Page 110 of All Her Broken Pieces

“Bridget, you can come out too.”

Shit. Is it possible to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment? I thought I was too old to worry about getting caught by my boyfriend’s parents. It’s doubly worse that said parent is also my ex.

I slowly emerge into the hallway, and I can feel the blush heating my cheeks, but I refuse to speak first as Ethan wraps an arm around my waist and kisses my cheek.

“I’m not going to say anything about whatever you two were doing in there because you are two consenting adults,” Hank starts before Ethan interjects.

“Damn right you’re not. It’s none of your business.”

“Be that as it may, you are in my house.”

“Waiting over thirty minutes for you. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show, and considering the way you treated my queen in the past, I’ll be damned if I let her wait around only to be disappointed by you again, so I took matters into my own hands. I don’t waste her time because it’s precious to me. She’s precious to me.”

The flush on my cheeks deepens as my heart melts at his words. This man has proven that he will choose me time and time again. He has protected me while still letting me stand up for myself. But the fact that he’s willing to call his dad out has my heart swelling in my chest.

The three of us stand there in awkward silence for a few beats as Ethan pulls me further into his side, his scent enveloping me and calming me.

“That’s fair. I’m sorry,” Hank says, breaking the silence. “Have you two eaten?”

“We had a pork roast earlier,” Ethan says, flashing me a dimple as I remember the sweet moments we shared making Nonna’s latest recipe card and the even steamier moments we shared after. “I think Bridget is more than satisfied.”

“Ethan!” I bury my face in his chest as he wraps his arm around me, holding me in place. While I am aware that Ethan is making this into a pissing contest, there is something oddly sweet about the way he is letting his father know where he stands with me every chance he gets.

Hank clears his throat, and I can hear him shift, obviously uncomfortable. “I called you here tonight because I need your help.”

Ethan’s muscles stiffen under my touch. “What’s going on? Is it serious? One of the girls?”

“No, it has nothing to do with them, or Ashley. Can we sit down and discuss this?”

“You’re scaring me,” Ethan says as he grips me tighter.

“No one is sick or dying. Jesus, I’m not good at this.” Hank sighs as he runs a hand through his hair and grips the back of his neck, as we follow him to the living room. He has a laptop set up on the coffee table, and Ethan and I take a seat on the couch opposite him.

The tapping of keys fills the silence as we wait for Hank to explain himself. There’s a look of desperation in his eyes as he turns the laptop around and gestures at it.

“What am I looking at?” Ethan asks, but as I stare at the screen, I immediately know where this is going.

“It’s a P&L,” I say, but Ethan’s brows knit, his confusion evident. “Profit and loss statement,” I elaborate.

“Luther is selling the business, and I want to buy him out, but I can’t make sense of any of this. I want to know if I’m making a good financial decision.”

“No, absolutely not. She’s not doing this for you. She doesn’t owe you anything,” Ethan barks as he stands and points a finger at Hank.

I should be angry and tell him to fuck off. But his decision impacts several little girls I have grown to adore, and advising him would benefit them. I would never forgive myself if I could’ve helped him make a better decision that would set his daughters up with a more promising financial future. This is what I do; acquisitions are a considerable part of my job, and helping him would cost me very little, but the payout it would afford his family would be worth it.

“I’ll help,” I croak out, my voice barely above a whisper as Ethan turns to me and cradles my face in his hands.

“Are you sure, sweetheart? You don’t have to do this.”

“Helping with this is about more than him. He could spend more time with your sisters and set them up financially,” I explain before turning to Hank. “That is, if Luther knew what he was doing with his books. I’ll need more than just a P&L. Do you have tax returns, a cash flow statement, and a balance sheet? What about debts the company might have?”

He turns the computer around and clicks the mouse, pulling up the requested items as he motions me over.

“Did Luther say why he wanted to sell?” I ask as I sit next to him and scroll through the documents.

“Just that he had another opportunity come along, and he wanted to pursue that.”

I click through all the financial documents and do some quick analysis. “Everything looks good. Expenses are low and the business is profitable, but there are a few debts to consider. You could mention those in negotiations. Based on his asking price, you could structure this as an asset sale, which would transfer everything over to you.”

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