'I know. I went to Guild headquarters first. He's been ignoring my phone calls for a couple of weeks. I hoped to catch him off guard. But his executive assistant told me that he was unavailable.'
'He's away on Guild business,' she said somberly.
'Look, I'll be honest with you, there's a good chance he won't give me the time of day when he does get back from wherever it is he went. That's why I came here to see you.'
'I really don't think he would refuse to see someone from his own family,' she said quickly.
'You don't know him very well, do you? I suppose that's typical of Marriages of Convenience. People don't go into them for the long haul, so why check out the family?'
Enough was enough. 'Let's get something straight here, Mr. Burns. I am Fontana's wife, and as such I am quite prepared to be polite to members of his family. I am not about to let said family members insult me or my husband or our marriage.'
He blinked and then reddened. 'Sorry. I didn't mean—'
'What you should keep in mind here is that, while I know almost nothing about you, you, in turn, know very little about me or the reasons for my marriage to your brother.' She smiled coolly. 'Just what you've read in the papers, right?'
'Well, yes, but—'
'We all know how much you can trust the press.'
Nick cleared his throat. He glanced uneasily at the copy of the previous day's edition of the
'Right,' he said.
'How did you find me?' she asked.
'Are you kidding? You and Fontana are headline news in the tabloids in Cadence as well as here in Crystal.'
'I was afraid of that.' She folded her hands together. 'What can I do for you, Mr. Burns?'
His mouth tightened at the corners in a way that reminded her of Fontana.
'I won't play games, with you,' he said. 'My family needs Fontana's help, and they need it very badly. My mother is so desperate she tried to contact him herself several times in the past month. On each occasion Fontana's executive assistant made it clear that Fontana was unavailable to take the call.'
'I see.' This was worse than she had realized.
'If you knew my mother, you'd know how much pride she had to swallow in order to make those calls. Fontana is the result of an affair my father had years ago. She's always had a difficult time accepting him.'
'I understand,' she said quietly.
'Look, you're family now, so I'm going to tell you a big family secret.' Nick leaned forward and spoke in very low tones. 'Burns & Co. is in serious trouble. A year ago my father died. He stunned everyone when he left controlling interest to Fontana. But Fontana turned around and shocked everyone all over again when he declined his inheritance.'
'Declined?'
'Just walked away from it.' Nick waved one hand. 'Blew it off. Cold as ice. Like Burns & Co. meant nothing to him.'
'Well, maybe it doesn't. He hasn't ever been involved with the firm, has he?'
'No, but that's not the point. That company was my father's life. And he left Fontana in charge of it. That should have meant
'Please calm down,' she said gently.
Nick took a visible grip on his emotions. His tone steadied. 'At the time everyone in the family was enormously relieved to find out that Fontana didn't want the company. But then my brother, Josh, took over the firm, and we learned the truth. Burns & Co. is on the verge of bankruptcy.'
'I'm very sorry, but I really don't know what you expect me to do.'
'You've got to help me convince Fontana to save Burns,' Nick said. 'If he doesn't do something fast, a lot of people are going to get hurt.'
'The members of your family?'
'Sure, but it isn't just my family that will take a hit. If the company goes under, several hundred people will lose their jobs. Look, we just need time. Fontana is the only one who can hold things together financially until Josh can get a handle on the situation.'
'I realize you're desperate, but what, exactly, do you expect Fontana to do? I can tell you right now that he won't give up the Guild in order to run Burns & Co.'
'Josh can turn the company around. He's brilliant. But he needs time and a large infusion of private capital to hold things together until he can restructure the business.'
'You expect Fontana to pour money into the firm in order to save it for your family?'
'He's our only hope.'
Chapter 32
TROY PATTERSON'S OFFICE WAS IN THE EXECUTIVE WING of Guild headquarters. Patterson was inside, seated behind his desk, signing some papers, when Fontana opened the door without warning.
Troy looked up. Cold anger glittered in his eyes before disappearing behind his genial mask.
'Fontana,' he said easily. 'What are you doing here? Figured you were still recovering from your honeymoon in the jungle.'
'It's over, Patterson.'
Troy cocked a brow. 'The honeymoon? That didn't last long.'
'Not my honeymoon. Your little rain forest drug factory.'
Troy did not move, but something frantic flickered in his expression. Like the anger, it vanished quickly. Cool outrage took its place.
'I don't know what the hell you're talking about.' He gripped the arms of his chair. 'I don't give a damn if you are the new boss of the Crystal Guild. I'm a member of the Council. I'm one of the people who helped put you into the CEO's office, remember? I and the others can kick you out of there just as fast as we put you in.'
Fontana came to a halt in the middle of the room. It was raining outside. His black coat dripped water on the amber and granite floor.
'You had no choice but to vote with the rest of the Council, because you knew that if you didn't, everyone would wonder why,' he said. 'By the way, when the cops arrest you, it won't be only for running drugs. You're the chief suspect in the murder of Brock Jenner. There's also the little matter of kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. We freed a total of twelve hunters, counting the additional men on the transport team.'
Troy gripped the arms of his chair. 'You're crazy. I didn't touch Jenner. And there's no way you can pin a drug charge on me.'
'Ray and I found the source of the ghost juice. We picked up the four guards at the scene. The police caught the others when the transport crew emerged on the surface with the fresh supply of the drug. They're all Riders, and it turns out they don't feel any loyalty to the Guild. They're talking as fast as they can.'
Troy's eyes tightened. 'You're bluffing. You haven't got proof of any of those charges. This is just a threat. You want me off the Council, and this is your way of forcing me to resign, isn't it? Congratulations on your more modem approach to running the organization. At least Jenner was honest about it. He got rid of people he didn't like the old-fashioned way. He made them disappear into the tunnels.'
'I know about the bank accounts that you set up to launder your ghost juice profits. They all lead straight back to you.'
'I've got a right to set up all the accounts I want.'
'Sure, but not under a bunch of phony IDs,' Fontana said. 'The City-State Tax Service will want a detailed explanation of the source of your income. Things are going to unravel in a hurry when they start looking into your finances.'
