A guy came onto the stage. The dj. There was a faint sound like rustling leaves, and Paul applauded, too. Had the music fucked up his hearing or what? He’d listened to plenty of loud rock in his life, but this had been something more. This had been music that blew you so far out of yourself that he now felt as though some sort of internal reset button had been pushed. He felt blank, a deprogrammed soul.

In the light he could see people were getting dressed, and they were still doing drugs, right out in the middle of everything. Some of them were even still making love. Guys were still hard, thinking nothing of it. Some of these kids were not even teens. They were, like, teenyboppers. There were friggin’ children in this place, drinking and doing drugs, naked with naked adults. It was total, amazing, awful sin.

“Hell,” he said to two of them standing nearby, “this place almost got Bangkok beat!”

Waiters came through two big doors and started laying out food and wine. They brought it in on huge gold trays, in golden bowls and crystal bowls, and the utensils and the plates were all gold, too.

“Christ,” he said to another couple, “those pots must be worth a million bucks!”

He hadn’t noticed that he was the only one making any noise until a guy held his finger over his lips.

“Be quiet?”

The kid nodded.

Hell, he didn’t want to be quiet. He wanted to talk dirty to some frail. He wanted to get finished getting blown. But, hell, he was okay with it; this was what they wanted to do. He was the damn newbie, looked like.

Sarah watched Leo pull Miriam away from the dj’s stage and heard her say, “Miri, that man! He’s utterly dreadful!”

Very quietly, Miriam said, “He’s also utterly alone.”

Leo seemed not to comprehend. “Well, just get him out of here, please. He’s pissing everybody off.”

Sarah marched over to her and said,“We don’t talk to Miriam like that.”

“What? About him? She was an idiot to bring him in. He even had a gun!”

Quickly, Sarah took Leonore out of the room. The hard lights of the kitchen were a better setting for this discussion. “Listen, Leo. Do not ever make demands of her. What’s been done to you doesn’t give you the right. In fact, it does the opposite. Before, you were her friend. Now, you’re her possession.”

“You know something, Sarah? You’re a complete asshole.” Leo flounced off through the doors.

Sarah was amazed at how angry she felt, watching those doors swing behind that arrogant little ass. It was a calm, dispassionate sort of anger, a deep anger. The idea that she would have to live years and years with Leo interfering between her and Miri was just plain awful.