her body for her financial security and outright luxury.
“The first time is the weirdest because you’re deconstructing your programming. You’re unraveling everything you’ve been taught to think about sex. Rex girls aren’t normal prostitutes.”
I flinched at the word.
“It’s not ugly, Sterling. I go to Rex events or fly to private estates for parties. And even though everyone knows why I’m there, I still get to choose who I want to spend my night with. Do you know where I was last month?” she asked suddenly.
“No. Where?”
“Monte Carlo. Me. In Monte Carlo. Do you know how much money I lost at the casino? Ten thousand Euros. Do you know what the duke I was with did? He laughed and gave me a diamond necklace just because.” She leaned back against the plush cushions of her custom designed couch. “People can judge me all they want. But I don’t have to answer to any of them.” She shrugged. “I make more than plastic surgeons in LA. What does that tell you?”
“How can The Rex get away with running a brothel?” I asked quietly. “It’s illegal.”
“Not if you grease the palms of the right people. The world is a different place if you have money, Sterling. Remember that.”
Tiffany gently took the teacup from my hands and set it down on the coaster. “You need a real drink. And a place too loud to think. Come on, get dressed. I’m taking you out.”
“Too loud to think about the fact that I’m about to become a high-class hooker?”
She waved her finger at me in admonishment. “I have one rule. And one rule only.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re not allowed to call yourself a hooker or an escort. You’re a courtesan. Got it?”
“Got it.” I paused. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Have you ever had a client not treat you well?”
“Yes. But that was agreed on before he ever laid a hand on me.”
I frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“He was into darker stuff. But he didn’t surprise me with his wants. We talked about it, and I let him school me on a lifestyle I never thought I’d be into.”
Her hand absently went to fiddle with the key pendant around her neck. I finally was able to get a good look at it, and my eyes widened in surprise and I let out a gasp.
“You have a yellow gold key,” I murmured and leaned forward to examine it more closely. “It’s gorgeous.”
“You know what’s strange?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“This apartment could burn to the ground. My clothes with it. All the furniture and artwork. But this necklace? I value it above all things. It represents my power and my freedom.”
“Thank you, Tiff.”
She lightly smacked my thigh in a signal to end the deep and dark discussion. “Let’s get a move on.”
“I’m not in the mood to go out.”
“Sterling, we should at least go out and say goodbye to your old life. You know?”
“What, get drunk and talk about my mother and the past I wish I didn’t know about?”
“We don’t have to talk about that. In a few days, you’re going to have a different name, a different persona. It will be like you never existed.”
I paused and then said, “I have nothing to wear except for my interview dress.”
“I have a whole closet. What’s mine is yours. We’ll find something that fits you.”
My interview makeup was still on, aside from the lipstick that had faded. I touched up my lashes with more mascara and swiped my lips again. I brushed out my sprayed waves and pulled my dark hair into a high ponytail. I made sure all the flyways at my temples laid flat.
“You cannot wear those jeans. I won’t allow it,” Tiffany said. “They’re one good wash away from falling apart.”
“Yeah, and they’re just now perfect.” I pointed to a black skirt on the bed. “What is that?”
“A leather miniskirt.”
“No. Absolutely not. I adamantly refuse.”
She grinned. “I thought you might say that. I might’ve bought you a pair of black skinny jeans when we were at Folson’s the other day.” She skipped out of the guest bedroom and returned a moment later with a shopping bag.
“How did you do this? I never saw you—”
“Oh, it was easy. I did it while you were in the dressing room. Now say, ‘thanks, Tiff’. And don’t look at the price tag.”
“Thanks, Tiff,” I said with a winsome smile.
I slid into the designer jeans and had to admit that I felt like a million bucks. I donned the emerald satin tank she’d