Page 104 of Bittersweet Revenge
“I’m gonna need you to start talking real fuckin’ quick right now,” Cillian says.
“Dean?” The confusion in Aislin’s voice is like sandpaper against my heart.
I push away from the table. “My name isn’t Dean. It’s Riordan. My father used to work for Sloan. Sloan killed him, and my mom went on the run with me. When my mom died…I was fucking lost. I came here to get close to you all so I could get close to Sloan and kill him.”
I barely catch the movement in my periphery before Rory slams into me. I wasn’t expecting it, so he takes me down easily, my body hitting the ground, him on top of me. “You’ve been fucking lying to him,” he spits.
“No. I mean, yes and no. Tiernan knows. And I wasn’t going to do it anymore. I love him. I put my need for revenge aside because I fucking need him…but this has to do with me. I know it. I fuckingfeel it.” I don’t even try to fight Rory. I deserve whatever hate he has for me. It’s shooting daggers at me through his eyes right now. “I fucked up. Hate me all you want, kill me later if you need to, but I need to fucking find him, and I need to make this right.”
“Rory, get off him,” Aislin says.
“Fuck that. How can we believe a word he says?” Rory growls.
“We can’t,” she replies, squashing my heart beneath her words. “But he can help us find him. I can’t deal with thisright now. The most important thing is getting Tiernan back.” Without another word, she walks out of the room.
“You’re fucking dead,” Rory threatens, then gets up and follows her.
“This whole time,” Cillian says, “I didn’t want to trust you, and you proved me right. I fell for it too. I thought you were good for him, but all you did was betray him, and now you’re going to get him killed…maybe get all of us killed. If Sloan knows who you are, he’s going to consider it a betrayal from us all.”
Cillian leaves, and I’m alone again. My eyes blur, and I swipe my tears away before sitting back at the table and getting to work.
*
I’ve been atit alone for the past two hours. None of them came in to see me.
And I can’t blame them. For the first time since I was four years old, I’ve known what it’s like to have family—more family than just my mom, at least—and I hurt them all. Everything that’s happened is my fault.
The letters on the screen are beginning to blur, but then… “Holy fuck.” I look around the room, ready to tell Aislin, Cillian, and Rory that I found him, but of course no one is there.
The green dot blinks on the screen. He’s close, only about forty-five minutes away. For a moment I consider telling them, but the last thing I need is to risk getting them hurt too. There’s a very good chance I’m walking into a trap. If they think Tiernan is there, I won’t be able to stop Rory, Cillian, and Aislin from going.
It makes more sense to end this between me and Sloan. Maybe if he has me, then he won’t need to hurt anyone else.
I pick up my laptop and shove my phone into my pocket. One peek into the living room tells me they aren’t there. I’m not sure where they went, but that just makes this easier on me.
I sneak Tiernan’s car keys out of the bowl by the door and slip out.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Tiernan
My gaze shootsto my father when his cell phone rings. He answers it, but he’s too far for me to hear who it is. “This is a pleasant surprise. Let him in.” There’s a pause, and then he adds, “He can keep it.”
Dad sets his phone down again. “Your boyfriend is here. I thought I would need to make a call to get him here like I did you. I see he’s a computer science major. He must know his shit.”
“Don’t,” rushes out of my mouth, and I hate myself for how the word trembles, the fear in it, but still, I keep going. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t hurt him.”
“We both know that’s not going to happen. He was supposed to die with his father. They all were.”
“He was a fucking kid!”
“So? That’s what happens when you betray me, and Liam betrayed me. That’s why you’ll never be as good at this as me. You’re too soft.” My father pulls his gun out of his jacket, walks over, and holds it against my head. “For security,” he says, clear enjoyment in his voice.
I get the job done, I’ll always do what needs to be done, but I don’t live for this part of it the way he does.
“Let’s see if he really cares about you as much as you think.”
The door opens, and Dean walks in, holding my second gun out in front of him. Oscar, of course, took mine when I arrived. I swear my heart fucking swells seeing him again, but I also wanthim gone, know that being here means he’ll be hurt, and I’ll do anything to keep that from happening.
