Read Online Angel of Redemption by J. A. Little - Free Book Online

thanks. ” I can hear the agitation in my voice and know she can, too.
She looks disappointed, but I can ’ t
bring myself to backpedal.
    “ I’ll check in on them next week,
assuming there aren’t any problems before that,” she huffs. She turns around
and walks away, the objects of my fucked-up fantasies clicking against the
floor. I scrub my hands over my face. In the span of two minutes I’ve gone from
apologizing to screwing up all over again. I cannot let this woman get to me.
She wouldn’t understand—wouldn’t accept me. And she shouldn’t. I’m fucked
up. I have too many demons. They would destroy her. No matter how tempted I am,
I absolutely cannot let Kayla Brooks into my life.

Chapter
7
    Kayla
     
    Storming out of Wyatt House, I stop on the porch and breath
in the crisp, cold winter evening.
    The door opens behind me and I glance back,
pulling my coat closed. Aiden walks out, pulling on a hat.
    “ Hey. ”
    “ Hi. Uh, sorry, I ’ ll get off your porch, ” I say, forcing myself to smile.
    “ Don ’ t worry about it. I saw you out here
and was hoping I ’ d
catch you. I just wanted to apologize. ”
    “ For what? ”
    “ I know my brother can be tough to deal
with sometimes. ”
    “ Oh, ” I chuckle lightly. “ Well,
that ’ s
his problem, not yours. It ’ s okay. ”
    “ No, it ’ s not. He ’ s not a bad guy, Kayla. He ’ s used to being defensive, so that ’ s his first instinct. He ’ s good with the kids, though. He has
an insight that most of us don ’ t. I don ’ t want you to worry about Matty and Logan. ”
    I
smile, and this time it ’ s genuine. “ I ’ ll do that no matter where they are. ”
    “ Yeah, well, you know what I mean. ”
    I
nod. “ Thanks, Aiden. I really appreciate it.
Are you leaving? ”
    “ Just for a minute, ” he says, shaking his head. “ I
have to go get a few things at the grocery. I caught a nasty bug from my kids a
few days ago and was out sick. Dean ’ s
been covering for me, but that means he ’ s
been on for a week straight. I ’ m here all weekend. If you have any questions, you can
always call me. Or if there ’ s a problem, I ’ ll let you know. ”
    “ No offense, but I really hope I don ’ t hear from you, ” I say, laughing. “ I ’ ll see you later. ”
    Aiden
winks. “ See ya. ”
    I
step off the porch and climb into my car.
     
    * * *
     
    My mom and stepdad, Richard, live in a three-bedroom,
high-rise penthouse in the heart of Minneapolis. Richard is a cardiothoracic
surgeon, and my mom ’ s a surgical nurse. I lived with them for awhile when I was
a kid, but it didn ’ t work out so well. Richard ’ s never liked me. I was an unwelcome
part of the package when he married my mother.
    My
parents divorced when I was ten after my mom found out she was pregnant. The
baby was not my dad ’ s. A few months later our house was sold, and my mom and I
moved in with Richard, who she ’ d been having an affair with for over a year. I was
confused and sad — and then I was angry.
    I
felt left out most of the time. I watched as my perfect baby sister was doted
on and spoiled. At the time, I hated her. I saw her as the reason my parents
split up and the reason my mother could barely look at me anymore.
    I decided that negative attention was better than
no attention at all, so I turned on the obnoxious switch. I started doing
things that I knew would annoy them. I would leave dishes on the countertop,
towels on the bathroom floor, and clothes everywhere but the hamper. When I was
thirteen, I graduated to stealing money and shoplifting cigarettes. By
fourteen, I was ordering pay-per-view porn on the daily, and when I was
sixteen, my mother walked in on me riding my boyfriend Jimmy in my bedroom.
That resulted in the fight that had me packing my bags for my dad’s house.
    It
wasn ’ t
until I left that I realized how much I actually loved Claire. It wasn ’ t her fault that our parents were
cheaters and liars. At first,