Page 129 of Broken Brothers

As Claire leaned into me, I pulled my phone out and texted Morgan.

“Your dad just decimated Rising Sun. Hired all of Claire’s employees. Whose side are you going to be on?”

I saw that Morgan read the message moments later, but I didn’t wait to see what he said. I was too fucking enraged at what had happened.

“I’m sorry, Claire,” I said. “I’m so sorry. I’m…”

I couldn’t fucking take it anymore.

“I’m going to fucking kill that bastard.”

“What?” Claire said, pulling back. “Who?”

“Who else?” I said. “My adoptive father.”

Claire took a couple of steps back. I could see something I’d never before seen in her eyes—fear.

I’m not sure what mine looked like. I’m sure they conveyed some degree of unbelievable rage and frustration. I’m sure that they expressed a vengeful desire to avenge someone whose business was now all but done under.

But I had never expected to see Claire look like she feared for her life. I had never expected that in the heat of the moment, she would look like I had threatened her childhood cat with murder. And yet, my anger for Edwin Hunt was so great that it didn’t stop me from saying anything. It was all on the table.

“Do you have any idea what Edwin wants to do to us?” I said. “He wants to ruin me and he wants to ruin Morgan. And he’s going to affect anyone he can and fuck over those closest to me. He found out that we were together, Claire. And now you’re in his line of sight.”

“What are you talking about?” Claire said, her eyes fearful but also some suspicion in her voice.

“I mean Edwin Hunt is the one who hired all of your employees away from you. All at once? That’s too rare for it to be coincidence. It didn’t just happen that everyone woke up and decided to quit. He knew he could get you, and he has. He’s doing whatever he can to fuck you over because you are with me.”

“Chance!”

I was taken aback by her shout.

“Get it together, please. They all got hired to different places.”

“Different subsidies of Hunt Industries, I’m sure.”

“No, Chance, don’t,” Claire said. “This isn’t the Chance Hunt I know—”

“It’s not Chance Hunt,” I growled, causing Claire to step back even more. Realizing that my words probably sounded like a threat, I put my hand to my head, turned, took a deep breath, and turned back. “Sorry. I’m just… just call me by my birth name. Chance Givens.”

“OK,” Claire said, almost pleadingly, as if negotiating with someone about to hurt her. “Just… Chance, there’s no way—”

“You’re—”

I paused, realizing I was still interrupting Claire.

“Chance, please,” she said. “Listen to me. Even if Edwin Hunt did this, even if some evil CEO guy swooped in to take all of the jobs out of some vengeful spite for you… he couldn’t have hired away someone who truly enjoyed working for me. I need to take ownership of what happened. I didn’t value my employees enough. I didn’t… I didn’t keep you at arm’s length.”

She sighed.

The truth was out. We had both reached the same conclusion. We couldn’t be together anymore. We shouldn’t have in the first place, really, but everything that had transpired today had confirmed it.

“We should never have slept together,” I said. “We were both hurt and confused in the aftermath of breakups and heartbreaks and just went for the closest person we could get.”

“And now it’s cost me my business,” Claire said.

That stung worse than if Claire had called me a delusional asshole. If I was such a person, I would have kept the fallout from my idiocy relatively confined.

But me ruining her business? That was on me. I had ruined her life. Where would she go now? MCH? What was I going to do, hire all of my former lovers? That sure seemed to set a good precedent for future operations. I’m sure my future girlfriends and wife would love that.