" I guess so," Mark said. "It's just that... It's different with my friends. They'll talk and laugh behind my back. I wouldn't care if it was some str...anger."Frank chuckled. "They won't talk or laugh behind your back. Think about it. Do you think they'll want to start hanging around with you less after this? That they'll want to stop coming to the house? No, son. They'll think they're keeping the best secret in the world, except you already know. What's better is that they don't know that you. I put my name in but instead of a number I entered some notes in the appropriate field:-- Name | Nate (or whatever you prefer)-- Notes | Tomorrow from 4pm I will be in the sauna just around the corner, opposite the Pink Trout. I’m staying in the grand hotel room 235. Number to follow as between contracts. XI handed it back with a sheepish smile and watched him read. He grinned and nodded at me, then turned and walked off. Could my luck really be this good? Getting the service boy and this guy. Uh ... guys don’t say things like ‘love the girl’. And I like what she’s into with this bunch.”“And Sandy knows this?”“Sandy knows this.”“Buddy, you’re in for a ride.”“I mentally accept that premise,” he answered, “although I have no experience with the terminal experience.”“Seriously?”“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Good girl. As in ‘the goodies are off the table until marriage, just like my step-mom’, so I had a choice. Future rewards and all that...”“Coffee’s up,” came a disembodied voice up the. I, uh... Steven... I gave myself... to a man because he could give me a life. He said he could. He would. He had money. He was attractive, he was powerful, he was nice to me. And if my sister Evelyn could build an easy life for herself that way, then surely I could. And there... there were... others. A few. A couple of them. Hon, I'm not talking about sin. I'm not talking about... taking, not sharing. Not loving. God knows they knew so much about wealth but so little about pleasure. And nothing.