Redeeming 6 （Boys of Tommen, #4）
Chloe Walsh
Redeeming 6,
Boys of Tommen #4,
Published March 2023,
All rights reserved. ?
Original cover designed by Sarah Paige @ Opium House Creatives.
Alternative cover designed by Lou Stock.
Edited by Aleesha Davis.
Edited by Nikki Ashton.
Proofread by: Bianca Rushton.
DISCLAIMER
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
The author acknowledges all songs titles, song lyrics, film titles, film characters, trademarked statuses, brands, mentioned in this book are the property of, and belong to, their respective owners. The publication/ use of these trademarks is not authorized/ associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Chloe Walsh is in no way affiliated with any of the brands, songs, musicians or artists mentioned in this book.
All rights reserved ?
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Redeeming 6 is the fourth installment in the Boys of Tommen series, and the second book for Joey Lynch and Aoife Molloy.
Some scenes in in this book may be extremely upsetting, therefore reader discretion is advised.
Because of its explicit sexual content, graphic violence, mature themes, triggers, pregnancy loss, abuse, and bad language, it is suitable for readers of 18+.
It is based in the South of Ireland, set during the timeframe of 1999 to 2005, and contains Irish dialogue and slang.
A detailed glossary can be found at the beginning of the book.
Parts are used instead of the standard chapter headings as the method of navigation in this book.
Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure.
Lots of love, Chlo xxx
Redeeming 6 is dedicated to the boys I went to secondary school with, whose shenanigans, friendship, banter, hilarious antics, and blind loyalty inspired the characters of Johnny, Gibsie, Feely, and Hughie.
Walshy, Slash, Al, & Madden: the OG Boys of Tommen.
（And, yeah, I married the first one.）
PART ONE
STILL TRYING
JOEY
“You’re fierce quiet, Joey son.”
“I’m grand, Tony.”
“Are you sure? You’re as pale as a ghost and haven’t had a whole pile to say for yourself all week.”
“It’s all good.”
“You and Aoife haven’t…” He let his words trail off, but kept his worried eyes on me, waiting for an explanation.
“We’re grand, Tony,” I fed him the lie he wanted to hear before turning my attention back to the ratchet in my hand. “Everything’s grand.”
“Thank Jesus for that.” Relief flashed in his eyes. “Then you wouldn’t happen to have any idea what’s after getting into her? She’s walking around the house with a face like thunder.”
“No clue.” Liar.
“Really?” He scratched his jaw in confusion. “You’re usually the first to know when there’s drama.”
“Think she had a fight with Casey over the Christmas.”
“Did she now?”
I couldn’t explain why the words ‘we broke up’ refused to come out of my mouth. Or worse, why I lied and placed the blame on her best friend instead, but I did it. “Yeah.” I nodded, following through on my bullshit. “I think I heard something about that.”
“Jaysus, it must have been one hell of a fight,” he stated, watching me from the other side of the car we were working on. “She’s been hysterical for days now. Crying herself to sleep most nights.”
Fuck. “She has?”
Her father nodded.
My heart sank into my ass. “Jesus.”
“You should have a word with her,” he added, turning his attention back to the task at hand. “She listens to you. Get her to patch things up with young Casey before she floods the house with tears.”
“Yeah, I’ll, ah, I’ll call her after work,” I managed to squeeze out, though it was hard to breathe let alone talk.
Because this was on me.
Molloy’s tears were on me.
This whole damn mess was a result of my inability to resist the pull of my fucked-up DNA.
Feeling like my heart was constricting to the point of explosion, I set the ratchet down and moved for the back door. “I’ll be back in five.”
“Pack those damn cigarettes in for the new year,” he called after me, but his tone was jokey enough.
Either way, we both knew that I wasn’t going to quit.
Not when I had already given up so much.
Slipping out back, I placed the cigarette balancing on my ear between my lips and grabbed a lighter from the pocket of my coveralls.
Sparking up, I inhaled a deep breath and sagged against the wall at my back, feeling a million different emotions rushing through me.
Exhaling a cloud of smoke, I fought an internal battle with myself to not throw in the towel and do exactly what I knew I would. In the end, it was only a matter of minutes before I grabbed my phone – the same phone that I had to pry from my brother’s fingers this morning.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I unlocked the screen, declined another call from Shane, brought up the name Molloy in my contacts, and pressed call.
She answered on the fourth ring but didn’t greet me.
I didn’t blame her.
I didn’t deserve to be greeted.
If anything, I deserved to be hung up on.
“It’s me,” I said quietly, taking another drag of my smoke. “Can you talk?”
The hustle and bustle in the background let me know that she was at work.
When it grew quieter on the other line, I knew she must have moved to someplace quiet.
“Okay,” she finally said down the line. “I can hear you.”
“Are you at work?”
“No,” she bit out, tone laced with venomous sarcasm. “I’m out on the town with my new boyfriend.”
Taking her bitchiness on the chin, I took another drag of my smoke before asking, “And how’s he treating you?”
“A hell of a lot better than the last asshole I made the mistake of falling for,” came her smart-ass response. “What do you want, Joe?”
“I just…” Shaking my head, I blew out a pained breath before saying, “I wanted to check in on you.”
“Why?”
“You know why, Molloy.” Shrugging helplessly, I concentrated on a spot of dirt on the path. “I didn’t flip a switch and turn my feelings off—”
“Don’t,” she choked out, emotion overtaking her sarcasm. “Not when I have three more hours at work to get through.”
Retracting my words, I bit back a pained growl and steered the conversation in another direction. “Tony said that you’ve been crying.”
“And?”
“And?” I shook my head. “It fucking guts me to hear that. I don’t want you to cry, Molloy.”
“Well, unfortunately, that’s usually what happens to a girl when her boyfriend sacks her off.”
“Stop.” I flinched, hating both the words and the pain in her voice. “I didn’t sack you off.”
“You broke up with me, Joey,” she replied, tone thick. “You can wrap it up as sweetly as you want, but in the end, that’s exactly what you did.”