Page 22 of Wild King
The two men shake my hand and politely thank me for helping them. Then Matthias turns to the third brother and in a distinctly less pleasant tone says, “And this is Kellen.”
I meet my mystery man’s gaze and see he’s thrilled to run into me again. He shouldn’t be. I’m not the same woman he left behind at his villa.
“Kellen.”
His smile fades quickly, replaced by a grimace I imagine I’ll be seeing a lot from now on. I can’t deny I miss the lighthearted way he was back on the island, but that was then and this is now.
And unlike the rest of the women he ghosts who I’m sure are just happy when he pops back into their lives, I don’t forget so easily. And forgiving takes even longer.
I immediately turn back to deal with Matthias since he’s the person who’s hired me and my firm to clean up his brother’s mess. With a smile, I say, “I’ve read up on everything there is to know about what Kellen and Gina have said, so I’m up to speed and ready to go. I do have one question, though.”
It’s like everyone holds their breath when I take a moment to decide how I want to phrase what I’ve heard. As they stare at me in dread, I ask, “Are there pictures we need to be concerned about? I’ve heard murmurings that there may be, and Gina could be planning to share them.”
I’ve never heard an entire room full of men groan all at the same time. Matthias and his brothers all turn to look at Kellen, and I have the feeling at least one of them wants to punch him right now.
“Well? Does she or any of those women in those texts you showed me the other day have pictures?” Matthias angrily asks.
Kellen winces, and I have my answer before he speaks a word. “Well, maybe. I don’t remember Gina taking pics, but I can’t say for sure anyone else doesn’t have any.”
Confused by what he means by anyone else, I ask Matthias, “Are there other women claiming Kellen sexually harassed them?”
If that’s the case, this job just became a hundred times harder.
Still glaring at his brother, he shakes his head and then turns to face me. “Not that I know of. The texts I was referring to were messages between Kellen and other women, some who work at King Industries, who…”
He doesn’t finish his sentence, but he doesn’t have to. I know what Kellen has been up to.
Directing my question to the man of the hour, I ask, “Is there anyone else who you think will claim you sexually harassed them?”
Kellen’s eyes flash his anger as he shakes his head. “I didn’t sexually harass Gina, for fuck’s sake! I didn’t do that to anyone, so my answer is no.”
I let out a heavy sigh as I silently pray to God he’s right.
Turning to look at Matthias and the other men, I say, “I’ll fix this and rehabilitate your brother’s reputation. This kind of thing can be dicey, but I’ve handled jobs like this before.”
Matthias and his two brothers smile, but I notice Kellen has no happy face to give me. If he thinks this is bad, just wait until he hears what I’m going to insist on to continue this job.
“I’ve heard only great things about you and your sister and how your firm handles situations like this. I appreciate you taking us on, Miss Roberts,” Matthias says.
“Please call me Salem. I’ll do my job, but I’m going to require a few stipulations to be put in place first. I cannot fulfill my contractual obligations if your brother can’t meet my demands.”
The three men turn to look at Kellen, and I follow their gazes to see him glaring at me. When he finally speaks, it’s not a promising moment for either of us.
“I’m not a big fan of anyone demanding anything of me, to be honest,” he says angrily.
Matthias quickly works to smooth things over. “Not to worry, Salem. Kellen will do what he must, and whatever you insist needs to be done on his behalf, I promise you he will.”
He turns to look at his brother and adds, “Or he knows what will happen if he doesn’t.”
I ignore the nasty look Kellen is giving and concentrate on Matthias King. “Very good. Okay, here are the rules. First, no more talking to the press or anyone else about what happened with any female employee. Let your legal department handle that. They know best how to protect your company. I understand what you were going for with that interview with Sadie Johnson, but I think we can all agree it wasn’t successful.”
The three brothers nod while Kellen mumbles, “For a hit job, I guess it could be considered quite successful for the bird lady.”
None of us bother to address his comment, so I continue. “Kellen will take a leave of absence from King Industries. He needs to be out of sight and out of mind for everyone.”
“Okay. I’ll have that handled immediately,” Matthias says without even consulting his brother.
“Next, he needs to disappear from society as much as possible. We’re going to make people first forget who this person was and then introduce who we want the world to think of when they hear the name Kellen King. That means no social life and no women.”