She hoped that was true. Now that she had a better understanding of what his role was doing to him, anything she could do to ease the pressure was goi...ng to be her life's mission from now on."Do you want me to come to the TV studio with you?" she said into his ear.Jamie just nodded in reply, enjoying the hug, the contact with his sister too much to think about breaking away from her just yet. Laura for her part enjoyed the feeling that she was somehow supporting her brother, her brother the King. ."He had stopped, dead in his sentence. "Cane," he finished softly.I stopped.He stared at my leg. He reached out and grabbed the cane. "Walk toward me," he commanded.I complied."Old war wound?" he asked, looking me in the eyes."Football," I replied, and told him the story.A smile spread across his face. "Drop your trousers," he said, gleefully."What?" I demanded."You heard me!" he said, sharply, a laugh in his voice. "Drop 'em!"I looked at him for a moment, then unbuckled my belt and dropped my. .”“Back up,” said Nick. “To the ... part I obviously want you to back up to.”Inez gave a broad smile. “The Ferrari-Stones probably don’t do that sort of thing anymore, but Threnody’s grandfather almost certainly hosted a number of orgies at the Palazzo di Ferrari in the sixties and early seventies. Mick Jagger and David Bowie both mention having attended them and a number of Italian ministers resigned over them when Eleanor Breton-Stone’s book came out...”“And the sex dungeons?” Nick. You getting' spanked."He tries to pull me out of the chair but I pull back, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Alex — Sexy, come on. I know I said whatever you want but..." You gonna back on this already? Or too chicken ta try it the other way. Tell you what, you say 'peanut butter' an' I'll back off. Deal?"The truth is I am already chickening out. I don't have Alex's nerve which is why I like being in control. But I've known Alex his entire life and I know one thing is true. He likes pushing the envelope but.