Page 282 of Redeeming 6

I couldn’t allow myself to think about it, because thinking about it made me want to die.

Wincing when pain ricocheted through my temple, a direct reaction to the sunlight pouring through the window, I opened the bathroom door and stepped into the hallway. I had a perfect view of who I presumed was Kavanagh’s mother, giving her son a piece of her mind. With her hands on her hips and her back to me, the short blond stood in the doorway of yet another room in their fortress of fortune.

The sound of my sister chiming in, “I’ll go. Right now, I promise,” instantly had my back up. Fucked in the head or not, I knew that voice. Her panic beckoned me like a siren.

Falling back into the habit of a lifetime of taking the heat off my sister, I called out, “Thanks for the bed, Kavanagh. Can I borrow a hoodie?”

Because I could take whatever this lady might throw at us for intruding on her home.

Her disdain.

Her outrage.

Her accusations.

She couldn’t hurt me because none of it mattered to me like it did to Shannon.

Kavanagh’s mother cast a brief glance in my direction before turning back to her son and resuming her ranting.

Fair enough.

I couldn’t exactly blame the woman for her reaction.

When she was finished giving her son a piece of her mind and turned her attention back to me, I braced myself for battle, but it wasn’t anger I saw in her eyes.

It wasn’t fear, either.

It was sadness.

And fuck, somehow that made it worse.

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

“What’s your name, love?”

“Joey.” Eyeing her warily as she walked toward me, I stepped out of her way, backing up against the bathroom door. “Lynch.”

“Joey Lynch,” she repeated, not stopping until she was standing directly in front of me. “I’m Edel.” She held her hand out to me. “Edel Kavanagh.”

“Okay,” I replied, eyeing her outstretched hand.

I didn’t move.

Instead, I watched and waited.

This was her turf.

I was the intruder.

The next move was on her.

“Shake my hand, love,” she instructed. “It’s good manners.”

Brow furrowed, I forced myself to accept her handshake.

“Now.” Giving my hand a small squeeze, she smiled up at me. “Are you hungry, Joey Lynch?”

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