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Seriously, in any other circumstances, I would be shot on sight for trespassing on a property like this. In fact, I half expected to see a guard of some sort jump out of the bushes with a shotgun. I had to steel my features when I pulled up outside what I could only describe as a stately fucking mansion.
This was where Kavanagh lived?
I looked to Molloy who was gaping at the house not unlike the way I was.
“And I thought his friend’s house was a palace,” she mumbled, face pressed against the window. “Holy crap, Joe.”
“I know, Molloy.”
These people owned acres of land and grounds that were sprawled out everywhere.
Christ.
After helping Kav deposit Gibsie on the couch in a living room that looked like it could have been a ballroom before it had been renovated, I stopped at the front door, unable to walk away until I addressed the elephant in the room.
“Listen.” Rubbing the back of my neck, I turned to face him. “About Shannon.”
Kav seemed to straighten as he stood in the entryway of his impressive-as-fuck house and inclined his chin indicating for me to get this conversation over with. “What about Shannon?”
He didn’t back down or shy away. Instead, he just braced himself for what I had to say.
“She’s fragile,” I heard myself tell him. “Vulnerable.”
“Yeah. I already guessed that.”
“What I’m trying to say here is that I appreciate you looking out for my sister. She’s had a hard few years, and Tommen seems like a good fit for her.”
He gave me a clipped nod. “It is.”
Reluctantly impressed, I gave him a hard look, taking his measure to see if he would slip or falter. Blue eyes stared back at me, unyielding and unwilling to bend an inch.
Well, shit.
This fucker was going to stand his ground.
Not wanting to meddle in whatever my sister had going on with this lad, but needing to let him know that I wasn’t going to sit back and let him fuck her over, either, I said, “So, I guess I’m hoping that you continue keeping an eye out for her at school. You know, make sure that no one is giving her any hassle.”
He nodded once. “That’s no problem.”
“She seems to be settling in at Tommen, and she keeps telling me that the kids are nice to her, but I’m at BCS so I’ve no way to tell if she’s okay or not.” I shook my head and sighed. “And she never tells anyone what’s going on in that head of hers until it’s too late.”
“Too late?”
“Bitchy girl shit.” I hated the feeling that I was baring my neck to this lad, but I didn’t have any other hand to play. He was the one at school with my sister. He was the one with the ability to do what I couldn’t. He was the one going around handling her bullies. He had the upper hand in this situation. “My sister has had a target on her back since she was in nappies.”
“Jesus Christ.” Raw, unrestrained emotion flashed in his eyes then, and in his voice, letting me know that he wasn’t quite the robot he had been programmed to be. “That’s pretty messed up.”
“Kids are cruel,” I offered, giving him the perfect opportunity to tell me about the altercation he and Shannon had at Biddies.
“They sure are,” was all he offered in return.
No bragging.
No pissing contests.
No explanation.
Just stoic silence.
