Page 138 of Broken Brothers

I put my phone away after some time, deciding it wouldn’t do any good to create more confusion in my life at a time when I precisely needed much less of it. Edwin and Morgan were likely about to throw a lot my way, and I needed a clear frame of mind to operate out of.

Even if that seemed like wishful thinking on my part.

When I came to the building, it seemed more ominous than it ever had. It was a drab gray building, not a sleek, architecturally significant building like many new ones in the Manhattan area. Edwin had had it built sometime in the 70’s, and it showed. It had not aged well, but then again, maybe that was the point.Maybe it wanted to go for that “classic” feel—which I took as code for underwhelming look.

I stepped inside and was surprised to see Edwin Hunt waiting for me in the lobby, wearing a big, ugly grin. I immediately had a terrible fucking feeling about all of this, especially since Edwin looked happy. If he was happy, I almost certainly was not going to be.

“Welcome, Chance,” he said. “Come with me.”

I didn’t fight. I had what I wanted. I moved with Edwin through the lobby, to a private elevator, and rode up with him.

It was strange how for so long, I’d wanted to kick this man’s ass for everything that he had done. I wanted to teach him a lesson he wouldn’t forget with what little life he had left.

But now? He just looked like the classic miser who operated well in only one condition—at work. He didn’t so much walk as he waddled; he breathed heavily just getting on the elevator; and he was already sweating. He might have had a shitload of money, but clearly, billions of dollars couldn’t buy him a cardiovascular system that was even mediocre, let alone good.

It also couldn’t buy him a family that loved him. Sure, Morgan might have kept him around, but I knew what he was doing. He was taking my side in the end, he had sworn as much.

The doors opened to a private hallway. The doors to Edwin’s office were already open. Even the secretary had disappeared. I didn’t know if this was good or bad news, but at least whatever happened between us would just remain between us.

Assuming, of course, that Edwin didn’t record this for his own purposes.

When I stepped inside his office, I saw what the walls had obstructed—a small, circular table. Morgan sat in one chair, with two other chairs pulled up.

“What’s going on, Morgan?” I said.

He didn’t respond. He was dressed… way too nicely. I was just wearing a sweater and jeans. He was in a full suit and tie outfit, as if…

As if he had come back to work at Hunt Industries.

It all but got confirmed when he refused to look me in the eyes.Damnit, Morgan… why?

“Let’s have a seat,” Edwin said, closing the doors. “How are you this morning, Chance?”

“I’ll be better when I know what’s going on.”

“I see, right to the point, I can respect that.”

Edwin was surely just trolling me at this point by going slow, but I swore not to react emotionally. I kept my mouth shut as he took a seat, gasping for air as he did so. Maybe Morgan did have a point. Maybe I just had to wait for him to croak and then life would be good. It wouldn’t be years given the man’s condition. Months, maybe.

“Well, Chance, you have been a rather prickly thorn in my side the last couple of months, I think we can all acknowledge that. Your rogue attitude, your condescension to me, and your lackadaisical behavior concern me and it concerns Morgan. I have to admit, I was mighty displeased with Morgan here when he told me he was quitting the family business to start something with you.”

“You don’t say,” I said, but Morgan’s look told me to shut the hell up. I would, but only because I was concerned I would say something that would come back to bite me in the ass.

“I told Morgan that it was one thing to start a business on his own. It was another to do it with someone who could not control their physical impulses.”

Oh, how my fists balled up at that. Oh, how I wanted to jump across the table and choke this asshole out with his tie.

“But in the end, boys will be boys and you two have to make the mistakes that you made,” he said.

Like witnessing my brother’s father steal away an entire base of employees to fuck over a startup we had invested in? I suppose that’s one mistake.

“Now, let me explain something to you real quick, Chance,” Edwin said. “Your actions have put my son in a terrible spot.”

“My—”

I shut my mouth again when Morgan again shot me a look.

“Your actions have made my son homeless, jobless, and in a general state of frustrated and defeated. When I most recently saw him, I saw a man who had aged five years in just two months. He looked like he hadn’t slept. And then, when he explained to me what you were planning to do, why, if I didn’t have years of wisdom under my belt, boy, I’d have a right mind to come in here and slap you myself.”