That genuinely surprised me. “They don’t like you?” I didn’t know her, but Simone exuded warmth, kindness, and safety that anyone would enjoy, or at least trust.
Simone gave an oddly sad shrug. “Doesn’t seem that way.”
“Even Ronan?” Somehow, I already knew the answer.
Again, that odd shrug.
Now I was frowning. “He’s never said a bad word about you to me.”
What could Ronan possibly have against this sweet girl? From what I understood, Simone had only met Brendan a fewmonths ago, and like me, she hadn’t spent much quality time with Brendan’s family. In fact, hiding their significant others seemed to be something the brothers had in common.
Simone tucked a loose strand of blond behind her ear. “I didn’t come here to badmouth your husband. And as much as I love Brendan, I doubt he would have been any nicer to you if you had come along first.”
Now I was even more confused. “But… why?”
“How much time have you spent with Niall Black?”
“I just met him last night.”
Ronan’s father had been, in a word, terrifying. He was the polar opposite of my father, who was about as mild-mannered as it got—soft-spoken, nonconfrontational, eager to please. Even as an octogenarian, Niall Black was basically the human equivalent of a hammer. He came down hard and ruthless.
I had never felt as insignificant and small as when he interrogated me and I left only with the comment about my mother’s necklace. Nothing else about me had mattered.
“Has Ronan told you anything about how they grew up?”
I shook my head. I figured it wasn’t worth hiding, since everyone knew we had just met.
Simone didn’t seem surprised. “They weren’t always this rich. When the boys were young, that was when Niall was getting the business started in Southie, back when it wasn’t so nice. Brendan has only shared bits and pieces. It’s hard for him to talk about.”
“I don’t know if Ronan remembers much. He was young when they left, right?”
Simone shook her head. “Not that young. They lived there until Niall met Violeta and shipped the boys off to boarding school. Brendan was twelve, I think? Maybe older. So Ronan would have been, what, eight? They had plenty of money by thatpoint, but he kept them in the old neighborhood on purpose. To harden them up, Brendan says.”
“By what, exposure?”
“And survival.” Simone rubbed her mouth, thinking. After a few moments, she seemed to have come to a decision. “Brendan told me a story once about when the boys were children, and Niall had to go away on business. Instead of bringing them or hiring a babysitter or someone to take care of them, he left them at the house with a twenty on the table and told them to fight it out for whoever would get to eat a full meal. Everyone else had to eat expired cereal and water.”
My mouth fell open. “That’s child abuse!”
“That’s parenting, Niall Black-style. He made them fight for everything. Brendan says that’s why Ronan is so good at it—as the youngest of the boys, he had to be tough enough to survive the other two.”
“Who won?” I couldn’t help but wonder.
For a split-second, I could imagine all three Black brothers as children: tall for their age, probably a bit skinny from neglect, with a knowing and intensity that no one should have at any point in time.
I found myself blinking away a tear. That bastard.
“You know, I never asked,” Simone said. “It didn’t seem important.”
“No, I suppose it’s not.”
“But that’s why I think all the Black children are basically just wounded animals. They lash out because they perceive change as a threat, and love and vulnerability as a danger. God knows they were all punished for it often enough.” She shook her head. “Between you and me, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive Niall for what he’s done to Brendan. That man is beyond saving.”
As little as I knew her, I sensed that was quite a line for Simone to cross. She seemed like a person who believed in silverlinings, who genuinely wanted to see the best in people, even when they were at their worst. For her to write someone off like that, it had to be bad.
Or else she and Brendan really did love each other as much as people said. I got a glimmer of just why Brendan Black had thrown away the luxury and privilege of his life for a chance at happiness with Simone. No one had ever given him the safe space to be who he really was, birds and all.
Had anyone given that to Ronan? Or had he just taken it for himself in the form of self-medication, books, and a house where no one could find him?
