Page 34 of Bittersweet Revenge (Sins of the Father #1)

Dean

I ’m in Tiernan’s bed, staring at my phone.

He’s been gone two full days now, and we talked every night.

He still hasn’t had to do anything for his dad.

It’s like the motherfucker just wants to torture him by making him come home, like it’s his way of asserting his power over Tiernan, and all it does is make me hate him more.

I loathe the man. Want to rip Tiernan away from him and show him Tiernan’s mine. He can’t have him or hurt him or force him to do fucking anything .

Tiernan is better than Sloan could ever be.

Better than I am too, and…I miss him. It’s a strange feeling.

I must’ve missed my father after he died, and I missed my mom when I lost her, but like everything else in my fucked-up life, I’ve never had this experience of missing someone I care about this way.

Everything with him is so fucking new that it scrambles my brains.

Being with Tiernan has altered my chemistry, my DNA, made me evolve in ways that wouldn’t be possible without him.

When I can’t hold back anymore, I text him.

Hey…what are you doing?

What are you doing? That feels like a dumb fucking text. I don’t even have anything specific to say to him. There’s no reason I should have even messaged.

Gimme five.

I sit up higher against the headboard. What is he doing? Has his dad finally told him why he dragged him over there?

Away from me…

What if he’s hurt?

Logically, if he were, he wouldn’t tell me he can talk in five minutes, but this is what my stupid brain does now. All I think about is him.

I watch the phone like a hawk. It’s seven minutes and fourteen seconds before it buzzes with a video call, but it feels more like seven hours.

I answer quickly, Tiernan’s face showing on the screen.

He’s wearing a white button-up shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looks weary but otherwise okay.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

He grins. “You’re worried about me.”

“Fuck you.”

“Yes, you have. You’re the only one who has.”

That stops me in my tracks. He never told me that before. “That was a first for you?”

He shrugs. “Never met someone who made me feel like they could handle me before. Now, why are you worried?”

He walks over and sits on the bed there. I won’t call it his despite knowing it’s the room he grew up in. Tiernan’s bed is here with me.

“Because I don’t know why in the hell your asshole dad took you away from me.”

He cocks his head, as if contemplating what I said. “He didn’t take me away from you.”

“You’re not here.”

“I’ll be back, little fighter.” He moves so he’s sitting like me, his back against the headboard. “I spent the day with my uncle and Conan. My father hasn’t said much to me except to tell me how disgraceful my neck looks. You’ll have to suck them darker before the next time I come here.”

I can’t stop the corners of my mouth curling up, a surge of pride building in my chest. “Fuck yes.”

“Good boy.” He winks, and I roll my eyes.

“There’s no one else who could say that to me.”

“I know, because I’d kill them.”

“You know what I mean.” And I’ve let him say it from the start. Sure, I told him to fuck off or pretended to complain, but even back then, I’d known Tiernan was different to me.

“I can’t talk long. I’m actually seeing my father tonight. He wants to talk to me. We have a shipment coming in, and he’s sending me to the harbor to make sure shit goes according to plan.”

“Is that why you’re there? To make sure the drugs arrive with no problems?”

“I don’t think so, but who the fuck knows. I don’t want to talk about him.” He runs a hand through his hair, which falls back onto his forehead in that sexy way that gets my dick hard. How can one person be so fucking beautiful? “My mom wants to meet you.”

My heart stumbles. That means… “You told her about me?”

“The first day I was here. Aww. Are you blushing?”

I shake my head. “Fuck no.” But my cheeks are warm.

My mom used to talk about Fia. They were friends, but then my father thought he and Sloan were friends too. The way she used to talk about Tiernan’s mom, though, made me think she missed her, that she still felt she could trust her, that she wasn’t like her husband.

Tiernan talks about her the same way. He loves his mother, and there’s a part of me that wants to meet her too. Wants to get to know this person loved by Tiernan and my mom, but that’s something else I’ll lose the chance to have when I take my revenge on Sloan.

“Hey, where’d you go?” Tiernan asks.

“Nowhere,” I lie. “Do you think…never mind.”

There’s another pause, another of Tiernan’s deep, penetrating stares, the wheels in his head turning. “She’ll like you.”

“That’s not what I was going to ask.”

“Yes, it was.” He smiles, and I flip him off.

“I hate you.”

“So you’ve told me, more than once. Now, I have to go. I have shit to do.”

“Okay.” I nod like an idiot, words trapped on my tongue. “Tiernan?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t hate you. You are…the only thing I’ve ever had that’s mine.” Please don’t ever hate me. I’m sorry.

His pupils flare, and I feel the heat from his stare through the phone. “Good night. I’ll be home soon,” is all he says before ending the call, and somehow, it’s all I need to hear.

*

“Did you talk to my brother last night?” Aislin asks as we’re having lunch.

“Yeah. Said something about drugs and the harbor,” I say softly, for only her to hear.

“Why the fuck does my dad want him home? I don’t get it.”

“Me neither.” Rory sits down beside her.

“Same.” Cillian beside me.

“It’s ridiculous. He’s such an asshole.” Aislin rips a bite of her roll and eats it.

“Maybe it’s good I don’t have parents?” Rory says. “Yours is a fucking prick—one we all wouldn’t be here without, but a prick all the same. Cil’s rarely talks to him. What about you, D? You got parents?”

I’m so thrown by him calling me D that I don’t snap at his question. “No…mine are dead too.”

Aislin elbows him in the side.

“Shit. Sorry. That sucks. I hope they weren’t dicks.”

An unexpected laugh tumbles from my mouth, just as Cillian says, “You’re such a fuckin’ idiot, Ror.”

“But you love me anyway.” He flutters his lashes at Cillian, who throws a french fry at him. Rory opens his mouth and manages to catch it. “I’m the fucking man!” He shoves to his feet, arms in the air, and now we’re all laughing.

When Rory sits down again, Aislin asks me, “What are you doing tonight?”

I figure pouting in her brother’s room and wanting him back isn’t a good answer. “I don’t have any plans.”

“I’m doing a self-defense lesson for women on campus. Want to help?”

That’s really fucking cool. Yes, it was my idea, but I didn’t know she’d taken the advice, and I sure as shit hadn’t expected her to ask me to join her.

“We all know how he likes to fight,” Cillian says.

“Not women. Just idiots like you,” I counter.

“Hardly felt a thing when you hit me,” he teases.

I’m going to miss this when I lose it. All of it. So fucking much.

“That’s because I didn’t want to hurt Tiernan’s cousin.” I give my attention to Aislin. “Sure. I’ll help.”

“Perfect.” She bounces in her seat. “I’m so fucking stoked. I had to pull some strings to make it happen. There are only a few women signed up, but hopefully it’ll grow.”

“What are you doing tonight?” Rory asks Cillian.

“Meeting up with Amelia. She wants my dick.”

“Ooh! Can I come?” Rory buzzes with energy, just like Aislin a moment ago.

Cillian shrugs. “Probably. I’ll ask her. She’s been down for both of us before.”

We finish eating, the conversation slowing down, but as much as I enjoy having this, all I can think about is Tiernan. I want him with me, where he belongs.