Page 21 of Wild King
My younger brother sounds like that fucking employment handbook Matthias gave me to read, which I bailed on afterchapter one. “What happened to you, dude? You sound like those two.”
“I grew up. You should try it. Then we won’t have to deal with having these stupid meetings because you keep fucking up.”
Something inside me snaps, and I jump up from my seat, sick of all my brothers right now. “If Theo were here, he’d laugh his ass off at you three. He knew how to have fun, so he’d be on my side.”
The three of them stare up at me in horror, like bringing up our dead brother is another crime I’m guilty of. “Theo wouldn’t be okay with this either,” Matthias quietly says.
That he’s the one to say that makes me explode. “Don’t act like you knew him at all! All you knew about Theo is you took away the only fucking person he ever loved.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone in the doorway, and when I turn to look to see who it is, Ava’s standing there with tears in her eyes. I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to make her feel better, but whatever those words are, they don’t come to me.
She runs away, and a second later, Matthias marches past me scowling. “Don’t think this is over. I’ll be back.”
Great. Now I have to deal with being the bad guy concerning her too.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you say that?” Marius asks, sounding utterly disgusted with me.
When I don’t answer, Ronan adds, “You were way out of line there, Kellen. You do realize this is Ava’s house now, right? You’re a fucking guest and just insulted her.”
I’m not going to argue my opinion on Matthias and Ava. Not here or anywhere. They can be fine with what happened with Theo and those two, but that doesn’t mean I have to be.
“Whatever. I’m sure big brother will take care of things with her,” I grumble as I sit down again.
The two of them ignore me for the next few minutes, which is fine with me. The last thing I want to do is listen to them lecture me on anything like I’m some child who doesn’t know how to handle his life.
Matthias returns, and I can see by his stony expression that he’s pissed about what I said on top of the problem we’re here to discuss. He’ll probably threaten me with no money or something equally as terrible. It’s his way of trying to control me and the situation.
“It’s obvious that we’re not going to get anywhere talking about this tonight, so I’ve taken it upon myself to hire a fixer. They will clean this situation up for us. Marius and Ronan know all about it and already gave their approval, so I invited them here to get things moving. You will do exactly as instructed, Kellen, or I will make sure you don’t see another dime from your inheritance until you do. Got it?”
My brothers all look at me as they wait for an answer. “What the hell is a fixer?” I ask.
I’ve got other questions, but that’s the main one for right now. Who did he hire and what are they going to make me do are a couple more. I’m sure I’ll get my answers to those questions in a few minutes.
“Someone who will make this problem go away. We can throw money at it all we want, but if you aren’t going to help by changing, it won’t ever stop. The fixer will make sure you do what’s necessary to clean up your reputation.”
I can’t even fathom what the hell that will do to my having fun, but I’m pretty sure whoever this fixer is won’t be a welcome addition to my life. That’s for sure.
Matthias steps aside and says, “Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Salem Roberts. She’s going to fix this problem for us once and for all.”
My mouth falls open at the sight of the woman I just spent an incredible day and night with down in the islands. She looks different wearing a business suit and heels, but it’s her.
My mystery woman.
And if looks could kill, I’d be dead.
CHAPTER TEN
Salem
My legs buckleand nearly give out when I see the man who disappeared into thin air after spending hours having sex with me down at that resort. So this is Mr. King.
Kellen King, an immature jackass who sleeps with women at the workplace and ghosts others. And I have to be the professional I always am and fix the mess he’s made.
Instead of my usual speech I give every new client, all I can think of is how much I want to lash out at this man and scream, “You left me in your villa without even a goodbye! What kind of asshole does that?”
I can’t say any of that, though, so I swallow hard and take a deep breath as I plaster a smile on my face. Matthias King hired me to be the fixer his company needs, so that’s what I need to be.
“Let me introduce you to everyone,” he says and points to two men on the left side of the room opposite Kellen. “These are my brothers, Marius and Ronan.”