where is your Serpent Queen anyway?"