Page 213 of Hell Hath No Fury
“Good. Very good,” I respond.
He smiles. “I’m glad, considering the price.”
“You didn’t have to order this for me,” I say.
“Oh, no, I wanted to,” he replies. “Very much.”
I’m stunned by his response. I don’t understand why he’s so kind.
“Why do you want to spend so much money on me?” I ask, suspicious of his motives. “First a dress, now this.”
“Is it forbidden to want to help people?” he retorts.
“No,” I say, “but …”
He leans across the table and places his hand on mine. “Then let me help.”
He stares into my eyes with a kind of crushing weight I’ve never experienced before, and I can’t look away, no matter how hard I try.
“You were hungry, so let me feed you,” he says. “You were cold and wet, so let me offer you clothes.”
I want to accept this kindness so desperately, but … “What do you expect from me?”
People always wantsomething. I’ve been disappointed too much in life to expect anything else.
He pauses, visibly annoyed. “Nothing.”
He can’t be serious. All this … in exchange for nothing?
“You’re joking, right?” I jest. “There must be something you want from me.”
“Is that what you’re used to?” he asks. “People asking for something in return?”
It hits a little too close to home, and I pull back my hand.
“I won’t ask for anything …” he says. “But I need you to be honest with me.”
I frown, but then the server comes back and asks, “Have you made a choice?”
I stare at the menu, not knowing what I’m allowed to order. Because I can’t pay for any of this.
“We’ll have the steak,” Vincenzo fills in for me. “You’re not vegetarian, right?”
I shake my head, and he smiles while the server takes our menus and walks away.
But Vincenzo immediately homes in on me again. “Do you have somewhere to stay?”
I take a big gulp of my wine, almost choking on it.
But he refuses to look away.
“I …”
“You don’t, do you?” he says.
I shake my head. I don’t like admitting it, but he already figured it out, judging by the look of pity on his face.
“That’s why you were in that alley,” he says.
