Page 77 of Merciless Daddy

“Do not become smug. It’s unattractive.”

“I learned it from you. It’s a family trait.”

When the call ended, I sat with the phone against my chest until Sal placed a plate on the table.

Bread. Cheese. Sliced pear.

“I’m not hungry,” I said from habit.

His eyebrow lifted.

I took the bread.

“Good choice,” he said. “Very good choice.”

Heat moved through me despite the exhaustion.

He noticed. Of course he did.

Neither of us commented.

I ate. I drank water. Then hot chocolate appeared without discussion, dark and not too sweet.

The practical care settled my body by degrees.

At four-fifteen, Sal returned to the dining table with a blank document. Not a prepared contract. Not terms he had drafted while I was vulnerable.

A white page.

He placed it between us with two pens.

“The rescue creates no debt,” he said.

I looked at him.

“You may leave tomorrow. Tonight, if you prefer. The passport, cash, car, and phone remain yours. Kiryl’s protection remains in place whether you stay with me, refuse me, or decide you never want to discuss our attraction again.”

“Sal—”

“Please. I need you to hear it. I want to say it. To share it with you.”

I nodded.

His hand rested beside the blank paper. The same hand I had nearly crushed while Tonio’s earpiece was silent. There were red crescents in his palm from my nails.

I touched one with my fingertip.

He went still.

“I hurt you?”

“You needed something to hold.”

“That wasn’t what I asked.”

“No. You didn’t hurt me. At least, not too much.”

Liar.