He ran his finger down my crooked nose. His smile turned to a grin. “Sorry.”

I looked around. “God, it’s wonderful to be outside. I feel like an uncaged bird.” I turned to him. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me, Donatti. I am very aware of the dire situation I was in.”

He didn’t answer. He loaded the bags on the back of the bike and then looked at me. “You really want to thank me?”

I sighed. “I already said I’ll do whatever you want if you find …” I let the words hang. He didn’t need to be reminded about Sanjay. It would only piss him off.

“I don’t mean sex for once,” he said. I waited. “I have an engagement tonight with a couple of clients and the women I set them up with. Drinks in the lounge at around eleven.”

“What lounge?”

“I have one on the premises. It’s like an old-fashioned club. Lots of the men go there to talk or read or smoke and brag—show off the women they’re with. But a surprising number of business deals are done there. I’d like you to come with me.” He paused. “That’s what these bags are for. They’re dresses for you.”

I guess I couldn’t go as his whore in a Manson dress. Why not? “Okay.”

“Thank you.”

We rode home and walked up to his bedroom in silence. After a half hour of playtime, it was about five-thirty. I got dressed, rubbed my sore jaw, and said, “Can I see my daughter now?”

“In a few minutes. Let me show you the dresses first.”

Stalling. “Sure.”

He straightened the bedsheets and laid them out. Three cocktail dresses—all black and all short. There were also three shoeboxes. I looked at the clothing. “Which one do you like?”

He gave the question some thought. “This one.”

It had a tight, short skirt and a sleeveless, drapey bodice with a plunge in the front and a plunge in the back. “Fine.”

“Try it on for me.” Still stalling. He saw me look at the clock on the nightstand. “I promise I’ll take you to see Juleen. I just want to see how you look, okay?”

“These clients must be important.”

“They’re venture capitalists. They specialize in funding vices—lots of online gambling as well as some physical casinos. This would be their first foray into brothels. I’d like to get some money out of them.”

“You’re expanding?”

“Depends on how much money they’re willing to invest.”

I nodded and took off my oversize jeans and baggy T-shirt. I slipped on the dress. Once it would have been too tight. Now it was big. I was sure that would change once I started eating. The front had two straps across the plunge so it didn’t open up. He zipped up the skirt for me.

“Okay?” I asked.