1
Spencer
* * *
“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?”
I pull my cell farther away from my ear in an effort to avoid partial deafness as a result of my father’s lecture. As usual, he doesn’t give me time to respond before steaming ahead with more of the same bombastic tirade. “Have you seen these market results? Investors are panicking—no one wants to go near a company whose CEO’s facing a criminal trial and possible jail time!”
The fact that he’s more worried about investors and not my personal wellbeing should tell you pretty much everything you need to know about my father.
“It won’t come to that. Fuck, Dad, I didn’t do anything.”
“You think that matters?” he snaps. “You’re rich and powerful and as far as the world’s concerned you did do something. Perception’s the only thing that matters, and with all this Me, Me, Me bullshit—”
“Me Too,” I grind out through clenched teeth. And you’re one of the reasons the movement was necessary, I think, but don’t dare say it out loud.
I rub a hand through my hair, frustration and exhaustion swirling within me. I’m a firm believer that holding people in positions of power accountable for their actions is a good thing, but right now it’s hard to see through the frustration that for someone like me—the CEO of a billion-dollar company—being accused of sexually harassing my former assistant no longer comes with the presumption of innocence. Not in the eyes of the public, in any case; and that’s all that matters in the real world.
I take some semblance of comfort from the fact that my father’s paranoia about me facing criminal charges is unfounded. Amelia might have been brazen enough to go to a tabloid with her bullshit story but she has to know there’s no way it would hold up under proper scrutiny.
“There won’t be a criminal trial,” I say, the exhaustion palpable in my tone. “She doesn’t have a case.”
“Try telling the investors that,” my father grunts.
“Emily and I are handling it. It’ll blow over, I promise.”
“It better,” he growls. And without another word, he disconnects the call.
“Nice chatting to you, too,” I say under my breath as I toss my cell onto my desk and sink back into my chair with a heavy sigh.
I hear a knock at my door, and a moment later my twin sister and business partner, Emily, cracks the door open and sticks her head in. “Bad time?”
I shake my head, gesturing for her to enter. “It’s fine, come in.”
She closes the door behind her, striding toward my desk and dumping a pile of papers on it. “I need you to look through these,” she tells me, “resumes for the new assistant position.”
I groan, rubbing my hand against my forehead. This is seriously the last thing I want to be doing right now.
“Spence, it needs to be done. Maya can’t cover both of us forever.”
I nod. “I know, I know. But, please can’t you take care of it? I’ve got so much shit to deal with today.”
“Oh, and I don’t?” She arches an eyebrow at me.
I sigh. “Em, please—you know you’re so much better at the whole hiring thing than I am.” Case in point: the crazy assistant who’s now claiming I sexually harassed her and then fired her for turning me down. “Can’t you just take care of this for me?” I give her the beseeching look that’s been her kryptonite ever since we were kids.
She grumbles and picks up the stack of papers. “Fine—but you owe me.”
I flash her a smile. “Deal! I’ll buy you a drink tonight.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Oh, brother—you think one drink will get you off the hook?” She shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
I cast her a suspicious look. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’m sure I’ll think of something.” She offers a sly smile and shuffles the papers in her arms. “Okay, well, the first interview’s in an hour. Maybe you could at least stick your head in?”
I shake my head. “Charlie and Cole are coming by to go over some strategies for dealing with this whole mess.”
Em arches a skeptical brow. “And should I have Maya send out for one or two bottles of Glenlivet for this strategy session?”
I slide my gaze away guiltily. “No need…Charlie said he’d bring it.” I can’t help it if our company’s head litigator and one of the best crisis management consultants in New York both happen to be two of my best friends…
Emily lets out a peal of laughter as she heads for the door. “Just try not to go too crazy. We don’t need to add fuel to the fire.”
* * *
“Okay, give me the worst of it,” I tell both Charlie and Cole once we’re seated at the leather sofas by my office window, each holding a glass of scotch.
“Well, your image has definitely taken a hit. And the company’s,” Cole says, sitting back in the sofa with one leg crossed over the other. He’s as perfectly put together as always, not a single auburn hair out of place. “But I don’t think it’s too bad, all things considered.”
“My dad’s freaking out about investors. Apparently share prices have dropped?”
Cole waves away the concern. “It’s just the uncertainty. Will you have to step down? Will there be criminal charges? …that sort of thing.”
“What are you talking about?” I say harshly, glaring at my best friend. “Of course I won’t step down! And there won’t be any criminal charges because it’s not fucking true.”
He offers a placating look. “I know that. But the public doesn’t.”
I nod, drawing in a deep breath to calm myself. “Okay. Okay, so we have to reassure the public, right? We have to tell them this is all bullshit?”
“We can put out a statement saying that the allegations are false and that you’re investigating any and all legal action…something like that,” Cole says.
I turn to Charlie, who’s been happily sipping his scotch while watching the exchange between me and Cole. “And what legal action can I take? Can I sue for libel?”
He shakes his head and lifts his glass to his lips for another sip. “Technically, no. The tabloid will argue they weren’t actually making anything up—they just reported a story that was fed to them.”
“Without verifying any of the facts!” I snap angrily.
Charlie shrugs. “It’s an online gossip rag, Spence. That’s kind of their bread and butter.”
I scrub a hand through my hair in frustration. “So what are my options, then?”
“We’ll issue a cease and desist,” Charlie says. “If they continue with the story after that then we’ll take action against them. We can also send legal notice to other media outlets to make sure they steer clear.”
I nod, drawing in a relieved breath. “Okay, good. So this is going to go away?”
“It should blow over soon enough,” Cole says. “But there’s still the issue of—”