[Slevin isn't sure he agrees with that. He can think of some that he's sure were really, truly hurt by the end of the game, who had fallen well and truly for what he showed them, possibly for some things he didn't mean to show. It wasn't him they loved, but the love was real. They weren't lying to him.

But no, it isn't love. To keep lying, no matter how dangerous, no matter how unbelievable. His eyes are unfocused, aimed back in time instead of at the floor in front of him, listening to Cassel's words but seeing another time and place. Someone else. The words make him smile, just a little.]

We've been on one date. I took her to dinner as part of my cover for being where my mark was. And because I wanted her there. I was sure I could at least get her out if things went sideways, ex-Israeli Mossad, cops, all of it. Sure, too, that she might be mad for a little while but then she'd have a story to tell and she'd love that.

She told me...

She told me that she thought people should only get married if they had a good story about how they met. And it was all right there. All ready to go. Not in a pushy, overbearing way, just... like she turned her head and saw it there and was telling me about it.