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Chapter 31

"SORRY TO SURPRISE YOU LIKE THIS," NICK BURNS SAID. "I can see that Fontana hasn't told you much about his family."

"We haven't had a lot of time to get to know each other," Sierra said, choosing her words cautiously. "Ours was what you might call a whirlwind courtship. As I recall, he said something about not having any family."

Nick exhaled wearily. "You could probably be married to him for fifty years and not hear anything about us, at least not from him."

They were sitting in the small conference room adjacent to the newsroom. The door was closed for privacy, but Sierra could see her colleagues through the windows. They all appeared to be hard at work, but she knew that you could hear a pin drop in the outer room. Everyone was straining so hard to eavesdrop it was a wonder people weren't falling out of their chairs. The only one who appeared unconcerned was Elvis. He was in his balloon basket, floating toward the coffee-and-doughnuts table.

She lowered her voice. "Maybe you should wait until Fontana is back in his office. He's a little busy at the moment."

"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 Curtain lying on the table. The glaring headline read, "Guild Boss and Bride Vanish. Kidnapped by Aliens?"

"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 something, damn it."

"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."