Outmatched

The muscle in his jaw flexed. “I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

“I won’t be able to concentrate until we know what he has to say.”

Rhys sighed heavily and gently lowered me to the ground. His phone stopped vibrating for a second and then immediately started again. “Colonel Dipshit was too kind,” he muttered under his breath as he reached for the phone.

I pressed into his side, one palm on his lower back, the other on his abs, my physical support a show of my emotional support. Rhys curled his arm around my shoulders and answered, putting the phone on speaker. “Fairchild.”

“Morgan,” Mr. Fairchild answered tersely. “You do realize this goddamn charity fight you’re putting together has affected the level of interest in my fight?”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter because I never agreed to do your fight.”

There was silence. Then, “You sneaky little fuck.”

I stiffened at the same time Rhys did, a growl burrowing up my throat.

Hearing it, Rhys rubbed my shoulder and shook his head at me. “I don’t give two shits who you are, Fairchild. Nobody talks to me like that.”

“Oh, you’ll care, son, when I’m done with you. Did you think you could get one over on me and survive that?”

“You threatening me?”

“Not in the way you think. There are other ways to destroy a man’s life without touching a single hair on his head. Now, here’s what you’re going to do. You’ll continue with this asinine charity fight, but you’re still going to fight for me.”

“Or what?”

“Or I start with that little bitch who, according to my staff, really likes getting fucked.” Rhys’s fingers bit into my shoulder, and his expression turned dark. “Well,” Fairchild continued, “I’m going to fuck her too, just in a different way. I’ll start with that job of hers. Not only will I make sure she never works for Horus again, I’ll make sure she never works in Boston again, and I’ll go even further than that and make sure she never works in renewable energy. Every move she makes to further her career, I’ll be there to fuck with her.”

My heart pounded in my chest, nausea roiling in my gut because I knew Fairchild was capable of doing exactly that.

“And if that isn’t enough to make you see things my way, I’ll move on to your brother. It would be a shame if someone as intelligent as Dean, with such a bright future ahead of him, were to find himself unemployable.”

Rhys shuddered against me and I held on tighter, as if I could contain his fury. He opened and shut his mouth. Seeing his struggle, I caressed his cheek, drawing his gaze to mine.

I shook my head at him and mouthed, “We can fight him.”

His eyes asked, “How?”

I thought of all the connections my family had to powerful people in society and although it made me uncomfortable thinking about using those connections, I would to help us out of this. Fairchild thought he was untouchable, but for myself, for Rhys, and for Dean, I’d do anything to prove him wrong.

“I see I have your attention,” Fairchild said, sounding smug. “Good. I’ll be in touch about my fight, Morgan, so next time I call, answer the fucking phone.” He hung up.

Rhys’s fingers curled around his cell and seeing his knuckles turn white, I quickly extricated the phone before he threw it across the room. I set it on the desk and turned to him. “We can fight him. My parents have a lot of powerful friends and, although I’ve never thought about them in that way, Charles and Marion Brown are not people you mess with.”

“I thought the reason you wanted a fake relationship was to keep your troubles away from your parents?”

I stiffened. “Well, I’m not happy about the idea of going to them either, but I don’t think we should just allow this man to steamroll us. It’s better to ask for help from people who care about us than to let Colonel Dipshit blackmail us.”

Rhys’s eyes searched mine for what felt like eternity. Then he exhaled slowly. “Parker, you came to me—well, technically, Dean, but let’s not think about that—for help. This job means so much to you, you were willing to pay a guy to pretend to date you to keep it. I can’t let you jeopardize all that.”

I slid my hand up his chest, resting my palm over his fiercely pounding heart. “I don’t want to jeopardize it either. It scares me. A lot. But the idea of Fairchild using you, what that’ll do to you and Dean—that scares me too. Let’s just get through the charity fight. We don’t know what’s going to come of that. Once we know what cards we’re holding, we can deal with Fairchild. For now, we’ll just find ways to hold him off.”