Page 12 of Sweet Vengeance (Sins of the Father #2)

Ollie

I have no idea if I’m making the right decision by letting Cillian stay with me.

I still can’t wrap my head around why he wants to.

He pretends to flirt with me, and okay, maybe he wants to hook up with me—though I’m surprised he’d choose me—but the sex part is a lot easier to explain than the protection piece.

Is it simply because I’m friends with Dean?

That’s the only thing that makes even a shred of sense, but then why isn’t it Dean doing this stuff instead of Cillian?

Maybe it’s the rules of how the mini mob run things.

Maybe Tiernan told Cillian to be responsible for me because he didn’t want Dean to do it, and now he’s stuck with me.

“What?” Cillian asks.

“What, what?”

“You made an annoying grunt.”

“No I didn’t.” Did I? “You hit a bump. My ribs hurt.”

“I didn’t hit a bump.”

“Okay, my ribs hurt. Jeez.” I take my broken glasses off and massage my forehead.

“Do you feel okay? I can pull over. Maybe we should go back to the hospital. How’s your vision? I shouldn’t be arguing with you. The doctor said you can have no rise in your blood pressure for forty-eight hours.”

Well, that was a lot of questions and what sounded like real concern. “I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind. And I don’t like knowing I’m missing school today. That stresses me out. I sacrificed a lot to be here, and I won’t mess that up.”

“It’s just a day. You’re smart as shit. You’ll be fine.”

“How do you know I’m smart?”

He shrugs. “Just do,” he says, pulling down a driveway, and my breath catches in my throat. Maybe because he thinks I’m smart, but also because I’m about to go to his house…where he’s going to get supplies to sleep in my dorm with me. Should I change my mind and stay here?

Looking up at their mini mansion, I know I won’t feel comfortable here. I’ve been through a lot, and I don’t know if I have it in me to step out of my comfort zone this much. “This is…a huge house.”

“It’s something we were given. Yes, we sacrificed in our own ways, but we’ve also been very fucking privileged, Ollie.”

Ollie. It’s almost weird to hear him say my name. It makes my stomach feel fluttery.

But even more than that, I’m thinking about my reaction to this house.

The part of me that hates it on sight, hates him for having it because I know that privilege he’s talking about comes with having blood on his hands, with hurting people, addicting people to drugs, and whatever the hell else it is they do.

That should be the only thing I feel. It should be all disgust, not just with this lifestyle, but with Cillian in general, and yet…

that’s not all I feel when it comes to him.

He’s nice to me. He’s leaving this place to stay in my dorm because he doesn’t want anything to happen to me.

He hovered ever since the moment he came into my hospital room last night.

Right or wrong, it wipes away some of the hatred I feel about the things he does…

or at least, it disguises it in a prettier package.

And that’s wrong. Because he’s nice to me, it doesn’t matter if he hurts someone else? That’s not who I am. It’s not who I want to be.

“Hey…you good?” Cillian reaches out, his fingers dancing through the strands of my hair.

“I’m fine,” I say sharply. “Let’s get this over with.” I open the car door, try to ignore the pain, and slowly work my way out. Behind me, Cillian sighs before opening his door as well.

*

“I need to get my dick sucked,” is the first thing I hear when we go inside.

We turn the corner into the living room, and I see Rory, Dean, Tiernan, and Aislin sitting there.

There’s a bong and weed on the coffee table, and while I’ve seen that before, it’s not my thing and just reiterates how different we are.

“Hey! Cil’s home! Do you want to get your dick sucked? ” Rory asks Cillian.

Wait…the two of them…? Do they hook up with each other? Date each other? Maybe Cillian is bisexual.

“Nah, not today. I have shit to do. T, can I talk to you for a second?”

Tiernan watches the two of us for a moment, his gaze intense.

“Go fucking talk to him, little lord.” Dean nudges Tiernan’s foot with his own.

Tiernan sighs. “Anything you say, little fighter.”

Tiernan leans in and kisses him, before Dean jerks back and says, “Ouch, you fucker. You’ll pay for that later.” His hand rises to his bitten lip.

“I’m hoping for it.” Tiernan walks away without another word and disappears down the hallway.

“I’ll be right back,” Cillian tells me. “Chill with Dean until I get back.”

“What the fuck. Am I not here?” Rory asks.

“Dean and Rory,” Cillian amends.

“Um…what about me?” Aislin asks.

“You guys fucking suck.” Cillian follows Tiernan while I stand in the middle of the room with three sets of eyes on me.

“Come sit down,” Dean says. “How are you?”

“Your face looks like shit,” Rory says.

Aislin punches him in the arm. “Jesus, Ror.”

“What? He knows it does. He’s still cute as hell, though.”

This world is…so fucking weird. These are macho, alpha guys. They aren’t supposed to be talking about how adorable a nerdy twink like me is.

My body’s exhausted, so I walk over and take the spot Tiernan left, beside Dean.

“Did Cil tell you you’re going to stay here with us for a few days?” Dean asks.

“He did, but I told him I’m not. He’s staying with me.”

The room is quiet around me, heavy-feeling, all the signs indicating I said something wrong.

Aislin clears her throat. I know her even less than the others.

All I know is she’s Dean’s best friend and Tiernan’s sister.

That, and she’s beautiful, with long black hair that goes down to her waist. She smiles, but there’s something dangerous about it, about her.

Is she just as involved in this world as they are?

I know she teaches a women’s self-defense class on campus, which again, is odd, given who they are.

“Well, that’s nice of my cousin,” she finally says.

“He doesn’t have to,” I tell them.

“We’re aware.” Rory gives a humorless laugh.

“He wants to,” I argue, unsure why.

“I’m starting to see that.” Rory watches me, his blue eyes intense in a different way than Tiernan’s, Cillian’s, or Dean’s.

Like he’s more…unpredictable, like you never know what he’s going to do, and maybe like he might chop me up and put me in his freezer.

I flinch when he puts his arm around my shoulders.

“Christ, did you think I would hurt you? You’re our pet. I would never do that.”

“I really wish you didn’t call me your pet.”

“Cillian’s pet?”

“What? No! That’s not any better!” Is he insane?

“Do you want to smoke a bowl? We should smoke a bowl.” Rory leans forward and reaches for the bong.

“No. I don’t do that.”

“More of a K kind of guy? No worries. We have that too.” Rory pumps his brows.

“Ketamine?” My voice rises, and Rory laughs. They sell ketamine? Does Cillian do drugs?

“Leave him the fuck alone, Ror,” Dean says, then looks at me. “He’s trying to get under your skin.”

Well, it’s working. I feel like I don’t know what to expect out of Rory more than the rest of them.

“It’s sweet of Cillian to want to take care of you,” Aislin interrupts. “He must like you a lot.”

My stomach does somersaults. “He doesn’t like me. He doesn’t even know me. He’s just doing it…because.” Because of what, I’m not sure.

I let out a relieved breath when I hear a door open and footsteps coming down the hallway. I’m thankful Cillian is coming back.

“I’ll run upstairs and get my shit, and then we can dip,” Cillian tells me.

“I’ll cover for you,” Rory says. “If there’s anything that needs done while you’re with your pet.”

Your pet. He’s lost the our, but much like kitten, this pet thing seems to be sticking.

“Okay.” I nod. This is a lot. Really, I just want to sleep right now, and all this is making my brain hurt.

Cillian goes upstairs, and Tiernan rejoins us.

He sits in the armchair but doesn’t speak.

As Dean talks to me, I feel Tiernan watching me.

I don’t think his gaze leaves me the whole time.

I can’t say it’s very comfortable. I try not to but shift multiple times, run my hand up my arm to try and hide the goose bumps there.

When Dean is quiet for a moment, Tiernan’s smooth, dangerous voice finally adds to the discussion. “You know I don’t have to let him do this, right?” he asks.

“T…” Dean starts, but Tiernan holds up his hand to stop him.

I hope my voice doesn’t shake when I say, “Cillian is an adult. He can do what he wants.”

“He is an adult, but you don’t understand us. Cillian always takes care of his responsibilities. He is always by my side. I would burn down the world for him, and he would do the same for me.”

I swallow around the boulder in my throat. Why is he saying this to me?

“I just want to make sure you appreciate the gifts you’re given—no matter how much or how little time you have them. There’s no one better to watch your back than him. I hope you appreciate that.”

I do. I honestly don’t want to, but I do. The truth is, I don’t want to be alone. It’s not something I care to admit, not something I like feeling, but I’m scared of what might happen to me, and as much as I hate it, it feels good knowing I’ll have Cillian close.

That’s not what Tiernan is saying here, though. He’s emphasizing how good Cillian is and the sacrifices he’s making for me.

Why? I want to ask Tiernan. Why is Cillian doing this for me?

But then, maybe this is just part of who he is, maybe we’re all more than just one thing, and while there’s a lot of bad in Cillian, maybe there’s good too, and that good extends to a lot of people and not just me.

“I do.” I look away, unable to make eye contact with any of them. Unsure of what I’m even thinking or feeling.

Footsteps on the stairs save me, as Cillian comes down with a backpack and a duffel bag. “Come on. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

I stand too fast, not caring about the pain, needing away from them. Well, all of them except Cillian.