Page 2 of The Price of Power

“I looked over the financials on the flight, Theo, and it’s not good.”

Not that he needed me to tell him.

“What were you thinking taking out a loan that big?” Even if he was talking to me, I doubted that he’d be able to give me a satisfactory answer. “There are giant red flags all over the books.”

Which no doubt explained why Theo hadn’t gone to a bank to apply for that massive loan. One look at the company ledgers, and they would have laughed him out of the office.

So, instead, he’d turned to private sources.

Friends, no doubt. Probably, some connection Theo had made during his fraternity days. Chances were good that at least a couple of those rich assholes were embedded in the New York financial world right now.

But if Theo thought his old college friends would simply forgive him for defaulting on a seven-figure loan, then he was delusional.

“I know everyone is avoiding my calls because they don’t want to hear bad news, but you’re the one who wanted to sit at the head of the table, so it’s your job to deal with this.” I’d never been this direct with him before. But then again, he’d never been in this much trouble. “After looking at the numbers, the best case scenario is that the company will have to file for bankruptcy.”

And I did mean the best-case scenario.

The news only got worse from there.

“Of course, that will only protect the company from some of our creditors,” I continued. “Theo, if the person you took this loan out with decides to pursue fraud charges against you, they will have a very strong case. And I’m not just talking civil damages, Theo. I’m talking about felony charges. The kind that carries real prison time.”

This was a big deal.

The kind of thing you’d think a person would want to pick up the damn phone over.

No wonder our mother had called me in tears, begging me to take time off work and fly to New York to negotiate with the creditor. I’d thought she was being her usual overly dramatic self when she’d described it as a “life or death situation,” but as it turned out, she wasn’t far off this time.

“Now I promise I’ll do what I can to calm things down with the creditor tomorrow,” I said. “I can’t promise anything. I’m not a miracle worker. Still, it’s probably a good sign that they’re willing to meet with us.”

On the other hand, it might not be. There was a very real possibility that they’d only wanted someone to serve a court summons to. There was no way to know until tomorrow.

“Of course, it would help if I knew who I was meeting with,” I said. “I tried looking up the Angel Enterprises you took the loan out with but couldn’t find anything.”

Well, nothing besides a string of offshore shell companies that led to a dead end.

Seriously, Theo had really outdone himself this time. Leave it to my brother to sell our family legacy to the shadiest businessmen on the planet. At his point it would have been better if he’d lost our family’s legacy in a backroom poker game. At least then I wouldn’t have to hear my mother crying about having to visit her “baby boy” in Joliet prison.

“Please, I really need you to call me back either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning so I don’t go into this meeting blind.”

Please?

I caught myself and shook my head. Why was I the one begging for his help? I was doing him a favor, after all. I hadn’t been a part of the family business in years. Not since it became apparent that my blood relations only cared about me when I was useful to them.

The first chance I got, I left them behind in Chicago, moving just over the border to Milwaukee, where I landed an accounting job with a startup company. The pay was…okay. Not enough to afford the Ritz, but enough to start a modest life of my own, far away from the constant drama of my family.

Right now, I would have done anything to get back to that life.

And since I was relatively sure no one was listening, I had no problem telling my brother exactly that.

“But whatever happens tomorrow, I want you and everyone else to know that this is the last time I’m helping you. Not even if Mom falls on her knees and begs me. I’m not falling for it ever again. Do you hear me? Not again.”

Never again.

That was a promise to myself.

A promise I’d made a thousand times before if I was being honest. One I kept making and breaking.

But his time, I meant it.