Page 13 of The Breakup Broker

The request coiled around my ribs, squeezing the air from my lungs. He was right—he never asked for anything, not even when they’d moved him here. While my father demanded the world reshape itself to his will, James Morrison accepted life’s changes with quiet grace.

“I’ll see you soon, Grandpa.”

Outside, the October sun painted Manhattan in shades of gold, but I could only see the storm in Savvy’s eyes when she’d delivered Caroline’s goodbye. My phone buzzed again—probably my father, demanding an update. Instead of answering, I pulled up a different contact and dialed.

“Mason? I need a favor, off the books.”

The line crackled momentarily before Mason’s steady, deep voice answered. “The last time you asked for an off-the-books favor was that mess in the Caymans.”

The Caymans. My jaw tightened at the memory. A too-loud night, too much bourbon, and the reckless spiral that ended in a holding cell. I’d thought I could drink Savvy out of my system and drown her memory in liquor and poordecisions, but it had been impossible. She clung to the corners of my mind, untouchable and relentless, even as I tried to lose myself in the haze.

Mason had been the one to pull me out of it—literally. He’d dragged me from the mess I’d made before it hit the papers, but not before delivering a scathing assessment of my character. He hadn’t minced words. “This isn’t you, Henry,” he’d said. “At least, it didn’t used to be.”

“I need you to find someone for me,” I said, forcing the words past the tightness in my chest. “Savannah Honeysucker.”

A sharp intake of breath sounded on the other end of the line. “Jesus, Henry. Your father?—”

“That’s why this stays between us.”

There was a pause, one that seemed heavier than it should have. Mason wasn’t a man who hesitated often. His answer came, steady and sure. “Give me an hour.”

CHAPTER SIX

Savvy

Like my professional composure, the lock on The Paper Crane’s bathroom had seen better days—scratched, tarnished, and barely holding it together. I pressed my forehead against the cool tile wall, counting breaths like Mom taught me when the world got too big. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Repeat until the room stops spinning.

Years of constructed walls were demolished by one pair of blue eyes.

The fluorescent light overhead hummed faintly, the only sound piercing the silence. Time dragged—thirty minutes? Sixty? Over an hour. I couldn’t tell. My phone sat untouched in my bag, notifications piling up. I didn’t dare look. What would I even say?

I leaned back against the wall, knees tucked to my chest, letting the chill of the tile seep through my clothes. Breathe, Savvy.

The door rattled.

“Open up, it’s us.” Ivy’s voice carried that edge she reserved for wedding-day meltdowns and mascara emergencies.

My hands shook as I lifted and flipped the lock. Ivy burst in first, a whirlwind of honey-blonde hair and concern, with Maddy behind her, pulling emergency tissues from her bag.

“What happened?” Maddy’s question carried the weight of five years of avoided conversations.

“Henry.” His name made my throat close. “My mark was Henry.”

“Seriously, Savvy,” Maddy said. “Henry … as in?—”

“As in, why I’m hiding in a bathroom instead of finishing a job? Yes.” I slid back down to the floor, my legs refusing to hold me up any longer. “Caroline hired me to break up with him.”

“Caroline who?” Maddy sat beside me, her shoulder pressed against mine. The familiar scent of her shampoo—the same Japanese cherry blossom she’d used since high school—wrapped around me like a security blanket.

“His girlfriend. Well, almost fiancée." I laughed, the sound closer to a sob. “He had a ring.”

“Oh, honey.” Ivy crouched in front of me, her face a mirror of that night five years ago when she’d found me crying on the bookstore floor. She’d stayed with me until sunrise. Then, we both curled up in the window seat while I waited for texts that never came.

“Tell us everything.” Maddy’s arm slid around my shoulders, pulling me closer. We’d perfected this formation years ago—me in the middle, Maddy solid and steady on one side, Ivy fierce and protective on the other. Through first heartbreaks and college finals, failed business plansand rebuilt dreams, this was our default setting. We were an unbreakable trio.

“I walked in, and he was ... there.” The words tumbled out between shaky breaths. “Sitting at my usual table, looking exactly the same but completely different.”

“Different, how?” Ivy’s hand found mine, her fingers cool against my palm.

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