“It upset her. She’s not good with any sort of confrontation.”
“I know. She has a deep need to take care of people. To make sure that they’re happy. You’ll have to watch that she doesn’t give too much. Like she does with her work.”
Isaac opened his mouth then closed it again, looking thoughtful. “You’re good with her.”
“What do you mean?” He took a sip of his coffee.
“You got her to agree to finishing work early. She was going to argue with me.”
“Well, sometimes you tend to command rather than cajole.”
“You’re a Dom too.”
“Ahh, but according to you I’m far too easy and indulgent. And I’m only dominant in the bedroom.”
Isaac snorted. “Yeah, I’m starting to wonder about that. About whether you’re just sneakier. Your dominance is there, it’s just quieter.”
“That’s amazingly insightful, little brother.” And not necessarily a welcome insight.
Isaac ran his hand over his face tiredly. “We need to talk about shit rather than continuing to argue.”
Well, okay. That was an unexpected breakthrough.
“Agreed.”
Isaac let out a breath. “Did you know that our parents were disappointed that I wasn’t a girl?”
Archer frowned. “What?”
“I overheard them talking about it one night. They were discussing whether to try again, but the doctors said that Mother shouldn’t have another baby. That it wasn’t safe. Then they discussed whether to adopt but Father said that he would rather have a boy of his blood than a girl who did not share his DNA. Like we were fucking interchangeable.”
Jesus Christ. What the fuck?
“When was this?”
“I was eight.”
“I’m so sorry. That was a fucking shitty thing for you to overhear as a kid.” Or as an adult.
“Yeah. They never wanted me. It was probably a relief to them, to find some reason to push me out of the family. I’m not ever going to have a relationship with them again.”
“I get it. They can’t treat you like that. It was just wrong. And hell, if you’re perverted, so am I.”
“Now, Archie, we both know I’m more perverted than you.”
“It’s not a fucking competition.”
His brother just grinned. Idiot.
“We are not holding a ‘who’s more perverted’ competition.”
“Aww, because you know I’ll win,” Isaac joked.
Archer was glad he found something funny. Because he was feeling decidedly unamused. “Right, so Mom and Dad are assholes. That’s agreed. But about Evelyn…”
Isaac sighed. “She was a mistake. I was blinded by her. I thought she was everything I’d ever wanted, and she played me.” Isaac looked away then back at him. “I felt like a fool.”
“Issy.” He leaned forward, his heart hurting for his brother.