Page 6 of Bittersweet Revenge
Finan stays to get cleanup underway. I wash in the bathroom on-site, then head out. Oscar drives us back to our house, where my car is packed and ready to go.
“Be good,” my father says, though I don’t know what the fuck he thinks good is. We’re never that.
I consider going inside to say goodbye to Mom again, but I don’t, knowing it will just piss off my father.
As soon as I pull away, I call Conan. He works for my father, and he and Rian have always been the men I would rather go to than my dad. But there are certain things I shouldn’t go to myfather’s brother about, which means Rian is out and Conan is in. He’s one of the only people I trust outside of my sister, and Cillian and Rory, my two best friends. I do love my uncle, but Rian’s loyalty will always be with my father.
“Hey, kid. What do you need?”
“I need to get some money to someone, but I don’t want my father or anyone else to know.”
“What’s the name?”
“Emily Owens.” I might have taken her father from her today, but she won’t have to worry about money for school. It’s the least I can do.
CHAPTER TWO
Dean
Ifeel likeI’m in a book or a movie—the poor kid at the fancy college, surrounded by those who are wealthier and more privileged.
Which is the life I would have had if Sloan hadn’t taken my father from me.
Dad had some money put away for Mom and me, but not nearly enough. He spent most of his life thinking he was part of a family and not planning for an escape. When things began to change between him and Sloan, he didn’t have enough time to prepare for our future. It’s why he stayed longer, trying to make more, hoping things would get better, but all that did was give Sloan time to realize he wanted to leave.
Ashford University is like something out of a dream, though—a sprawling campus filled with redbrick or white buildings in this mixture of Gothic and Italianate architecture.
It’s only been a day, and I haven’t seen Tiernan yet. We don’t have any classes together so far. He’s a sophomore and turns twenty in November.
I’m in my math course, when a girl with long, dark hair that reaches her ass comes in and sits beside me. I recognize her instantly.
Aislin O’Shea.
My muscles tense, a white-hot blast of heat rushing through me.
I could use her instead. She might be an easier way in, depending on how connected she is. But the idea doesn’t sit rightwith me. Misogynistic? Maybe. My mom would hate me doing any of this, but she would hate it even more if I brought Aislin into it.
“Hi.” She gives me a confident smile—must run in the family. She’s beautiful, with dramatic cheekbones and green eyes. “You’re…really hot. I already love college,” she says, and I fight back the urge to say something cruel because of who she is.
“Gay,” I answer instead.
“Damn it.” She grins. “I guess we’ll have to be friends.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re one of those girls who try to collect gay besties,” I play along, acting friendly, though bile burns in my throat.
“Oh God no. I would want to be your friend if you were straight too. Friends with benefits maybe.”
I cock a brow. “Not boyfriend?” Maybe I don’t have enough experience with people or women, but I figured most girls would go with that over hooking up.
“Fuck no. I’m free for the first time in my life. There’s no chance I want to settle down. Just don’t tell my brother that. It’s okay for him to fuck anything that walks, but God forbid I want to do the same.”
I have no idea how to reply to that. I’ve never met a girl like her before, and most of the time, I’d rather keep to myself than talk to anyone, much less a random stranger, but to make this work, I’ll have to get used to it. Plus, the mention of Tiernan is exactly what I need. “Brother?”
“Tiernan. If you haven’t heard of him yet, you will. And since you’re queer, you definitely want to keep an eye out for him. He’s bi and can never turn down a pretty face, and like we already discussed, you’re a pretty face.”
“I thought I was hot?” I test the playful words on my tongue and hate myself for saying them, for sitting here beside her whenher family has taken everything from me. For having to pretend I don’t hate her too.
“That as well. Do I get your name?”
