“What do you need me to say, little man?” he asked. Matthew said, “I don’t want …” He didn’t say anything else for a long moment. Then he added, “To hear you say anything—” He seemed to be measuring the words out, tipping them out of a jar and checking to be sure he still had enough to go on. “—because now I know—” He did not remotely sound like himself when he spoke that way. “—you’re as big a liar as Declan.” Ronan’s face felt hot. Stinging. “Oh,” he said.
