Page 51 of Legal Attraction
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
RONANSTAREDATthe screen on Simon’s laptop as Arte Armand made a full confession on some internet talk show. “How the hell did you manage that?” he asked.
All those years ago on the streets, he’d known Simon was a good con artist. But so many years had passed since then, he’d figured he might have lost his touch. If anything, Simon had only gotten better. He was in awe and executed a little bow of appreciation and respect.
“Yeah,” Trevor chimed in from the other side of the conference table. “What’d you have to do to him to convince him to come clean?”
Simon snorted. “I didn’t even meet with him.”
“What?” Ronan asked. “That was the plan.”
“Your plan,” Simon reminded him. “And there was no way it would work.”
“Just like your seduction plan,” Trevor goaded him.
No. That hadn’t worked, either. But he didn’t understand.
“Why did Arte do this?”
“Who cares?” Trevor asked. “Now you can have the complaint against you thrown out.”
“He doesn’t need to,” Stone said. “My friend in the bar association said the complaint had already been withdrawn. They sent out a certified letter to notify you of that.”
Had Muriel withdrawn it even before she learned the truth? Had she trusted him?
Why? He’d done nothing to earn it.
“This is it,” Simon said, as he fiddled with his keyboard. After rewinding a bit of the video, he pushed Play again and Arte’s voice cracked out of the speakers.
“I recently saw Muriel,” he said.
Ronan flinched, realizing the con had probably gone to her for money. It hadn’t mattered to him that Ronan had said he wasn’t entitled to any more. Hell, he hadn’t been entitled to what he’d already gotten out of her.
Arte continued, “And she made it clear that the only way for me to make up for what I did to her was to tell the truth.”
“Wonder if she paid him,” Stone murmured.
Ronan cursed at the thought of that con getting another penny out of her. “I sure as hell hope not.”
“So, you were lying about your marriage?” the reporter asked Arte.
He chuckled and crossed his legs. “I’ve been lying about a lot of things.”
“But you had witnesses at the trial that testified to the orgies.”
“Never happened,” Arte said.
“Why would those people lie?” the reporter persisted.
Arte sighed. “I promised them things...like parts in the musical I’m producing.” And he began a self-promotion monologue that Simon quickly muted.
“And now we know why he wanted to do the interviews,” Stone said. “Free publicity.”
It sure as hell wasn’t out of any kindness of his heart. Ronan doubted he had one.
“Doesn’t matter his reasons,” Trevor said. “It gets Ronan off the hook with the bar.”
He squirmed slightly in his chair. He really hated sitting. “Yeah, I’m no longer in trouble with the bar, but how does it make the firm look that I was so easily duped?”
