Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
What am I going to do about this?
When I look up again, his eyes have lowered to where my hand is, and I immediately remove it.
Shit. Did he notice?
The food is brought out and placed in front of us, the smells mouth-watering. I feel almost sick for even wanting to eat it. It’s so expensive. I could’ve bought a week’s worth of food for my mom and me just from the cost of this dish.
But I don’t live with her anymore.
She made that painfully clear.
I swallow and pick up my fork and knife.
“Go on. Take a bite,” Vincenzo says.
I do what he tells me because I don’t want to offend him. But the second the steak hits my tongue, it practically melts in my mouth and makes me want to cry.
“Good, right?” he says, smiling contently.
“I’ve never had something this good.”
He cuts into his steak in such a peculiar way that it draws my attention. Veggies and potatoes are also on his plate, but none of them is allowed to touch each other. When he cuts, he puts in the extra effort so that every piece looks exactly the same.
Strange, if you ask me.
But I guess nothing is strange anymore after today.
He takes a small bite and says, “You can have this every day of the week if you like.”
My fork clatters onto my plate. “What?”
Vincenzo leans forward and places his hand on top of mine. “I want to offer you a place to stay.”
I can’t even swallow the second bite. “But why … me?”
He gently caresses the top of my hand, making heat course through my veins. “Because I do not like injustice.” He licks his lips. “And you’ve been dealt too much.”
3
Vincenzo
She can barely speak without stuttering. “What do you mean?”
But I think she knows exactly what I mean.
I tilt my head. “I want to take you home with me.”
“Home … with you?”
Is it such a preposterous idea? To be taken home by a man like me?
Or is she just scared of what I might do?
I release her hand and take another bite of my steak, swallowing it down. She watches me like a hawk, almost as if she’s tempted by the mere idea of coming home with me but too afraid to take the leap.
“You’ll have your own room and bath. A key to lock the door.” I look up into her beautiful eyes that could haunt my soul if I let them. “I won’t bother you… unless you want me to.”
A glimmer in her eyes makes it so damn hard to keep the predator in me at bay.
“What’s the catch?” she asks after a while.
I cut off another piece of my steak. “There is none.”
“But you must gain something from doing this, right?”
She doesn’t trust me, and I understand that. We barely know each other.
But she’ll become acquainted with me soon enough.
“The opportunity to help someone in need is enough for me,” I reply.
She takes another bite of her food. “So you’re like … pretending to be a Robin Hood or something.” She snorts at her own comment.
But I don’t find it funny. “Yes.”
She looks up and swallows with trouble. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
She frowns. “So you’ve got all this money and want to spend it on me?”
“Yes.”
I don’t know how many more yeses she needs from me to understand my goal.
“Wow.” She cuts into her steak and takes another bite.
“Is it that strange for a rich man to want to share his wealth?”
She makes a face. “Well, you’re the first rich man I’ve met who’s attempted it.”
“Then you’ve only met bastards,” I reply.
She puts her fork and knife down and pushes herself away from the table. “So do you do this often? Randomly help people in need?”
“Only when I find those worthy of giving it to,” I respond.
She sure has many questions for a girl plucked from the streets. But I understand. In her precarious position, she must be careful.
It is the exact reason I wanted her off those streets, to begin with.
“So will you accept?” I ask.
She looks up at me for a moment, her cheeks slowly turning red, which she hides behind a veil of hair. “I don’t know, I mean my mom, she—”
“Was the reason you were in that alley. No?” I interrupt before she can start making excuses. “She doesn’t need you. If your fight was that bad, you deserve a safe space to stay. For now.”
She narrows her eyes at me like she can’t believe I’m offering this. Like it’s some kind of trap. She refuses to touch her food, despite enjoying the taste. I guess it’s a bit too much to take in all at once.
I place my card on the table and signal the server. “I’d like to pay.”
“Of course, sir.” The server takes my card and quickly swipes it before bringing it back. “Thank you, sir.”