Quinton Mann is CIA through and through. Mark Vincent is WBIS for life. There is no way they could end up as anything other than adversaries -- and yet, Quinn takes Mark out to dinner on his birthday -- the one no one is supposed to know about -- and gives him one hell of a present in the restaurant's restroom. Mark, not to be outdone, has decided to escalate this game, because it has to be a game, right? There's no way it can be anything else.<br><br>But as the game continues, as Quinn shows up to a WBIS funeral, as a friend of Mark’s penetrates the CIA computer network to get information on Quinn, as Mark breaks into Quinn's house and gives Quinn a very interesting encounter, both Quinn and Mark realize that this is becoming the most real thing in their lives.<br><br>Can they find a way to do their jobs and keep this surprising, intriguing connection?

Houseboat on the Nile

“Huh?” I didn’t want to track water and shit all over his floor, so I toed off my shoes and rolled off my socks. Once I had the socks in my hand, I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I wound up sticking them in a pocket.


“You left a cup for me in the microwave.” He was staring at my feet, and I resisted the impulse to tuck one behind the other.


“Dunno what you’re talking about.” Fuck it. That was the cup I had put in there when I’d gotten the phone call from Sweetcheeks a hundred years ago, telling me that Pretty Boy was in the hospital.


“So someone broke into your house to nuke a cup of coffee?”


He just smiled at me. “Next time put the cup in the dishwasher, would you, please?”


“Sure, Quinn. I’ve never used your microwave—” Not that I would admit, at any rate. “But if I ever do, I’ll make sure I don’t leave anything in there.”


Chapter 119