Chapter 45

FORTY-FIVE

Nathan

When Dom sent me Fallon's address, I didn't think I'd do anything with it. I'm not the guy that shows up at a stranger's house to…what? Tell her off? Make sure she knows how much I hate her? Who does that? I'm so not that guy, I can't even come up with an action plan.

But the more I think about what Mina said, the more I want to believe she wasn't conspiring with Fallon to bring me down. Sharing secrets with a woman who so clearly has it out for me was a bad call on Mina's part, but it's easy to give a friend more credit than they're due. I did it with Blossom, then again with Dom. Mina could have fallen into the same trap, which means there's a chance everything she did was totally innocent.

It's that chance that has me standing on Fallon Mae's front porch. The house is small, tucked into a quaint neighborhood with kids rolling down the sidewalks on bikes and neighbors strolling by, waving as they pass. Despite all that, Fallon's home still manages to appear grandiose. Luxurious planters line the steps with tropical plants waving in the breeze. The landscaping is meticulous and expensive, every tree, bush, shrub, and flower trimmed into submission. It's bigger, bolder, brighter than every other house on the block, like it's screaming for attention. It doesn't help my opinion of the woman.

I knock.

Fallon answers.

We stare in mutual loathing, her brow slowly arching in disbelief, my jaw setting tighter and tighter.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, in a voice that would make polar bears shiver.

"I need to talk to you," I reply, with enough heat to melt the ice caps.

"I'm not inviting you in." Fallon steps outside and pulls the door closed to make her point, then glances over my shoulder. Her face transforms into the friendliest of smiles as she waves at a woman walking her dog, only for her features to harden again when she refocuses on me.

"I'm happy to have this conversation out here." I retreat a few steps to lean against the porch rail and Fallon lifts her chin.

"Just so we're clear, I have my phone and won't hesitate to call for emergency services." She waves the device in question. She doesn't look at all concerned that I might have something nefarious in mind, but seems like she's dying to make that call anyway.

I shake my head in disgust. "You don't actually think I'm here to hurt you."

"I wouldn't put anything past Nathan ‘Villain Era' West. Plus, my subscribers would eat that headline up." Fallon's lips twitch into a cruel smile. It's nearly identical to the way Blossom looked when she told me she was using me for my money. Like she takes pride in being nasty. How was Mina ever friends with this person? Though, my family said the same of me and Dom. Sometimes good people get caught up with bad people and don't realize until too late.

"What did I do to you, Fallon?"

She recoils. Scoffs. Takes a few steps in my direction only to shrug off my question with disdain. "You didn't do anything to me," she replies, picking her fingernails with practiced nonchalance.

"Then why did you post all those terrible things about me?"

"I was holding up a mirror." Fallon extends her hands like a priest to his flock. "Showing you how much you changed. It's not always comfortable to look our bad choices in the face and admit to our faults, but it's an important part of being human."

I've never disliked a person as much as I dislike the woman in front of me. It's taking every ounce of restraint not to loosen the leash on my anger, but I'm playing the long game. Blowing up now won't do me any good. Patience, grace, and a little vulnerability on my part will reveal everything I need to know about Fallon fucking Mae.

"They weren't my bad choices though," I say as a little girl rolls by on a scooter. "You were publishing lies."

Fallon looks unimpressed. "Was I though? Are you sure?"

"A hundred percent you were." I cross my arms over my chest, and she wobbles her head back and forth like she's conceding my point.

"Maybe some of my early stuff was conjecture…"

"That you stated as fact." I swallow a smile. She doesn't know it yet, but I have her dead to rights with that admission.

Fallon brushes off the statement. "But most of my latest articles are true."

"Because Mina started feeding you information." The statement grinds past a clenched jaw.

Easy now, Nathan. Don't lose control now.

"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."

Fallon rolls her eyes. "So I can either stop writing about you and lose my livelihood, or write about you and get sued."

I click my tongue again. "If those are the only two options you see, then I've learned all I need to know about Fallon fucking Mae." Sliding my phone back in my pocket, I turn my back on the woman once and for all.

"Have a lovely day," I say, then lift my middle finger and strut down the steps.