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Bray acts like I’ve just told him we’re expecting rain. He just stares straight ahead at the road.

“What do you want to start with?” he asks.

I’ve always said that I don’t want to mix the personal and the professional, but Bray is my brother. My brother who I see regularly but don’t really know.

I want to change that.

I want to change everything.

I want to know my brother.

“Do you want a business partner?” I ask.

He bursts out laughing.

“An investor,” I clarify.

“For this place? The place that made you lose your considerable cool?”

“I can’t think of a better place,” I reply. Time is precious. I don’t want to run out of time to have a different life. I don’t want to turn around and realize at fifty that I’m still the most powerful guy in New York and the guy who doesn’t have a clue who his brother is.

“You don’t even know my plans here yet. I might not even buy it.”

I sigh. “Right. I think maybe there’s a lot about you that I don’t know. But I want to.” I glance across at my brother. He’s looking back at me, a softness in his eyes that I’m not used to. It’s almost like he’s relieved at what I’m telling him.

He nods. “I’d like that. But you don’t have to blindly invest in this business to do that. We could start by just talking.”

I laugh, and some of the tension in my body seeps away. How have I become the rash, impulsive brother to Bray’s constant calm? “Yeah. Maybe we should talk more. And talk about this place and what you’re trying to do and why.”

“Sounds good to me,” Bray says. He’s right. Offering to partner with him in this business venture was a knee-jerk reaction. But I’ve realized that I want to really know Bray and going into business with him would bind us together immediately. Why wait?

“You’re a wealthy guy, Ben,” he says. “You’re obviously successful. Do you like what you do?”

“I like what it gives me,” I reply. “Or at least I did for a long time.”

“Money provides security.”

“Right,” I reply. “But it’s more than that. What I have is power. I know people. I can help people. I don’t need anyone. They need me.”

Silence fills the car as I think about what I’ve just said.

“My entire life has been a reaction to Dad losing his restaurant. He didn’t have any money or connections. He thought he was renting the place from his friend. He was poor but had a dream, and he pursued his passion to the point where it made him vulnerable. I’ve worked hard so it could never happen to me, so no one would have the power to take my home and business away from me. And no one ever has. They never will. I’m safe now. And I know it. Maybe that’s why I’ve been feeling so unsettled recently.”

“Unsettled?” Bray asks.

“I just haven’t been feeling the same kind of rush that I’ve always gotten from making the connections and facilitating the introductions, by smoothing out problems and oiling negotiations. I can do it all with my eyes closed, and it used to be so thrilling. I used to feel like the puppet master, engineering all these things and making everyone do what I needed them to do, but now that feels…empty.”

“Do you think it’s because you don’t need the money anymore?”

“I think it’s because I need more than that now. It might sound ridiculous, but having Avril stay with me for eight days…it made me understand the difference between knowing a lot of people and really knowing someone.”

“Right,” Bray says.

“I’ve been keeping people out.”

“Yes,” he says. “So you and I can change that. But what about you and Avril?”

I let out a low groan. Avril is much more complicated. “I don’t know if there’s a me and Avril.”