AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I swallow uncomfortably. Cillian smiles as he squeezes my hand again.
“You’re not me, Eilish, and you never will be. Trust me. Not evenclose. You did what you had to do, that’s all. Not everyonecouldhave done it. But you could.”
I nod, smiling a little before my smile falters.
“Cillian?”
He raises a brow.
“I…” I swallow. “I have to tell you something.”
I look down at my fingers.
“I killed him,” I murmur quietly, taking a shaky breath before I force myself to look him in the eyes. “I killed my dad.”
Cillian is silent for a few seconds, his face utterly still and neutral.
“Explain.”
“I mean…I didn’t pull the trigger—”
“Eilish,” he says gently. “I know you didn’t. We all know whodid—”
“But I filled his gun with blanks that night,” I blurt, my eyes widening as it all just tumbles out. “I—I sent him to that meeting withzerochance to defend himself.”
Cillian looks away and takes a deep breath in and out. My throat bobs heavily.
“Cillian, I’msosorry—”
“You found out, didn’t you.”
I blink. “What?”
He turns back to me. “Your mother,” he growls thinly. “You found out he killed Erin.”
I stare at him. “You…youknew?”
“Only shortly before he himself died,” he grunts. “I had my suspicions for a long time, of course. I knew about his affairs, or at least, some of them. And when Erin died so suddenly…” His green eyes turn a frighteningly dark shade, almost black, before he blinks it away. “She was a good person, your mother,” he growls quietly. “She didn’t deserve Declan and his bullshit.”
He takes a deep breath, looking right into my eyes.
“Eilish,you didn’t kill your father. He got himself killed. He was careless with the free and easy way he made enemies. If it hadn’t been on that night, it would have been on another one soon after.”
He pauses, sucking his teeth again.
“Do you know why your father and Vadim met, that night Declan shot him?”
I shake my head. Cillian’s lips thin.
“Declan had been having an off and on affair with Svetlana, foryears.”
My eyes go wide. “I’m sorry,what?”
He nods. “Vadim wanted to confront him about it. I mean, she may have been a monster—and she was—but shewashis sister, after all. When they met, things got heated, and your father pulled a gun. The rest you know.”
I take a second to process that. Cillian squeezes my hand again, a wry smile on his lips.
“You’renotlike me, Eilish. And you’re going to be okay. I promise you that.”
