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.