Love & Betrayal: Happy Ever After Bad Boy Series

By Sloane Peterson

Aiden Sawyer is a hot football player with a very bad reputation.

 

After a night in jail, he hires me to help smooth things over.

Only he ends up smoothing me over (if you know what I mean).

 

My name is Talia Gray, and I'm a PR 'fixer'.

My job is to fix reputations, specifically for high-profile clients.

I'm good at my job. Really good.

It's something that I take a lot of pride in.

I never expected to develop passionate feelings for a client.

 

Our connection is undeniable.

 

In the middle of it all, a positive pregnancy test changes everything between us.

The closer we get to his trial, the more complicated it all becomes.

 

A possible crime, an unplanned pregnancy, and an unexpected confession can really stir up the 'fixin'.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sloane Peterson
• Release date: Jul 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9798223671633

Book preview

Chapter Two

Talia

My first big case was when I was twenty-four. I’d been in PR for two years at that point, but I was finally starting to make a name for myself. The ‘Fixer’. I take people’s reputations and I fix them. I make the public shift their view.

My first big case was with a senator. A conservative man from the Bible Belt. He was beloved by everyone until prostitutes started to come forward. At first, it was just one, and everyone forgave him. Then it was two, three, four. The list went on. Then came the secret family. And then came the dead prostitute who had ties to him. It was a circus.

I craved the challenge. I’ve always felt like I had something to prove, and this gave me the opportunity to do so. I took him on as a client despite my peers yelling at me not to, telling me that there was no hope.

One year later he was re-elected, and the public adores him again. Everything else is just a blip in the past, buried deeply on the internet. See, it’s not hard to shift what people believe. People are just eager to believe anything these days and if you can speak with confidence, provide some evidence, well, they’ll eat out of your hand.

That’s why I’m not worried about taking on the Aiden Sawyer case. It seems pretty easy. He’s been a man whore in the past (give me one male celebrity who hasn’t), he’s assaulted a man...he claims he’s innocent. I can work with that. Honestly, this seems like the easiest job I’ve had in a little bit.

As long as no dead prostitutes pop up.

I try not to underestimate anything these days. I’ve been thrown curveball after curveball. The difference is that I’m able to work around those. I’m damn good at what I do. I’m not cocky. It’s just a cold, hard fact.

I knock on the door to his penthouse, adjusting my bag on my shoulder. It takes a second, but the door opens and Aiden stands in front of me.

He’s a very attractive man. Tall, muscular, dark hair and impossibly green eyes. He has a well-kept beard and tattoos up and down his arms and chest.

He sees me and smiles.

Miss Gray? he asks.

That would be me, I give him a polite smile before I’m stepping around him and entering his penthouse. I’m taking it all in. It’s far from the most obnoxious place I’ve been in. Honestly, it looks like it belongs to a bachelor. It makes sense for Aiden.

Dining room? I ask.

Right this way, he says before leading me toward the dining room. It’s surprisingly small compared to the rest of the penthouse. There’s a square table with enough chairs for four people. Not what you’d expect from someone with Aiden’s money. It’s easy to assume that he just doesn’t have a lot of dinner parties.

I take a seat, beginning to unpack my stuff. Folders neatly organized and stuffed full of papers and my laptop. I get set up and see Aiden take a seat across from me.

So, how does this work?

We’re going to start simple. You’re going to tell me what happened this weekend.

Haven’t you seen the news?

He’s grumpy when I bring this up and I don’t want to deal with it. Yeah, he went to jail. Not my fault. He’s the one who did or didn’t do whatever he’s being accused of. I’m not here to decide whether he’s guilty or innocent.

My lips press into a thin line as I lean on the table, looking across at him.

Listen, if this is going to work, I need one-hundred percent honesty from you. I need you to tell me the truth no matter what because that’s the only way I’m going to help you.

Where do you want me to start?

The beginning. Tell me everything like you’d tell your lawyer, I pause, raising an eyebrow. You do have a lawyer, right?

Yes, I have a lawyer. I’m not completely incompetent, Aiden snarks at me. So, Friday night I went out. Met a girl. Brought her home.

Girl’s name?

I don’t remember.

Seriously? She could be of some use.

Nah, she left Saturday morning.

I roll my eyes.

Continue.

Saturday, I went to the gym. I relaxed. I went out Saturday night to a place called Noonan’s, down on 6th. I completely planned on finding another girl to bring home. But there wasn’t anyone I was interested in that seemed to return my interest. I drank a few beers, ended up taking a shot or two that people bought me. You know how L.A. is, they love their hometown team. Anyway, after that, I stumbled back here and crashed.

Sunday?

Sunday I was woken up by the sound of people pounding on my door. Opened it, it was the cops. I was arrested and charged with assaulting Calvin Wilson.

That opens the door to a lot more questions. There’s a gap from Saturday night to Sunday morning. Aiden was drinking which makes his side of the story a little bit more unreliable.

And you didn’t do it?

He rolls his eyes.

No, I didn’t do it, Tal.

I cock an eyebrow. Momentarily forgetting about the subject at hand.

Uh-uh. We don’t do that. Not Tal. Talia.

Aiden smirks at me and I have a feeling he’s loving the idea of wiggling his way underneath my skin. He just seems like that type of guy.

Okay, fine. Not Tal. Lia?

"Nope. Talia. Anyway, so you didn’t do it. Why would people believe that you did?"

Aiden’s still smirking – at least until I bring his attention back to the ‘why’ of the equation. That smirk fades and he runs a hand back through his hair. I dunno. Because people always want to believe the worst about me?

Why would they want to do that?

Why does this feel more like a psych appointment now?

I roll my eyes.

Aiden, answer the question.

He sighs, putting his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. He almost looks like a pouty toddler.

"Because I developed a less than stellar reputation for myself over the years. I used to get in fights a lot when I was a rookie, had a chip on my shoulder. I stopped but people don’t seem to realize that."

There’s our issue. Aiden’s past is coming back to haunt him. It happens. It’s how people work. They read something about a person once and they develop an opinion. It doesn’t matter if that person changes or straightens out. If they don’t see proof of that, they’re quick to believe that they’re still the same person.

And now we’re at the beginning of all your problems, Aiden. Your reputation.

Chapter Three

Aiden

Yeah, I get it. My reputation sucks. I’ve known that for a while though and it’s never really bothered me. All it is is how the public perceives me. They’re quick to let my past haunt me. When I was a rookie, I was fresh out of college with a chip on my shoulder. I wanted to prove to the world that I was something special. Instead, I just dictated how people would view me for the rest of my life.

I sigh, still looking over at Tal. She’s a gorgeous woman. Long dark hair that’s pulled back, almond-shaped eyes that are a pretty shade of brown. She’s stunning. Like in another life she could’ve been a model and I really like models.

I know. I know. She’s here to help me. She’s going to be the one to hopefully save my job, my life. I can’t help myself though. She’s staring at me, waiting for me to respond. I sigh, again. What does she want me to say?

So, how do I fix it? I ask, knowing I’m not going to like the answer. This isn’t going to be an easy fix. This is going to take work and there’s still no guarantee anything will come of it.

"First, let’s look at what we need to fix."

Talia’s opening the folders she took out earlier. They’re full of newspaper articles, tabloids, and articles printed off the internet. She’s separating them into two stacks. It takes one good glance to tell me what they are.

They’re all about me. I wait for Talia to continue, and she does.

So, two stacks. One is all the reports of you and different women, she says gesturing to the larger one. "One is everything about you getting in fights, excluding your recent allegations. Because what I’m doing is believing you, Aiden. I’m going to believe that you didn’t assault Calvin."

I don’t believe that she believes me. Right now, no one does. My parents called last night to lecture me about how they raised me better, how ashamed they were of me for acting out. I told them that I didn’t do it, but I’m almost certain that they didn’t buy it.

Right, I mutter in response.

So, the reason people are so eager to believe that you did do it is because of all of this, Talia says, gesturing toward the stacks. They’ve had years of reading about you taking a different woman home from the club, breaking her heart, getting in fights. This wasn’t some huge jump from your past history. When I was researching you, you know how much good press I could find about you?

I think I already know the answer. I play along.

How much? I ask.

Nothing about you directly, Aiden. Everything was about the Stallions’ charity work. Food drives, toy drives, community outreach programs. All of that good stuff. Nothing that links you directly to doing something good.

Okay, I get it. I’m a shitty, selfish person. That’s never been my intention. I’m with a lot of women because I like sex, and the women are interested in me. It’s not like I coerced them into sleeping with me. Most of the time, they were the ones who approached me.

The women I sleep with are generally groupies. Girls who just want to add another famous name to their list. I don’t judge. But I have to acknowledge that there’s been a few good women in there. Women who I thought maybe could be the ones to change me, but it never turned out that way.

I’ve already explained the fights. I was a young, dumb kid who thought he had something to prove. I just never imagined this stuff would come back to bite me in the ass like it is now.

Right. I’m a bad person.

Talia sighs. She moves the stacks of papers over, still leaving them on the table. They’re a reminder of my mistakes now. I feel like they’re mocking me. Her hand reaches across, finds me. I relent and take it and she squeezes mine.

You’re not a bad person, Aiden. You made some bad choices, but nothing here is telling me that you’re irredeemable. If you would’ve hired me before the charge, I could have all of this cleared up in a few weeks. Now, we just have something extra working against us. It’s going to be a challenge, and luckily for you, I love a good challenge.

I can’t help but smile at that. I like Talia. She seems...good. Maybe a little bit of a hard ass at times but I’m assuming that’s because she’s good at her job. She takes it all seriously, which is exactly what I need from someone in her role.

So, where do we start?

She lets go of my hand, sighing softly.

I’ve been trying to figure that one out. You said you have a lawyer, right? When I nod, she continues, I need to consult with them. Give me their number. I can’t go with my usual tips and tricks because I don’t want to do something that can screw you over in the future.

I grab my phone out of my pocket, finding the number of my lawyer, and sliding it over to her. A man named Bruce Todd. I was recommended to him by a colleague who used him to get out of a DUI. He’s good at what he does, and that’s exactly what I need.

Talia has her phone out, putting in the number. She dials it right then and there, leaning back against the dining room chair.

Bruce? Hey. It’s Talia Gray. Yeah, it’s been a bit. So, listen, I’m here with your client, Aiden Sawyer. A beat. Yeah, he hired me too. Guess we’re working together again. So, I’m trying to think of the best way to work with Aiden and move forward to help fix his less-than-stellar rep. I was wondering your thoughts on a press conference? I see her roll her eyes at whatever Bruce’s response is. Of course, it’s going to be scripted. We’ve worked together how many times? Do you really think I’d let a client just go off the rails? Great. I’ll CC you a copy when I get it typed up.

She hangs up and I raise an eyebrow.

You know Bruce?

Of course. He’s the best in the area. Most of my clients have had him on retainer. So, at least you’re in the hands of two of the best people that you can be, she smiles over at me. So, we’re going to go with the press conference route. A public apology for everything in your past. I know, everyone hates that part, but it’s the best way to start easing the public onto you. Letting them know that you’re a good guy.

I don’t like the idea of a press conference. It feels like there’s too much for me to mess up. It’s like Talia can tell from the look on my face because she smiles at me again.

Don’t worry. I’m going to write out a script. All you need to do is memorize it and not go off of it. Easy enough, right?

Chapter Four

Talia

I’m putting a lot of faith in Aiden. Maybe deciding on a press conference seems a little rash, but I want to get the ball rolling. This is a special case. His future is on the line here. And I’m not the type of person who is okay with losing.

Maybe I’m in the wrong here, treating all of this as a game. Someone’s livelihood is on the line. But I always do what I need to do, I always succeed. Aiden’s not going to be any different.

The press conference is at a hotel downtown. It’s fancy, shining tile floors, a glass elevator in the center and the lobby is full of tropic plants. I arrive early, getting things set up. As it gets closer for time to Aiden to show up, I have to admit, I’m getting a little worried. We haven’t quite established that level of trust yet. I just have to believe that he wants this for himself.

I’m talking to an assistant, reminding them that we’re only allowing certain press in. We don’t want this to be a free for all. Most people would assume that’s a dumb move. Why wouldn’t I want Aiden’s face on every network possible, talking about how sorry he is for all he’s done? Easy. Because then it becomes oversaturated. Then people start to question the sincerity.

They’re already going to. This way, it at least looks a little better that he’s not on every single network. Just as I finish reminding the assistant of who is and who isn’t allowed inside, Aiden walks into the conference room.

He cleans up well, and it looks like he listened. I told him to wear a button-up and slacks with a nice tie, nothing dark. My heels click on the stage as I walk off, approaching him. He sees me and smiles.

How’s the tie?