Page 71 of Knot So Broken

Yet, she sits here listening intently to Dad explaining the workings of our life to her.

“I’m not going to sugar coat this life to you, Kennedy. What we do doesn’t make us good people. Over ninety-five percent of our work is highly frowned upon. We steal, we lie, and we cheat our way to the top. We kill those who take from us without batting an eye. We have a lot of powerful people in our back pocket. From the police to politicians, our reach has become infinite over the past few years.”

Kennedy nods, her features becoming sombre for a moment. I can see the cogs turning in her brain.

For me, all of this is normal. I have never known another way of life. Sure, I know that it isn’t morally right, but that just wasn’t the life I was destined to live. I was born to become the Underboss of the Duran Mafia and, eventually, the Don.

“So, if I was to accept this way of life, what would my role be?”

Dad smiles at her, “That all depends on where you want to be. The boys will show you the ins and outs of everything. I want you to have a chance to find your feet.”

She nods again, considering his words, “Okay.”

I raise an eyebrow at her, “Okay?”

“I want to be a part of your lives. If that means I have to take a dive into the deep end, I’m ready.”

My heart soars. I stumble over my words as I try to form something that is coherent but I know I fail, epically.

Unable to do anything else, I grab Kennedy’s face in my hands. I look into her eyes, flicking between the two orbs.

“Do you mean it? This isn’t too much for you? We haven’t scared you away?”

She shrugs as if trying to lessen the intensity of the moment and what it means but it’s far too late for that.

“I mean it’s a lot to process. I’m sure there are going to be a lot of things that I turn my nose up at or things that I just won’t be able to handle but this is your life. I want to be a part of it. Warts and all.”

Chapter Twenty Four

The way Theo looks at me in his exact moment lets me know that I have said the right thing. He looks at me like I have hung the moon. That I have just given him all of his Christmases at once.

He remains stock still, completely unmoving as he looks deep into my soul. I allow it because I want him to know the truth. To have the belief in me that if anything gets to be too much, that I will let him know.

Eventually he nods. He turns to look at Jax and Ledger who are looking at me in a similar way. They seem just as speechless as Theo is.

Victor must get tired of the silence between us as he clears his throat, getting all four of our attentions.

“Did you want to come downstairs and we can show you around? Maybe we can even try and hunt down Olis and Conall.”

I nod, eager to take a look around and meet the rest of the parent pack of my Alphas.

Walking into the warehouse, my eyes widen. Multiple different groups are surrounded throughout - what seems to be - a trainingspace. Two men in each group spar off against each other as the rest of the men crowd around them.

They don’t leer or yell at them like you would expect to see during a match. Instead they watch them with an assessing gaze.

Victor leads us through the groups, stopping every so often to watch the matches. One of the groups we stop at has a man almost at the centre of the ring surrounding the fights. He undoubtedly screams dominance standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

He also looks like an older Jax. They both share the same beautiful dark skin although, unlike his son, this man doesn't have any tattoos on his. His hair is a little bit longer than Jax’s but still short enough that it's kept mostly off his face.

We watch on for a moment until one of the men is able to get the other onto the ground. He holds him in a twist of limbs and I can’t seem to decipher whose body part is whose.

Eventually one of the men tap out. There is no clapping or celebration from any of the onlookers. They men both simply untwine from each other, stand up and head back to the watchers.

“Next fighter,” Jax’s older twin shouts as another two men walk into the centre of the circle. They take a fighting stance as they wait for a moment.

“Begin,” the same voice shouts. He doesn’t bother waiting around for either of them to start as he walks towards us. Unlike the friendly welcome I got from Victor, this man doesn’t have an inch of kindness on his face. His expression is hard and unbreakable.

“Olis, this is our sons‘ Omega, Kennedy. Kennedy, this isOlis, my pack mate.”

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