Page 30 of Faking it with my Bad Boy Crush

"I should get to work on the legal filing." I grabbed my tablet from where I'd set it down earlier. "I'll call you later about the Friday Harbor trip?"

"Right. The trip." Maya's voice was carefully neutral. "Call me."

I left through the back door, very aware of Tessa's knowing look following me out. The morning air was cool and salt-sharp, clearing my head.

This was getting complicated.

The arrangement was supposed to be simple: fake dating for community acceptance, legal help for image rehabilitation. Clean. Professional. Temporary.

But standing in that kitchen with Maya, watching her hands fold dough the way her grandfather had taught me twenty yearsago, seeing her face when she realized I'd found proof of fraud—none of that felt fake.

And that was a problem.

I spent the rest of the morning drafting the motion to dismiss, building the argument piece by piece. The falsified survey was the foundation, but I needed more. I needed to prove pattern, intent, coordination.

So, I dug deeper into Gerald Hutchins's background. His financial records. His business connections. His relationship with my investment group.

What I found made my blood run cold.

Hutchins had received three payments in the last few years from a consulting firm owned by my investment group. The payments were labeledadvisory services, but the timing was damning: one week before the falsified survey, one week before filing the easement dispute, one week before the accelerated timeline email.

They weren't just exploiting Maya's vulnerability. They were creating it. Systematically, deliberately, with my firm's money.

I pulled up my firm's internal files, searching for any communication about Honey & Hearth Bakery. There—an email chain from months ago, before I'd been assigned to Lopez Island.

From: Marcus CampbellTo: Investment Group PartnersSubject: Lopez Island Opportunity

The Romano property is viable but owner is resistant to sale. Recommend applying strategic pressure through permit complications and boundary disputes. Local consultant (Hutchins) is positioned to create necessary leverage. Timeline: 6-8 months to force sale.

Legal review confirms strategy is within acceptable risk parameters.

I read the email three times, my hands shaking with rage.

They'd planned this. My boss, my firm, the people I'd built my career with—they'd deliberately targeted Maya's bakery and orchestrated a campaign to destroy her.

And they'd called itacceptable risk parameters.

My phone rang. Marcus Campbell. As if he knew I'd just discovered his email.

I let it go to voicemail.

It rang again immediately.

I answered. “What?"

"“Good morning to you, too." Marcus's voice was cheerful, unbothered. "I've been trying to reach you. The investment group is very pleased with your progress on Lopez Island. They want to accelerate the timeline—"

"I know about the falsified survey." The words came out cold, controlled. "I know about the payments to Hutchins. I know you deliberately manufactured the legal complications at Honey & Hearth."

Silence on the other end.

"That's a serious accusation, Ethan."

"It's a fact. I have the documentation. The email chain. The payment records. The surveyor's notes showing the baseline was adjusted per client specification." I was pacing now, too angry to sit still. "You committed fraud, Marcus. Criminal fraud. And you used my firm to do it."

"We used standard acquisition strategies to identify and exploit market vulnerabilities. That's what we do, Ethan. That's what you've done on a dozen other projects."

"I've never falsified legal documents—"