Page 176 of Broken Brothers

Though Morgan certainly wore the signs of stress on his face, there was also a part of him that looked oddly focused, as if what he had seen was not so much new as it was just confirming what he already knew. He wasn’t flustered, certainly not appearing as I imagine Edwin had when Melanie had announced her divorce.

“Do you remember when I asked you to promise that you would always believe me, no matter what happened?”

“This shit again,” I muttered, but Morgan did not waver. “Layla’s been saying the same thing about love. All these promises that seem to get broken… but, yes I do remember.”

Just because I remembered the words, though, didn’t mean that I believed them. I remembered a lot of things people had said to me throughout the years which I no longer believed. Andright now, while I appreciated Morgan meeting with me, I still could not see him as anything other than a rat.

“Do you still believe that I am on your side?”

I let out a very, very long sigh, one that I hoped would make it clear that the answer wasn’t clearcut.

Because surprisingly, when Morgan had asked the question in such a straightforward manner, there was a part of me that wanted to give you the chance.

“I don’t, brother,” I said.

Something about my answer made Morgan smile, which seemed like the most unexpected response possible to what I had said. It certainly wasn’t a sarcastic remark, in part because the smile faded so quickly. But… what the fuck?

“Well, I don’t blame you for that the way things are going. But do me a favor. Promise me, at the absolute minimum, that you won’t be going anywhere between now and the end of the week.”

“So what, two days? No, I’m not going anywhere. Not outside the city, at least. Why?”

Now it was my turn to sound real suspicious.

“I’m going to show you what I mean.”

What the fuck does that even mean?

“Just wait. You’ll see.”

“OK,” I said, although I had no idea what the fuck he meant. I didn’t even bother to try and conjecture at what the hell he meant; to do so would either just make me angrier or make me feel more ridiculous for asking such stupid questions. “I hope you know what you’re doing, by the way. I’ve gotten a lot of hell from your father over Virtual Realty because of my attempts to circumnavigate MCH.”

“I know,” Morgan said with an exasperated smile that felt like an attempt to bond with me. “But have you noticed that MCH has not yet dissolved?”

“Of course not. You told me that would take months to happen.”

“And do you really think that Edwin would need to wait months if that were the case?”

Hmm…

I felt like I was in a giant jigsaw puzzle, but from my vantage point to the board, I could only see one piece, making it all but impossible for me to know how the pieces connected, how many pieces there were, or what the picture even was. I only knew that I was on a jagged piece that fit in with something else, but I doubted I even knew what piece was what end.

“In any case, it’s still viable, Chance,” Morgan said. “Just hold tight. I promise things will get better soon.”

“You promise a lot of things,” I said.

“I know,” Morgan said. “But give it time. That’s all I ask.”

He looked down at his watch.

“I have to get going,” he said. “Dad needs me to do some early morning research stuff. Do me a favor, though. Send me that file?”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I growled. “You want your dad to see that? To know Andrew recorded him? That’s a really fucking fast way to get sued and to lay waste to Virtual Realty.”

“Just do it, OK?” Morgan said, a pleading look in his eyes.

But there was no chance in hell I was going to do this.

“Do that, and all will be well, Chance.”