Red Consumed

by Allyson Lindt

  Wyatt had given them a brief run-down of what happened here after they left. His story consisted of, I was picked up, tossed in a cell, and no one believed I was innocent, so I stared at the wall a lot.

  It wasn’t quite opening up, but it was a starting point. Now Wyatt was grilling Fiona on what happened in Chicago. The drive, the city, the protective custody... All of it.

  Parker tuned most of it out. He’d lived it, and it was more enjoyable to watch Fiona’s expression as it shifted from laughing to thoughtful. He didn’t care for the way she surveyed everything around her, as though she was waiting for someone to jump out, but he didn’t blame her. He did the same.

  She looked happy, though. He didn’t doubt she would have been content if it was only the two of them, but with Wyatt here, things felt complete.

  A frown crossed her face, and she pursed her lips, then looked at Parker, as if waiting for an answer.

  He shook the rambling observations aside. “I’m sorry—what?”

  “Mr. Big Bad Wolf is going to abandon us and go back to Atlanta.” Her pout was exaggerated, and amusement hid in her gaze.

  Wyatt gave a heavy sigh. “It’s where home is.”

  “And home is in Salt Lake for me,” Fiona said. “You don’t see me running off, based on such a weak excuse.”

  It was easy for Parker to fall into this. “What happened to staying by her side?”

  Wyatt paused in his walking and turned to face Parker. “Unlike some people, I didn’t make this trip intending to be on the road for an undetermined amount of time. I’m unwillingly unemployed. I need to sort at least a couple of things out in person. And no one said the two of you couldn’t join me.”

  “You should have said so in the first place.” Parker liked the plan.

  Fiona studied him as if he’d spoken a foreign language. “You hated Atlanta last time we were there. You couldn’t wait to leave.”

  “True. But it was because I was trying to mold my life to that stupid competition. Besides, I was thinking of taking one of your suggestions for the show and tweaking it a little.” Now seemed like the perfect time to bring up the glimmer of a thought he’d tried and failed to ignore. “Best places around the world to fuck.” Hearing the words aloud made him hesitate. “It might need a more content-filter-friendly name.”

  Fiona laughed. “It just might.”

  “And I have the sexiest co-star ever,” Parker said.

  She nodded at Wyatt. “Him?”

  Parker grasped her fingers, held his camera arm to the side, and tugged her in, to brush his lips over hers. “You.”

  “Nope. Not going to happen.” The playfulness vanished from Wyatt’s voice.

  Fiona whirled to face him. “Excuse me?”

  Wyatt wrapped an arm around her waist, turned her back—to face Parker—and kissed along the back of her neck. “After everything you’ve been through, you’re going to stick yourself on camera again? No.”

  “That’s not your choice.” She pulled away. Her tone was still light, but it held a warning edge. “Staying in the shadows didn’t work.” She and Parker had talked about this. “I had a lot of fun. I won’t stop looking over my shoulder, possibly ever, but I’m done planning my life around someone else’s neurosis.”

  “You’ve already decided.” Wyatt’s expression was unreadable.

  She nodded.

  “Then I yield.”

  Her smile was back. “Good. Because we want you to join us.”

  “On camera?”

  “Sure,” Parker said. “No more clauses to worry about, with work.”

  Wyatt didn’t look convinced. “Until the next place has a similar clause.”

  “So you negotiate it out of your contract. That's what you do, right?”

  They stepped aside, as a couple pushing a baby in a stroller brushed past. Wyatt was uncharacteristically quiet.

  “You can say no,” Fiona told him.

  “I could. The two of you have this chemistry on screen. I'd hate to disrupt it.” As if wanting to prove his point, he took Parker's camera and moved so Parker and Fiona were in the shot.

  Parker took the device back. “That never stopped you before.”

  “Good point. It won’t stop me now, either. I’m in.”

  Parker couldn't help his grin. This was definitely what he’d been looking for. What he was missing.

  He could figure out the cash-flow situation, especially if they all bumped their heads together. Diversification in his revenue sources. New sponsorships.

  Parker started this journey with nothing, and now he had more than he’d ever wished for. The rest would fall into place with a little work, and he was good with that.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  FIONA STRUGGLED TO sit still. Every time her knee bounced without her permission, Wyatt squeezed her leg.

  They were in a local coffee shop, a few blocks from his old corporate offices.

  Nick was in town, to try to fix the contract issue with the shipping company, and he was meeting Fiona to come up with a game plan.

  He didn’t know about Wyatt, who’d assured Fiona this was the perfect time to tell her brother about Wyatt's long-term addition to her love life.

  Fiona had some serious doubts, but Wyatt promised the conversation would be worth it, if Nick would hear him out.

  She was trusting him—something that got less scary each time it worked out. It was true, it had only been a week since Wyatt was officially part of her and Parker’s lives, but it had been an incredible week.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” That was Nick. He made eye contact with Fiona, then turned toward the door.

  Wyatt gave her one more squeeze, and she sprinted after her brother.

  She grabbed Nick’s arm. “Stay long enough to hear us out.”

  “Where’s Parker? You didn't dump him for this assmunch, did you?”

  This was going about as well as Fiona expected. “He’s negotiating a sponsorship with Milton Hotels. He was lucky to get on their calendar, so I told him we’d be fine without him. Come talk to us, please?”

  “No.” Nick looked past her, in Wyatt’s direction. “I can’t believe after everything we’ve gone through—”

  “Stop. You encouraged me to do this thing with Parker, to have fun. To find myself. And I did, and I’m working on it. Wyatt is part of that equation. You know this company means as much to me as it does to you. Sit. Talk. Give us fifteen minutes, and please don’t play the him or your family card, because I don’t want to spend my life resenting you.”

  Nick scowled, but he followed her back to the table. Wyatt stood as they approached, and extended his hand.

  Her brother shook it, but the gesture looked mechanical. They all sat again, and Wyatt tangled his fingers with Fiona’s.

  Nick’s scowl deepened. “I'm not listening to anything he has to say, so I hope you're the one doing the talking,” he said to Fiona.

  “To start.” She slid him a paper cup. “Large latte, extra shot, splash of cinnamon.”

  “Bribery won’t help.” Nick sipped the drink anyway.

  Fiona steeled herself, to say what came next. Not because she doubted the words, but people tended to throw them around carelessly, and she needed Nick to believe her when she said it. “We’re in love. Wyatt and I.”

  “What about Parker?”

  If the situation were different, she’d ask Nick, If you’re so worried about Parker, why don’t you date him? Instead she said, “I love him too. And he’s heard all of this. I’m not here to let you try to change my mind. That’s not an option.”

  “I don’t care who you’re screwing or what you call the relationship.” Nick’s voice rose. He ducked his head when a few people at nearby tables looked in their direction. “As long as they’re treating you right. Forgive me if I have a hard time believing that's the case here. This man fucked us over.”

  “No, he didn’t,” Fiona said. Wyatt set out to do that, but he hadn’t needed to,
and he’d proven to her satisfaction that he regretted misleading her. “I did that. Don’t blame my mistakes on anyone but me. I chose to see him again. I chose not to disclose it.”

  Nick clenched his jaw, not speaking for a moment. “Call it what you want. It doesn’t change the situation any.”

  “No, but I can,” Wyatt said.

  Fiona muttered a brief prayer that this went the way Wyatt predicted. “Hear him out?” she asked Nick.

  “Nope. Not listening. Not interested. Nothing he can say will change my mind.”

  “I can tell you how to stop a lawsuit from the shipping company. You can end this today and have them sign an agreement that promises things are over.” There was no doubt in Wyatt’s voice.

  Nick glared at him. “I’m still not listening. Do you tell me next that you’ll go with me? Bullshit your way back into an office that will probably have security escort you out the moment you step foot on their property?”

  “Nope. I’m going to tell you how to do the bullshitting, and you’ll handle it.” Despite Wyatt’s smooth tone, his grip on Fiona’s fingers tightened.

  It was a tiny gesture. No one would see. But it told her he was taking this seriously, and was as nervous as she was.

  “I haven’t heard any good jokes lately. Do tell.” Nick settled back in his seat with his drink.

  Wyatt leaned in and rested his forearms on the table. “You’ll meet with them, like planned. You’ll ask that everyone drop the matter and move on. It will be more of a statement than a request. Tell them you’d like to keep the deposit—you’ve already done some work and it’s fair to compensate you for your time. Recommend they call the situation even and that all parties sign a new agreement, closing this matter for good.”

  Nick let out a barking laugh. “Are you going to teach me how to do Jedi mind tricks? Because that’s the only way I see that working. You talk a good game, but God, I hope you’re not pulling this bullshit with my sister.”

  “He’s serious, and he’s got a way,” Fiona said. “And it won’t be bullshit.”

  “Right. Might as well get to the punchline, if that wasn’t it.” Despite the words, curiosity was replacing doubt in Nick’s voice.

  Wyatt’s smile was grim. “I won’t give you the details of what I know, unless you really want them. But what you do is remind them I wasn’t involved in the sale process, and I didn’t recommend they investigate your product or have any input on whether or not they purchased it.”

  “Pretty sure they already know that.” Nick set down his cup and leaned in.

  Fiona took that as a sign he was finally paying attention.

  “You’ll remind them anyway. And then you’ll point out that you and I are on speaking terms—you probably want to practice so you can make it believable—and that I have a very good grasp on what is and isn’t covered by my non-disclosure agreement, as it relates to my old job.”

  “You want me to threaten them?” Nick didn’t sound as disgusted as Fiona had expected.

  Wyatt shook his head. “I want you to remind them that I can threaten them.”

  “I won’t blackmail my way out of this,” Nick said.

  “No, you won’t. You don’t have to make any threats. Like I said, you never have to hear the details. Tell them what I said you should, and walk away unsullied.”

  Fiona would dig deeper one day soon, and find out what Wyatt knew about their contracts that let him speak with this kind of confidence, but for today, she was sticking with not knowing, for the sake of plausible deniability.

  “If they call my bluff?” Nick’s question told her he was considering this seriously but making sure his bases were covered.

  “It’s up to you what you say next, but between you and me, I’ll burn their company to the ground in a legal firestorm, to stop them from destroying yours. I know enough to do it. And it won’t be for you; it will be for Fiona.” Wyatt’s voice had gone hard.

  Goosebumps raced over her skin.

  Nick was silent again, but the animosity was gone from his expression, and his posture relaxed. “You make a really solid pitch.”

  “It’s not a pitch, and I don’t care if you believe that, as long as you do something with what I’ve given you.”

  Fiona heard the shift in his tone. Wyatt was done negotiating. She wouldn’t forgive either of them if they made her choose, but it wouldn’t come down to that. Nick was stubborn, but he was rational.

  Nick sighed. “I’ll do what you said, and thank you for the information. But keep in mind that, if you hurt Fiona—”

  “You’ll what?” Wyatt asked. “The last two men who hurt her are in jail, and I’m not looking forward to going back any time soon. But tasteless jokes aside, I’m not planning on it. And if things don’t work out—God forbid—that’s between her and me.”

  It wasn’t just the words that warmed Fiona. The firmness and certainty in Wyatt’s response sent a pleasant glow spreading through her.

  Nick tsked, a half-smile tugging up the corner of his mouth. “I’m out of counterarguments. And praying to anyone listening that things go even half as smoothly as you seem to think they will. But I’m not welcoming you to the family.”

  Wyatt grinned. “You will. But I have time.”

  “I do have one request.” Nick turned to Fiona.

  She couldn’t begin to guess what it would be, after all that. “All right?”

  “Please tell me I can start scheduling you for work again soon. I’m falling apart without my head programmer.”

  That made her smile. “Tomorrow. You can put me back on the schedule right away.” Life really was all right. Back to normal. No. That wasn’t quite right. Life was anything but ordinary, plus one, and she didn’t want it any other way.

  NICK WALKED FROM THE shipping-company building, his gait even despite his racing thoughts. He was stunned he’d kept his composure through that entire meeting, but was even more shocked about the fact that things went almost exactly as Wyatt predicted.

  Nick hadn’t used quite the same language, but he’d requested the matter be dropped and mentioned he’d spoken to Wyatt about the best way to approach a lawyer over arbitration.

  That was enough to earn Nick a promise that the contract would be canceled without prejudice.

  Someday, Nick might ask Wyatt what the actual threat was, but today he was happy to be free of the threat of legal repercussion.

  He settled into his rental car, let his phone connect, and cranked the stereo. Heavy bass and electric guitar blared from the stereo.

  He pulled into traffic and navigated to the nearest strip mall, to find an empty parking spot at the edge of the lot.

  Certain no one from the office could see him here, he shouted, “Yes.” The yell mingled with the music. He could let his composure slip here.

  Nick still didn’t understand what Fiona was up to with this relationship of hers. She and Parker had been all but a couple for as long as Nick could remember. He had no idea how Wyatt fit into that.

  But he trusted Fiona. Not just because she was his sister, but she was his business partner for a reason.

  The music vanished, and before he could process the abrupt silence, a loud ring jangled in his ears, startling him. The number was unfamiliar, but it was a Utah area code. He turned down the volume and hit Answer on his phone. “This is Nick Walters.”

  “Nick, hey. Scott McAllister. You have a minute?”

  From Rinslet. Nick and Fiona’s biggest business partner. “I’ve got as many as you need.” Unless Scott was calling to cancel the contract. Nick suspected he wouldn’t have access to any loopholes disguised as thinly-veiled threats in that case.

  “Perfect. Is your passport current?”

  “It could be.”

  “Awesome,” Scott said. “Here’s the thing—we have a contestant in Italy, a tattoo artist, and she needs some help managing contracts.”

  This was taking some getting used to. Nick appreciated the infusion of cash they’d seen f
rom the Rinslet deal, but it was odd, taking suggestions from the other company. “I can send Fiona.” She’d love the excuse to get out of the country.

  “You might want to keep her Stateside. Or rather, you probably want to handle this yourself.”

  Nick frowned at the steering wheel. “For a basic one-off software install?”

  “For dealing with an heiress.”

  “I’m sorry—what?” Nick knew the contestant Scott was talking about. He’d familiarized himself with all of them, and Tara did stunning inkwork, most of it her original creations.

  “The stuff no one discloses in the bios. Her family owns one of the largest tech companies in the country. I thought you might want to extend your reach a little. Fiona’s brilliant, but she’s not your negotiator, you are.”

  The possibilities avalanched in Nick’s head. “Yeah. Absolutely. I’m all over that. Thank you.”

  “Gotta protect my investment.” Scott chuckled.

  Nick didn’t care what Scott’s reasons were, if it all worked out. He disconnected, already building a new plan in his head. He’d need someone to work sales here, if he was on the other side of the world, schmoozing a new potential partner.

  He’d need a second person in the position anyway. So far, he was the only one pounding the pavement besides Fiona. He’d spent most of their new funds on developers, since it was a tech company. And he needed Fiona focused on that, not trying to negotiate deals, when she didn’t like handling that side of the business.

  He took a deep breath and dialed her number.

  “Hey, you.” Fiona sounded hesitant when she answered. “How’d it go?”

  Right. The negotiation. That was already several steps behind him. “Good. Great. Exactly like Wyatt said it would.”

  “Yay.” Her quick chirp brightened his mood further. “So we’re in the clear.”

  “Yes. And I have another favor to ask.” He couldn’t believe he was about to do this.

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  Was this a good idea? Nick could interview people. Salesmen were a dime a dozen. Good ones were a little harder to find, though. He didn’t have time to train someone, but he could hire the right person and get them up to speed quickly.