Page 182 of Roberto

Not as a prostitute, you ASSHOLE.

“Yousaid that,” I replied.“Isaid, ‘In a manner of speaking.’”

His irritation notched up a couple of levels – just like the German had reacted when I’d walked into the room. “So what does thatmean, exactly?”

Prostitution is legal in Deutschland! Vy not here?!

I’d had enough, and I was tired of playing the consummate hostess to powerful men who thought they could have anything they wanted.

“It means IownDe Sade, Mr. Rosolini.”

Okay…

Not precisely true.

I was a part owner with only a 10% stake.

But telling him I was a ‘10% owner’didn’t exactly carry the same rhetoricaloomph.

The truth would have made him laugh at me –

And I would have ending up throwing my drink in his face.

So a little white lie was better.

He looked embarrassed.

In fact, his expression made me feel a little bad about how I’d reacted.

“…ah… I apologize. I’m unfamiliar with the club and how things work around here.”

Suddenly I didn’t feel so bad anymore.

Like NOT knowing how things work is an excuse.

Foreigners had to know our traffic laws before they drove in Hong Kong.

Or tried to bring a gun into the country.

Or any of a dozen other things.

But put a rich Westerner in a club like De Sade, and he just assumed everything was for sale – and that it wasyourresponsibility to educatehiminstead of putting in the effort himself.

“You could have asked,” I said. “Instead of assuming.”

And just like the German, the Italian became irritable.

“Alright, let me ask youthis,”he snapped. “You seem to have taken offense that I assumed you work here. But what’s so wrong with that? You own the club; surely you value your employees and their work. What’s so wrong with someone mistaking you for an employee?”

“I assume from your expensive suit and Rolex that you’re very successful in finance, Mr. Rosolini. Am I correct?”

He looked at me warily. “I have the means, and I liketo dress this way, so I do.”

“But youarevery successful at your profession, are you not?”

“More or less.”

“How would you like it if a visitor mistook you for an entry-level accountant?” I asked.

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