Read Broken for Free Online

wonder what it would be like if you were still alive.
    I wonder how much one life affects another.
    An infinity of limitless ways, that’s how much.
    Every sunrise and every sunset and every full moon and every snowfall and every downpour and every breath remind me.
    The motions and music of life remind me that there’s one missing.
    And in a world so full of refutations and denials, I place the blame solely on myself.
    I have to live out every single reminder of what is gone, what will always be gone, and what will never be mine.
    J ames watches Laila walk maybe half a block, then pulls his car next to the curb and rolls down the window.
    “Get in.”
    She glances at him and says nothing.
    “I swear to God I don’t care about making a scene, little lady. Get in the car.”
    As far as he can see, there’s nobody around.
    “I’m not going to hurt you.” She continues walking, and he curses. “I’m not even gonna touch you, got it? Just get in.”
    “What do you want?”
    “I was being cordial yesterday at the bank when I thought we could meet over a drink.”
    “Did you sneak into my apartment last night?”
    “Nope.”
    “You’re lying.”
    A woman strolls by but doesn’t bother him. “I watched the outside of your building all night. My butt is imprinted onto this
     seat, lady. I didn’t see anybody strange coming and going. And I sure didn’t sneak in. If I had, I would’ve spent the night
     in your guest room.”
    “I don’t have a guest room,” Laila says in an arrogant, dismissive tone.
    “There you go then,” he says. “Get in the car.”
    “No.”
    “Lady, I swear…”
    “I’m getting a cup of coffee, so if you want to follow me down there, we can talk.”
    James curses, and he lets down on the gas as he finds a place to park. Anything to get out of this car is fine with him.
    She doesn’t say anything to him in line, and when she orders her drink, she ignores him as she pays. He gets a coffee and
     finds her at a table in the middle of a room full of people.
    “I’m not going to do anything to you.”
    “Do I look worried?”
    This chick has some kinda attitude, he thinks.
    “You look like an Oscar-winning actress.”
    “What do you want?”
    He takes a sip, and the burn on his tongue wakes him up. “How did it happen?”
    “What do you want?”
    “You know—for such a good-looking chick, you sure are feisty. Anybody ever tell you that?”
    “I’ve heard worse.”
    “Wasn’t trying to win a prize,” James says.
    “What do you want?” Laila’s words are slow and deliberate.
    “Connor Brennan was my brother.”
    “I don’t know anybody by that name.”
    “No, you know him. It was the man you left spilling his life out onto the carpet in some swanky suburban mansion.”
    “You could be anybody as far as I know.”
    “I’m not here to waste your time or mine. Here.”
    He gives her his Illinois license. She examines it.
    “Never seen someone look so intently at a license,” he tells her.
    “Older or younger?”
    “Connor was three years younger.”
    The woman stares at him.
    “ ‘Was’ is the key word there,” he says.
    “James.”
    “Yep.”
    “What do you want from me, James Brennan?”
    “Is that really all you have to say to me?”
    “What do you want me to say?”
    “Tell me something. Anything about that night.”
    He studies the freckles on her nose as she bites down on her lower lip.
    “How did it happen? I need to know that.”
    “You’re a long way from Chicago, Mr. Brennan.”
    “So are you.”
    “This is my home now.”
    “That was fast.”
    “Did you come here just for me?”
    He nods. “Yes. Aren’t you lucky?”
    “I need to get to work.”
    “Maybe.”
    “If you’re going to threaten me, why don’t you go ahead and do it. I’m not in the mood for any games. Your brother got what
     was coming to him. And so will you if you continue this.”
    He laughs. “You’re a real piece of work.”
    “You don’t even know.”
    His