Page 66 of Nicoletta
“What do you know about The Tropics?”
“I know you’ve been living there for the last few weeks with a smoking-hot biker.”
“Mom, what’s going on?”
“I’m at a little cafe at the corner of the Avenida Revolución. Cafe Milano. Do you know it?”
My gaze darts to my coffee cup with Cafe Milano scrolled across the front. “I know it.”
Bolt is giving me the eye and mouthing “What’s going on?”
I make a circular motion in the air with my forefinger. The universal gesture for crazy, and he laughs.
“I have to see you. I have something for you.”
“Hang on a minute.” I put my phone on mute and turn to Bolt. “It’s my mother, and believe it or not, she’s at Cafe Milano. She says she has something for me. I’m going to have her come here, all right?”
Bolt shrugs. “Yeah, sure.”
Fifteen minutes later, my mother is sitting on one end of Bolt’s couch, me on the other end, with Bolt across from us in the chair.
“What’s going on, Mom?”
Aurora looks at Bolt. “She’s always been so impatient.” Then she opens the large Gucci duffel bag at her feet.
“Holy shit!” Bolt leans in for a better look.
“Exactly.” Aurora grins. “And this is just a small portion.” She zips the bag up and turns to me. “Remember I told you about the money in the gardener’s shed?”
I nod as a hundred questions race through my head before I center on one of them. “You were at the spa in Baja, so how did you?—”
“Gwen Chandler called me,” she says like that explains everything.
“And?”
“You know Gwen, she called me right after the police questioned everyone the other night at Riviera and told me everything that happened.” She rolls her eyes. “She’s such a gossip, but she actually did me a favor. I flew back to L.A., grabbed as much as I could, and got out of there just in time. A half hour later, I watched police cars swarm our driveway through the surveillance cameras on my phone.”
“Why? You’re not guilty of anything besides picking the wrong man to marry.”
“Not in the eyes of the law. I’m his wife, so they just assume I know something.” She lowers her eyes. Apparently, he kept some listings separate, then used the houses for their perverted pleasures.” She raises her eyes. “I just want you to know I didn’t know anything about what Clark and the others were involved in. You believe me, don’t you?”
I reach out and squeeze her hand. “Yes. I believe you.”
“I was as shocked as everyone else, so I called Harry Silver, our accountant, and he told me to secure as many accounts as I can before the authorities freeze it all. There’s enough in those off-shore accounts in Singapore and the Caymans for a lifetime.”
Bolt nods. “Which isn’t exactly legal, as long as you don’t get caught.”
“And I didn’t.” Aurora smiles at Bolt, and he grins his approval. “Plus, Harry’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut unless he wants his license suspended for hiding money in the first place.”
“Looks like you have it all figured out.” My mother never fails to amaze me.”
“Clark, with his Ivy League education and all his money, will be outwitted by a woman who didn’t even finish high school.” Aurora smiles wide. “It’s delicious, don’t you think?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“I also understand you and the rest of Riviera Country Club found out Clark’s not your biological father.”
“I was both shocked and relieved,” I say dryly.
