"Excuse me?"
"Like your twin brother, Archer. And you have another brother, Hunter, right? And one named Garrett?" I chuckled. "That's so weird. Did your mom name you all after war instruments? Was she a video game geek?"
Mace glared at me, gray eyes steely.
"My mother was only thirteen when she was coerced by my father to join a cult. She got pregnant at fourteen with her first child and had eight more in as many years until she left. So, yeah, that's what she named us. What do you expect? She was basically a child; she had no education. But good on you for mocking a victim. I bet you feel real superior."
"Oh," I said, feeling stupid. "I put my foot in my mouth. It's an unfortunately regular occurrence with me. I'm so sorry."
"Grow up," Mace snapped at me. "You are a useless person. I don't want you here, and I'm going to make sure you quit before the week is out."
I looked down at my shoes.
"Your work assignments are in your inbox," Mace said. "I suggest you start your day."
10
Mace
Icouldn't believe Josie. How dare she make fun of my mother?
"I need to get rid of her," I fumed.
I went across the hall to my brother Garrett's office while I watched Josie through the layers of glass. She set out jars of candy and pulled a bowl out of her purse.
"What are you doing in here?" Garrett, my CFO, asked.
"I hate that assistant," I told him.
"Hate is a strong word and should be reserved for people who dump puppies on the side of the road, people who don't use an Oxford comma, and our father," Garrett said from behind his computer screen.
"She insulted our mother."
"Do you see me?" Garrett asked, not looking up from his spreadsheet. "I'm rolling my eyes. Mentally. You can practically hear them scraping the back of my head."
"You never liked Mom."
"Of course I didn't like Mom," Garrett sneered. "By the time I was born, she was five kids deep and threw anything within reach at you if you came near her or interrupted her TV-viewing time."
"She was a victim."
"No one forced her to live in that compound."
"She was a child," I argued.
Garrett shrugged. "So were we."
"I forgot what an asshole you are," I snapped at him, though I knew I was going to regret it.
My younger brother looked at me, eyes cold. His military-short haircut made him look dangerous. It was not an inaccurate conclusion to draw. I'd seen Garrett bring companies to their knees and devour their carcasses.
"I have zero sympathy for people who make bad choices," Garrett said in a clipped tone. "Now you are starting to get on my nerves. You need to calm down."
"You could help," I said churlishly.
Garrett waved his hand. "How do you think everything gets funded, hmm? You think Greg and Hunter arethatsmart?"
"No?" I said cautiously. Talking with Garrett was like dancing with a snake that had a knife duct-taped to its tail. I was always going to be on the losing end.
