Page 26 of Reckless King

I temper the shit-eating grin threatening to spread across my face, so he doesn’t get suspicious. “Hand on my heart, I didn’t fuck anyone that night.”

He scrutinizes me, brows pulled low, but I don’t let my eye contact waver. I’m not lying, though he doesn’t need to know the details about what Iwasdoing. And it’s not like what happened with Violet was my plan when I left the gala.

He lets out a harsh breath and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. I know you’ve been stepping up and taking the hits when it comes to these events. But unfortunately, it takes more than a few months of being discreet to repair a reputation you’ve spent years cultivating. The tabloids don’t forget that easily.”

Now I do feel a little bad. This is the first time he’s apologized to me in years. Hell, the last time he did was probably when we were kids. And the worst part is that he’s right. This is my fault. I’ve spent too many years caught up in my own issues to give a damn what was reported about me. Now it’s coming back to bite me in the ass.

“We’ll get them to post a retraction tomorrow,” I say. “I’m sure she’ll be refuting the claims as well.”

But Roman shakes his head. “The lawyers are already on it. But I’m not convinced that’s going to be enough. We can respond, and so can she, but the tabloids are going to keep going after you, because they see you as an easy target—you’re the King Group’s wild card. But we can’t afford to keepputting out fires. Especially after what happened with Dad.”

Frustration rips through me. “There’s nothing I can do about what they decide to print.”

“I think there is.”

With every one of my brother’s words, my dread deepens. “What are you suggesting?”

“You need a buffer.”

I raise my brows and wait for him to clarify.

“A girlfriend,” he states. “You need to find yourself a girlfriend.”

I bark out a laugh. He can’t be serious. After what happened with Cole, I would have thought he’d learned his lesson. “Thanks, but I’ll pass. Your matchmaking services haven’t exactly received rave reviews.”

His jaw tightens, and what looks like regret flashes across his face. He doesn’t back down though. “This isn’t matchmaking; this is damage control. You’re chief of marketing. You should know how these stories can keep snowballing. We can’t afford to lose investor confidence again.”

“And as chief of marketing, I can come up with another way to handle things if needed. But a fake girlfriend? Come on, you can’t really think that’s necessary.”

“Normally, I wouldn’t agree with Roman,” Cole speaks up.

I scowl at him.Traitor.

The corners of his lips quirk up, as if he can read my mind. “This could be a good solution, Tate. The King Group really doesn’t need more scandal so soon after Dad’s conviction. Even fake scandals. If the tabloids see you with one woman on yourarm for a few months, hopefully they’ll get bored and focus their attention elsewhere. After you break up, you’ll have proven you’re no longer New York’s biggest playboy. And it’s not like you have to actually do anything with whoever she is other than go out together in public and pretend to only have eyes for her.”

Dammit. He has a point. A girlfriend is the last thing I want or need. But apart from my mistake with Violet, I’ve been doing my best not to fuck around anyway. Would it really hurt to act the part of a taken man for a few months? Not only could it help me prove I’m just as serious about the King Group as my brothers, but it could help me to finally shed my reputation. With our current focus on Genesis-1, the last thing the King Group needs is made-up reports about my antics overshadowing one of our most significant projects.

Roman clears his throat. “I’m not going to force you,” he says, his gaze flicking to Cole for a split-second before returning to me, “but if we can find a woman who’ll be on board with this plan, then no one will get hurt, and it will hopefully get the tabloids off your back. Once everything has died down, you and the woman you choose to do this with can go your separate ways.”

“Right,” I say, but I’ve stopped listening, because one detail of my previous train of thought has gotten stuck in my head.

“What are we thinking?” Cole scoots to the edge of his chair. “A professional actress?”

Roman roughs a hand down his face. “That will look too obviously staged, though a model might do. Whoever she is, she’ll need to be content to take the money and attention that will come along with it and sign an NDA to keep quiet about the arrangement.”

My brothers continue hashing things out, but I’m too busy turning an idea over in my head to contribute. An idea I should have dismissed the instant it materialized. But I can’t. Because,according to Mark,Violetneeds money for True Brew. And she doesn’t like me at all, even less so now than before, so there’s no risk of her becoming emotionally attached. I could sell this to her as the business arrangement it is. A scenario where I can side-step any number of potential future scandals, and she gets the financial boost her coffee shop needs. All she has to do is pretend to be crazy about me for a few months. That thought has my lips curving up. The idea of watching her try to do that appeals in a way it probably shouldn’t.

“We’ll get our legal team to draw up a contract,” Cole’s saying. “Ensure the terms are clear so there aren’t any misunderstandings.”

“Yeah,” I murmur absently, my mind still on the logistics of getting Violet to agree to this arrangement.

“Do you have someone in mind?” Cole asks, squinting at my obvious preoccupation.

I focus my attention back on him. “Maybe.”

“Great.” Roman stands from behind his desk and buttons his jacket. “I’ve got a meeting with the lawyers in ten minutes to discuss getting the article retracted.” He zeroes in on me. “Whoever you’re thinking of, lock her down and get her details to the legal team as soon as possible.”

I nod, another thought occurring to me. If Violet agrees to this—and it’s a big if—there’s no way to avoid Mark finding out. He’s a member of our legal team, after all. He admits it himself—he’s overprotective of his sister. So there’s a chance he’ll be adamantly against the proposal. But I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. First, I need to get her to agree to this plan.

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