Page 105 of Fake

“You make it sound so duplicitous.” Fallon scoffs in disgust. “Mina wasn’t feeding me information. She was talking to her best friend.”

“A best friend she knew was publishing lies about me!” I close my eyes and purposefully loosen my fists. This conversation requires a clear head. Patience will serve me better than anger.

“You were rude to her for weeks! Of course she’s gonna vent to her best friend! Who wouldn’t vent about fake relationships and rich assholes negotiating most of her paycheck away just to send a text?” Fallon stalks to the other end of her porch, sighing when she notices her neighbor watering her garden, pretending not to listen.

“So it was Mina who said I was using sex as a weapon.”

“No.” Fallon’s quieter now. Closer now. “That was me, seeing through your lies to your true motivation.”

“My true…? I was actively falling in love and doing everything I could to make Mina feel special! You interpreted my actions as manipulative. That doesn’t mean they were.”

And it says more about the woman in front of me than anything yet. The people who manipulate expect manipulation, while the people who are genuine give credit to those who don’t deserve it.

Fallon shrugs. “What can I say? I understand how people work. Poor Mina, though. Her rose-colored glasses just beg someone to take advantage of her. She needed me to help her see what was going on and the only reason she shared anything was because she made me swear not to publish any of it.”

I grab onto that nugget of information like a lifeline. If Mina made Fallon promise not to use what she shared, she couldn’t be Fallon’s secret agent.

“But you published it anyway.”

“I was trying to protect her.”

“Bullshit.”

“Fine.” Fallon throws up her hands. “My career took off when I started talking about you and I couldn’t help myself. Is that what you want to hear?”

“You couldn’t help yourself? My family and friends and colleagues won’t talk to me because of the things you’ve said. You don’t know anything about me or what was really happening or what I was actually doing, but oh no! Don’t let a few facts get in the way of a good story, and certainly not when it’s good for your career. People actually think I’m a villain because of you and Mina. Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me? I’m a real person with real feelings.”

“Not Mina.” Fallon shakes her head. “Just me. She asked me to stop multiple times. She told me I had you wrong more than that. She said I was misrepresenting you?—”

“And you kept going? Knowing you were publishing lies as fact?”

She shrugs. “The money was good. What can I say?”

“Maybe start with I’m sorry for lying about you. I’m sorry I told the world you were a villain?—”

“Show me proof you’re not a villain! Where is it, Nathan?”

“How about my work for charity? Or the fact that I haven’t sued you for libel?”

Fallon cocks her head, jaw thrust forward, eyes narrowing. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“After this conversation, I would. See, I had my phone ready to go at a moment’s notice, too.” I reach into my pocket and pull out the device, brandishing the open and active recording app like a weapon.

“That recording is illegal.” Fallon crosses her arms and lifts her chin. She should be panicking, but she’s too proud and cocksure. “The state of Florida requires consent from all parties to record a conversation.”

I click my tongue. “Unless there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. You yelling at me on your front porch with neighbors in earshot doesn’t seem all that private to me.”

“That’s…” Fallon’s panicking now. “That’s weak and you know it.”

“I don’t think it is, but I can afford the best lawyers to fight it out in court for as long as it takes. Can you?”

“Fine. You’ve got me by the balls. What do you want out of me?”

“I want you to stop posting lies about me. You stop, I won’t sue.”

Panic gives way to sheer terror. “That’ll ruin me! If all I can talk about is how good you are, I’ll lose subscribers.”

“I didn’t say you had to talk about how good I am. I simply said you had to tell the truth.”

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