Page 7 of Sweet Vengeance (Sins of the Father #2)

“Hey. Come with me to get something out of the vending machine.” Rory takes my arm, and I let him pull me away, knowing I need a minute to decompress anyway.

“He’ll be fine, Cil. And we’ll take care of whoever hurt him. You know that. If for no other reason than you and Dean want to. Tiernan pretends he won’t do whatever the two of you want, but he will because he cares about you.”

I sigh, knowing he’s right. “You too.”

“I know.” He gets peanut M&M’s, cookies, and a soda from the machine. Rory loves sweets—any food really—and he can eat more than all of us put together yet never gains an ounce of fat. “He’s good,” Rory reiterates as if he knows something the rest of us don’t.

“I’m not into him. I don’t even know him. I’m just…intrigued. And I’ve been curious about being with a guy anyway.”

He pops some candy into his mouth. “He’s cute. Might as well. And man, it’s sex, ya know? I figure I’d be into anyone. I want a little of everything.”

I chuckle. “As you should.”

“Well, I hope you get to fuck our pet. Shit. That was rude again, wasn’t it? Since we don’t know what’s happening with him?”

“Thanks, Ror. You’re good.” I put my arm around his shoulders, the two of us making our way back to Tiernan and Dean.

As soon as we get there, a Black man in a white coat is walking out of the back. His gaze takes us in. “You’re Ollie’s…”

“People,” I answer.

“He’s the boyfriend.” Rory points to me, and I have to force myself not to roll my eyes.

“I’m his brother,” Dean interrupts. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Dean, right? He was confused about that when we asked him,” the doc says.

“Must be the head injury. How is he?” Tiernan cuts to the chase.

He sighs. “I’m Dr. Perry. He took a pretty bad beating.

He has numerous lacerations, bruises, and a concussion.

He took a few kicks to the ribs. They’re mostly bruised, but there’s a small crack in one.

We’ll keep him at least overnight. They’re working on getting him a room assignment.

” He looks at Dean. “I asked about calling your parents, but your brother didn’t want to.

The police are here too. They need to get a statement, but we haven’t let them in yet. I can bring two of you back with me.”

Dean is going to be one of them, that’s obvious.

I have no reason to be the other, and I’m sure Dean will want Tiernan with him.

My cousin will probably want to be there too so he can find out what happened.

Still, I open my mouth to claim a spot in that room that I shouldn’t want, but Dean speaks first. “His boyfriend and I will go back.”

Oh…well, I didn’t expect that.

“Follow me.” Dr. Perry leads the way.

“You guys can stop calling me his boyfriend,” I say softly.

“But why, when it’s so much fun?” Dean teases.

I don’t have time to reply, both of us sobering when we turn into the room where Ollie is.

“Motherfuckers,” slips past my lips the second I lay eyes on him.

He has a huge goose egg on his head, bruised cheek, one black eye swollen shut.

The bed is raised, so he’s sitting up, but he looks tired and weak.

There’s blood and dirt in his blond hair.

My gaze snags on the bruising on his knuckles, the only thing to give me a small smile.

He fought back.

They might have gotten the better of him, but he let them know he wasn’t going down easily, and now we’ll take care of the rest for him.

“Can I have a minute alone with my brother?” Dean asks, his voice barely containing his rage.

Dr. Perry looks at Ollie. “Is that still okay? If your brother and your boyfriend are here?”

Ollie’s mouth drops open, and I’m really fucking regretting my slip of the tongue from earlier.

“I, um…yes,” he says, voice soft with confusion and maybe something more. Fear? Exhaustion? Pain? There’s a hundred things it could be.

The second the doctor is out of the room, Dean says, “Who did this to you?”

“Shhh.” I point around us. We’re not in a private space, so both of us step closer to the bed.

“I don’t know. I was walking home from work and—”

“Why the fuck were you walking home?” I interrupt.

“Because I don’t have a car. Not all of us have mob ties and can afford anything we want.”

Well, that answers the question about how much he knows about us. Still, I do what we always do and lie. “Those are rumors.”

“Yeah, and I’m an MMA fighter. It’s obvious we’re both lying with those statements.”

I have no idea why, but I smile. He’s beaten to shit, yet he hasn’t lost his sharp tongue and brave nature. “At least you’re well enough to still hate me. That’s a good sign.”

He frowns at that. Maybe because I reminded him what happened?

“Finish.” Dean uses one commanding word, sounding so much like Tiernan, it still blows my mind.

“I heard noises. It sounded like someone being hurt, so I went over to the side of the building to see what it was.”

“Jesus,” I say, along with Dean’s, “Don’t fucking do that. Next time you call us.”

“Why? You’re not my babysitter. I don’t need you to take care of me.

” He winces, clearly in pain. “I feel like crap. My head is pounding. I’ll get this out quick because I know you won’t leave me alone until I do.

There were three guys, wearing masks. They were beating up an old man.

I tried to stop them, tried to call 911, but they hit me before I could.

They turned their attention from the old man to me.

It…” He closes his eyes—well, good eye—and doesn’t speak for a moment.

When he does again, his voice breaks. “That’s it. ”

“Can you remember anything about them? Accents? Anything?” I ask.

He shakes his head and winces again.

It’s not a lot to go on, but we’ll figure this out.

“Look, I’m tired. My whole body hurts. I need to get out of here.” He tries to turn in the bed, but the second he does, he cries out, clutching his rib.

“You’re not going anywhere.” I try to slow my breathing, try to unclench my hands. I’ll fucking kill whoever did this to him.

“I’m not one of your mini-mob members. You don’t control me, and I can’t afford this. If I put it on my insurance, my dad will find out. It would…he wouldn’t be able to handle it—knowing I’m hurt.”

“We’re paying,” I say.

“Like hell you are.”

“Shh,” Dean warns. “Who needs to keep their voice down now? And yes, we are. It’s nonnegotiable.”

“That’s not how this works,” Ollie argues. “You’re my friend. You should respect my decision.”

Dean squeezes his eyes closed, and I know he’s struggling with what Ollie said. He wants to help him but also give him the respect he deserves.

“Well,” I say, “I’m not your friend, and you’re fucking staying. One night. We’ll sort out the money later, but it’s happening.”

“Am I supposed to listen to you? Will you hurt me if I don’t?”

His question stabs at the part of me that knows the shit we do is wrong…even though I’ll never stop.

“Ollie…” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “We’re worried about you. We’re just trying to help.”

He tries to turn again, but his face breaks in pain. He goes for his head and his chest, showing that both are hurting in equal amounts.

“Stay,” I say more quietly this time. “You said you don’t want your dad to find out? Then you need to get better for that to happen. If you don’t, there’s no keeping it from him. If you’re not willing to stay for yourself, stay for him.”

His expression changes, and he sinks back into the bed, the fight in him tamped down because of his love for his father.

What would that be like, I wonder? To have that kind of loving relationship with your father?

I would hope the man deserves it, that he would sacrifice for Ollie the way Ollie is doing for him.

“One night,” Ollie says softly.

“I’ll stay with him.”