Page 79 of Sweet Oblivion

Delaney throws her arms around my waist and buries her face in my chest as the room quiets. When I first lost my hearing, I remember thinking about how much I hated silence. It was so much worse in those early days. It took months before any of it came back, and even longer for me to accept that the small portion that did come back was as good as it was going to get.

I remember thinking there was fear hidden in the silence.

And right now . . . that fear is back.

Roger Dennings is dead.

I killed a man.

And I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant I could save Delaney.

That might make me a monster, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

I’ll face whatever comes my way.

I’m not sure how much time passes before I look at my cousin again. “When?”

“Early this morning,” Olivia continues, calm and controlled. “It was a brain bleed.”

“I thought—” Fuck. “I thought he was doing better.”

Liv’s gaze sharpens. “He wasn’t.”

“What does this mean?”Lane asks after she pulls back, hereyes trained on me, even if her question is for Liv. She asked what I was already thinking because the answer might matter more to my life than any ever has.

“It means things just got bigger,”Liv tells us, her face tight.

Delaney laces her fingers with mine, and I pull her in closer. “How big?”

“Big enough that the DA is going to look at this differently. Big enough that the league is going to get nervous. And judging by the news van parked out front, big enough that the media is already circling.”

Of course they are.

“They’re going to come after him.” Delaney shakes with each word.

They were always going to come. Now they have their reason.

Olivia nods. “Yes. They are. We knew this could happen. We’re prepared.”

“But he didn’t start it. He was protecting me.” She’s given up on ASL, her nerves probably too fried to even realize.

“You know that, and I know that. But right now, perception matters.”

Delaney’s hand shakes in mine, and I feel it. The fear. The anger. The guilt. All of it bleeding through her fingers into mine.

“What do we do?” she asks, her voice trembling.

Not what shouldhedo. What dowedo. We.

Liv’s gaze softens. Just a fraction, but she caught the word too.

And then my cousin smiles. And goddamn, she’s fucking frightening.

“I do my job, and we control the narrative. Trust me when I tell you I’m the best at what I do, and I was raised by a fucking PR shark. This is not going to define you.”Her eyes find mine.“This is not going to destroy you. We won’t let it.”

I lift my chin, wordlessly acknowledging her.

“How?”Delaney asks with shaky hands.