His sister, The Fixer.

  “He was shocked. Swears he never saw it coming. Called me yesterday as soon as Legal notified him.” As exhausted as he was from over ten hours of travel, a sense of restlessness kept him on his feet, his shoulder propped against the wall by the door. He had to get back to his office and didn’t intend to stay much longer.

  With his request to Kennedy having been met with a resounding no, he regretted having asked in the first place. She’d been right to turn him down. Rules were rules. No taking on family as paying clients, and he sure as hell wouldn’t ask her to take him on pro bono.

  And no, he wouldn’t have used it as a way to get close to her.

  You sure about that? The question niggled at the back of his mind. No conclusive answer yet.

  And that was probably because he couldn’t deny his attraction to her hadn’t gone anywhere and didn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. But he’d deal with it as he had in the past. Ignore it and hope it’d eventually go away.

  She wasn’t the only beautiful woman in New York.

  But then, Kennedy was a lot more than her looks. A helluva lot more. He’d realized that the first time he’d really spoken to her. Although he’d been mesmerized by her gorgeous blue-gray eyes, her intellect and sweetness had been a huge turn-on. And the more he’d gotten to know her, the more he’d liked her. He’d liked that her sweetness came with an acerbic bite and that she’d been genuinely interested in him and the one thing he was most passionate about—his company.

  Rory sat on the lip of her desk, her hands gripping the edge and shoulders squared. “All right, here’s what I’m going to advise you to do. You need to hold a press conference. None of this statement shit, no matter what your PR team tells you. Statements aren’t worth their weight in a sheet of copy paper,” she said disdainfully. “No, what you need to do is hold a presser, invite the media, say what you have to say, and take a few questions. Reporters and the public will appreciate that more. They’ll be more inclined to believe you when you tell them you’re looking into the allegations, and you intend to get to the bottom of them. When you look them square in the eye and tell them you’re going to fix it.”

  His sister was a pistol and a half. Yeah, she might look sweet and delicate—she especially had reporters eating out of her hands—but she was ruthlessly smart, incredibly astute, and unfailingly loyal to the people she cared about. He happened to be pretty high on that list. Some people would say at the top. Those people would be their parents and older brothers.

  “I had a feeling that’s what you were going to say.” His sister preferred to face things head-on, no matter how difficult the circumstance, which was one of the things that made her so good at her job.

  Hopping off the desk, she walked over to him. “That’s a relief. Glad to know I won’t have to browbeat you into it,” she said with a smirk, but the worry in her eyes lingered.

  “I hate talking to the press,” he groused. More than anything, he hated this kind of attention. As it stood, he was currently the villain of the piece, when he was accustomed to being lauded. Success at a young age could do that, a success that had nothing to do with his parents’ careers, even though it had been their seed money he’d used to start the company. Although, the Vaughn name probably opened a few doors that would otherwise have been closed to him.

  His sister reached up and patted his hair-roughened cheek, reminding him he was overdue for a shave. “But they love this gorgeous face of yours,” she teased.

  Nate rolled his eyes.

  “And you know what they say about necessary evils. This, my dear brother, is mandatory and lesson three in Crisis Management 101. On the bright side—”

  “I’m glad you see a bright side to this,” he muttered darkly.

  “—I usually charge a pretty penny for this kind of advice, but I’m giving you the family discount. Free.” She gave his cheek another affectionate tap before moving to take a seat in the chair behind her desk.

  “What the hell are you smiling about?”

  “Look again. What you’re seeing is optimism. And I’m optimistic because I know you, and I know that not only are you and the company going to get through this with flying colors, you’re both going to come out stronger on the other side. Trust me.”

  Aurora he trusted with his life. It was the lawyers on the other side he didn’t trust. They were strictly in this for the payout. And then there were the tabloids. God all-fucking-mighty, they were going to make his life hell by digging up whatever they could about him and then they’d distort it and report it as fact.

  “Oh, and could you do me a favor and be nice to Kennedy?”

  Nate stiffened defensively before shouldering off the wall. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m always nice to her.”

  Nice was an understatement and almost laughable, given his sister knew about their past relationship. The brat had wheedled it out of him years ago.

  Kennedy was the one who always got prickly with him. The only time he ever saw a real smile on her face was when she was bestowing it on someone else. He received the ones that never quite made it past her lips.

  “Oh, don’t get all offended. I simply mean she’s going through a rough patch right now, so just...just, you know, be extra nice.”

  “Difficult time? Why? What happened?” he asked, his voice level and interest high.

  Sighing, Aurora touched a hand to her ponytail and lowered her voice to a whisper. “You have to promise not to say a word to her...but do you remember me telling you about her boyfriend a few months ago? The one I said she’d been dating for two years and who was head over heels in love with her?”

  How could he forget? A week after that conversation, he made up his mind that it was time to return home to New York for good. His team in France were more than capable of managing the business in Europe. They didn’t need him there anymore.

  “What about him?” he asked, bracing himself. The guy better not have hurt her.

  “They broke up last month.”

  Nate released the breath he’d been holding. “And?”

  His sister sent him a disapproving look. “You’re terrible.”

  “No, seriously, why is she going through a rough patch? Is he the one who broke up with her?” It was hard to imagine that being the case, but why else would his sister want him to be extra nice to her? Was Kennedy nursing a broken heart? God, he hoped not.

  “No, it’s the exact opposite. He asked her to marry him and she said no, so that was that,” she concluded with a sigh and a shrug.

  Nate wasn’t about to examine why learning she was single felt like a huge weight off his shoulders when the five-thousand-pound class-action lawsuit still remained.

  No need for a whole lot of self-examination, bud. You want her back in your bed.

  That was his dick talking, and he never allowed it to rule his head. Not the one on his shoulders.

  “What did you think of the guy?” curiosity drove him to ask.

  “Aidan? Oh, I think he’s great. But to be honest, I never saw them making it in the long run. He always struck me as someone who wants a traditional wife. The kind that would stop working the second kids came along, and that’s not Kennie at all.”

  Nope, Kennedy wanted it all. The career and the family. She’d told him so all those years ago. When they’d both felt free to talk about their dreams and plans for the future. She’d been about to start her freshman year at Columbia, and Constellation had already made him a millionaire several times over.

  “I’m sure she won’t be alone for long. There’s probably already a line of single guys banging on her door.” Some of the married ones too.

  Aurora’s eyebrows flattened. “They just broke up, for heaven’s sake. She needs time to grieve. The end of a relationship can be like a death, you know.”

  “I hate to break it to you, Rory, but the only thing like death is death. It has no equivalent.”

  His sister rolled her eyes and muttered, “Okay, fine, whatever. Anyway, like I was saying, be extra nice to her. When she’s around, try cracking a smile or two and then just maybe she’ll agree to join us on the rare occasion I want to hang out with you.”

  “Very funny.” He was her favorite brother. She loved hanging out with him more than she cared to admit. “And quit trying to paint me as the bad guy. I’ve always been perfectly nice to Kennedy.” There’d been that time when he’d made her come with his tongue. He was pretty sure she’d thought he was being nice then. “The last time I offered to drive her home, she was the one who turned me down.”

  “Yeah, but you were kinda crabby about it. Honestly, sometimes I can’t decide if you still have a thing for her, or if, for reasons I can’t fathom, you truly don’t like her anymore.” The last part had her narrowing her eyes at him, her look downright accusatory.

  “I don’t have a thing for her,” Nate said, scowling, annoyed at his sister for calling him out. “And I’ve got no problem with her.”

  Yeah, that sounded convincing. “I like her,” he quickly amended.

  “Then try acting like it.”

  Nate bit back a laugh. “Okay, from now on, I’ll be the picture of sunshine whenever she’s around. That work for you?” He’d have to find a middle ground between sexually disinterested and wanting to take her on the nearest surface, be it a floor, a bed, a counter, or up against a wall.

  “Just don’t be fake about it.”

  Exasperated, Nate threw up his hands, the motion fluttering a small stack of papers on her desk. “First the press conference and now this. Can you cut me some slack? I’m here to put out fires and keep my company out of court and off the Justice Department’s radar. A bit of understanding would be appreciated.”

  “Oh, come on. You know you have nothing to fear from the DOJ,” Aurora scoffed. “And this lawsuit will never make it to court. If your legal team doesn’t make that clear to you, then you need to hire another one. The biggest thing at stake is the reputation of your company, and I, for one, will not allow it to be tarnished by this. At least, not for long.”

  “Good. That makes two of us,” he said with a soft grunt of agreement.

  7

  Kennedy waited five minutes after Nate left—without even an au revoir, adios, or sayonara to her, not that she’d expected one—before making a beeline to her best friend’s office.

  Aurora stopped typing on the computer when Kennedy sat down in the chair opposite and crossed her legs with an air of studied nonchalance.

  She regarded her friend expectantly. “So what’s the verdict? On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it?”

  Aurora made a face as she leaned forward and set her elbows on the desk. “Six. He’s holding a press conference tomorrow, so hopefully that will take things down to a five.”

  Kennedy understood the look. There were about five thousand things Nate enjoyed more than talking to the press, like acid baths and circus clowns—Pennywise really left a mark on him.

  “And of course, you’re going to be there, am I right?” It was a rhetorical question. There was no way Aurora wasn’t going.

  Propping her chin on her interlaced fingers, her friend released a wispy sigh. “He’s going to need all the support he can get. You know how they can be. You should see what they’re saying on social media. They’re calling Constellation a falling star.” She shivered dramatically. “Those people are brutal. Won’t even wait to hear what the other side has to say.”

  Social media also had a way of bringing out the cutting creativity in people, as “Reaching for the Stars” was Constellation’s tagline.

  A frisson of guilt shot through her. She could help. A friend would help.

  “That’s social media for you. Kicking a man when he’s down is what it does best. But I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. You know Nate—he’s a fighter. And remember, he has all those diversity programs he started and is involved with working in his favor. He’s going to be fine.” Better than fine. Knowing him, he’d come out of this being touted as the way CEOs should handle discrimination issues like this.

  “What does your day look like tomorrow? Do you have a hole in your schedule between one and three?”

  Kennedy feared she looked like a cornered mouse, a cat within pouncing distance.

  Aurora read her expression correctly and took out her rarely utilized friend card. “I told you, he’s going to need all the support he can get, and you’re his friend, right?”

  The fraught question was impossible to answer truthfully without opening a can of worms.

  “All right, fine, then,” Aurora continued, giving her only a beat to respond. “You’re my best friend and he’s my brother and you love me to pieces.”

  “Look, I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll have to check my schedule.” Kennedy could have easily made up an appointment and said she was busy. So why hadn’t she?

  Because it’s Nate. Your first.

  Maybe if his sister wasn’t her best friend and she hadn’t had to interact with him over the years following their—for want of a better word—fling, she wouldn’t still have a soft spot for him.

  Aurora smiled. “You’re the best. I’m going to need to reschedule a couple appointments myself.”

  “I’ll be there if I can,” Kennedy promised.

  If she ended up going, she wouldn’t stay long. She’d be a support beam that faded into the background.

  “In other news, what’s going on with Adam Faulkner? Jonathan mentioned he called the agency yesterday. I hope for his sake he doesn’t need your services again.”

  Adam Faulkner was the lieutenant governor of New York and Aurora had worked with him at her old crisis-management firm when he’d been accused of accepting gifts from a wealthy donor in exchange for political favors. The corruption case against him had been dropped—the indictment had been shoddy, rushed, and politically motivated—when it came to light that the wealthy donor was Faulkner’s daughter’s godfather, and the gift—a car—had been purchased for said daughter.

  As for the political favor? It had been a zoning permit, which was revealed to have been granted to Mr. Leeds two years before the lieutenant governor was elected. Someone had transposed a date and a clerk had been fired to cover for the mistake missed by everyone and their mother.

  Fully vindicated, the embattled lieutenant governor had gone on to seek another term, handily winning it in a landslide, because who didn’t love a righteous comeback story?

  “Oh, it’s nothing like that,” Aurora said with a negligent wave. “He called to ask if I could get my hands on a backstage pass to Sahara’s charity concert in September for his daughter. Brittany’s a huge fan. Like, really huge.”

  As Kennedy had predicted, her best friend and the singer got on like a house on fire right from the start, and the three had developed a strong bond, making a point to get together whenever Sahara was in town.

  “What could’ve possibly given him the idea that you have that kind of clout?” Kennedy asked coyly.

  Aurora’s eyes danced mischievously. “I may have mentioned that I have her personal cell number on speed dial and that whenever she’s in town, we all do lunch.”

  Kennedy gave an amused snort. Her parents were Hollywood royalty, yet it was Sahara’s name she’d dropped. “Mentioned, huh? Don’t you mean bragged?”

  “What?” Aurora exclaimed, laughing. “I had to prove my bona fides after he told me he had the biggest Sahara fan living under his roof.”

  Ah, yes, his nineteen-year-old daughter. Now it made sense. Her friend usually wasn’t one to drop names all willy-nilly.

  “Brittany is a Desert Stormer. She’s got the jacket, the sweatshirt, the baseball cap—the whole works,” Aurora said, gesturing widely with her hands.

  Whether Sahara liked it or not, she was more than a celebrity to girls and young women like Brittany Faulkner—she was the ultimate role model. Personally, she didn’t know how Sahara dealt with the weighty responsibility that came with it.

  “When was this?” His corruption scandal had been four years ago, years before Kennedy had met Sahara.

  “I ran into him a few months ago at a fundraiser my mother dragged me to.”

  Kennedy nodded. She remembered the weekend Aurora’s parents flew in from LA. The Vaughns loved a good cause and these days had thrown their considerable celebrity heft behind saving the planet, women’s rights, and closing the wealth gap.

  “Has he said anything about whether he plans to run for governor?” The election was still two years away, but many of the potential opponents had already started jockeying for position in what looked to be a crowded primary. It was widely believed that the party nomination was his if he chose to run.

  “Not to me he hasn’t,” Aurora replied.

  “Well, the next time you talk to him, tell him to keep his nose clean. He can’t afford another scandal, even one that isn’t his fault.”

  Aurora let out a short, dry laugh. “Believe me, he knows.”

  * * *

  “Damn, the press is down there in full force. I’ve never seen the lobby that packed,” Jack Walters, the company’s CTO, announced upon entering Nate’s office.

  Friends since high school, he and Jack had attended Columbia together, both Computer and Information Science majors. He’d been working for another tech company when Nate started Constellation and had offered his talents before Nate had a chance to ask him to join the small team it had been at the time.

  “What did you expect? They’re here for the show.” Nate finished the rest of his lukewarm coffee and set the empty mug on his desk. It was his fourth for the day and the only thing keeping him awake.