Page 100 of Mr. Hook-up

Is this about us?

What just happened in the elevator?

But how would they know? He promised there were no cameras inside.

I adjusted my position after sitting, unable to find one that was comfortable. “What is this about?”

Holden crossed his hands, linking his fingers, setting them on a file that rested in front of him.

A similar-looking file sat in front of everyone.

Aside from me.

“Drake ...” Holden started, inhaling a loud breath. “Easton, Grayson, and I realize we have competitors and there will be many more during our tenure. Sharing the market is inevitable in this business—and any business, for that matter. We can’t trademark a dating app. What we have trademarked is our proprietary software and our psychological exam—things you’re already well aware of.” He paused, and my brain spun, trying to piece together what he was saying. “What we didn’t anticipate and what we don’t appreciate is a social media giant developing a dating model that is identical to ours.”

I shifted from his face to Grayson’s and then Easton’s, waiting for the news to click.

But it didn’t.

“Okay,” I said softly. “Which giant are you referring to?”

Holden looked surprised by my question. “Faceframe.”

“Faceframe?” I gasped, my hand going to my throat. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

Grayson, who was sitting next to me, slid his folder across the small space between us. The moment it landed in front of me, I opened the top, viewing the papers inside.

On each sheet were several pictures of an interface, a design that allowed users to pick their reason for joining the dating app, their language less direct, but the path was—without question—achingly familiar to Hooked. Although Faceframe’s world-renowned logo was in the top corner, this was an interface I’d never seen before.

I’d never worked on it.

I certainly hadn’t helped design it.

I flipped to the last page, which was an email, the message only a few sentences long.

Here are the designs Faceframe created once I sent them the information they needed to get started. Information you gave me direct access to. Thanks for that. Nothing like feeding bait to the enemy or, in this case, the company that’s going to take you down. Faceframe Dating Place has now launched in several test markets, each one responding well over our predictions, as expected.

Drake Madden

Director of App Development

Faceframe & Faceframe Dating Place

Why was my name signed at the bottom?

Why was this email constructed like it came directly from me?

My gaze slowly rose to the top of the email, and my eyes widened, my mouth opening as I read the address of the sender.

[email protected]

“Oh my God.” I glanced up, looking at the faces around the table. “I didn’t do this. I didn’t send this email. I don’t even know what Faceframe Dating Place is.” I felt frantic, bits of information shooting through my brain, like I was writing HTML for multiple sources. “Once I left Faceframe, my email was turned off. This message sounds like I’m still employed there. I’m not. You all know that. And I wouldn’t send them your designs or data—or anything, for that matter. I ... don’t ... know ... what’s happening right now.”

“Drake,” Holden started, “there are only two things we know at this present moment. One, this email came into my inbox less than an hour ago and it was sent from your Faceframe email address.”

“Allegedly,” I quickly threw in.

“And two, the pictures that were sent in the email show an interface that’s extremely similar to Hooked.” He paused, as though giving me time to process even though both claims were completely ludicrous. “For someone to gain access to our designs and proprietary software, someone from this office would have had to send Faceframe the data, and according to this email, that person claims to be you.”

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