Page 209 of Merciless Daddy

He took my coat from my shoulders. His fingers brushed the back of my neck.

“We can make it more comfortable? Change anything you want.”

“I cannot change the men with guns.”

“No,” he said quietly. “But you can tell me where you want the books. Your coloring pencils? Stuffies? That is a start.”

The kitchen was warmer than the rest of the house. Cream cabinets. Dark stone counters. A long wooden table scarred by use instead of styled to look old. Someone had filled the refrigerator. Fruit. Eggs. Bread. A ridiculous amount of cheese.

The blue bowl waited on the counter, wrapped in the paper from the island market.

I unwrapped it myself.

The white waves around the rim were uneven. One had a small chip of paint where the glaze had caught wrong. It was not expensive. It was not perfect.

It was mine.

I placed it beside the stove.

Sal stood behind me, close but not touching.

“Future kitchen,” he said.

“Right. But for now it’s in the temporary kitchen.”

“You can call it whatever makes you less likely to panic.”

I turned to face him. “That is irritatingly perceptive.”

He kissed my forehead.

Upstairs, a study had been prepared for me. My legal files sat in neat stacks on one end of the desk. The firebird notebook sat beside them.

The sight of it hit harder than it should have.

A notebook about wants.

A folder about proving I was mentally competent enough to own the companies my mother had built.

I sat down.

Angela appeared on the secure screen a few minutes later. Pietro stood behind her with one hand resting on the back of her chair. Serafina sat beside them, dark hair pulled back, expression already sharpened for war.

“The court appointed an independent examiner,” Angela said. “She will assess whether you understand the injunction, your corporate authority, and the circumstances of your departure from Gianni.”

“This is all such bullshit. They try to force me to marry, threaten to drug me. Then when I’m safe, they pull this legal crap.”

“It is bullshit, you’re right. We won’t take it lying down. I’ve had just about enough with Gianni.”

“Where do I meet this examiner?”

“Neutral downtown legal suite. We receive the address two hours before the appointment. Gianni’s counsel receives it at the same time.”

“Who chose her?”

“The court,” Angela said. “Technically.”

“Technically is doing a lot of work there.”