“I’m not one of his women,” I rushed to explain. “I’m just his friend.”
Riley crossed her arms over her chest. “Really? Jax looks at you like he’s starving, and you’re the first item on his dinner menu. Come on, Harlow. I know my brothers, and I’ve already seen that look on Hudson’s face when he looks at Taylor.”
“I noticed it, too,” Taylor added. “I didn’t know you guys had hooked up, but it’s perfectly obvious that he’s attracted to you.”
I shook my head. “Maybe he was two years ago, but he’s never done a single thing since we’ve been friends to make me think that the attraction is still there. Honestly, he’s just been an amazing support system for me, and keeping his dog Molly with me has really helped.”
“He actually gave Molly to you?” Riley asked in a shocked voice.
“Not forever,” I assured her. “She’s just on loan for a while.”
“Jax adores Tango and Molly. He rarely lets them out of his sight. He doesn’t loan his dogs,” Riley said. “Now I’m convinced he’s got it bad for you.”
“He told me he loans Molly out sometimes,” I argued.
“He lied,” Riley shot back. “But in his defense, he probably did it so you’d feel more comfortable. Parting with one of his dogs, even for a short time, would kill Jax. He’d never trust someone else to make sure Molly was well taken care of and safe. She was a shelter dog, and she was abused as a puppy. Not that anybody would know that because she’s so loving now, but Jax wouldn’t take the chance of that ever happening again. That’s why he kept her. He loaned her to you because he trusts you.”
“He never told me,” I muttered.
“Don’t be mad,” Riley pleaded.
“I’m not,” I replied. “Not at all. I know he meant well.”
I couldn’t bring myself to get angry because Jax had lied. I knew he’d been trying to make me comfortable.
Knowing the truth made me want to cry because he’d gone out on a limb with Molly’s safety just to help me.
I blinked back my tears as I said, “I think Jax is probably the most incredible guy I’ve ever known. The sad part is, I don’t think he knows just how amazing he really is, or how much some of the things he does helps other people. He keeps pointing out all of his faults, like I’m supposed to suddenly be turned off because of them. God, we all have flaws, but doesn’t he realize that all of the good things he does far outweighs the bad?”
“No,” Riley replied morosely. “All of my brothers are ridiculously critical of themselves. You asked about my mother, and I’m ready to answer that question now that I know how much you care about Jax.”
My heart started to race as I waited for her to continue.
Harlow
“My mother is alive,” Riley said solemnly. “But there’s no way in hell she’ll ever be attending any of her children’s weddings. Jax would never tell you that my father molested me as a child for many years. All of my brothers respect my privacy, but I think it’s important for any woman who cares about one of my brothers to know what our childhood was like. My mother knew what my father was doing, and she was actually his enabler rather than my protector. The status of the Montgomery name is everything to her, and the last thing she wanted was that kind of blemish or rumor to tarnish it. God forbid she couldn’t reign over the social elite crowd anymore. So she covered it up in any way she could. The woman is pure evil, just like my father.”
I was stunned, so it took me a few moments before I said, “The only thing Jax has ever told me is that his parents were monsters. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Riley.”
“Thanks,” she answered. “It screwed with my head for a long time, but it doesn’t anymore. Good treatment and an incredibly supportive husband helped me get past all that, but I think our childhood still left a mark on my brothers. They never knew it was happening, and I was too ashamed to tell them about it until long after my father was dead. None of them had it very easy, either. To be honest, none of us really had a childhood. My brothers were all shipped off to a boarding school for the intellectually gifted at a young age, and my father expected perfection. They were Montgomery heirs, and nothing was ever good enough. For God’s sake, the man had three sons who were geniuses, and that wasn’t good enough for him. We were all like Stepford children who wouldn’t dare do one tiny thing out of line. Yet, when the boys were home on vacation or breaks, they got nothing but criticism, and my parents were brutal in their cruelty. So yeah, that eventually rubbed off on all of them to the point where they criticized themselves the same way.”
“It was really bad,” Taylor added. “Hudson gets bogged down in guilt, and I think Jax still has issues seeing anything really good about himself. The arrogance is self-defense. All three of them can be high-handed and bossy, but I know in Hudson’s case, it’s nothing more than his concern about my wellbeing.”
Riley nodded. “All of them put on a good pretense on the exterior. I doubt most people see anything other than their fierce business acumen, and their confidence. Inside, it’s a different story. Every single one of them still tries to live up to impossibly high expectations, but feels like they fall short. It was probably a blessing that every single one of them went into the military. I think they found a purpose to their lives that they didn’t have before, and they escaped from my father’s influence.”
I shuddered as I thought about the childhood of constant criticism and emotional cruelty that Jax had endured. “Do you think they’re happy running Montgomery?”
“Absolutely,” Riley responded. “My brothers have pushed Montgomery to heights that it never saw under my father’s management. What better way to reassure themselves that they’re smarter than he was? They’ve all achieved their own success, and done things their way. Unfortunately, those childhood insecurities have a way of creeping back into the psyche sometimes. Lord knows we never heard a kind word or praise growing up. So we can all be hypercritical of ourselves sometimes. I’m not sure that instinct ever completely goes away.”
I shook my head. “I had no idea how bad it was, and I’m sure they blame themselves for what happened to you, even though they shouldn’t.”
“Of course they do,” Riley confirmed. “They’re my big brothers. They think they should have been able to keep me away from anybody and anything that would hurt me. I’m not sure any of them realize that they aren’t superhuman.”
“Their protective instinct is definitely in overdrive most of the time,” Taylor added.
Riley chuckled. “While I can’t vouch for that from a romantic point of view, the three of them can be overbearingly protective of me as their little sister.”