23. Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Three
I don’t think I have ever been more terrified in my life than I am right now. I feel like I am going to throw up. I can’t stop tapping my hands on the steering wheel the entire drive to the compound the next day. Not only will Kennedy be meeting my fathers but she will also see what this world we are a part of, so deeply, is about.
It feels like a make or break moment for us. I just hope and pray it's not the latter. I don’t know if I would be able to survive Kennedy’s rejection. I know that there is a big possibility that she may choose to stay out of the darker side of our life, especially considering what she has experienced. But there is also a big chance that she wants to be a part of this side of our life because of what she has experienced.
Both options make me feel like I am going to break out in hives.
All I know is that no matter what she chooses, I just want her to be safe. Safe to decide what she wants to do without the pressure of thinking she has to please us .
The gates surrounding the compound are the first thing that comes into view. Seeing the amount of input that my mother had on building this place always makes me remember the grief surrounding her death.
It's been five years but it still doesn’t get any easier.
One of the men greets me at the gate, nodding when he sees who it is. The driveway up to the main house isn’t as long as ours is but the drive up is still impressive. A group of soldiers are out in the field running drills with Olis.
My fathers’ house sits up on a hill overlooking the main warehouse we operate from.
Some would say that having the house of the Don and his place of operations on the same land is insane, but it seems to work for us. Not once has there ever been an issue and I doubt there will be.
Everyone is too scared to go up against my father. He has a history of being brutal. Something that has worked in his favour more than once. Only one family has ever made that mistake. One they paid that ultimate price for.
Pulling up in front of the house, I park next to my father‘s Rolls Royce Phantom. It’s his pride and joy, the one car that I know he would murder over if anything happened to it.
“Wow.” Kennedy’s shocked voice murmurs through the quiet car.
“Tell me about it,” Ledger chuckles as he opens his door.
I take a few seconds to calm myself down before I even think about getting out of the car. I can feel my heartbeat thumping in my throat. I can also feel Jax’s eyes on me before he says anything.
“Are you alright?”
I blow out a breath I had been holding as I swallow the lump in my throat, “I’m just worried that she won’t be accepting of this life. That it will all be too much for her to deal with. That it will end up being a deal breaker for her.”
He shakes his head at me, scoffing, “Open yourself up properly to the bond between you two. Allow yourself to actually feel what she is feeling. I know that this is intimidating for everyone involved but you need to trust in her.”
I nod, knowing that he is right. I may be the older brother but he absolutely got the brains even if he would say otherwise.
I close my eyes, allowing myself to find the bond in my chest. For a moment there is nothing. But it's only a moment before everything that is her comes rushing in. It feels hot in my chest, kind of like a firework before it sets off. Right now, all I can feel is her. Her emotions start to intertwine with mine and I struggle to find where I end and she begins.
The one emotion that overcomes me is excitement. Turning my head, I find Kennedy spinning around, taking in my family's estate. Her smile is wide, matching the feeling that is currently overwhelming me.
She pauses as she finds me watching her from the car before practically skipping over. Opening the door, she grabs my hand.
“Come on you! You promised to show me around. You can’t do that from your car.”
She raises her eyebrow at me, almost like she is berating me like a little child. I can’t help but laugh. Instantly, Kennedy was able to take my anxiety and completely deflate it. It feels like it never existed.
I cock my head as I gaze down at my girl.
She frowns slightly, “What?”
“Do you know how fucking perfect you are? ”
Kennedy attempts to brush off the compliment but I won’t have it. Sliding out of my car, I shut the door before grabbing my slowly retreating Omega and pull her into me.
“I will never get sick of seeing your absolutely precious reactions each time one of us compliments you. I hope you know that these are going to become a regular occurrence.”
“Theo...”
“I want you to know just how much we cherish you, Kennedy. How important you are. I’m never going to stop reminding you.”
Slowly, I bend down and press a gentle kiss to her lips. It's hard to not take it any further. I can feel my control threatening to slip but I know just how sore she will be after taking all three of us as well as she did.
I pull back, reaching down to grab her hand in mine.
“Come on, let's go inside.”
Kennedy gasps as we walk into the foyer of the mansion. While our house is much more gothic Victorian, my fathers went for a more beige theme. While it's far from the basic housesI have seen some of the celebrities have (why the fuck would you want your entire house white?) it still is relatively basic.
The only thing that sets this house apart from what you would see in a display home is the giant wall of picture frames. It feels like every memory from our childhood is plastered up here. From the day both Jax and I were born, to our first school dance and our graduation from high school, which just so happened to be the last photo we got with our mom.
I don’t allow myself to feel the pain that losing her caused. Not now anyway. I refuse to allow my fathers to see my grief, especially when theirs‘ is still so raw.
I lead Kennedy towards my father’s office, having no doubt in my mind that he will be there.
I knock once before a gruff voice replies, “Come in.”
I turn to Kennedy, giving her a reassuring smile before opening the door. Stepping into the room, I find my father exactly as I expected.
His dark mahogany desk takes up the majority of the room. Paperwork is stacked in haphazard piles over the space yet I know he knows exactly what is on every piece of paper and where to find what. He has an interesting way of cataloguing his work, that's for sure.
He knows where everything is and no one is allowed to touch his stuff.
Victor's dark brown hair is starting to ashen into a dark grey. A pair of glasses sits perched on his nose, which only seems to accentuate his deep green, almost olive, in colored eyes.
He looks up from whatever he is working on and smiles bright when he sees who it is.
“My boys!”
Getting up from his desk, he walks around it and makes a beeline straight for me. He engulfs me in a hug, slapping my back as he chuckles. It hasn’t even been a week since I last saw my dad but that doesn’t matter. It could have been a few hours for all he cared but he would still have given us the same reception.
He steps away from me before turning to Jax and then repeating the same welcome with Ledger. Once done, he turns to Kennedy .
He frowns for a moment before his eyes light up. A mixture of happiness, relief, shock and excitement blooms in his eyes. I don’t miss the hint of grief in his expression. It's slight, but it is still there.
“You found your mate?” He rips his gaze from Kennedy to look at me.
I nod, unable to stop myself from smiling as I look down at my Omega. She is looking at my father with an unreadable expression on her face. I can’t quite gather her feelings through the bond either.
Shock? Excitement? Disbelief? Terror maybe?
The latter confuses me but it makes sense as Victor takes a step towards her and she jolts, hiding behind my back.
I growl, unable to hold back my natural reaction to feeling my Omega terrified.
My father jumps a good few feet away from us, holding his hands up in submission.
I turn to Kennedy, grabbing her in my arms as both Ledger and Jax crowd behind her. Each of us are touching somewhere on her body. Even though the logical side of our brains know she isn’t hurt, we still need to check to make sure we didn’t miss anything.
“It's okay, Omega.”
“I...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to react that way. I just...”
“It's okay. You're okay,” I say the words in the hopes that they will become real for her.
She eventually nods, pulling her head up from where she had it buried in my chest.
Jax and Ledger take a step away from her but they don’t go too far, making sure that they are well within arms reach of her.
“I’m sorry, boys. I didn’t mean to scare your Omega. ”
I hear the sincerity in my father‘s voice as I turn back to him. I keep my arms wrapped around Kennedy, keeping her pressed up against my body. I know that having her this close to me will help her to calm down. Or calm me down.
“It’s alright. I’m sorry that I reacted that way. I just...” Kennedy trails off before looking down and fiddling with her fingers, almost like it's a nervous tick.
“You don’t need to apologise to me, figlia. My name is Victor. It’s incredible to finally meet you. I have been hoping for years that my boys would find their mate and I am beyond thankful that they have finally found you.”
Kennedy looks up at dad and gives him a small smile. I watch as some of her confidence comes back to her. That fight that she held tightly to before coming back to the surface.
“It's great to meet you too. My name is Kennedy Hayes.”
Surprise lights in my father‘s eyes, “You are Calvin Hayes' daughter?”
I frown as I look at the man who sired me, “How the fuck do you know Calvin?”
Some of the Mafia Don filters back into my father‘s system at the blatant disrespect I just showed him. Even though we are behind closed doors, he never lets us get away with it.
“I have run into Calvin many times. The man is an ass kisser if I have ever met one.”
Kennedy tries to hide a snort behind her hand but she fails.
My father’s eyes light slightly as he looks at her, “Guess that's not far from the truth then? ”
“Not at all,” She shakes her head before a strange look overcomes her features.
Ever the perceptive one, Dad catches onto the look immediately, “There's more to this story than meets the eye isn’t there?”
I nod before I look towards the couches in front of his desk, “You will want to sit down for this one.”
Kennedy explains the entire situation to my father. I’ve never seen the man as speechless as he was when Kennedy finally finished explaining her entire child and adulthood to him.
We give him a moment to process what he has been told. I wouldn’t necessarily call my father a good man. Considering the fact he has quite literally killed hundreds of people, some of them simply because they have looked at him wrong. He does have his hard limits though.
The first one being children and the second being women. Especially Omegas.
I watch as his anger over the situation builds behind his broken eyes. I know how raw this situation is for him. None of us like to think about the atrocities that Mom had to go through in her final days.
For him, I’m sure having his daughter in law, the scent match to two of his sons as well, as one he considers family abused so deeply during her life is truly maddening.
Eventually he looks up at us, his face oddly calm but his eyes alight.
“Calvin Hayes needs to be dealt with.”
I nod my head, “I couldn’t agree with you more. We wanted to give Kennedy the option though to decide what his fate will be.”
We all turn our heads towards her. Kennedy’s green orbs widen under our gaze.
“I... um...” She hesitates, clearly unsure of what to say .
I take her hand in my own, “It’s okay, Kennedy. I don’t expect you to make a decision right now. Just know that when you are ready, we are too.”
She takes me in for a moment before replying. I let her feel each of my emotions. From the utter fucking rage to the desperation to see her get her revenge. I open as much of myself to her as I physically can. I need her to see the truth. To know the depths that I would go to for her. I want her to know that there are people out here that will quite literally go to war for her. I have no doubt in my mind that my father is already itching to contact Olis to organise the soldiers.
Each of us are desperate to destroy Calvin Hayes but none of us will move until she tells us to.
Kennedy eventually nods.
“We mean it, Kennedy. If you want him locked up in a cell for the rest of his life, done. If you want him melting in a vat of acid, I have one in the warehouse with his name on it. You call the shots; we are just the army behind you ready for your call.”
Out of all the reactions that I could have expected to come from Kennedy, her bursting out in laughter was far from it. She clutches her stomach as she practically keels over.
I look up at Jax who is looking at me equally as shocked.
She slaps her leg before looking at Dad, “Oh, Mr. Duran, that is the funniest thing anyone has ever told me.”
He shakes his head, waving his hand in the air as if to bat away her words, “Nonsense, call me Vic. Mr. Duran was my father and I refuse to share a likeness with that man.”
She chuckles but nods anyway .
We settle into a bit more of an easier conversation. Dad begins explaining the workings of the Syndicate to Kennedy. She nods along with him, surprising everyone in the room when she giggles every so often. I think that's the part that shocks me the most. I would have expected much more gasping in horror. I was preparing myself for her to run out of the house crying and screaming, ready to go knocking on the sheriff's door.
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.”