Page 46 of Code Name: Michelangelo

I motioned to the stove. “What can I do to help?”

“Coffee would be divine. By the way, why are you up so early?”

“Second-guessing every decision I’ve ever made.”

Brand set the spatula on the counter and stepped closer to me. “Every decision you’ve made has been the right one. It led you here. To me, if you will. And me to you. For that, I’ll be eternally grateful for every horrible mistake I ever made.”

“That’s one way of looking at it.”

“All I ask is that you not second-guess me.”

“I’m trying not to. I promise.”

He glanced behind me at the coffeemaker.

“I’m on it.”

Once it was brewing, I went to the pantry and pulled out the ingredients for cinnamon rolls. They were my specialty, and I knew Brand loved them.

“I didn’t dare hope,” he said, looking over at what I was doing.

“If you’d slept a little later, they’d be fresh out of the oven and I would’ve had coffee made.”

“And still, I’ll get both, plus you’ll get bacon and eggs. What a team we are.” He wriggled his eyebrows like he had a minute ago.

“You’re such a flirt. But then, you always have been.”

“Only with you, Butterfly.”

I scoffed. “Right. You spent months in Italy. Don’t tell me pretty Italian girls didn’t try to catch your eye.”

“I said I didn’t flirt; I never said they didn’t.”

Doc showed up before the others, and while I offered to leave the two men alone to talk, Brand insisted I stay.

“Let’s get my conversation with your father out of the way.”

“Right,” said Brand. “My?—”

“Do not apologize again. You are not responsible for your father’s behavior any more than I am.”

“Understood.”

“He informed me that upon your thirtieth birthday, you have inherited half of Emsworth’s businesses and, according to the terms of the trust, you are responsible for the daily operation of those entities.”

“I haven’t received a copy of the trust in its entirety,” Brand responded.

“Until you do, you are under no obligation to act based on your father’s interpretation of what is stated within the document. Once you’ve received the trust packet Emsworth is legally required to provide, have an attorney review it. Regardless of whether it says you’re responsible for any amount of hands-on management, it would be contestable. My guess is he knows that already and has chosen to exercise power he has not been granted.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Brand muttered.

“Another topic to cover with whomever you have review the trust is precedent. It may be that upon his inheritance from your grandfather, he took on the responsibility of his own accord. Perhaps your grandfather did the same. Legally, you cannot be forced to do that, too. If the trust is worded that way, the document—or at least that section of it—would be overturned in court.”

“Understood,” Brand repeated.

“Now, let’s discuss intent. If you have changed your mind about working for K19 Security Solutions after learning of your inheritance?—”

“I have not.”

---