28. Making Preparations
28
Making Preparations
A lunch never held as much weight as the one Nicole sat in on now. “You better be here to tell me something good.”
Thomas sat down across from her. The restaurant bustled around them with cackling plates and customers’ chatter, but neither noticed nor cared. “Good is an understatement.”
“Tell me more.”
“My lawyer contact reviewed the footage. He believes we can get William charged with invasion of privacy, revenge porn, stalking, and harassment.”
Nicole leaned forward, her eyes gleaming. “Are you sure?”
“I trust him, so you can trust me when I say this is the leverage you needed to get William to back off of you forever.”
This should have been a moment that called for celebration, but Nicole wasn’t ready to pop out the champagne yet. “If I press charges against him for this, he’ll come back and hit me with charges for stealing from him.”
“Your ex said he didn’t give William any proof. And that he found no more cameras in the penthouse before he had to leave.”
“That’s what Spencer said, and his word isn’t exactly the most trustworthy to me right now. William could’ve had a camera in the living room where I confessed my past to Spencer. We can’t operate on the belief he doesn’t have anything on me.”
Thomas took a drink of his complimentary water, resetting. “The camera he used to record you was one of his models, right?”
“Yes, why?”
“Threaten him with a lawsuit. Not just against him, but his company too. You threatening to go public with charges related to him illegally recording you alone could tank Wison’s stock and reputation. He, as the CEO, could get a big fine or lose his position. Hit him where it hurts. Make him choose between his petty need for revenge or his name, reputation, and fortune.”
Nicole was used to shutting down ideas, but Thomas’s wasn’t bad. Flawed, but she didn’t mind humoring him. “I don’t hate it.”
“But?”
“William could call my bluff. He could know I’m just using the threat of a lawsuit to get him to back off. He won’t believe I’ll actually go public with it.”
“Nicole,” Thomas sighed, leaning in, lowering his voice. “You conned him out of thousands. Along with five other millionaires. If anyone can trick William into believing they would do the unthinkable, it’s you. I can’t believe you haven’t considered that.”
Sweet talk for a good tip. Nicole recognized it all too well, but she smiled anyway. “I can’t fool him again. He knows my game now.”
“I wasn’t suggesting that. All you need to do is make yourself believe the lie, then make him believe it too. This is your best bet, Nicole. Want William to go away without having to serve a jail sentence? This is how you do it.”
Knowing when to accept a win was hard for Nicole. Harder this week with the massive two losses she took with learning the truth about Spencer and finding the recording. She wanted nothing more than to get the upper hand on William and walk away from this mess, no more hurt than she already was.
“Fine, I’ll do it. I’ll confront William with the video and threaten him with the lawsuit.”
“Great. If you want to sell its legitimacy, there’s one more thing you could do.”
“And what is that?”
“Get Spencer to agree to participate.”
She scoffed, not believing what he was telling her. “You have to be kidding.”
“I’m not. If you go about this alone, William could fire back and threaten to go to the police with whatever proof he may have on you. But he doesn’t have anything on Spencer. He committed no crimes during his investigation into you. If Spencer backs you up and says he’ll join your lawsuit, William doesn’t have anything to hold over his head. Worse case scenario, Spencer is the one who threatens the lawsuit. Unlike you, there are no skeletons in his closet that William can intimidate him with. He’s innocent in this.”
Innocent was not the word Nicole would use to describe Spencer Shaw. In the eyes of the justice system he was, but an innocent person did not spend weeks lying in the face of someone he claimed to care about. He was about as innocent as Nicole. Barely, if at all.
Thomas didn’t see it that way. “Put your feelings for the guy aside. Him being in on this will help its believability to William. He was an employee of William’s, who later found a hidden camera in a place William put him up in. I get it. He hurt you, but he’s a victim in this as much as you are.”
Nicole was tired of arguing. So she did the thing she had done a lot lately. Concede. “I’ll talk to him. Get him to sign on.”
“The bit of pain it’s going to cause you asking him for help will be worth it. You’re almost at the end of this, Nicole. Remember that. ”
Thomas got up and left. Nicole wasn’t far behind him, paying for their drinks. On her way to her car, Maya called. “How did the meeting go?”
“Thomas and I worked out a plan. I’ll threaten a lawsuit against William and his company for the recording. He thinks going after his livelihood will get him to drop his vendetta against us.”
“That’s great news. Why don’t you sound happy about it?”
“Because,” she drew out while she opened her door and settled into her seat. “He wants me to get Spencer involved. Thinks it will sell the credibility of my lie if I have him backing me up.”
“Oh,” Maya said flatly. “You’re not going to want to hear this, but I think he’s right. There’s only so much you can do without your past getting drudged up. But if Spencer wanted to press charges, he could do it without the fear of something from his past hurting his case.”
Nicole didn’t want to admit she was right, but there was no denying it. “I’ll talk to him. I just hate that I have to talk to him.”
“You knew you would have to see him again.”
“Yeah. At his niece’s birthday party where we didn’t have to interact at all. Not me having to ask him to do me a favor. That’s the last thing I could ever want from him after he lied to me.”
Maya didn’t respond right away. In fact, she was quiet for so long Nicole started to think their lines must have disconnected. “What is it you’re not telling me, but want to?” she asked when she saw her daughter was still on with her.
“I haven’t wanted to say it the last four days because you’ve been going through a lot with Spencer and the revenge porn.”
“Just say it, Maya. I can handle it.”
“Oh boy, okay. You don’t think you’re being a little… just a tad hypocritical with Spencer?”
Suddenly Nicole was glad they were having this conversation over the phone, and she guessed Maya did too. “Hypocritical? ”
“For years, we lied for a living. We lied to everyone. People who deserved it and people who didn’t. I’m not saying what Spencer did was right. He should’ve come clean to you before beginning a romantic relationship with you, but I know from my own experiences that fessing up to someone isn’t easy.”
“Honey, please don’t compare yourself to that man.”
“How can I not? I fell for Kennedy while lying to her. I wasn’t expecting to develop feelings for her while we tried to scam Eric, but when it happened, I didn’t know what to do. I was betraying you and our livelihood by seeking something out with her. I was betraying her by hiding who I really was. I knew this, and I still didn’t pull away from her. Instead, I got in deeper.”
“Why?” Nicole asked her why when it first happened, but now she asked for a sense of clarity into Spencer’s mindset.
“Because I knew if I didn’t, I would be betraying myself too. As con artists, we never allowed anyone to get close to us. We were careful and guarded. That’s what was expected of us, but with Kennedy, she was able to get to know the real me. And the real me wanted to get to know the real her. So I did. I betrayed you and what we held dear to us because I was afraid of losing a connection that I had never had with anyone before. I knew the consequences, but I decided I would be okay with them because for a brief moment I got to feel what it was like to love and be loved. And no, it wasn’t perfect, but it was mine.”
Maya took a breath. Her words were heavy, and Nicole let them wash over her. “Spencer was wrong for not telling you the truth. Just like I was wrong to hide the truth from Kennedy, but I see how happy we are now. A happiness we would have never experienced if she didn’t give me a second chance. It’s taken a lot of work and therapy to get here, but here is good. It’s safe. It’s home for me. I want that for you. I hate to think that you’re so close to it, but a mistake will keep you from ever getting there.”
Crying in a parking lot was a low Nicole had never achieved before. Not even when she was a single mom and couldn’t find a quarter to get a shopping cart to bring home groceries for her hungry baby. Maya’s words touched a nerve. Not the one that had her upset and angry at Spencer. It was the one that had her feeling sorry for herself and wanting to be alone.
“Maya, I love you, but I have to go. I’ll call you later.”
She didn’t wait for her daughter’s response before hanging up. Turns out Nicole was wrong after all. She couldn’t handle it.