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Worthy gave her a skeptical look. “You’re being honest with me, remember?”
She felt ashamed, and shame was an emotion that didn’t look good on her. “Okay, so maybe I wasn’t mother of the year, but I always loved and cared for him. I made sure he was in a good home and had what he needed. He grew up to be the president. Do you think that just happens without a lot of support?”
“I’ve read every word that’s ever been printed about him—and you—and I have a very clear picture of how that happened. You had nothing to do with it.”
Suddenly, he wasn’t looking quite so attractive to her.
“If you’re going to come out of this with your freedom, I’d recommend you stick to the facts and stop trying to rewrite history. No one cares if your son is the president, especially your son, the president. It’s certainly not in his best interest to hitch his wagon to you while you’re sitting in a jail cell.”
Nicoletta wished she could get up and storm out of the room. She’d slam the door if she could, too.
“I can help you, but only if you take responsibility for your crimes and agree to pay the price. You’ll have to shut down your escort service, sell your stake in Carl’s and make restitution for the taxes you’ve avoided by running money through the bar.”
“How am I supposed to do that with all my assets frozen?”
“You get a legitimate job and start to pay off your debt to society.”
“And how am I supposed to live while I do that?”
“The same way everyone else does. By working hard and paying your bills.”
“Amber said you were a nice guy and a shark who’d make this go away for me,” Nicoletta said tearfully. “I don’t think you’re either of those things.”
His handsome face lit up with a smile. “I’m both those things, and my goal is to get you out of here with a deal that spares you a trial and gets you back home as soon as possible. I assume that’s your goal, too.”
“It is, but what then? I won’t be able to keep my home or any of my things. What kind of life is that?”
“What kind of life are you leading in here?”
“There has to be a way that I can hang on to some of the money. Can’t we make that part of the deal?”
“I can try, but ill-gotten gains are tough to hang on to.”
“They’re not ill-gotten. They were gotten through hard work and determination. We never made anyone do anything they didn’t want to do. Everyone involved was a willing participant.”
“Maybe so, but the activities in question are still against the law.”
“Well, they shouldn’t be.”
“Take that up with your congresspeople.”
“I’ll do that.”
“In the meantime, if you’re willing to consider a plea deal, I could get you out of here within a couple of days.”
The thought of starting over—again—was almost too overwhelming to consider. “I’ll need some of the money. I’m willing to plead in exchange for keeping at least half of the money so I can live without struggling. That’s my bottom line.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
He stood and put his belongings in a fine leather tote that had his initials embossed in gold. CMW. She wondered what the M stood for.
“Will you be back?”
“Yes, Nicoletta,” he said with a warm smile that made her tingle in all the most important places. “I’ll be back.”
At least she had something to look forward to now.
When Gonzoand Matt arrived at HQ to go to the Caps game together, Freddie told them he wanted to make another stop before they went to the game.
