“I'm sure you ladies don't mind coming back later!” She ushers the two women out of the room without another word, closing and locking the door behind them. Blowing out a huge sigh once it’s closed, she finally looks completely relaxed.
“God, I hate that woman. She tried to play some underhanded tricks to force a wedge between me and Jacinta not long after she started. Luckily, we were able to see through them. If she wasn’t so damn good at her job, Jacinta would have fired her. I think she’s crazy for trusting her, but she’s willing to take the risk. She’s so protective over who the guys trust, but she’s not nearly as good at taking care of herself.” She shakes away her annoyance and waves at me. “Come on, get dressed! We’ll blow this place and go find us some food and fun.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Harlow
“Ok, I promised you the low down on Jaxon and Jacinta, but I might as well fill you in on everyone,” Hope says once the waiter takes our drink order. “Especially because Nana basically gave me the go ahead. If you wait for anyone else to tell you, you’ll be waiting forever. They're all so tight lipped that I never even heard about some of this from them. Once she saw how close I’d gotten to Holden and the others, Nana sat me down and filled in some of the blanks in their pasts. She knows how… difficult they can be, and she wanted to make sure that I gave them the benefit of the doubt if they ever did anything that might run an ordinary person off. That woman loves her family, and she just wants them all to have the best lives they can, even if she has to bend a little on respecting their privacy.”
I had driven us over to the restaurant in the Vanquish with the plan that I was going to have a couple of drinks and then stop so I could drive home later. There’s nothing enjoyable about a hangover when you’re bouncing around atop a horse running full throttle. No way I’m spending my and Dad’s ride with a killer migraine.
She’s quiet while our drinks are deposited in front of us, but she starts as soon as the waiter is out of hearing. “God, I don't know where to start. Maybe we’ll just go in order of adoption? Declan was Brad's first. I think he was about ten when he was adopted. His story is tragic but not as traumatic as some of the others. His parents were killed in a car accident, and he had no living relatives so he went into state care. I don't think he was there long before Brad got him, so he didn't have to go through the foster system. As far as I’m aware, they were loving, caring parents, but he’s got a bit of survivor’s guilt, I think, driving that overprotectiveness. I didn’t know him when he was that young, but I’ve been told that he used to be pretty anxious, worrying that things would happen to Brad, or Nana, or Poppy whenever they traveled for work or left for too long. I never could understand why, but he seems to blame himself in some way.” She takes a sip of her drink as I contemplate that. Yeah, okay, I can see how that could happen.
“About a year after he was adopted, Brad was approached by a woman. Nobody knows the details of the arrangement, but I have a feeling this one wasn’t done through proper authorities. When she left, she left behind the twins. Jacinta and Jaxon were about five, I think. Both were shy, and Jacinta showed signs of abuse, emotionalandphysical. Jaxon seemed like he’d been spared a lot of what Jacinta went through, but whatever he witnessed made the two of them extremely close, and you’ve seen first hand how protective he gets. Unfortunately, that only got worse when him and Declan teamed up.”
“Okay, but that doesn't explain the hostility toward me. In fact, the twins should be able to relate to me a lot more than most.”
“Yeah, but it doesn't end there. The woman that dropped them off was their mother. She was a mentally unstable junkie, and she’d always tell Jacinta that she was just a useless girl and nobody had any need for her. That she’d never be as good as her ‘darling Jaxon.’ Apparently, he looked just like their father, so their mom had some weird kind of fascination with him. As far as I know, it never amounted to anything beyond overt favoritism toward him, but that might be something Nana wouldn’t have wanted to share.”
Hope pauses, taking another sip and staring into her drink like she’s deciding what to say next. Meanwhile, my mind is racing. Though I feel bad for what Declan lost, his story didn’t hit me the same way the twins’ is. And to be honest, I’m kind of annoyed with myself because the more I hear, the more I feel myself taking a closer look at Jacinta. I meant what I’d said to Hope. Jacinta and I should have been able to connect with each other, that bond of knowing someone else has survived a taste of what you’ve gone through, and a part of me is actually a little hurt.
I could have had a real sister in her, someone to talk with who would have understood me on a level that Max never could, no matter how hard she tried. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that Jacinta is out to hurt my reputation, my chances of getting to know Dad, and finding a place in the Summers family. What I wasn’t expecting was to feel this kind of pang, the hurt of a missed opportunity.
“Anyway, Jacinta thrived in the house under the love and care of Brad and your grandparents, but when she was fifteen, her mother made her way back into her life somehow. One of the stipulations for Brad taking them off her hands was zero contact, but I guess she couldn’t resist what she saw as an easy pay day. She spent months manipulating Jacinta into thinking they were developing a loving mother/daughter relationship, but it turned out she just wanted a way to break into the Summers’ house and steal from them with her boyfriend and his feral gang. They robbed the place and even killed the one employee they could find after using Jacinta’s key and some stolen security codes to get inside. The poor guy was gunned down in cold blood. He’d just been unlucky enough to be sick that day, so he hadn’t joined the rest of the staff and family at the twins’ birthday party. Since everyone else was at the sweet sixteen, no one was there to save him or stop them. When the security footage was played and it was discovered who had done it, Jacinta changed. She went from a friendly, kind girl to the seemingly cold and definitely untrusting woman you’ve had the displeasure of meeting. She built walls to rival the Great Wall of China, andnothinggets through them.”
The waiter comes over then, interrupting her to take our dinner order. While Hope takes care of it, my mind reels with the information she’s just given me.
Oh my god. That explains so much, and I feel a lump of sympathy in my chest for her. I’m pretty sure that I would be similar to Jacinta if my mom had managed to do something like that to the Bostons. Luckily, they wised up early on, and she never had the chance to steal from them a second time, let alone murder someone in their home.
“So what happened to the mother? And what about a father? Where is he in all of this?” I ask.
She shrugs. “She and the gang disappeared. There was a man hunt for ages, but eventually they gave up. They’re still at large, but there was no more contact with Jacinta after that night. As for the father, they never knew who he was, and neither of them care. Brad’s all they’ve ever needed or wanted as far as they're concerned. In any case, none of this excuses her behavior, but at least now you know why Declan and Jaxon are such suckers for her drama.”
Not ready to possibly spiral into the memories and depression that will surely come from studying the parallels of our lives too closely, I move on for now. There’s a lot to really dig into with all of this, and I’ll never be able to let loose if I dwell. Dwelling is for later. “Okay, tell me more about the others,” I push, wanting to know more about the other men who’ve so captured my attention.
“Two years later, Thomas and Kai were adopted, both ten at the time. Unlike Declan, they both came from dysfunctional families, so those details are a little bit darker. I don’t know too much about their stories, and Nana didn’t really give much away, so I can’t help you out much there. Thomas has always been very quiet; after being teased pretty badly for his accent, he kind of gave up on talking. And I told you about his ex who stole company secrets...”
Her bringing up Thomas reminds me of what I heard in the Wardrobe, and I have to interrupt her. I can’t get the thought of Thomas, that lilting accent, and those green eyes out of my mind any better than I can stop thinking about the others. “Actually, I was listening to Lindy gossip with the new hire earlier, and she implied he might be gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” I quickly assure her, and she snorts loudly, almost choking on her drink. I have to pat her on the back a couple of times before she recovers.
“Gay? Fuck no! He’s the biggest man whore out there; he’s just a little more discrete. He’s usually fucking one of his flight attendants... or all of them. Since his ex, he hasn't spent a lot of time at home. Instead, he flies all over the world, overseeing the different branches of Neighpalm Air. God only knows what else he gets up to because it can’t all be Neighpalm business. He’s the one who takes the most independent time for himself, and I don’t know which of his siblings, if any, really know what he does with that time. In any case, the business gets taken care of, and the flight attendants certainly enjoy themselves.”
“Well, that would explain the hostility on my flight over,” I snark, and she raises her eyebrows.
“Oh really. Which one was it?
“Veronica, I think. Apparently Jilly was on vacation.”
“Jilly is awesome! I can't wait for you to meet her. Veronica must be getting a little too big for her boots if she’s throwing shade at the newest Summers.”
“Don’t worry, Nana put her in her place quite nicely.”
“God, I love Grace. I wish she was my Nana.” Her eyes shadow slightly as she says this, but she quickly shakes it off.
“Ok, Kai, there’s no gossip about him. What you see is what you get. He’s my favorite of the Summers siblings after Holden. Though he did have anger issues when he was younger, he channeled all of that aggression into martial arts and any kind of extreme sport he could try, much to Nana’s dismay. Neighpalm Energy Drink was his baby and has been since he was about eighteen.” Speaking of Kai, my all too eager body almost prickles with goosebumps at the thought of spending an entire weekend with him in Hawaii.
She breaks off her story while our food is delivered to the table, sliding our glasses to the side so we can make room. We ordered a few different dishes so we could try a little bit of everything.
“Okay, then when the twins were about fourteen, Brad adopted Oliver and Holden. They were both sixteen and were already super close since they’d been staying in the same state-funded home. As the story goes, Brad had intended to adopt a younger child, but when he saw the two of them, he realized how small the odds were of one teenager, let alone two, getting adopted and couldn’t bear to leave them there.”
