“Well, anger for sure. When Diana gets angry, she acts out. In this case, she didn’t realize what she was doing. Her accusation was, like, a knee-jerk reaction.”

DeFiore shakes his head. “I don’t buy it. A rape accusation isn’t just ‘acting out.’ It’s hard to make a jury believe a girl this smart didn’t know what might happen.”

Billy’s face goes white. “B-b-b-b-b . . .” He tries again. “D-d-d-d-iana . . . ssshe’s n-n-n-not like that. Sshe . . .”

“Hey, it’s okay.” DeFiore pats Billy’s knee. “Just playing devil’s advocate. Fact is, there are lots of reasons why Diana accused you. Maybe she drank too much, blacked out, and woke up confused, and pissed-off, with the whole story already in motion. All she had to do was agree. I’m not saying that’s our defense. But when the time comes, I promise you we’ll have one.” He glances at Felicia. “Want to do the honors?”

“Why am I always the bad guy?”

DeFiore grins. “Ten to one they already don’t like you.” He winks at Eleanor. “Am I right?”

Felicia laughs. “Okay, here goes. If we move to trial, our advice is to settle. We will make the best deal we can—”

“Oh no,” Eleanor says. “There will be no settlement.”

Nate balks too. “No way. My brother is innocent.”

“Doesn’t matter,” DeFiore says. “A trial is about what a DA can prove. How the story sounds to a jury. What evidence is admissible. A whole host of factors, most beyond our control. This will be a high-profile case. You need to consider what’s best for Billy—and for the family. If he goes on trial, the press will pry into every detail of your lives and twist their findings to fit their narrative. Even if Billy gets off, you all pay a price. Some families never recover.”

“I keep saying this.” Lawrence glances my way. “But they don’t believe me.”

“People never think it can happen to them until it happens to them.”

Lawrence opens his mouth as if to add something.

“What? Now’s the time to talk. Tell me everything. Secret meth addictions. Spousal abuse. I don’t care. Once the indictment comes in, you’re all fair game. So think about it, folks. Meantime, I need access to your finances. Income, investments, real estate—the works.”

“Absolutely,” Lawrence tells him just as Eleanor says, “That won’t be possible, Mr. DeFiore.”

He laughs. “I can see how this is gonna go. Mrs. Quinn, we can speak privately. Also, we have a freelance investigator, so you’ll need to authorize the funds to pay him.”

“Whatever you need,” Lawrence assures him.

“One thing you should do,” I cut in, “is load up your team with female lawyers.”

“You’re very smart,” DeFiore says. “Anyone ever tell you that?”

“Everyone tells me that.”