Page 147 of Tangled in Knots

“They said he didn’t beg for himself, but for me,” I remember. “Dad asked them to leave me alone, saying I was completely innocent. Why would Dad steal from Rock when they didn’t work together, that I know of, and still beg for my safety? Dad didn’t like to work with people who had no sense of honor. He told me once those people will flip on a dime and kill you without blinking. It was a random comment as he was muttering to himself. I really wanted to ask him about it, but he was angry at the time.”

“Did he ever hurt you?” Cian asks. “There’s this odd look on your face.”

“I’m very sensitive to moods,” I sigh. “Anger feels like it’s crawling over my skin and hurts. He said this four years ago,and after that, I learned how to block what I’m now realizing is empathic instinct.”

“A lot of omegas have this,” Cian says. “It keeps them safe, helps them figure out who to trust or not. Some people describe it as a gut instinct. Don’t ignore those feelings.”

“I don’t anymore,” I promise. “I feel as if I've stuck my head in the sand a lot. Now, it’s coming back to bite me in the butt.”

“Do you remember anything else? Your father wasn’t an angel, but he loved you. If he began worrying that Pack Dresmond and Rock were going to kill him, I can see him worrying about you. Rock’s work with the auctions are well known, and Jeremiah would have known it as well,” Cecil says. “I’m not sure what the circumstances were though.”

“When they broke into my house, I jumped out the back window and ran,” I tell them. “The entire time, I remember how abandoned the grounds were. Everyone Dad employed to protect the house were gone, and that’s how I knew he was dead. I never went further than the back porch of the house because I didn’t feel comfortable around the guards.”

The memory of how he’d tell me the walls of our house were to protect me and not the guards was also why I didn’t feel comfortable, but I hold back those words. I don’t understand why he’d say that, unless he didn’t trust his own men either.

“The first thing Rock would have done is either kill the guards or ensure they knew the money well was dry,” Cian says. “It’s the darker side of our world, and why we work so hard to ensure things never devolve into a power struggle.”

“Being on this end of things sucks,” I say. “A part of me wants to step completely away from the mafia families. I want to go to school, figure out my life, and walk away.”

“I don’t think you can,” Cian says gently. “I’m going to bring this to the heads of a few of the families, but I have a feelingthey’re going to want you to promise to hold Pack Dresmond’s leash.”

“Your father died with your name on his lips, which means no matter how badly he fucked things up, he loved you,” Cecil says. The words make me gulp in air. Fuck, I really was doing so well.

“You have the ability to make a difference, Adira. There’s a fire in you that needs attention. Fan it, find a way to keep yourself protected and help others too.”

“Omegas are a commodity to be trafficked according to people who funnel them into the auctions,” Cian says. “ROWS has propaganda about how they should be demure and follow their alphas. Fuck that. Emilia Richardson is an underhanded bitch who tried to have Aisling kidnapped earlier this year. I am waiting for the day I can kill her.”

“There are auction houses all over the country,” Cecil says. “It’s too large of an operation to completely shut down. There’s an alpha I heard who runs an auction house near Chicago, but doesn’t have the kind of protection Ophelia has. She almost bought an omega who has deep connections with the mafia families. If she had, she’d undoubtedly be dead. As it is, Tommy Madden made a point to visit her to discuss her poor decisions.”

My lips twist at his words, and I sigh. “No one is safe in or out of the mafia. It feels like this insurmountable hurdle to just get out of bed sometimes, knowing I could be picked off on the street on my way home from work,” I grunt.

“I have this strange feeling that it would be a bad decision for whoever tried,” Cecil murmurs.

My hand finds my knife on my thigh, and I remove it to place it on the table.

“Morris follows me home from work each night, Pack Dresmond’s beta,” I confirm. “I don’t forgive them. I honestly don’t know how much I can ever understand about their optionseither, but we are in a beneficial understanding to remove Rock and his pack, so they can’t hurt anyone ever again.”

“Life has a way of changing things,” Cecil says. “I’ve lived a long time, Adira. I’ve lost pack members, helped my wife grieve, and I can say that life is too damn short. I’m not saying don’t give them hell. Make sure you also wind them so tightly around your finger they’ll be scared to death to breathe the wrong way around you.”

“They ought to worship the ground you fucking walk on,” Cian growls. “Royalty means you’re in this forever, Adira. Even penniless, your name carries weight, something Rock probably fucking hates. Your father had more money than Rock, more property, while the other alpha is a nomad with safe houses all over the country.”

“It’s difficult to fully relax when you’re constantly looking over your shoulder, yet your father managed it fine,” Cecil says. “The more I think about it, the more I believe Rock was jealous.”

“I can see it,” I agree. “Jed’s given me his leash. If you need to tell the other families that, you may.”

“You sound frustrated,” Cian observes.

“I am, but not about this,” I tell him. “The world feels like an awful place right now, and I feel displaced because my life is a mess.”

“Giving yourself grace is important,” Cian says, and the tears finally win as I nod. “You just started classes, right? What did you do the most when you were home?”

“I wanted a connection to the outside world, so I read news stories and blogs online,” I tell him, taking a box of tissues from the waiter. He noticed my tears and immediately chose to help.

The rest of our dishes are cleared, and the waiter disappears discreetly.

“Were any of them general information about omegas, or relate to life for people your age?” Cecil asks, picking up the threat of his son’s conversation.

“They did,” I reply. “I wanted confirmation I wasn’t a freak because I hadn’t had my heat yet.”

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