Page 47 of Sweet Vengeance (Sins of the Father #2)

Cillian

December

I’m gonna puke.

I fidget, looking out my window seat in first class at the expanse below.

I try to remember if I’ve ever felt this nervous or scared about anything, and I don’t think I have, and that’s because nothing else has ever mattered more.

“Baby…it’s fine.” Ollie sets his hand on my thigh, making me realize my leg is bouncing. What. The fuck. Is that? I’m losing my shit here.

“Is it really, though?”

He gives me a sweet smile, then pushes his glasses up his nose, and somehow that helps. He’s so fucking cute. “It is. I promise.”

“You can’t make promises like that,” I tell him, the same words he’s given me before, and he snickers.

“Do you trust me?”

Goddamn it. “You know I do.”

“Then it’ll be fine.”

“What if he notices these?”

Ollie studies the scratches on my knuckles. “Well, you probably shouldn’t have beat someone up the day we got on a plane to meet my father.”

“It wasn’t my fault! We had to!” I argue playfully, and Ollie laughs.

He threads his arm through mine, then drops his head against my shoulder, making my rapidly beating heart slow down. This will be okay. We’ll be okay.

“My dad is going to love you, Cillian, because I love you. Because you make me happy. We both know everything won’t always be easy, but no matter what happens, we’ll always work through it together.”

We will. I know that. “We have so much other shit to deal with, I just want the things that should be easy to be easy. I want to be someone he can be proud of. This would be a whole lot easier if your father was a criminal.”

Ollie doesn’t laugh. “You are someone he can be proud of. You’re honest and the most loyal person I’ve ever known.

You listen, not only to me, but to all those you care about, and you hear them, you really hear them.

There’s nothing you wouldn’t give me. I don’t think a father can ask for more than that for their child. ”

I mean, I’m fairly certain they can, but if Ollie wants to pretend otherwise, then so will I.

I try to calm my shit down the rest of the flight, thankful no one other than Ollie is here to see me this stressed out. Not that Rory and Tiernan don’t know. I spilled my guts to them about it before we left.

This just means so much to me because I know how important Ollie’s dad is to him. And despite everything I do, I wasn’t lying when I said I want his father to be proud of me…want to be someone Ollie can be proud of too…despite the drugs, murder, and mayhem. I get that I’m asking for a lot.

We didn’t check bags, so when the flight lands, we only have our carry-ons to grab. Once we’re off the plane, Ollie takes my hand, leading me through the busy airport.

“My dad always meets me by baggage claim, carousel eight. When I was young, we took this trip to California. It’s the only time I’ve ever been. We went to all the amusement parks—I’m a bit of a roller-coaster nut, I’ll have you know.”

“No shit?” I ask, not having expected that.

“Absolutely. Anyway, it was our last trip before the accident. Our baggage was supposed to be at carousel eight, but they lost it. At first, we were frustrated, but my mom just said…why let something so small ruin what was such a great trip? We should keep all our memories, good and bad, but never let the bad outweigh the good. Then my dad decided that despite losing our bags, it was a lucky trip, and that made carousel eight lucky too.”

“So just like that, you and your family made it lucky? Just because you decided it?”

“Yep,” he tells me, and damned if I don’t believe him, if I don’t want to be able to find all the magic in little things the way Ollie does and share it with him.

“We should go,” I say.

“To an amusement park?”

“To all the amusement parks. It can be a thing. We look up every one in the United States and visit them one by one, then when we’re done here, we start in another country.”

Ollie stops walking, turns and looks up at me, his brown eyes wide and bright and full of so much fucking happiness. I don’t get how I make him feel that way, but I’ll do everything in my power to keep doing it.

“Really?” he asks.

“Fuck yes. I think you forget, Kitten…I’m rich.” I wink, and he rolls his eyes.

“I think you forget you’re sweet. Thank you, Cillian. I would love that. She would love that too. I got my love of roller coasters from her.”

“We’ll start this summer.” I hold his chin, tilt his head up, and press my lips to his.

I feel eyes on us, and at first, I think it’s probably just asshole motherfuckers staring at two men kissing in the middle of the airport, but when I turn and see a man with blond, curly hair, round-rimmed glasses, and the world’s kindest smile watching us from beside carousel eight, I know exactly who it is.

Ollie turns right after, drops his bag and runs to his father, the two of them hugging and crying right there for all to see. I love how fucking strong he is, how open, that he doesn’t care about showing his emotions no matter who’s around, and looking at the two of them, I know where he got it.

My life has never been like that unless the emotion we’re talking about is anger, pride, or strength, but there’s something so much braver about how Ollie and his father do it, and maybe even in how me, Rory, and Tiernan show it, so much more than our fathers ever did.

Ollie’s dad looks up at me, tears in his eyes while hugging his son, and waves me over. I take Ollie’s bag, unsure what to do or say, but then he’s pulling me into their embrace too, that easily accepting me because his son loves me.

Not gonna lie, I’m stiff and uncomfortable, and Ollie must sense it because a moment later, he pulls back.

“Dad, this is Cillian. Cil, this is my dad, Oliver.”

I kinda wish he hadn’t gone for the shortened version of my name right now. It’s a little too close to home. Still, I hold my hand out for Oliver. He smiles when he shakes it.

“Nice to meet you, sir,” I tell him.

“Please, call me Oliver.”

“Oliver,” I agree.

He wraps one arm around me and one around Ollie. “Come on, boys. Let’s go home.”

We walk to his vehicle, an older Jeep Cherokee, and I put both bags in the back.

Ollie tries to get me to sit in the front, but I don’t.

Once he’s climbed in, I get in the back and just…

listen to them chat. They talk like they’re not on the phone together often, like they just enjoy each other’s company, laughing and sharing and doing their best to pull me into the conversation.

Mostly, though, I just enjoy listening to them.

They have a small, homey house in an older neighborhood. We bring our bags to Ollie’s room, and the first thing I say is, “You didn’t tell me you and your dad are twins.” Ollie’s hair just doesn’t have the same curl.

“Wild, huh?”

“It is.” They talk and act alike too.

We join Oliver in the living room. He does his best to get to know me, asking questions about me and my family.

I get nervous answering some of them, but it’s clear that with him, it all comes from the heart.

He wants to learn about me because his son is in love with me. That’s the kind of man he is.

We go through family photos, and they tell me stories about each and every one. Ollie’s mom was beautiful, and though he looks a lot like his father, I see her in him too.

Oliver had stew in the Crock-Pot, and the three of us eat at the table together.

“I’ll do the dishes,” I offer.

“I’ll help,” Ollie says.

“That’s okay,” his father replies. “I’ll help him. I know you like to take a shower after flying.”

But he hadn’t, I’m sure because he knows I’m nervous about being alone with his father.

Ollie’s gaze meets mine, questioning, and I give him a small nod. I can do this. I’ve fucking helped torture people, for Christ’s sake. I can wash dishes with my boyfriend’s dad.

“Okay. I’ll be back.” Ollie gives me a kiss, then slips from the room.

“I can do these by myself. You cooked,” I say.

“I don’t mind helping. I don’t often run the dishwasher with it being just me, so I’ve gotten in the habit of handwashing.”

“Well, at least let me do that part.”

“I’ll rinse.”

Oliver joins me at the sink, the two of us washing dishes together. I try to envision my father doing this with Ollie, but as hard as I try, I can’t see it.

“It’s okay to be nervous,” he says after a moment. “In case no one told you that.”

Well, shit. I guess he’s putting it all out there. “Ollie does.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

I don’t know what I’m supposed to say right now, if anything, so I just let out the first words that come to me.

“I really do love him. I’m in love with him.

And I’ll always take care of him—not that he needs it; we both know he doesn’t.

Realistically, it’s him taking care of me, but I won’t…

you know, ever let anything happen to him.

” Is that a weird thing to say? I figure most people don’t have to promise that to their future in-laws.

“I know.” He turns off the water, grabs a towel, and dries his hands.

“I watched the two of you at the airport. The way he looked at you, I could see how much Ollie loves you. I already knew that, but what I saw is how much you love him. I’ve seen it all day.

I heard it in the way you spoke to or about him, even when you’re not telling me you love him.

That’s all I’ve ever wanted for Ollie—to find the kind of love I found.

To have a best friend, because you’re that for him too.

You’re a place he’s comfortable being himself, but also, he’s grown a lot in the last few months. Changed.”

“I don’t ever want to change him.”

“No, you wouldn’t, would you? But he has changed, and that’s all Ollie. It’s not a bad thing to grow. I must admit, I did look up your name.”

My heart stops beating, ice flooding my veins.

“I saw who your father is, who your uncle was. Is my son in any danger?”

“No. I swear it. And I’ll never let anything happen to him. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect him.”

He turns to look at me then, his brown eyes a mixture of emotions I can’t completely decipher.

“When he said you are different, this isn’t what I expected. Part of me wants you to walk away.”

“I can’t. Not from him. Never from him.”

Oliver gives me a small smile. “He deserves someone who loves him that way, and I know my son—he won’t ever walk away either.

He’ll love you, and be loyal to you, and from what I’ve seen today, you’ll do the same.

I can’t say this doesn’t scare me, but I love my son, and I trust him.

He loves you, so I’m trusting you as well.

Please don’t ever give me a reason not to.

And please don’t ever let anything happen to him. ”

“I won’t. I promise. And if it comes down to it, I’ll walk away from my family before I walk away from Ollie. I know I have to prove myself to you, and I will. I just want to make him happy. I’ll spend every day of my life trying.”

He reaches out, puts a hand on my shoulder, and squeezes. “You know what? I believe you.”

He pulls me into a hug, and this time, I don’t tense up. I hug him back just as fiercely.