groaned. “I’m sorry, Sterling. I wanted to tell you about my job so many times, you have to believe me.”
I nodded slowly. “I’ve been sitting here for hours, going over and over everything.” I frowned. “I felt betrayed, at first. That you sent me to Gen without telling me a damn thing.”
“I couldn’t.”
“I know.”
“And I—”
“Hold on, let me get this out.” I paused and then looked at her. Her gemstone-colored eyes gleamed in the light, but they were steady and piercing. “I came to you, without a doubt in my mind that I could trust you. I told you the truth about my mother, about her past, the letter—all of it. You not telling me about The Rex and what you really do for a living? Yeah, it hurt. It made me feel like you didn’t trust me, but once I got past all my anger, I realized you kept your word. You didn’t betray The Rex and tell me the truth, which is how I know I was right in coming to you.” I grabbed her hand. “You’re trustworthy and I’m—I’m honored that you went to bat for me.”
She swallowed and tears welled in her eyes. “Damn you. All this time, I thought you were going to tear me a new one…”
I shook my head. “Gen said you’ve never asked her to meet with a girl on your recommendation.”
“I haven’t.”
“She also said she owes you one. What’s that about?”
She smiled slightly. “Iron vault, remember? She offered you a job, didn’t she?”
“Yeah. I’ll work the event in three days and go through the training period after.”
“That’s not normally how it’s done. The training period is to get you ready for—”
“I don’t have time. I need the new identity now.”
She paused. “It’s a serious commitment. It will make you question everything you’ve been taught about morality. You’ll have really intense moments where you think you’re doing something wrong, but then you’ll make your peace with it.”
“I can’t stop thinking about right or wrong.”
Tiffany cocked her head to the side. “Do you think it’s wrong?”
“Well, it’s illegal.”
“So, laws are always right?”
“No. Definitely not. Damn, this is all sorts of weird. I’m talking about making my living by selling my body. How did you reconcile it when you first began?” I asked.
“You’ve been on dates, right?”
“Of course.”
“Have any of the men you were with paid for dinner?”
“Yeah. Most of them, but that’s not the—”
“Did you sleep with any of them? I mean, after they paid for dinner and held doors open for you and treated you like a queen?”
“A few.”
“So technically, in a roundabout way, you’ve slept with men for money. I mean, it was food, and society doesn’t like to call a spade a spade, but basically you got something and were treated a certain way, and it made you feel good and then they got something in return.”
“I disagree. I slept with them because I wanted to. There was no coercion or demands. I could’ve gone home alone. A lot of the time, I did go home alone.”
“So, we’re talking choice, right?”
“I guess so, yeah.”
“I have a choice,” she said. “I don’t have to do this job. I choose to do this job. I choose who I want to spend my nights with, and you will have that choice too. I don’t feel used or dirty or ashamed. I get paid for something that most people give away for free. It’s like going on a date where at the end of the night you get to keep a shitload of money. None of it is forced. Sex is the oldest profession in the world. Why aren’t we allowed to use what we have to our advantage?”
“It’s an odd sort of rationalization, but I see what you mean. Your life seems pretty charmed.” I flashed a smile that wasn’t genuine. “How do you feel? I mean, from when you started until now?”
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have an adjustment period. The act itself wasn’t the problem,” she admitted. “It was all mindset. I had to forget everything I’d been taught about sex, you know? The Rex taught me to value myself—to have pride in my body and to own my sexuality. I earned my condo and my car. I earned the three hundred-dollar highlights in my hair. I earned the salt scrubs, the trips to Monaco, the designer clothes, the jewelry given to me as thank you gifts.”
It was all about the presentation, I realized. How she rationalized using