Mr. Red

by Tessa Layne

  I keep my makeup minimal, mascara, eyeliner, and a dark coral lipstick that matches my dress. I head to the living room to wait, and discover Nico waiting on the couch. With flowers. Wearing a suit. I have no idea where he managed to get a suit that has obviously been hand-tailored, but he wears it perfectly, with an air of James Bond, and my mind jumps ahead to the end of the evening when I can peel it off him, piece by piece.

  He rises, eyes roving over me. “You. Look. Stunning.”

  I bask in his affection, warming to my toes. “Thank you,” I murmur, giving him a turn so he can see all of me.”

  “You’re incredible,” he murmurs, pulling me in for a gentle kiss, then handing me the bouquet of pink peonies and roses.

  “Wow, thank you,” I say accepting them, popping up on my toes to kiss his jaw. “I guess this is a real date, huh?”

  “You deserve it,” he says with a burr in his throat, turning to take my mouth again. “I see you’re wearing those shoes.”

  I flick my eyebrows at him. “Indeed. I look forward to wrapping them around your neck later.”

  The growl he lets out is feral, as he buries his face against my neck, nipping at my collarbone. “And I can’t wait to see your luscious pink lips wrapped around my cock,” he mutters, pressing against me.

  “We could skip dinner,” I offer, eager to get to the best part of the night.

  “Another time. Tonight, I want to wine you and dine you,”

  “Before you sixty-nine me?” I tease.

  He slaps me on the ass, grinning. “Put those flowers in water, and let’s go.”

  “I’ve been meaning to ask,” I start, as we approach the parking lot at the restaurant. “How long have you had reservations?”

  Nico cuts the engine and turns, jaw tight. Butterflies launch in my belly. My question has offended him. “This afternoon. Dec owed me a favor, and I told him he could pay me by buying us dinner tonight.”

  I want to sink into the butter soft leather of Declan’s car, which Nico insisted we drive down the mountain instead of my old Nissan. “Here?”

  Nico nods once, pulse ticking at his temple. “Here.”

  “Oh,” I whisper. “Wow.”

  His finger crooks under my jaw, turning my face to his. “You’re worth it Alison.”

  I don’t know how to respond to that except to nod and smile. Inside I feel like an overturned salt-shaker. I feel like things are spinning out of control. People will recognize Nico, just the way they did at the winemaker’s happy hour. Out here, we’re a couple. Up on the mountain, we’re a delicious, secluded secret.

  His mouth, when his lips graze mine, is tender. Reverent, even. And the butterflies in my belly swirl and dive in a wild, unified dance. The only thing I can hear is my heartbeat, thunking rapidly. “Come on, angel,” he says when we break apart. “You’re in for a treat.”

  It’s everything I’ve dreamed of for a food experience. The food and wine are expertly prepared, and I have to pace myself or I’ll be full, long before the last course arrives.

  “Eat,” Nico gestures with his fork. “You’re leaving your plate half-full.”

  “I won’t have room for dessert.” Truth. Mostly.

  “That’s a sin,” he says, diving after a piece of scallop on my plate. He stares at me hard. “And a lie. You barely eat, ever, hon.”

  It’s on my lips to tell him, to begin letting out my truth piece by piece, when there’s a commotion at the front of the restaurant. Declan walks in, an angry purple bruise squeezing an eye shut, trailed by another man looking equally worse for wear. I push back from the table. “Declan? What on earth?”

  “Austin,” Nico mutters rising. And the next word he utters turns my blood cold. “And Jason.”

  “What do you want?” Nico asks with quiet menace.

  I’ve never heard Nico’s voice like this. Filled with such anger, eyes cold.

  Austin clears his throat. “We need to talk to you.”

  Nico shakes his head. “I’m busy.”

  “Now, Nico. It’s important.”

  “Did somebody die?”

  His questions are directed at Austin. He’s not even looking at Jason, and I wonder how long it’s been since he’s seen his older brother, and what’s going through his head.

  Austin shakes his head. “No, but-”

  “Then we’re through here.” Nico steps back in front of his chair. “Come up to the vineyard tomorrow.”

  “It’s about the company,” Austin says, stepping closer. “And I wouldn’t have interrupted your… soirée,” he throws a glance my direction. “If it wasn’t an emergency.”

  Heat flushes my face, and I wish the earth would swallow me. In Nico’s world, people like me are expendable. A pleasant dinner companion to pass the time between doing ‘important’ things.

  Nico gives me a tortured look, and I reach across to squeeze his hand. “It’s okay. I can wait.” I give him a crooked smile. “Let my food digest. I’ll ask the server to hold the next course.”

  Nico runs a hand through his hair, looking between us, clearly warring with himself. “Okay.” He nods, then maneuvers around the table to kiss my cheek. “I’ll be back shortly.”

  I nod, and sit, watching him follow his brothers through the restaurant and out the door. Ten minutes turns to twenty, then forty. The server returns at an hour. “Miss? I’m sorry, the chef is asking if you’re planning on finishing?”

  My eyes prickle, and I pull in a shaky breath. “Yes, sure.”

  “Shall I bring both plates?”

  My heart sinks. Surely he’ll be back any minute? He wouldn’t leave me here to explain, the receiver of pitying looks, and quiet comments behind my back. But what if he’s not coming back? I don’t know what’s worse, me finishing alone, or me finishing alone with two plates at the table. I swallow. “Just one, thank you,” I say barely above a whisper. If Nico comes back we can share his plate and he can tell me all about what happened with his brothers.

  I don’t taste the food that’s presented. And with each course, I take fewer and fewer bites. It’s a waste of the chef’s talent and expensive food. By the time dessert is presented, I realize Nico’s not coming back. A half-hysterical laugh threatens to escape, because I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Kimmie was right, leopards don’t change their spots.

  It’s only after I’ve driven slowly up the mountain, wiped the makeup from my face, and struggled out of my shapewear and crawled under the covers that I see the text Nico sent hours ago.

  I’m sorry. I have to go. I promise I’ll make it up to you.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Nico

  I follow my brothers out of the restaurant, stewing. This better be fucking good, because the look on Alison’s face when she told me to go, punched me in the guts. All I want to do is get back to her and reassure her everything’s okay. Better than okay. We stop by a stand of trees on the far side of the lot. “If you’ve come to get the band back together, I’m a firm no.”

  Austin smiles wryly and reaches into a messenger bag. I don’t look at Jason. He’s fucking dead to me until further notice. “Maybe this will change your mind.” He hands me a stack of papers.

  “What in the hell is this?”

  “A paper trail of how Dad’s board has been fleecing him for years.”

  I’m not at all surprised. I suspected as much and tried to take him aside two years ago, but he wouldn’t hear of it, and stupidly, I didn’t want to piss him off further, so I dropped it, figuring I’d fire the board when I was crowned new CEO. “And?”

  Austin smiles grimly. “It’s time to stage a family coup.”

  I hand him back the papers. “Good luck with that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a dinner date.”

  “Wait,” Jason utters, arms folded across his chest.

  I spin, the scab ripping off the old wound. “And why the fuck are you even here?” I ask, jabbing a finger at his chest.

  “Says the guy who married my fi
ancé.”

  The old anger bubbles up and takes over. “You wanna talk about that? Assfuck? Go ahead. Let’s talk about the matching scars we all sport. Shall we start there?”

  Jason stares at me implacably, unfazed by my outburst, which only serves to rile me up more.

  “Or shall we start with the puppy? The bruises we hid from Mom and Dad? Or the nightmares? You’re a fucking twisted fuck, you know that?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “All I wanted to do was hurt you, to make you feel- what’d you say?” His words sink in, stopping my tirade. But then I promptly start up again. “And now you think this is all going to go away with a simple I’m sorry? Fuck. You.” I jab his chest, voice rising. I don’t give a shit if the patrons in the parking lot can hear me. I’m fucking airing my laundry.

  “Hear him out, Nico.” Austin pleads.

  “Shut-up. He doesn’t deserve shit after what he’s done to us.”

  Jason opens his hands. “You’re right. I was a shit. Worse. I was mean, and very, very fucked-up. I had a lot of time to think when I was at Walter Reed recovering.”

  “But you were home after that and you didn’t say shit.”

  “And why would I? You rubbed my nose in your marriage every day.”

  He has a point. I was a dick about that, and I enjoyed every second of my assholery, until it caught up with me. “And you can see how well it worked out for me.”

  Jason gives me a tight smile.

  “I’m not ready to forgive you.”

  Jason nods his understanding. “I’m not asking for that. But Millie… she’s on…” He shakes his head. “Fuck, man. I’m going to be a father, and all I can think about is how I would fucking wring the neck of someone who did that to my kids. What I did.”

  “And he’s getting help,” Austin chimes in.

  I raise my eyebrows, looking to Jason for confirmation. He nods. “Yeah. There’s a shrink in town that works with a lot of military cases. Head cases like me.”

  “Have you talked to Dec?”

  Austin nods. “He’s taking a few days. You should too. Look over the paperwork. I want to go to Dad with a plan.”

  “And that is?”

  “You take your rightful place as CEO, I take over as CFO, Declan takes care of acquisitions.”

  “And what about assfuck, here?” I tip my head toward Jason. I’m so far from ready to kiss and make up.

  “I relinquished my shares when I left for Kansas. I’m not reclaiming them.”

  “What about our trust-funds?”

  Austin smiles darkly. “They’ll be restored. Immediately.”

  So my days of being a pauper will be over. There are worse fates. I wonder what Alison would say about all this. We’ve talked a lot about Jason, about my childhood. She’d tell me to find a way to move forward. And for her I would, but not without taking my shot, first. I turn to Jason. “I want to beat the shit out of you.”

  The corner of his mouth kicks up. “Stealing my fiancé wasn’t enough?”

  “Not even close,” I growl.

  He steps back, opening himself. “Take your shot. What’s another few bruises?”

  I wind up, ready to unleash the punch I’ve been imagining taking since I was a kid. Then I drop my arm, suspicious. This has got to be some kind of a setup. “Why are you doing this?”

  “The truth?” Jason asks.

  I roll my eyes. “No. How about a bullshit sandwich?”

  Behind me, Austin chuckles.

  Jason shrugs. “Millie. And her dad. Mostly Millie. She sees me, and somehow she still loves me. She makes me-”

  “Want to be a better man,” I finish for him, thinking of Alison waiting for me inside. I can’t argue with that. And I only hope that if someone confronted me with any of my past shittiness, that they could understand I want to be a better man, too. I look down at the papers in my hand. “I’m in.”

  “You sure? It’s a big decision,” Austin cautions. “If you’re serious, you should come back to the hotel and I can bring you up to speed.”

  “What’s our time frame?” I ask, surprised at how easy it is to step back into CEO mode.

  “ASAP. We’re hemorrhaging cash. The sooner we stop it, the better.”

  “What’s that going to take?”

  “I had my lawyer draw up agreements of rolls and responsibilities. Under the board rules, we need to get dad to call an emergency meeting. Between the three of us and Dad, we have enough shares to fire the board and start over.”

  “Do you have new board members in mind?”

  Austin nods, excitement lighting his eyes. “I do. And if you can get away, we can discuss it all. I’d like to go to dad as soon as Dec signs on.”

  I look back at the restaurant, my plans for the evening gone up in smoke. As much as I want to go back in there and pick up where we left off, I have an obligation to the family business. It’s been my destiny, my dream, and Alison would want me to go. I think of our business conversations, maybe this is a chance for Case Family Wineries to turn over a new leaf, too.

  I shoot Alison a text, not wanting to make more of a scene than we already did. I’m sorry. I have to go. I promise I’ll make it up to you.

  “One more thing,” Austin cautions. “If you take over, I’m not gonna be in Napa full-time.”

  “Why not?” Then I see his answer written all over his face. “Let me guess. You’ve gone and fallen for someone.”

  His goofy grin says it all.

  I roll my eyes. “Jesus, fuck. What in the hell is in the water out there in Kansas?”

  It’s dawn when I crawl into bed and gather Alison in my arms. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I promise I’ll take you there again, and I won’t tell anyone where I am.” She nuzzles her head into my shoulder and as I stroke her hair, I realize she’s crying. My stomach hollows. Fuck me, I made her cry. “Oh, baby, please don’t cry. Give me a chance to explain.”

  Her shoulders shake harder, but she nods, and pushes up to sitting, tucking the sheets under her arms.

  It concerns me, that she’s not saying anything, she’s just staring at me with hurt in her eyes. I clear my throat, unsure where to start, because I realize in her mind, maybe sorting out my family’s business isn’t reason enough to ditch your date. “So last May, at Jason’s wedding, my dad gave the three of us- me, Austin, and Dec, an ultimatum. He froze our trust funds, and told us we had to take a more active interest in the family business in order to unfreeze them. I’ve already been actively involved in the business, so I did what any self-respecting son would do in that case- I told him to fuck the hell off.”

  She snorts and her mouth twitches.

  “Once Veronica realized the family faucet was turned off, she kicked me out, and you know the rest of that story.”

  She nods her head, still not talking.

  My stomach roils. I don’t want to lose her over this. “I landed at my accountant’s house because I didn’t want to take a handout from Dec, but he turned out to be as crooked as Ronnie, so I fired him and landed… here.” I reach out and trace a finger over her collarbone. “And it’s the best damned thing that ever happened to me.”

  She shuts her eyes, but a tear squeezes out the corner and runs down her cheek.

  Every tear is like a knife stabbing into my chest. I cup her face. “I mean it, angel. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.” She sniffs loudly and lets out a little half-sob. But it’s her tentative smile that arrows straight into my heart. “I love you Ali. Don’t ever doubt that.” Even though things are about to get really complicated. “When Austin showed up today- yesterday with Jason, I wanted to rip his face off, or worse. But I thought about all the conversations we’ve had about picking yourself up and moving on, and-and, while I don’t want to be his friend, and I’m not sure I’ve forgiven him, I think we’ve at least reached an understanding.”

  “I’m happy for you,” she murmurs.

  “The worst part? It turns out, Jason had planne
d to call off their engagement when he got home from his deployment. So all that time I thought I was hurting him- he didn’t care. I was only hurting myself.”

  She lets out a wry laugh. “That’s karma for you.”

  “I hope I’m done with karmic retribution.”

  “So what else happened?”

  The tightness in my chest eases, now that she’s talking. “Austin came out for a visit sometime late July, to scout some growers, and discovered that the company has been leaking dollar bills right into the pockets of the board members for years. He built a solid paper trail and if Declan signs on, he’s going to take it to Dad and force him to retire. I’ll become CEO, and we’ll fire the current board.”

  Alison blows out a long breath. “Wow. Just. Wow.”

  “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

  “What’s your timeframe?”

  “ASAP. We need to stop the bleeding and work on some damage control right away. Harvest has already started, so we’re going to have to wait for major changes until December.”

  “So, I guess that means you’ll be moving back to Napa.” She frames it as a statement.

  I nod, hating every second of what’s coming. This is the part I’ve been dreading. “Yeah. I’m going to need to be down at headquarters, so it makes sense. But it’s only what? Forty minutes? That’s nothing. And I can come up on the weekends.”

  “Won’t that look suspicious to Declan?”

  “I don’t care,” I growl, pulling her in for a kiss. “Why shouldn’t the whole world know I love you?” I say with more confidence than I feel. This is just a bump, and we’ll figure it out. I know it.