Page 16 of Bittersweet Revenge (Sins of the Father #1)

Dean

“T his is your room?” I ask Aislin, standing at the window and looking out. An orange leaf flutters behind the glass, and I watch as it falls to the ground.

I’m in Tiernan’s house, and he wants me to stay.

That’s exactly what I’m supposed to want, exactly what I hoped for when I put this fucking plan in action, but now that I’m in the moment, it doesn’t feel the way I thought it would.

I don’t know why, or what it means. There’s too much shit going on to deal with it.

Right now, all that matters is helping them handle the man who tried to hurt Aislin.

“Yeah, I have a room here, but I rarely use it. I stay in the dorms because I wanted that experience, to be a college person, ya know? But it’s nice to be able to come here.”

I turn around and lean against the wall, looking at her. “Freshmen have to stay in the dorms.”

She picks up a pillow and sets it on her lap, fingers brushing over the fabric. “Come on, Dean. You’ve seen enough so far to know that rules most people have to obey don’t apply to us.”

I tense, not having expected her to say that. A million things run through my head as I try to figure out what to say. What would be realistic? Do I ask questions? Is this my chance? Not wanting to say too much, I simply ask, “Why?”

“Money.” She shrugs.

“Money?”

“I can’t tell you, or I’d have to kill you.”

The thing is, she means it. Aislin’s grinning, which settles into a smile, and I laugh it off too, but there are a lot of things they don’t want outsiders to know.

“My brother likes you,” Aislin tells me, which is the last thing I would’ve expected her to say.

My stomach ties into knots at her words. She’s wrong, of course. She must be. Tiernan doesn’t even know me, and he’s not the type to like anyone. “Did you miss the part where Cillian had to hold him back from killing me?”

She wrinkles up her nose as if I just said the most ridiculous thing.

“If he wanted you hurt…well, you wouldn’t be here right now.

” I cock a brow at her, and she amends, “In my room. He would have kicked you out. But he asked you to stay. And he’s covered in hickeys from you.

I’ve never in my life seen anyone put their mark on Tiernan like that. ”

My mind is all jumbled at what she said.

I still struggle to believe what she’s saying could be true, but what has me wanting to ram my fist through a wall is that my first thought wasn’t that never, in a million fucking years, would I want Tiernan to like me.

I shouldn’t be thinking about why he can’t, and instead about how I can use this or why I don’t want him to.

“Come here.” She pats the bed.

My feet don’t move right away. This all feels really fucking…close. This is a thing friends do, right? Sit on the bed together and talk about guys they like, or books, or the fucking weather. Who the hell knows because the only friend I’ve ever allowed myself to have was my mom.

My heart squeezes. God, I miss her.

“Dean? Are you okay?”

I nod because it’s easier than finding my voice at the moment. The floor feels like it shrinks, getting smaller and smaller, taking me less steps than it should to reach the bed and sit down beside her.

“Tiernan is…better than most people think. He’s an asshole, I get it, but you don’t understand how we were raised.”

White-hot anger fries my insides. I know enough, and what I don’t know, I should know because I should have been there. If Sloan hadn’t been the bastard he was, my father wouldn’t have wanted to leave. I would have known Tiernan my whole life and had family and fucking been someone.

Relax. Take a deep breath. Don’t ruin this.

This. The thing that means hurting Aislin too.

“Like how?” I ask.

“My father…he’s cruel. Everything he does is for himself.

Where Tiernan cares about me, my father cares about how things look.

It’s difficult to explain, but he’s hard on Tiernan.

He’s had to do a lot of things people triple his age will never have to do.

But there’s nothing T wouldn’t do for me…

me, Rory, or Cillian. I trust him with my life. He deserves more than he gets.”

“More than this?” I point to the house surrounding us.

“That’s just a thing, money. I’m talking about real shit, and while me, Rory, and Cil love him…

Okay, here’s an example. Did you know my brother is minoring in English Literature?

He loves books and can talk about things that none of us give a fuck about, or hell, even understand.

That’s a part of him no one would expect—this hard, angry boy who simply loves to read.

If it were his choice, he would only be getting an English Lit degree, but it’s not for him to decide.

He can only minor rather than major in what he wants. ”

Now I understand why he took The Count from me. I thought he’d only done it to be an asshole, but it’s because he likes to read? I try to imagine Tiernan lying in bed at night with a book in his hands, but I can’t see it.

“He also only reads on paper. No e-books. He’s just…different. He has an old soul that not many people get to see.”

“Sometimes I think you’re a little old man trapped in a child’s body. You have such an old soul, my sweet Dean.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, as if that can somehow silence my mom’s voice in my head. It can’t, of course. In one way or another, it’s always there, loving me even when I know that everything I do would likely be a disappointment to her.

Tiernan and I aren’t supposed to be the same. We’re not supposed to have anything in common, but this isn’t the first similarity I’ve noticed, and I’m scared to death it won’t be the last.

“Dean? Are you okay?” I nearly jump out of my skin when Aislin’s soft hand touches my arm, my body on autopilot and fumbling off the bed to stand. “Shit. I’m sorry.” She frowns. “Did I do something wrong?”

Fuck. I’m cracking up here. My insides are jittery, like there’s an earthquake beneath my surface that could intensify at any moment.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” I try to act normal, take a couple of deep breaths and hope that calms the stampede that is my heart, before sitting back on the bed.

I feel too many things—confusion, anger, interest, sadness—to be able to focus on just one, so I do what I always do and not focus on any of them.

“He probably wouldn’t want you to tell me shit like that. ”

“So? He doesn’t always know what’s best for him.”

“And you do?”

“Better than him. Yes.”

Aislin grins, and another authentic chuckle sneaks past my lips. They’re not supposed to be real. None of these things are supposed to be real.

Aislin and I hang out in her room for a couple of hours. I try not to let myself wonder where Tiernan is. Did he leave? What’s he doing? Why do I care?

When she’s hungry, we go downstairs to the kitchen. “I made soda bread if you want some.” She hands me a plate. “I bake and cook when I’m going through a lot.”

Her words remind me why we’re all here, of the motherfucker who would have hurt her if I hadn’t been there, and anger washes over me. “Tiernan should be taking care of that.”

“Not much he can do when we have no proof and didn’t go to the cops. We changed our minds that night.” She watches me as she speaks, like she’s trying to judge my reaction. A normal person would agree with her, and maybe that’s what I should do, but I don’t have it in me.

“So he can get away with it like last time? Fuck that.”

Aislin smiles. “You’re a surprise, Dean Smith.”

“I’m nothing,” I tell her.

She doesn’t react, just says, “Wash your hands and help me with dinner.”

And though I’ve never cooked with anyone except my mom, I do exactly as Aislin says.

*

We start by baking more bread, then make sausages and fried cabbage.

Aislin is lively and talkative the whole time.

She tells me Will has tried to contact her with an excuse as to why he stood her up, but when I ask if she’s going to meet up with him, she gets a far off look in her eyes and shakes her head, before changing the subject to something lighter.

When dinner is just about done, she flicks water at me from her glass and I chuckle, before wrapping my arms around her waist and playfully dragging her toward the sink. “Now you get your head dunked,” I tease.

Aislin fights me off, noes mixing with her laughter, until the sound of someone clearing their throat comes from behind us and I freeze.

Not because it’s Tiernan, but because of what I’m doing. How I’m joking with her and enjoying her, without even realizing I’m doing it.

I jerk away from Aislin.

“That was smart.” Tiernan walks over, his mouth close to my ear when he says, “If you want to play with someone, play with me.”

Blood rushes to my dick. I hate that I have this reaction to him, that he reaches me on such a powerful level. All this is such a mindfuck, and I don’t know how I’ll ever make it out in one piece.

“Yeah, but I’ve already had you.” I cock a brow.

“Let’s not pretend you won’t be begging for more. We both know whose bed you’ll be in tonight.” He walks to the stove, picks a bite of the food, and eats it. “And you’re lucky I know you don’t like women, or I’d cut your fucking hands off for touching my sister like that.”

“Wait. Aren’t we supposed to pretend to be normal around the new kid?” Rory walks into the kitchen.

“We are normal,” Aislin says.

“Brothers say shit like that about their sisters all the time.”

“Oh. Never had one,” Rory says. “I mean, Aislin is like a sister, and I’d cut your fucking hands off too, so I guess that works. But hey, good to see you, New Kid. I’m fuckin’ starving.”

Rory goes to the stove and begins scooping a mountain of food onto his plate. When he’s done, Tiernan does the same, a warm body stepping close to mine.

Aislin nudges me with her elbow. “You can eat.”

“You first.”

“I think your sister is trying to steal your boy.” Rory laughs.

“I’m not his boy,” I cut in. “And didn’t we just confirm I’m not into women? But if you wanna play…”

Rory’s head whips in Tiernan’s direction. “I won’t fuckin’ touch him. He’s just trying to piss you off.”

Which is true. And though I’d love a good ginger, I’m not down with fucking around with someone else close to Tiernan. This thing is already enough of a mess.

“I know.” He sits down. “My little fighter likes to play games.”

“And my little lord likes control.”

“You looked up my name.” He points at me with his fork, and I realize my mistake. He’s going to take that to mean more than it does, but then, maybe that’s a good thing. “I think you have a crush on me.”

“No. I hate you, but your dick’s all right.” I’m not sure if this back-and-forth is part of the game I’m playing with him or if I actually like it. And if I have to ask myself that question, that’s probably my answer.

“Ew. Gross,” Aislin jokes. “But also, strangely cute because it’s Tiernan and I’ve never known someone who can go shot for shot with him like this.”

“We’re not fuckin’ cute,” Tiernan and I say at the same time, making the pit in my gut grow.

“Well, that was fuckin’ weird. I’m team Ash on this one.” Then Rory begins shoveling food into his mouth like he hasn’t eaten in a week.

With a tight jaw, I make my plate, taking advantage of the only distraction I have right now.

Somehow, I know Tiernan is thankful for it too.