Dear Jolene

Chapter 12

Theon Knight, eldest son of Andrew and the late Caroline Knight. The newly appointed CEO of Knight Industries and next in line for the position of Capo of New York.

He knows what is expected of him and tries his best to live up to them. However when his father announced that he is serious about the woman he had been dating for months, he did not know how to react.

Theon could see that his father wanted them to accept it, so he did. His father wanted him to be civil and respectful to Emily, he did that. His father wanted him to play the responsible elder brother to his stepmother's little daughter, he did that too.

But something threw him off course when he met his stepsister. He looked genuinely looked forward to the wedding, not because someone expected him to and here he was waiting for her arrival, not because somebody expected him to.

"It's 8:30, why are you still here?" Carter asked confused because Theon's breakfast started at 7:50 and sharply ended by 8:20, an unspoken rule everybody knew by now.

"I'm waiting for Jo", Theon explained.

Leonardo scrunched up his nose in confusion, "Why are waiting for Jo?"

"Ya, why would you wait for her?"

"Breakfast is a family thing. Why would she be here?" Alexander said exasperatedly.

"Xander, she is family," Carter said not liking Alexander's tone.

"No, she is not." Jason piped in trying to anger Theon more.

Jason Kingston was one asshole whose purpose in life was to annoy the shit out his cousin, or so Theon thought. Jason's carefree and mischievous nature was a complete contrast to Theon uptight and reserved nature.

Maybe it had something to do with them being of the same age, or maybe the fact that since childhood their Grandfather, Anthony Knight, acted as if Jason is the only person who deserved to be his Grandson.

Theon controlled his intrusive thoughts of getting up from his seat and bang the smirking face of Jason against the table, as it would be very disrespectful to their eldest brother to see a shitshow this early in the morning.

"Do you see anyone other than us here? Even our grandparents and aunts and uncles aren't here. Breakfast is strictly for siblings and cousin-" Alexander started but was cut off by Theon himself.

"Alexander, I thought we taught you better than to question family and please refrain from using this kind of tone infront of your elders."

Mason Kingston finally stopped eating and looked up from his plate. He looked at Theon and smirked internally, thinking how a little girl had managed to crack the armour Theon had created over all these years.

"Please don't stop at my behalf, I kind of stand with Xander on this one, Theon", Mason said nonchalantly, "She has to earn her place at the table, I get it you have a soft place for her but don't include her for breakfast, she is allowed for family dinners though."

Theon felt ashamed at how he couldn't even hold his promise to Jo, he felt like a liar talking about them being a family.

Theon did not get up for the rest of the breakfast, something in him still told him to wait her, but sadly she did not an appear.

The entire time he sat there, Theon could not help but feel Axel's eyes on him. He knew that Axel wanted Jo to be present for breakfast but that kid did not seem to have a voice of his own. He saw how he was nibbling to 1 piece of toast the entire breakfast and his pancakes remained untouched.

Theon saw everyone cracking jokes and conversing with one another about nothing and everything, but noone tried talking to Axel and vice versa. If only she knew how messed up this family was.