Page 199 of Merciless Daddy

“That’s beautiful,” she said.

I reached for my wallet.

She caught my hand.

“No.”

“You like it.”

“I touched it—doesn’t mean I want to buy it!”

“But you looked at it. You smiled.”

“That is not a purchase agreement.”

I looked at the vendor. The vendor looked amused.

Yelena moved to another table. Small necklaces. Bracelets. Glass beads. I followed her. She picked up a pair of silver earrings shaped like tiny crescents.

I reached for my wallet again.

“Salvatore.”

“Let me buy you some earrings, Little one.”

“You are trying to buy me everything I look at.”

“Is that so wrong?”

She put the earrings down.

“Yes.”

The word was quiet. It stopped me.

“Abundance can be another way of refusing to listen,” she said. “My father used diamonds when he didn’t want to hear no. Gianni used dresses. You use islands and boats and . . .” She gestured toward the market. “All this.”

Shame touched something sharp beneath my ribs.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t want you to feel unheard.”

Her expression softened at once.

“I know you mean well.”

“That does not make it harmless.”

“No.”

I took a breath.

“What do you actually want, bella? You can also say nothing, of course.”

She looked around again. This time I did not move. Did not reach for money. Did not make her choice into a test of whether I could give enough.

After a few minutes, she returned to the silver earrings.

“These,” she said. “I do want them”