Page 19 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

Making sure to hide my depression over being ghosted, I hold my head high and walk into the meeting knowing I’m the best fixer around. At least I’m good at something.

My legs buckle and 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.

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 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 my mystery man. “These are my brothers, Marius and Ronan.”

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 scowl 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’ll fix this and rehabilitate your brother’s reputation.”

Matthias and his two brothers smile, but I notice Kellen has no happy face to give me now. 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. For the first time since I walked in, he speaks up, and 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 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.”

The three brothers nod while Kellen mumbles something. 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.”

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 glare 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 the other day. This is payback.”

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