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I take in her features. "Are you referring to yourself when you say that?"
"Who, me? Nah!" She places her palms together in front of her. "I mean, the big boss of my company is a jerkass, but I don’t have much to do with him, so it’s all right. I like what I do, so that’s a positive."
"I wish I could find a career I love. I’m twenty-three and trying to work out what I want to do with my life."
"You have plenty of time to work that out," Mira assures me.
"But my mother doesn’t." I swallow down the ball of emotions that blocks my throat. "I need to find a way to keep her in the home. She’s comfortable there. Everyone knows her and is kind to her. If only I could find a job that I could hold onto, I—"
As if summoned, my phone buzzes with an incoming text message. I glance at it. "It’s from Abby," I murmur.
"Oh, what does she say?"
I read the message again, then hold up the phone for Mira.
Abby: I have the perfect job for you.
4
Penny
"No, absolutely not." I cross my arms across my chest. "I’m not going to work for that…that…"moron."Man." I shuffle my feet. "He’s your brother and I know he’s been through a lot, but he wasn’t very warm when I saw him last."
"He’s just gotten back from a traumatic experience." Abby bites the inside of her cheek. "I know he didn’t speak much when you met him, but really, he’s not a bad person, once you get to know him."
Which I don’t intend to do.
I slouch into her office armchair. It’s been a week since Knight returned. I haven’t seen him or Abby since. When she texted me to say she had a job for me, I was intrigued, but this was the soonest we’d been able to meet. I’d spent the time looking for a new job but had come up with nothing. In all honesty, this possible opportunity she's offering me is my last resort. I’m running out of options. But now that she’s told me who I’m going to work for, I’m sure it’s not right for me.
"I’m not here to pass judgment on him, but our personalities are so different. He barely speaks—"except in grunts and growls, which, admittedly, has a certain appeal. If you go in for the alphahole type of man… Which I do not.I don't."He barely acknowledged me when we met. And even then, he spent all of that time glowering at me. I, on the other hand, like to be friendly to people. I want to be positive. I prefer to believe in the goodness of others. While he seems to expect the worst from those around him."
"Which is why you’re perfect for him."
"Which is why we’re all wrong for each other," I scoff.
She rises from her seat behind the desk and crosses the floor to sit down next to me. "Look, Penny, Knight wasn’t always like this. He was an idealist. He believed in the greater good."
"This, from the man who now wants to join your father’s organized crime business?"
"He wants to join my father’slegalbusiness," she corrects me.
"Which was built using the money that came from the illegal activities your father was involved in, as you’ve told me many times."
She winces. "Not denying that. But if that’s what he wants to do, I can’t stop him."
"It doesn’t make sense. He was on a mission for the government, and from everything you've told me, he was a patriot. A believer in wanting to contribute to the greater good. Now, he wants to embrace capitalism and make money?"
"And grow the company to become the foremost in the world in its field." She lowers her chin to her chest. "He’s changed. Something happened to him when he was taken captive by the enemy."
"Yeah, well, he was a prisoner of war; can’t imagine that’d be an enjoyable experience," I murmur.
She locks her fingers together. "He was there for six months. Whatever they did to him killed the humanity inside him." She presses her knuckles to the space over her heart. "I don’t recognize my brother anymore. He used to be warm, and even though being a soldier is not the easiest job in the world, he loved it. It was his calling, you know? There was not a day when he didn’t want to make the world a better place for everyone. But now… It’s like all traces of that man are gone. I don’t recognize who he is anymore."
I lean forward in my seat. "He’s only been back a week. As long as he’s getting help, that should get him through the aftermath of what happened, and hopefully, he'll go back to leading a normal life."
"That’s just it. He refuses to get help."
"Eh?" I blink. "So, he’s not seeing a therapist."
