“Mostly.” On impulse, Bess chose one of the best bottles in her wine rack. “You’re not a vegetarian, are you?”

Rosalie snorted. “Get real.”

“Good. I want a steak.” After handing Rosalie a glass, she picked up the phone to order dinner.

“I can’t pay for that.”

“I’m buying,” Bess assured her, and curled up on the couch. “I need a consultant, Rosalie.” It was a risk, but so was breathing, she decided. “I’ll give you five hundred a week.”

Rosalie choked on the wine. “Five hundred, just to tell you about turning tricks?”

“No. I want more. I want why. I want you to tell me about the other women. What draws them in. What you’re afraid of, what you’re not. When I ask you a question, I’ll want an answer.” Her voice was brisk now, all business. “I’ll know if you lie.”

Rosalie’s eyes were shrewd and steady. “You need all that for a TV show?”

“You’d be surprised.” It had gone well beyond the show. The bruise on Rosalie’s face grated on her. She had caused it, Bess reflected. She would find a way to fix it. “I’m buying a lot of your time for five hundred a week, Rosalie. You might want to take a little vacation from Bobby.”

“What I do after I talk to you is for me to say.”

“Absolutely. But if you decided you wanted to take a break from the streets, and if you needed a place to stay while you did, I could help you.”

“Why?”

Bess smiled. “Why not? It wouldn’t cost me any more.”

Intrigued, Rosalie considered. “I’ll think about it.”

“Fine. We can get started right away.” She rose to gather up pads, pencils, her tape recorder. “Remember, this is daytime TV, and we can only do so much. I’ll have to filter down a great deal of what you tell me. Why don’t I fill you in on the story line?”

Rosalie merely shrugged. “It’s your nickel.”

“Yes, it is.” She settled down again, and was weaving the complex and overlapping relationships of Millbrook—to Rosalie’s confusion and fascination—when she heard the buzzer for her private elevator. Still talking, she walked over to release the security lock. “So, anyway, the Josie personality is dynamically opposed to Jade. The stronger she gets, the more confused and frightened Jade becomes. She doesn’t remember where she’s been when Josie comes out. And the lapses are getting longer.”

“Sounds like the lady needs a shrink.”

“Actually, she’ll go to Elana—she’s a psychiatrist—but that’s down the road a bit. And under hypnosis— Ah, here’s the food.” At the elevator’s ding, Bess opened the door. The smile froze on her face.

“Alexi.”

“Don’t you bother to ask who it is before you let someone come up?” He shook his head before he caught her chin in his hand and kissed her.

“Yes—that is, not when I’m expecting someone. What are you doing here?”

“Kissing you?” And, at that moment, she wasn’t as responsive as he’d come to expect. Then it occurred to him that she’d said she was expecting someone. A man? A date? A lover? His eyes cooled as he stepped back. “I guess I should have called first.”