Page 7 of Broken

“Mmhmm, the rougher the better.” Mason licks his lips.

I roll my eyes, feigning my disgust, when I’m only jealous that my little brother isn’t jaded by the endless monotony of making the same small talk with a different person every week all in the hopes of a good fuck. And even that is losing its appeal.

“Shall we get back to my problem?” I remind them.

They mumble their agreement as the waitress delivers fresh beers.

“So he’s already got this wife picked out for you?” Mason asks.

“Yeah.” I nod, recalling how ridiculous the conversation was. “He even has a meeting set up with her family lawyers for Thursday.”

Elijah frowns. “Jesus fuck, Nathan!”

“Yeah, you already said that, asshole,” I say.

“I know, but I think it’s worth repeating.” He’s rarely this animated, and his reaction reassures me that our father’s proposition to me earlier today was as outrageous as it seemed.

I take a long swig of my beer. “So what the fuck do I do?”

“First, who is this chick?” Mason asks.

“Well, she’s awoman, and her name is Melanie Edison.”

Elijah’s eyebrows shoot up. “Luke Edison’s daughter?”

I nod. “The one and only.”

Mason grins. “She was two years below me in high school. My buddies all thought she was hot.”

She doesn’t have much of a social media presence, and the few pictures I did find online were from various animal rights and environmental charity functions. She appears to be impeccably turned out—brunette, curves in all the right places, a beautiful smile—but the photos gave the impression that she hated the camera. I sure know how that feels. There was no hintof a smile in the posed shots, but a couple of candids showed her laughing. Those were the ones that intrigued me most. “She’s still hot,” I tell them. “But that’s beside the point.”

Mason’s brow wrinkles like he’s deep in thought. “I heard she works as a vet’s assistant or something now.”

I nod. “Yeah, that matches what I found. She volunteers for a shelter too.”

Mason nods. “That rings true. She was always fundraising for the local animal shelter in high school.”

Elijah takes a swig of his beer and nods approvingly. “Seems like she’s a nice person, then. At least there’s that.”

Mason sucks air through his teeth. “I’m sure I recall something about her dropping out of college to do a few months in rehab. Not that it makes her a not-nice person, and that could have just been a rumor.”

I nod my agreement. “Yeah, she took a year off, and all the reports I found alluded to rehab.” I spent four hours after I left my dad’s house researching all there is to know about her. She has a college degree from Ohio State, has an unhealthy obsession with jelly donuts, lives in the meatpacking district with her cousin, Tyler, and has a twenty-year-old sister who’s currently studying at Harvard. Melanie Edison is an interesting woman. Not half as interesting as her brother though.

Elijah’s brow furrows. “So Dad wants grandkids. A legacy. But what does Melanie Edison get from this?”

“Um. She marries a handsome billionaire, fuck-knuckle,” Mason retorts.

Elijah shakes his head. “She works as a vet’s assistant.”

“Veterinary nurse,” I correct him.

“Okay, but I dunno.” He shrugs. “Doesn’t seem like the kind of job a gold digger would have. And what’s Dad thinking? I could see why he might set you up with some heiress or socialite, but a veterinary nurse?”

I sigh. “Technically she is an heiress, there’s just fuck all left of Edison Holdings to inherit, and the old man was fond of her father. Seems he bumped into her mother and brother at some event, and they got to talking. Turns out their company’s failing and they’re looking for some investors.”

Elijah groans. “He’s not investing in their company, is he?”

I shake my head. “He made it clear that’s firmly off the table. But a marriage into the James family lends their failing business credibility, and it offers a level of assurance—accurate or not—to potential investors.”

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