Page 211 of Hell Hath No Fury
He makes me feel something I haven’t felt in a long while … like I’m actually pretty.
But I feel like I’m only playing pretend. “I could never pay for this,” I reply.
“You don’t need to,” he says, and he walks to the desk. “The lady wants to continue wearing it.”
“Of course,” the woman at the desk responds, rolling her eyes.
“She left her old clothes in the dressing room. Dispose of them, if you will,” he says. “Put it on the tab.” Vincenzo puts down his card. “Take ten percent off the dress’s price.”
She eyes him down.
“Or do you want me to tell your supervisor how poorly you treated one of his biggest customers?”
She swallows again. “Of course, sir. Ten percent off it is.” She hastily enters it into the machine on the desk, then grabs his card and swipes it. “Thank you, sir. Would you like the receipt?”
“Keep it.” Vincenzo makes his way over to me and holds out his hand. “Ready?”
I’m still too stunned to even know how to reply to all of these random acts of kindness, but also because I just don’t trust what’s going on.
Who would help a random girl off the streets?
What does he gain by doing all this?
But when his hand folds into mine, I still let him pull me back out onto the street, wearing this fancy, overpriced dress that I would never be able to wear if it wasn’t for him.
The driver opens the car door again, and I step inside. Vincenzo scoots in behind me, and the driver shuts the door.
“You seem overwhelmed,” Vincenzo says, breaking the spell of silence between us.
I shrug. “It’s just that … I’m not used to this kind of …”
“Kindness?” he fills in for me.
I nod. “That, but also this kind of lifestyle.”
He snorts. “Lifestyle. Money isn’t a lifestyle. It’s a tool.” He makes a fist. “A weapon.”
I gulp.
Weapons … to strike who?
“But it also allows me to give to people in need,” he says, relaxing his muscles again when he turns to look my way. “To help those who others have abandoned.”
I lower my eyes. “I wasn’t…”
“You weren’t what?”
“Never mind.” I look out the window.
Telling him everything there is to know about me would be foolish. Not to mention dangerous.
“My mom’s waiting for me at home,” I blurt out. Just to be safe.
When I look at him, all he does is grin. “I’m sure she is.”
Well, that didn’t nearly sway him as much as I had hoped it would.
“I’m still going to take you to dinner,” he says as the car comes to a stop.
