Flawed (Ethan Frost 4)

“Miles,” she agrees. “But just because he’s hugely slowed the spread of the video doesn’t mean the story isn’t still out there. Every major news and gossip site in America and Britain is covering it—as well as a few from a bunch of other countries, too.”

“If you’re trying to make me feel better here, you’re failing spectacularly.”

“I’m trying to figure out what you want to do about it.”

“What can I do about it? Like you said, the story’s already out there.”

“Yes, but right now Alexander and his people are controlling the conversation. You can change that.”

“Now you sound like your brother.”

“I think we’ve already discussed the fact that my brother is a brilliant man.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to spin anything. I don’t want to go to war with Alexander. I just want to close my eyes and have all of this disappear.”

“That’s your fear talking. And your embarrassment.”

“Well, that’s fair, considering I am afraid. And embarrassed.”

“But you have no reason to be. Okay, I get the fear. You’ve just had the rug yanked out from under you in every way it can possibly be yanked. But embarrassed? You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about!”

“There’s a video of a man fucking me making its way around the Internet. I think I’ve got something to be embarrassed about.”

“First of all, I watched the whole thing and as we already discussed, Alexander has way more to be embarrassed about than you do. You looked beautiful. And second of all, the fact that that video is out there is on him, not you. All you did was trust the guy you were dating not to be an asshole.”

“Yeah, well, I certainly picked well with him, didn’t I?”

“Oh absolutely,” she answers, tongue firmly in cheek. “Then again, nearly all of us do at least once, don’t we? Think about it. How many women do you think have dated a guy who hurt them? Who betrayed their trust? Who put intimate pictures or videos of them out there on the Internet just because he could? Or who sent those pictures around to his friends or teammates or frat brothers, just to make himself look cool in their eyes?”

“A lot,” I admit grudgingly.

“Hundreds of thousands,” she corrects me. “Maybe even millions. Most of us know someone this has happened to, and even more of us live in fear of something like this happening to us. I’ll admit, like everything about you, your story is more spectacular than most—”

“You can say that again,” I interrupt with a snort.

“But that just means you’ve got a bigger audience to talk to. This is a topic that needs a spokeswoman. You can be that woman. You can change the discussion. Hell, you can frame a whole new discussion—”

“Jesus Christ, Chloe. I’m not the damn Mockingjay. I don’t want to start a revolution. I just want to live my life.”

“I get that. I do,” she says when I make a disbelieving sound. “But if you just bury your head, if you just go into hiding and let Alexander control the story, then he wins.”

“News flash, Erin Brockovich. He’s already won.”

It’s her turn to snort. “Enough with the movie references. I get it.”

“Do you? Really? Because what you’re suggesting is me taking on the entire good-old-boy establishment.”

“Damn right I am. Somebody needs to.”

“But why does that somebody have to be me?” I demand, my voice rising with my frustration. I can’t believe Chloe’s even suggesting this, can’t believe she actually thinks I should try to take on not just Alexander and the Hollywood spin machine, but the whole damn court of public opinion as well.

“It doesn’t have to be you,” she answers. “I just think it should be you.”

“Why? Because I’ve got the biggest platform for it right now?”

“I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t partly the reason. Because it is—of course it is. But I also think it should be you because you’re amazing, Tori. You’re vibrant and smart and witty and beautiful and most days you don’t take shit from anybody. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone I would rather see take this on.”

“I think you have a skewed idea of who I am, best friend of mine.”