Angel of Redemption (12 page)

“
It
’
s all right, Matty,
”
I say. I start to reach out, but pull back, clenching my
fist.
“
Maybe we can sit down and talk later?
”
Matty keeps his gaze trained on the floor as he leaves the
room. Logan joins him, putting his hand on the back of his little brother
’
s head. I see why Kayla said they
’r
e a package deal. These two need each
other.

“
I
’
m going to call Em and tell her what happened,
”
Aiden says.
“
Everything is okay, right?
”
He looks at Kayla, waiting for confirmation.

“
Should be,
”
she sighs.
“
That one wasn
’
t too bad.
”

So
this has definitely happened before, and it wasn
’
t something I was made aware of. I
start to get very irritated. Being caught off guard is my biggest pet peeve,
not to mention it
’
s
fucking dangerous. Since Kayla is a social worker, she should know that better
than anyone.

“
Can we talk?
”
I ask her, trying not to sound too pissed off.

“
Yeah, sure,
”
she replies. She follows me out of the den toward my
office. I open the door for her and she enters the room.

“
How often does that happen?
”
I ask, closing the door behind me.

“
Not that often.
”

“
How often?
”
In mere minutes, my agitation has grown and I can
’
t hide it.

“
I
…
It depends. I
’
m not sure what sets him off,
”
she admits.

“
Are you the only one who can calm him
down?
”

“
Sometimes, yes.
”

“
Okay. For future reference, that
’
s something the placement needs to
know ahead of time.
”

She
scoffs.
“
Okay, well, first of all, I tried to
tell you the night I brought them here, but you interrupted me multiple times,
”
she snaps.
“
Second of all, it
’
s in the paperwork. If you
’
d
bothered to read it, you would have seen a detailed report.
”

I
narrow my eyes. She
’
s right about the interrupting. Emily
accuses me of that all the time when I
’
m
agitated. But she
’
s wrong about the report. There was
nothing in the paperwork about Matty having an anxiety disorder.

“
Where?
”
I growl.

“
It
’
s in the mental health write-up.
”

“
There was no mental health write-up.
”

“
Yes, there was,
”
she insists. I walk over to my filing cabinet and open it,
flipping through the files until I reach Matty
’
s. I throw it on the desk.

“
Show me.
”

Kayla
doesn
’
t
hesitate. She opens the file and searches through the papers. When she gets to
the end, she goes through it again, backward. Her face is the picture of
confusion.

“
I don
’
t
…
I know I put it in here.
”
Her eyes suddenly darken.
“
Logan.
Fuck! When the hell did he get to it?
”
She looks up at me and grimaces.
“
Excuse my language.
”

I let out an unexpected laugh. Is she really
worried about swearing with me? Do I look like the kind of guy who gives a shit
about language? I shake my head and smirk a little.

Kayla’s still trying to figure out what happened. “He
must have taken it out. I don’t know when he could have done it, though.”

I
sigh.
“
We
’
ve
had some of the best con artists around come through this place. If they really
want something, they
’
ll figure out a way. Aiden
’
s had things taken straight out of his
hand before and not realized it.
”

“
I
’
m so sorry, Dean,
”
Kayla apologizes, running her hand through her hair.
“
I should have gone over all of that with you before I left.
”

“
Yeah, well, it was late, and I was
kind of an asshole.
”

Kayla
smiles softly.
“
Yes, you were.
”

I
let myself smile back at her.
“
Why don
’
t
you brief me now?
”

Half
an hour later, I have Matty
’
s entire mental health history and a guarantee that Kayla
will bring me a hard copy when she comes back for Logan
’
s Independent Living session tomorrow.
I find myself kinda looking forward to seeing her again, even though I know her
focus will be on other things.

“
I need to go have a word with Logan,
”
she sighs.

“
Don
’
t be too hard on him. He obviously
didn
’
t
think about what would happen when Matty had an issue. I have a feeling this
might be the tamest thing he does while he
’
s here.
”

“
Logan very rarely thinks of the
consequences of his actions.
”

“
Most of them don
’
t. Did you at their age?
”
Yes, I
’
m fishing. I want to know if she was a Miss Goody Two-shoes
or if she maybe had a wild streak.

“
Good point,
”
she chuckles, looking away. She pushes her hair back, and I
can see the pink tint to her cheeks. So she
did
have a wild streak. I
wonder if she still does. I notice she doesn
’
t ask me the same question. I have no
idea if it
’
s
because it
’
s
obvious or if she
’
s already found out, but I
’
m not going to offer the information.

She
stands up, and I imitate the movement. Without thinking, I push up my sleeves.
It
’
s
a motion I
’
ve
done a million times before. It isn
’
t until I hear her quick intake of breath that I realize
what I
’
ve
done. Her mouth is open slightly, her eyes scanning over me. I move to cover
them again, but her hand on my forearm stops me.

“
Wait.
”

“
Sorry,
”
I apologize. This is the first time she
’
s touched me, and it
’
s like a shock to my system. A
deep-seated urge makes me want to fucking grab her and pull her closer, but I
can
’
t.
Heat radiates through my body. This is not good. Her eyes dart to mine, and
then she tilts her head.

“
What are you sorry for?
”

“
I try to keep them covered when there
are guests in the house.
”

She
looks back to my arm, her fingers sliding down toward my wrist.
“
Why? They
’
re beautiful,
”
she whispers.

“
Thanks,
”
I murmur.
“
They don
’
t exactly make for a professional
image though.
”

She
looks up at me curiously and then down again. Her hand starts to move back up
my arm. I
’
m
okay until she reaches the fabric of my shirtsleeve. When she starts to push it
up a little, I panic and stop her. She
’
s about to find more than just ink.

“
Sorry
—
I
-
I didn
’
t mean
…
”

“
It
’
s okay. I just, um
…”
We
’
re both fumbling for words, and it
’
s awkward. She looks embarrassed. I have no clue what
’
s wrong with me. I am now fully and
inappropriately turned on. Thank God I
’
m wearing jeans.

Although
I really don
’
t want to let go of her hand, I
’
m sure she
’
s getting creeped out, so I let her
fingers slip away.

“
I, uh, I guess I
’
ll go talk to Logan and check in on
Matty.
”

“
Yeah,
”
I agree, shaking my head in a vain attempt to clear it.
“
I need to go get Curtis anyway, he
’
s helping me with dinner tonight. I
’
ll walk you up.
”
Kayla smiles and it
’
s beautiful. She
’
s
beautiful. And I
’
m fucked.

Walking
behind her up the stairs, I get a spectacular view of her jean-clad ass. I didn
’
t even realize how casually she was
dressed until now. She has one hand on the railing and her shirt is riding up.
I get a sneak peak of dark blue beneath the waistband. I have to stop looking
before she catches me. That would be my luck. With one more lingering glance, I
find a spot on her upper back and focus on that instead. Much safer.

Kayla
stops at Logan
’
s door, knocking loudly. I chuckle
—
she means business. I
’
d
hate to be him right now.

After
grabbing Curtis, I escort him back down to the kitchen. Aiden has already
started pulling out ingredients for four chicken casseroles. I hope it
’
s enough to feed all seven boys plus
myself.

We
’
re about halfway through mixing ingredients when I hear
footsteps. Turning, I see Logan standing with a very stern looking Kayla. Their
size difference is comical and I have to bite the inside of my cheek not to
laugh. Logan doesn
’
t look happy. Kayla nudges him.

“
Sorry for taking Matty
’
s mental-health report out of his
file,
”
he mumbles.

“
You see now why we might have needed
it?
”
I ask.

Logan
shrugs.
“
I didn
’
t know he
’
d have an attack so soon. I was just
trying to help him. People treat him differently when they know he freaks like
that.
”

I
glance over at my brother briefly. He understands completely. The kid was only
trying to protect his little brother
—
something
Aiden knows all about.

“
Wish you would have given me the
benefit of the doubt. I don
’
t like being taken off guard. Get it?
”

Logan nods.

“Good. Why don’t you help Curtis finish up,” I
suggest. “I’m gonna walk Kayla out.”

Logan
nods again and eyes me warily for a moment before going to wash his hands. I
approach Kayla and wave my hand for her to walk ahead of me.