Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 104802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“I know.”
And we are okay. It’s not easy, and we miss her all the time, but Dad and I are good about talking about her, keeping her memory alive.
I almost don’t apply for colleges outside the state when the time comes. I don’t want to leave Dad alone. We’re each other’s best friend, and I can’t imagine him home in Michigan without me.
But Dad insists. He wants me to follow my dreams, and I’ve always wanted to go to Ashford University. They have a fantastic pre-law program, and ever since I was in first grade, arguing on behalf of a student who got in trouble for something he didn’t do, I’ve always known I wanted to be a lawyer.
“She would want this for you, Ollie. I want this for you too.”
I bet everything on Ashford. It’s the only out-of-state college I apply to. If I don’t get in, I’ll take it as a sign that I should stay home.
When I finish reading my acceptance letter, Dad wraps his arms around me, lifting me and trying to jump with me in his arms. I laugh and cry because it’s perfect and scary and everything in between.
“You did it! I’m so damn proud of you!” He puts me on my feet again.
I’m going to Ashford.
With a lot of scholarship money.
My hard work has paid off. All the hours studying and AP courses and lack of a social life were worth it, and I won’t ever do anything to risk this chance I’ve been given.
CHAPTER ONE
Cillian
“I miss this place when we’re back at Ashford,” Rory says as we sit at a private table in Paradise, the club we use to launder money. When I say we, I don’t mean me, Rory, and Tiernan specifically, but our family, our organization.
“Yeah, there’s nothing like this in downtown Ashford,” Dean, Tiernan’s boyfriend, says. They met last year at school. Dean is a year below us. He was a freshman, and Tiernan wanted him the second he saw him. We thought he was just some random first year, but little did we know, Dean came to Ashford on purpose, looking for Tiernan. His dad had been killed by Tiernan’s, and he’d come seeking revenge.
What none of us expected, Dean and Tiernan included, is that the two of them would fall in love. Dean is Tiernan’s, and if anyone fucks with him, they’ll have us to deal with, and that’s not something anyone would want. I’m not saying accepting Dean after everything was easy. Dean had betrayed Tiernan, but they’ve worked their shit out.
Tiernan hated his father too, and all our lives are a lot easier now that Sloan O’Shea is six feet under. For me, that means my dad—if you can even call him that—is now the boss of the O’Shea family, and my cousin—Tiernan—is his second. Oh, and we’re also keeping a whole-ass secret about how Sloan died, which could come back and get any of us killed at any moment.
And my father would be the one to order it.
“Have you ever been in a club like this before us?” I ask Dean.
“How would I? We’re not supposed to be in here now,” he replies with that typical asshole tone. It used to piss me off, but he’s just like Tiernan, really, so I’ve learned to live with it.
“Perk of being who we are.” Rory pumps his brows.
He’s right. Even if this club wasn’t owned by us, no one would argue about us being here, despite none of us being twenty-one yet.
I look up at the men and women dancing half naked on stages and poles. Most of the women are in G-strings with little pasties on their nipples, the men in G-strings or skimpy underwear. No matter what you’re looking for, you can find it in Paradise—drugs, sex, danger…pick your poison. And we indulge in them all, though when it comes to drugs, I only smoke weed. I’ve tried coke and molly, our biggest sellers, but I don’t like how either makes me feel. I have enough shit going on in my life, so if I’m taking a drug to feel something, I want it to mellow me out.
“Anything we need to know?” Rory asks Tiernan as he spins his vape in circles on his thigh. He can never keep still. I give him fidget spinners sometimes, but he always loses them, and I don’t have any on me tonight.
“I met up with Rian earlier today. It’s basically business as usual. We sell product while at Ashford. I’ll keep in touch with him in case we need to deal with anything that goes down here. There’s been a little issue with the last shipment of guns, but they’re handling it.”
Now it’s me fidgeting, the tip of my finger drawing circles on my jeans. Tiernan talks to my father more than I do. I’m not jealous of my cousin—or at least, I don’t blame him—and I’m old enough that I don’t care as much as I used to. When I needed my dad, he was never there for me, so I made sure not to need him anymore.