“No, she is not Gabe, but she has grit, and sometimes that gets you further than talent.”

“I’ll see her at four, then. I’ll stay with her until she goes to sleep.”

“That’s around ten. She’ll exhaust you, Terry. She’s a chatterbox.”

I was taken aback. “Juleen?”

“Yeah, Juleen. The kid you had with Devek while you were married to me.”

I turned over so my back was to him. “She’s normally so reserved with strangers.”

“I’ve always had a way with girls.” He pulled me to his chest. “What else do you need?”

“We need phones. I have to be able to talk to her whenever I want. I need to contact you if I need something. I’m stuck here.”

“I’ll get you set up in the system so you can come and go from here after you heal up. But I don’t want you or her having a phone. I don’t want you contacting Devek, and I don’t want her contacting her father. With you, it’s not a problem. But Devek is her father. It’s not that I’m trying to keep her away from him, but until I know what’s going on, that can’t happen.”

“Get a restrictive phone that doesn’t allow foreign calls. I need to be able to talk to her.”

“I can do that. What else?”

“If you could contact the dentist and find out when I can get my jaw unwired, I’d appreciate it. Nothing’s broken. I’ll be careful about chewing. I’d just like to talk better. And eat something other than protein shakes.”

“I’ll call the dentist. Anything else?”

“Some makeup and a blow dryer of my own would be great.”

“Done.”

“Shouldn’t you be writing this down?”

“No need. What else?”

“That’s it.”

“Money?”

“Not now. What for?”

He held me tight. “Anything else I can do for you? Like right now?” He nibbled my neck. “Like turning a no into a maybe?”

“Chris, I’ll do anything you want. But I am dog-tired.”

I felt him pull away. “We’ll wait until we’re both more awake.”

“I think that’s a good idea, although you’re very sexy.”

He gave a small laugh. “But I’m also a pest.”

“It’s the novelty effect. You’ll calm down.”

“Probably not. With you, I never got enough.”

“And that’s why you cheated on me all the time?”

“Yeah, when I was away from home, I fucked my whores. It was part of my business.”

“Right.”

“When I was home with you, angel, I never cheated.”

“Chris, it’s past history. It doesn’t matter. No sense lying.”