Stardust and Kisses

Smolder

Heather

I closed the door behind me, shaking off whatever that smirk on Aaron’s face had left lingering in my head. No time for his games. If he thought he could charm his way through this, he was in for a rude awakening.

The office was already bustling when I got back—exactly the way I liked it. It kept me sharp. No dead air, no wasted time. As soon as I walked in, I spotted Mason, my investigator, pouring over files at the conference table. Beside him, Miranda was furiously typing on her laptop, probably pulling up every scrap of digital dirt she could find.

“Alright, listen up,” I said, striding toward the table. “We need to figure out where this rumor started, and fast. I don’t care if you have to dig through every corner of the internet, talk to every source, or lean on every contact we’ve got. We need to get ahead of this, or Aaron’s career is toast.”

Mason looked up from the stack of papers, his eyebrows raised. “You think it’s all bullshit? The allegations?”

I crossed my arms, leaning against the table. “Doesn’t matter what I think. What matters is that we get the truth. If these allegations have legs, we deal with them. If someone’s trying to frame him, we bury them.”

Miranda snorted from her seat, barely glancing up from her screen. “Good luck with that. The internet doesn’t forget, Heather. Once something spreads, it’s like wildfire.”

I shot her a look. “Then we find the goddamn match that lit it.”

Mason scratched at his stubble, pushing the files toward me. “Here’s what we’ve got so far. The rumors started on one of those bullshit celebrity gossip blogs—low-level, but the kind that thrives on scandals. From there, it jumped to a few bigger outlets, the ones that don’t care much about facts as long as the story clicks. Now, the mainstream media’s picking it up, and it’s spiraling.”

I skimmed through the files, feeling the burn of frustration behind my eyes. “And none of these idiots thought to check sources before running with it?”

Miranda finally paused her typing to glance up, shrugging. “Welcome to 21st-century journalism, Heather. Facts are optional. Headlines sell.”

I slammed the file shut, making both of them jump. “We need to find out who planted this. Someone out there has a reason to take him down, and I want to know why. Mason, start digging into his competitors, enemies, exes—anyone who stands to gain from him going down in flames.”

He nodded, already reaching for his phone. “I’ll make a few calls. See if I can shake something loose.”

“Good. And Miranda, I want you to scour every social media post, every digital footprint related to this rumor. I want to know where it started, who started it, and how far back it goes.”

Miranda leaned back in her chair, chewing on the end of a pen. “You think it’s personal? Someone with a grudge?”

I hesitated for a second. Aaron was a reckless, cocky asshole most of the time, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was more than just some opportunistic smear job. “Maybe. But we can’t rule out business rivals either. He’s had deals fall through recently. Could be someone looking to bury him for good.”

Mason looked skeptical. “He’s not exactly squeaky clean, Heather. You sure we’re not just covering up for a guy who finally stepped into it?”

I shot him a glare. “I’m not here to decide if he deserves it or not. I’m here to do my damn job, and right now, that job is keeping him out of court and off the front page.”

Mason held up his hands in mock surrender. “Got it. No judgment. Just asking.”

Miranda’s fingers flew over the keyboard again as she spoke. “I’ll see if I can get into some back channels—private groups, message boards. People tend to brag when they think they’re anonymous. If someone started this on purpose, we'd find their fingerprints.”

I nodded, already feeling the adrenaline kick in. “Good. Get me something solid. I need to go back to Aaron with more than just a hunch.”

Mason grinned, already heading for the door. “On it, boss. I’ll hit up a few sources and get back to you.”

Miranda shot me a quick glance before diving back into her laptop. “If anyone’s talking s**t, I’ll know.”

I let out a slow breath, pushing away the tension building in my shoulders. “This needs to be airtight. No loose ends, no mistakes.”

“Relax, Heather,” Miranda muttered, her eyes glued to the screen. “We’ve got this.”

I didn’t respond, just watched as she kept typing. The truth was, I wasn’t sure we had this at all. Aaron might have been downplaying the situation, but he was right about one thing—headlines faded. But if we didn’t kill this thing now, it would be too late. And I wasn’t about to watch another client sink while I stood by.

I walked over to the window, staring out at the city below. Somewhere out there, someone was watching this unfold, probably pleased with themselves for the chaos they’d caused. They thought they’d gotten away with it. But they had no idea who they were dealing with.

“Whoever you are,” I muttered to myself, “I’m coming for you.”