“Hey, come on,” Anton interjected. “He didn’t mean it like that, right Vince? You’re our campaign manager extraordinaire. No one knows better than you.”
I wasn’t stupid. In general, Anton didn’t think much more of me than Vincent did, but he was trying to keep the peace, which I appreciated. We did have a long day ahead of us after all, and it was only going to be longer if we were fighting, so as much as I hated to do so, I swallowed my pride and dragged my phone out of my purse.
Navigating to where I had the schedule for the day saved, I sighed at the amount of work I’d put into making it easy to read and understand. The staff below my father and brothers got a pared down version of the schedule, specified to what each group of staff needed to know for the day, but the one I referenced was sent only to my brothers and father. Vincent clearly hadn’t read it, Anton likely hadn’t read it, and I knew when I sent it that my father wouldn't read it.
All my hard work had been for nothing.
"Our first engagement is at ten-thirty the bi-centennial celebration at the children's hospital. Dad is giving a televised speech and so are you. Anton, you're off the hook, but there will be cameras everywhere, so you and I will help present wishes to some of the children while the speeches are happening."
"You got it," Anton confirmed.
"We'll be eating lunch in the limo on the way to the Hannah Conservatory for a photoshoot in front of the Narzand expansion. All three of you are expected to be in those. That starts at one and we absolutely cannot be there longer than an hour because we're expected at the Veteran's luncheon for speeches by two-thirty. Vince and dad both, plus a toast from you, Anton."
“Okay,” Anton said.
“Then, of course, we finish the night at the CosmoCo hotel, which is attached to the Apex Founders Technology, ribbon cutting. All three of you are expected for speeches.” Then I sighed. “I don’t even know why I went over all of this right now. I’ll have to say it all again when dad gets in.”
“No,” Anton said. “He doesn’t need to know the schedule.”
I furrowed my brow. “What?”
“Everything of importance is being taken care of by me with Vince’s help. You just worry about keeping him in front of the cameras, kiss any babies, and for the love of god, make sure he keeps his hands to himself. The last thing we need is anotherCharicesituation,” Anton said. “If we weren’t able to pay her off, that would have been bad.”
Vincent let out a snicker. “Sick mothers are good for something after all.”
Rage boiled up in my blood and it took everything in my body not to chuck something across the limo at Vincent’s head. “You are a real piece of shit, you know that?”
"Geez, what's gotten into you? I usually have to keep Vince from starting shit up," Anton hissed.
“Me? What about what he just said?” I squawked. “After what our mother went through.”
Though we’d never been The Brady Bunch, we were much closer when my mother was still alive. Even my brothers took her death hard. That Vincent could say something so awful about a woman who’d been harassed by my father and her sick mother proved just how disgusting a human being he was.
Vincent crossed his arms. "It was a joke; you can normally take those at least. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today or something?"
I frowned. "I woke up to the unfortunate news that I'm losing the job I've only had for a handful of months after working towards it my entire life, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm not my typical level of subservient."
"I told you already that you aren't losing your job," Vincent growled. "You'll work for me."
"I toldyoualready that I'm not working for you." I crossed my arms to match Vincent. "I made no promises to serve you, and though it apparently comes as a big surprise to you, I'm not the least bit interested in doing so. Go find yourself someone who knows how to kiss your rings. It won't be me."
"Even if I'm the one who's governor now, we'll still be a family," Vincent said. "And we'll still need to act like one."
I scowled at his vapid attempt to sound heart-warming. "Already practicing your victory speech, I see. How touching. I'll try not to gag until I get home."
"You appear to be under the impression that you have a choice in the matter," Vincent said. "We've built an image, a brand. Whether or not you like it, you're a part of it. What Cur—our father's plans are, I'm unsure, but I know he intends to keep us as a unit, so stop being such a sniveling brat and fall in line."
"And who's gonna make me? You?"
He smiled as if to say,challenge accepted."My god, you are such an insufferable bitch."
Despite being slightly fearful of the tone in his voice, I made sure to smile back. "That's funny, I was just thinking the same about you."
Anton stamped his foot against the floor of the limo. "That's enough, both of you. Holy shit, at this rate, I wish I were losingmyjob." He shifted his gaze specifically to me. "We're offering you a chance to maintain the role you worked so hard for it, but if you don't want it, fine, we'll find someone else."
"Hey," Vincent barked, glaring at Anton. "You're speaking out of turn."
But Anton just held up his hand and Vincent quieted. I never quite understood the relationship between my brothers, they'd always been thick as thieves despite the fact that Vincent had never been pleasant to be around, even as a child. There were three years between them, but Anton always behaved like he and Vincent were the same age, if not older.
