Ray Charles' alleged mistress has revealed that in order to pay off her house, she once stole from the blind superstar - Marci Soto claims she had a steamy affair with Charles when both were married to other people. The story is in her new book, Ray & Me.
But one revelation in the tome will upset fans and friends of the legendary R&B star - she once substituted $1 bills for $100 notes after taking home cash from a concert.
In the memoir, obtained by the Globe magazine, Soto writes, "I certainly didn't feel like I was robbing the blind. I felt like he was ready to do something he should have done years earlier - pay off my house."
Soto also reveals she once aborted Charles' baby - and never told him.
She adds, "I didn't even tell Ray - there was no reason to know. I definitely wasn't having a baby."
The couple became a secret item in 1968 - when Charles was married to his wife Della. A big fan, Soto convinced his manager to set up a date and they had sex that night.
The pair enjoyed an on/off romance over the years and Charles even helped Soto cover her legal fees when she divorced her husband.
She split from him in 1997 after tiring of his womanising ways, but she called him when he fell ill at the end of his life in 2004 and spent much of their phone conversation sobbing.
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