Page 23 of Wild King
I see him immediately begin to shake his head at my mention of that stipulation. Turning to look at him, I say, “You will only continue to make a mess of your reputation if you don’t do as I say.”
“Forget it. I’m not turning into some hermit simply because some woman has decided to lie about me.”
Looking at Matthias, I shrug. “I’m sorry, but I can’t fulfill my obligations on this job if he won’t do as I say. I’m the best in the business, so I know what has to happen. It won’t work and I won’t be able to fix anything if he’s going to fight me every step of the way.”
The stress of the situation settles into this King brother’s expression, and he sighs like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. “I understand. Don’t worry. Kellen will do as you need him to.”
“I will not. Fuck this!” Kellen snaps.
The three brothers stare daggers at him and in turn yell that they’re sick and tired of dealing with his problems. I back away as it looks like they’re about to break into a fistfight.
As they berate him for all he’s done, he turns toward me and snaps, “This is because I left you at the villa. This is payback, isn’t it?”
The three brothers look at me in shock before returning their focus to Kellen. Shaking his head, Matthias asks, “Is there no one you haven’t slept with or pissed off?”
Unsure I even want this job, I step forward and say to Kellen, “This isn’t anything other than you having to deal with the consequences of your actions. I’m the best at what I do, so if you ever want to be anything other than a social pariah, you want my help.”
That shuts him up, so I say to Matthias, “I’ll give you all some time to discuss things. I’m sorry that I can’t accept anything other than Kellen following my rules to the letter. To be honest, I’m not sure he is a candidate for the kind of fixing I specialize in.”
“Please, just give us a couple minutes.”
I nod and turn around to walk out into the hallway where his girlfriend is waiting. She gives me a big smile and says, “Let’s go downstairs and give them some time.”
As we walk down to the first floor, she asks me, “So you know Kellen?”
I chuckle, not really pleased that’s out in the open now. “I do, but that won’t have any effect on my work for King Industries.”
We stop in a large room that looks like a living room, and she offers me a drink. “No, thank you.”
Cupping her tiny belly, she beams a smile. “I can’t because I’m expecting, but I thought I should offer you one.”
“Congratulations! I hope this situation isn’t causing you stress. I believe it’s upsetting Matthias.”
She shrugs and then smiles. “Matthias has always been intense. Things bother him. Kellen hasn’t always been the way he’s been acting, though. Before his brother Theo died, he didn’t act like this. Now he seems very argumentative and careless about people’s feelings. That isn’t the Kellen I’ve known all my life, though.”
I like hearing that, even though I shouldn’t care one way or another. What happened between us at that villa has nothing to do with the job I have to do to fix the problem he’s caused. The two people who had such a great time down there don’t exist here.
“Well, I hope I get to meet this person you talk about. It would make my job a lot easier.”
Her eyes wide and filled with concern, Ava leans in toward me and whispers, “Do you really think if he disappears from the public eye that people will forget all that’s happened?”
I nod and answer, “Yes. The hard part is getting people to forgive him for what he’s done. That’s going to take some work, but I’ve handled more challenging jobs before, so I can do this for your family.”
That makes her smile again. “I hope you can because I don’t want Kellen to be a social pariah. He’s a good person at heart. He’s just had a difficult time since Theo died. He looked up tohim, so his death hit him hard. I really believe his behavior has a lot to do with that.”
Matthias interrupts our conversation, and I notice how relaxed he looks now. Smiling, he walks over to where Ava and I are standing by the fireplace in the living room and wraps his arm around her waist.
“Thank you for giving us a little time. I know Kellen sounds like he’s going to be difficult, but I think you’ll find him more accommodating now. He told us what he did down in the islands. I’m sorry about that. I feel like that’s partly my fault since I told him he needed to get back here immediately. I hope that won’t affect your willingness to help us.”
I smile as I hope I’m not blushing at how embarrassed I am that now all the family knows what happened between Kellen and me. I was a nameless woman enjoying herself with a nameless man at the villa.
That’s not who I am here. Now I’m a professional woman getting paid handsomely to make Kellen look like something other than the world’s biggest villain.
“Please, it wasn’t anything serious. The difference between me and the woman who’s claiming Kellen sexually harassed her is I wasn’t working for King Industries at the time. There’s no need for apologies.”
That pleases him. “Good. Okay, let’s go back upstairs and finish our meeting.”
He kisses Ava and the two of us walk back upstairs in silence to rejoin the rest of his brothers. I notice a distinct difference in Kellen when I walk into the game room. He doesn’t seem so angry now.