They had been like a herd of elephants just after seven in the morning, which baffled me because the first match, Eli’s game, didn’t start until after ten. Once they were all dressed in their gear and had their own soccer bags with all the essentials inside, we left our home and met up with my brothers and nephews down at the soccer fields next to the team clubhouse. As usual, Alec wasn’t there because he was banned from attending any of the kid’s games, home or away, for two years.
Damien and Ryder filled us in on the bullshit he pulled that morning with Alannah, and it started our day off with laughter. An hour later, the older boys won their games, and the younger kids lost theirs, which led to a lot of arguments about who was at fault and many unhappy faces. Our families split up afterwards, and Dominic took his boys out to see a movie and to eat after they showered in the clubhouse.
After’s Damien’s boys washed the grime and sweat away, they left to go and collect Alannah, who was finishing up her Saturday art class at the community centre. Ryder, the poor fucker, didn’t have time to make sure his kids and Alec’s kids were washed and dressed. Instead, he hustled them in his mini bus and drove home, no doubt dying for some peace and quiet. My three youngest, however, refused to shower because Jax and Locke made them believe the water was tainted with the sweat of dead soccer players who roamed the clubhouse grounds angry with whoever lost a game.
They stunk to hell and back, so much so that I opened all the windows in my car as I drove them home. After we got home, and they showered, all five of them went down to Harley’s apartment. He was the only remaining Collins brother to live in my building. Not long after the kids went down to his place, Aideen called him to send them back up because we had to go grocery shopping, but Harley was cool with them being in his home, so we went shopping.
Jax obviously took this opportunity to try to get some with his female friend.
“Hey?”
Aideen looked up at me.
“It’ll be okay, you know?”
She nodded. “I know, I think I’m just in shock at what we saw if I’m bein’ honest.”
“It’ll pass,” I said. “We’ll tease him about this when he is older.”
“A lot older.”
I chuckled and slapped her ass, making her jump then laugh as she left our apartment to retrieve our tribe. When I was alone, I pre-heated the oven, then got all the food I planned to cook out of the freezer. As I waited, I walked into the living, pausing to look at the many photos on the wall. I looked at my wedding photo, and I could remember that day like it was yesterday. I had worn a black suit, and Aideen had worn a beautiful plain white dress for our courthouse wedding.
She looked so beautiful; it still took my breath away. My eyes slid to the pictures of our kids, then pictures of me and my laughing brothers. I lingered on my brothers for a moment and felt myself smile. I wasn’t sure if they knew it or not, but they were the reason I had a wife and kids to love and adore. Growing up in a family with loveless parents would have completely ruined me had it not been for my brothers. We had been through the wringer, each of us hurting in our own way, but we came out on top.
Nothing could keep us down for very long.
Nothing.
CHAPTER TWO
Sixteen years old ...
“I don’t want to go with him, Dad.”
My dad reached out and smacked me upside my head as soon as the words left my mouth. I hissed, lifting my hands so I could rubbed the painful spot. I lowered my hands after a moment but remained tense. I was angry, so fucking angry, but I knew if I voiced my dislike for my current situation again, then my dad would do far worse than simply smack me.
I remembered how badly he beat Alec when he was fifteen for having sex with another dude, so I knew my dad would have no issue beating on me if I displeased him just like he did to my brother. He didn’t treat us like a father was supposed to treat his children. He treated us like cattle that he constantly whipped into shape.
“You’ll do as I say, Kane,” he warned. “Am I understood?”
I didn’t answer him, so he looked in my direction and leered at me. I set my jaw as I regarded him. I hated, fucking hated, that the eyes that glared at me were the very eyes that I had inherited from him. I looked like my dad, all of my brothers did, but no one more than my eldest brother, Ryder. He was a carbon copy of our dad, but his heart was a world away from the block of ice that sat within my father’s chest.
“I said,” Dad sneered, “am I understood?”
Fuck you.
I reluctantly nodded. This drew a sinister chuckle from my father as he turned forward so he could continue talking to the man who was interested in having me working with him for the day. I felt cheap, lower than the ground I stood on as I listened to my dad talk about me as if I wasn’t standing next to him. Big Phil, a cold-blooded plague who worked for my dad and his business partner, Marco Miles, looked bored as he listened to my father give him instructions, but he paid attention because he knew what being disrespectful to my dad would result in.
“Mr Slater,” Big Phil said. “I’ll make sure he gets the full experience when he’s with me today. He’ll be aware of his future role within our little family.”
Dad snorted. “Don’t go easy on him. If he had his way, he’d stay with his brothers all the time and never talk to anyone else.”
I resisted the urge to curse. My dad was always on my case because I didn’t like being around people I didn’t know, nor did he like my preference to stay in our home rather than hang out with Marco’s nephews. It wasn’t that I was scared or anything. Being around so many people just fucked with my head. I couldn’t explain it, but I simply didn’t like being around people who I didn’t care for. I couldn’t endure the presence of my parents, only my brothers. Everyone else got on my nerves.
“Like I said”—Big Phil grinned—”he’ll get the full experience. By the end of today, he’ll be a changed boy.”
Dad laughed, clapped Big Phil on the shoulder, then without a word or even glancing my way, he left the courtyard. I watched him as he walked away, before my attention turned to Big Phil who was staring at me. He looked pleased that I was in front of him, and I didn’t want to know why.
“How old are you, Kane?”
“Sixteen.”
He snorted. “Old enough to learn your role in this business.”
“What role?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about what is expected of you when you turned eighteen. Everyone has a job around here, even if their last name is Slater.”
I gritted my teeth. “I thought I could pick my own job?”
“At your size, Marco and your father think you’ll suit my field perfectly.”
I froze. “I don’t ... I don’t want to be an enforcer.”
I knew what Big Phil did, and it was one of the reasons he disgusted me so much. He hurt people, ruined lives, and ripped families apart all because Marco or my father said so. I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to hurt anyone for anybody.
“Tough.” He laughed. “It’s already been decided. You’re sixteen, and you already weigh one-eighty and are nearly six-foot. Marco and your dad have noticed that you’ve bulked up. You’re an intimidating boy, so just imagine how much bigger you’ll be when you’re a man.”
I felt like I was going to be sick. I had noticed over the past few months that my dad had taken an interest in my exercise and diet plan. I liked to work out—I didn’t do much else—so I gained muscle easily enough. Had I known that my appearance would land me in this trap, I’d have remained skinny.