Page 175 of Broken Brothers

Well, until Edwin’s spies see you and then they know what to look for.

Goddamn, really wish I didn’t have to think of that this early.

Without grabbing a bite to eat and only a quick gulp of water, I made my way down the elevator, out the door, and to the left where my Mom had delivered the news that had given me the opportunity to do what I was doing.

Let’s just hope this goes even half as well as it did with Mom. That would qualify as a victory.

Above me, the sky was slowly beginning to drop hints that the sun would be rising soon with the brightening blue, the gradual pickup of pedestrian traffic, and the increase of honking. I’d say birds, but no one could hear nature in New York City. It was a point that made me think a little bit about Layla’s request from the night before, to leave this city when the time came for us to be a thing.

First things first, though. Coffee, meeting, Edwin fallout, get with Layla, get with Layla for a while, and then maybe leave a city.

About the only one of those that felt guaranteed was the coffee.

I walked into Joe’s Latte, the place where my mother had originally planned before switching up. I thought of doing the same with my impending guest, but if I was being trailed, there was no reason for that. I hadn’t noticed anyone doing so this morning, but that only told me Edwin’s people weren’t being so obvious anymore.

I got my dark coffee, without sugar or anything else, and sat down at a corner booth, slowly sipping on the piping hot drink, allowing it to slowly bring my senses to life.

I’d gotten halfway through when my requested guest showed up, sure enough, wearing a suit and tie, a nice black coat,black slacks, and shoes that probably had a higher cost than everything on my body combined.

“Surprised you still showed,” I grumbled.

“Why?” my brother, Morgan, said. “I’m still your brother.”

“Yeah, but are you still on my side?”

Morgan grimaced, giving me a direct look of pain, but did not say a word in response to that.

“We should go somewhere else,” Morgan said.

“This shit again?”

“Edwin really has it out for you, Chance,” he said. “I know a place they don’t.”

I grumbled something about how Edwin has it out for everyone, but I made it a point to finish my coffee as quickly as I could before more or less pounding the mug on the table. I followed Morgan out, putting my hood over my head and keeping my head bowed, focusing only on Morgan’s fancy dress shoes.

Wouldn’t you know it, Morgan took me to the same goddamn 70’s coffee shop that my mother had.

“Did Mom tell you to take me here?” I said.

“Mom has a few ideas,” Morgan said, drawing the faintest of smiles.

It wasn’t a perfect match, as Morgan and I sat in a different booth than where Mom and I had sat, but the parallels were close enough to unsettle me just a bit.

“So, you wanted to see me?” Morgan asked.

I pulled out my phone, set the volume low, and opened my email app.

“I don’t know why you went back to your father in the first place,” I said. “But you need to know what kinds of things he’s saying to your clients.”

I then played the clip from Andrew in all of its glory, admittedly relishing in the cathartic feelings that came fromseeing the shocked expressions on Morgan’s face. What was of particular interest, though, was how after the first thirty seconds or so, he did not seem that surprised about anything. It was as if my smoking gun was nothing more than a Nerf one that had caught fire.

“Jesus,” Morgan said.

“So,” I said. “You want to work for a guy like him? Be my guest. But there’s a whole avalanche of bad press coming his way, Morgan, not the least of which has to do with the divorce. Bad press that I believe will eventually lead to his resignation at Hunt Industries. You can stay on board if you want, but if you want to avoid getting caught in the downfall, I suggest you start exploring your options.”

Morgan leaned back into the booth, eyes up to the sky, fingers strumming on the table. I had seen him at his most stressed, to the point that he’d resorted to the bottle and fallen into a night of texting many of his exes for drunken hookups, and this…

Was not even close to that?