“Get out here,” Padraig bellowed, just out of sight of the doorway.
I sighed and began to move.
“If we don’t talk to him, theeejit’ll get Sloan over here with all that shouting. What do ye wanna wager?” Rowen sounded as murderous as Cillian.
Vail scrambled quickly off the end of the bed, much faster than I could right now, and bent and scooped up a pair of sweats off the floor, pulling them on as he walked. He was out the door in five seconds flat.
“You’re being far too loud. There are two people in this house who are not well, one being Fallon, and your completely obnoxious visit is going to cause problems.” Vail grunted as if he’d been shoved.
Groaning and swearing, the rest of us scrambled to get out into the living room. Rowen went out next and quietly began to talk to someone out there, while Vail was still yelling, in his polite way, probably at Padraig. I wheezed when I got to the side of the bed, and Cillian helped me up and made sure I was steady on my feet. He helped me pull on my sweats that had gotten dumped on the floor earlier so I wouldn’t have to bend down, which was a bonus for my ribs. Everything ached more than it had when I’d lain down earlier.
“Guess you took that bet seriously, huh?” I flashed him a grin.
“Shut it,” he said but smiled at me, then his huge shoulders tensed when Rowen swore loudly out in the living room.
My ribs twinged. “Fuck, I was fine earlier.”
“The blast was as bad as a fight. I’m stiff, too, and ye were already injured.” Cillian shook his head. “No wonder ye’re having problems.”
I winced and nodded.
“The boss was right,” Aspen said, arms crossed and on this side of the bedroom door, standing there like he was keeping someone on the other side from coming in. I wanted to laugh; even Padraig would think twice about taking a swing at Aspen.
Leaning closer to Cillian, I let loose the wild nerves careening through my body. “You want to be my Daddy, huh? You want to tie me down and paddle my ass?” Excitement sizzled through my gut and chased away some of the miserable garbage hearing Padraig’s voice had churned up.
Cillian’s eyes glittered, and Aspen chuckled as he shook his head. Cillian wrapped his arms around me and dropped his gaze until he was glaring into my soul. “Ye don’t wanna start teasing that way with me if ye ain’t dead serious, lad. Ye’ll get yerself in a whole heap of trouble.” He let out a long breath that tickled my cheeks with heat.
I shivered. “I think I was kidding. But maybe I wasn’t.”
An evil smile curved Cillian’s lips that freaked me the fuck out, but one glance at Aspen had me holding steady. He would never let Cillian hurt me for real. “I’m not kidding, and I know it,” Cillian whispered.
“Oh.”
“Fallon!” Padraig yelled from the living room, and I shuddered.
Cillian glared and turned us so he had his arm around me, and we walked toward the door. I probably should’ve stopped to put more clothes on, but at this point I didn’t care. I was tired, I hurt, and I just wanted to lie back down and maybe come. Aspen led the way out, shoving Padraig back as we emerged into the living room. I blinked against the lights and it took my eyes too long to adjust.
Padraig was furious as he stood there in the center of the room, arms crossed and lip curled, staring too hard at Aspen. We looked a lot alike, with the same blond hair and blue eyes, which sucked because he was such an asshole. Cillian was scary, but if Padraig managed to piss off Aspen in a serious way, I’d be afraid for him.
Glancing away from Padraig when he leveled his pissy glare on me had me leaning too hard against Cillian—or at least it felt that way—but he was solid muscle and didn’t budge. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, and Cillian glanced down at me with a frown. “What’s wrong?”
I only shook my head because it was all I could do.
My dad sat on one of the soft gray couches, his arms spread along the back, glaring at us. His silvering hair caught the lights and went with his light gray suit, and he tended to wear a short beard that grew in the way mine did when I didn’t shave clean. Our faces looked a lot alike from the side, but he was thin and tall and broad-shouldered, where us boys took more after our mom. He shook his head at me, and his nose wrinkled as he studied the bruises that lingered on my body.
“Can’t believe I had to drop important work to come chase my son down. You can’t be bothered to pick up the phone and let us know what’s happening, either. Do you think you’re better than us now that you’re hanging around Killough’s killers and his whore?” Dad’s eyes practically sparked with rage.
“Dad, I—”
“Oh, word is out that you performed like a hooker for the boss. My son. My youngest son did something like that.” He was on his feet in a flash. “And you all have the nerve to stand around like you’re doing nothing wrong.”
“I dare ye to say all that a wee bit louder,” Cillian said, with a sweet smile that chilled my blood. “Go on.”
Grady stood near the door and gave me a wince that let me know none of this was his idea. His green eyes were bright with worry. Padraig didn’t look much better, which was a surprise. He appeared older every time I saw him, the lines in his face deepening and his blond hair a duller color. I would’ve thought he’d be gloating over Dad coming here to yell at me in person.
Vail smiled and went closer to Dad with his hand out, and I wanted to grab him back, but Cillian still had his arm anchored around my waist and he didn’t loosen up his grip.
“Hello, Mr. Maher. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Vail flashed his pretty smile, and Dad shook with him, but I thought maybe it was because he was too confused to do anything else. “Fallon and I are in a relationship together, if you didn’t know. And we like Conall quite a bit, so that name-calling wasn’t nice.” He scowled at Dad, and I almost swallowed my tongue. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t imply awful things about Fallon. He’s wonderful.” Vail glanced at me and smiled.
