Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
S alem
As I pass him on my way back to my office, Kellen says, “I heard what that man said. This is exactly what we need to show she’s a liar.”
“That’s for your attorneys to decide. I don’t have a say in that. I simply wanted to know what her behavior was like before she came to work for King Industries, and now I have my answer.”
He follows me back to my office and asks, “You’re going to use this information somehow, aren’t you?”
As I sit down at the desk, I shake my head but avoid looking at him. “Not if I can help it.”
“Why? I thought you were trying to help me with this whole mess. Why wouldn’t you use this? It’s exactly what we need to show she’s a serial liar. She didn’t get sexually harassed by those men any more than she did with me. Now the world can know that and stop acting like I’m the son of fucking Hitler.”
Even though I can understand his point of view, I don’t like the idea of throwing up anyone’s past to defend a client. There are better ways of making the public see someone’s not a bad guy.
“I prefer not to attack victims when I can highlight more positive areas in my clients to help them.”
His eyes flash rage at me. “She’s not the goddamned victim here! Everything I heard says she’s the criminal I’m being made out to be, not the victim. Put it out there and let those media vultures go after her.”
“That’s not how the world works now.”
He begins to pace around my office, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. “That’s bullshit! Just because a man and woman sleep together doesn’t mean it has to be sexual harassment. Fuck, if anyone’s the victim here, it’s me.”
I study his face to see if he’s serious. It’s clear by his tortured expression and body language that he is.
“So a billionaire son of a billionaire who grew up in a mansion on a huge estate and went to an exclusive prep school is the victim? You, a man who’s never had to worry about where you’re going to find the money to afford college and drives a one hundred thousand dollar car, you’re the victim?”
Kellen stops dead in front of me and shakes his head. “Don’t pull that populist crap on me. I’ve never claimed to not know how fortunate I am. The happy circumstance of my birth as the son of Maximilian and Elizabeth King doesn’t dictate that I must be a villain. All I have doesn’t change the fact that I never sexually harassed her or anyone else, and the fact that you have proof that she’s done this before makes me wonder.”
“Wonder what? I’m working my tail off to make you an upstanding citizen in the eyes of the public. Maybe I should let you sit in here while I hustle to reach out to anyone and everyone who will listen to my pitch to look at the rest of your life instead of this one glimpse of it,” I snap.
“She wanted me and I wanted her, Salem. It’s that simple. We had a few good times. It never affected her job. Hell, I rarely spent any time in the office, so how could it?”
Frustrated, he begins to pace again as his words echo in my head. “Why? Do you mean you didn’t interact with her at work?”
He shakes his head as he turns on his heel and walks back toward the other side of the office. “I never saw her. I liked to work from home. The only reason I met her was because of the King Industries Christmas party. We met, had a good time talking, and got together a few times after that. I didn’t see her at work. Not even on Zoom meetings.”
As I sit there watching him pace, all I can think is Gina’s basing her claim of Kellen sexually harassing her on the sex. As much as I don’t want to ask, I need to know something.
“Did you ever tell her if she didn’t do something for you when the two of you were together that there would be a problem or some punishment at work?”
Kellen smiles and sits down on the sofa across from me. “I didn’t have to threaten her. She was more than willing. I’m the one who’s getting threatened, not her.”
His smugness bothers me. I know I shouldn’t let it get to me because I need to keep our relationship completely professional, but the way he talks about his time with her irritates me.
“I need to be alone. I have work to do,” I abruptly say, turning away from him to focus on the papers on my desk.
“Why? I thought we were talking.”
When he doesn’t leave, I know I have to before I get emotional about something I need to keep entirely professional. I walk out of the office heading outside to get some fresh air.
And space. God, I need some space from this man right now.
Of course, he doesn’t let up and follows me out the front door. The sun’s just setting below the tree line, and the oranges and reds after a warm spring day color the sky in a way that fits with the anger building inside me.
“What’s wrong? We were talking back there, and suddenly you need to be alone? Why?” he says as he continues to trail behind me across the front lawn.
Finally, I spin around and snap, “What could possibly be wrong, right? The man I had a wonderful time with on vacation ended up ghosting me, and then I find out I’m being hired to fix the mess he’s made of his life with some woman. I have to listen to him talk about sleeping with her like it meant nothing to him, and I can’t help thinking he’d say the same thing about sleeping with me since he left me standing alone in a villa without even a damn goodbye. All the while I’m supposed to be a professional as he lashes out at me and treats me like I’m the person who ruined his life. And you ask me what’s wrong?”
Kellen stares at me with what looks like disbelief for a few seconds, but it doesn’t stop him from once again wanting to talk to me. He starts to say something, but I stop him, holding my hand up in front of his face.
“Don’t. Okay? Just don’t. Let me do my job, and soon both of us will be able to go our separate ways.”
When I turn to walk away, desperate to not feel so exposed and vulnerable, he touches my arm and stops me cold. I look into his eyes and see something unexpected.
And then he speaks, and I’m stunned.
“What if I don’t want that?” he asks.