My business was growing by leaps and bounds thanks largely to Anthony. He accompanied me to all of my intro meetings with casinos and then, of course, the actual contract negotiation meeting. His charisma earned us those second meetings; the contract negotiation meetings.

Luck was on our side, and we were pulling lots of contracts, none were exclusive yet, but I was certain that through the excellent client service that Everett Gaming provides, it would lead to word of mouth recommendations.

Anthony and I were meeting with Flux Clubs tonight, and I was hoping to get a hefty contract with them. I’ve met with them a few times before and Anthony came with me the last time. Now we were at our negotiation stage. We met for dinner first and then adjourned to one of Flux’s nightclubs.

Since I knew of Anthony’s aversion to alcohol, I always felt a hint of nervousness when we went to these things at bars and clubs. Things were going well, and we were starting to toss around what Anthony and I called “feeling each other up for numbers.” That’s where we test the figure waters with the other company to try and guess what they’re thinking.

But this started to get out of hand pretty quickly.

Not only were there lots of women around, hanging on Anthony and me, but shots were being done. And typically, I don’t like mixing rapid-fire shots with my business. For one, it wasn’t professional to me, and it was extremely important to me that Everett Gaming always is represented professionally.

So, how did I let this meeting go to hell in a hand basket?

The hard liquor was flowing quicker than it could be downed.

“Alright, Everett. We can do a contract for half,” one of the guys offered.

“Half?” I asked.

Was he talking about half of their machines for Everett Gaming? Or was he talking half of what my cost proposal was?

“Again!” the guy slapped his hand on the bar top and set the shot glass in front of me. I grabbed it and threw it back.

I was somewhat aware of what I was saying but needed Anthony’s number knowledge. He knew exactly where I wanted to be and where I could afford a loss. Where was he? I gazed to my left and right around the bodies of the guys I was negotiating with.

“Anthony,” I slurred.

Fuck, was I drunk? I felt buzzed, not fall down drunk.

They slapped the bar top again, and more shots were lined up. Again, I tossed it back. Damn, that burned.

I spotted Anthony on a barstool at the end of the bar. He looked pissed. Why would he be pissed with all those pretty girls hanging on him? I smiled when I noticed two women put their hands inside his shirt by his chest and then down by his pants. I squinted to see if one of the girls had their hand near his scar. No one can touch it. He’s very particular about it.

“Again!”

I grabbed my glass and swallowed the liquor. I no longer knew what end was up regarding my numbers. I tried concentrating but couldn’t keep it straight in my head.

“Everett, half the machines at a twenty-five percent discount, huh? What do you say?” the guy asked.

Yes.

I glanced over at Anthony. He was surrounded by women. There were two girls on either side of him; both had their hands down by his crotch. Another woman stood behind him, and she was running her hands through his hair and tugging on it. Then a fourth woman stood next to her, and her mouth was all over Anthony’s ear and cheek. I don’t know why he looked so angry.

I downed another shot.

Half of their machines sounded great.

Wait…twenty-five percent off?

No, that’s not good. That’s fucking terrible.

“Again!”

I downed the contents in the shot glass and thought hard. The music was so loud, and I could barely concentrate.

Half the machines were good, but not for twenty-five percent less.

“Again!”

I brought the shot glass to my lips, but the glass never made it.

“No more,” Anthony said and pulled me away from the bar. “Negotiations are over.”

Anthony was talking to the guys as I leaned on the bar behind him. I couldn’t make out what they were saying over the noise. I closed my eyes for a second and opened them when Anthony wrapped his hand around my bicep.

“Let’s go,” he said.

I planted my feet firmly, causing both of us to stop walking. He glared at me.

“I’m not done, Anth.”

“You’re done. We’re leaving. Now.”

I started to turn to go back to the bar, but Anthony stood in front of me.

“Don’t, Col. You’re on the far end of being faintly aware of what you’re agreeing to.”

“Anth, I’m trying to bring in business.”

“Is this the fucking business you want? Look at yourself. Look at me.”

I frowned as I gazed down his chest and noticed just how disheveled he was. His shirt was completely untucked and unbuttoned at the bottom, and his tie was undone. I turned and faced the exit and walked alongside him to the parking garage. He was quiet the entire way, and I felt incredibly embarrassed.

“Keys,” he said and held his hand out once we got off the elevator in the parking garage.

I had to think of which pocket I even put them in. Anthony took my delay as reluctance.

“Col, I swear to fuck, if you don’t give me those goddamn keys, I’ll take them from you.”

“Relax. I’m not challenging you about driving. I have no business being behind the wheel.”

I handed the keys to him and went to the passenger side of my car. I felt like a fool.

He dropped me off at home and then called Matt to give him a lift back to work to get his truck. I felt like such an ass.

* * *

I woke up and felt about an inch tall. It was well after nine in the morning, and I obviously was going to be later to work than normal. And I missed my coffee with Anthony, which would have been a good time to apologize for my behavior yesterday.

As I got ready for work this morning, I thought about the negotiation meeting with Flux. While I wanted to get my company’s foot in the door with this nightclub company, it wasn’t the end of the world. The casinos were where I needed to focus. I hadn’t been prepared for them to line up shots for us to talk business over.

And the women…they were all over Anthony.

Shit...Anthony.

While I was slamming back hard liquor, they had their hands all over him. His tie was off when he pulled me away from the bar, and his shirt was unbuttoned and untucked. Now that I think of it, his hair was all messed up too.

How did I let that get out of control?

Though it was going on eleven in the morning, I still stopped at the coffee shop in the atrium and grabbed a large cup of coffee to take upstairs with me. On my way to my office, I saw Anthony’s door was shut. I knew he was here though because I saw his truck in his parking spot. Mitch’s door was opened, but he was on the phone and waved when he saw me.

I slumped down in my chair and was going through emails when Mitch came in with some papers in his hand.

“Fantastic job, Colin,” Mitch said as he headed towards my desk. He sat down and shook his head. I deserved what was coming. “You guys met with Flux with a deal in mind and leave with something far better. You and Anthony are going to take Everett Gaming right to the top if you two keep this up.”

Even though I didn’t detect sarcasm, I knew it was there. It was probably my lack of alertness that made the sarcasm not so obvious. But I didn’t want him to think this was by any means Anthony’s fault. This was all on me.

“It’s not Anthony’s fault,” I said.

Mitch laughed and shook his head and stood.

“Must be tough to be you guys and be that good.” Mitch set the documents on my desk. “Congrats again and great job. I’ll come by this afternoon to get your signatures and take to legal. Anthony’s signatures are already on there. Legal glanced at it this morning and said it was good.”

I frowned. I didn’t know what Mitch was even talking about now. As he left my office, I quickly began scouring the documents.

“What the hell?” I said under my breath as I read it.

Was I reading this correctly? I had gone there wanting to get a contract for a quarter of the club’s electronic games but was going to start high saying that I wanted half. And I had a dollar figure in mind that would give Everett Gaming a profit of at least thirty percent.

I was staring at a contract for seventy-five percent of the club’s electronic games and a profit greater than fifty-five percent on top of the standard profit.

How the fuck?

I grabbed the papers and went back to Mitch’s office. He was fucking with me. Prankster.

“Nice one, Mitch. I almost bought it, too, but your prank had a flaw.” He was frowning as I spoke. “Your profit; too big. If it hadn’t been that large, I would have bought it, especially with Anthony’s signatures on it. The profit gave you away though. Try harder next time,” I teased and left the contract on his desk.

“Colin, that’s why I brought it to you to congratulate you guys on that killer deal. The profit you guys scored is astounding.”

Mitch was being serious. I didn’t make this deal. I could barely stand after doing all those shots.

Anthony.

I grabbed the contract and almost ran to Anthony’s office. Thankfully, his door was open, and I walked right in and tossed the contract on his desk. He picked it up, glanced at it and set it back down. A huge smile spread across his face.

“How the hell did you do that?” I asked him.

“They were deliberately trying to get you drunk, so you’d get confused and agree with what they were offering. And their offer blew.” Anthony leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms back and clasped the back of his head. “Turns out they were just as drunk and agreed to my terms. It was all in the wording and delivery,” Anthony said.

I shook my head at him. I couldn’t believe it. This deal was crazy, and we made out like bandits.

“I can’t believe you managed that. Oh, my god, I thought you were going to kill me when you pulled me away from the bar. You looked so mad.”

“I was. They were trying to take advantage of my brot—”

Anthony suddenly stopped talking and went as white as a ghost. His relaxed pose changed and he sat up straight in his chair and began shuffling papers around. He was going to say “brother.” Why did that make him so uncomfortable?

“Brother,” I finished for him.

He looked up at me and then back down at the papers on his desk.

“You were going to say ‘brother.’” I paused and watched him shift uncomfortably in his chair. He was really struggling with this simple concept, and it baffled me. He wouldn’t even make eye contact with me. I grabbed the orange foam ball from the chair next to me and set it on top of the papers he was pretending to look at.

“Anth,” I started, hoping that would prompt him some.

“I…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I know we’re not real brothers.”

“Yes, we are. Doesn’t matter that we have different parents. Brothers can be family related or close friends. Most importantly, brothers have one another’s backs and watch out for each other. Just like you did for me yesterday.”

He smiled a little; I don’t know why this was so awkward and hard for him.

“And, the last time I checked, the three of us have our bond inked on our backs. Face it, you’re stuck, little brother.”

Anthony smiled and nodded and even laughed out loud a little.