And I didn’t want to. Another black and white photo showed two kids, maybe twelve or thirteen, standing in the street. A smudge of dirt marred Ronan’s cheek, his arm loosely around the neck of the other kid, whose unsmiling face was turned away from the camera. But it didn’t hide a sliver of his eyes that were sharp enough to pierce through the picture. They looked poor. Maybe even homeless. My gaze slid to Ronan, from his suit to the black watch on his wrist. I always shopped for my papa since he had no care for it and no wife—or so I thought. He would only wear the finest of the finest, so Pd become an aficionado in expensive men’s clothing, and this man was wearing a Dormeuil Vanquish. From rags to riches... I wondered what he did. He was obviously more than the owner of this restaurant, which was far closer to a hole-in-the-wall than a five-star establishment. I found it surprising, though also endearing, he displayed his past for the world to see. “Sit down and eat, kotyonok.” I warmed at the nickname, even knowing he probably came by it because I reminded him of something cute he might pat on the head. I sat on the couch and dug into a bowl of kasha and fresh fruit. Ronan was still talking on the phone, that cord wrapped around one hand, stress ball in the other, but the heat of his curious gaze warmed every inch of me. I set the half-eaten meal on the side table and received a disapproving look from him. If I’d gotten the look from my papa, I would have forced down every crumb, but I was testing out a sturdier resolve. And I simply didn’t want to finish it. He hung up, shrouding the room in thick silence. I rubbed my hands on my bare thighs and searched for my voice, as it seemed to lose itself in his presence. “You didn’t happen to find my coat, did you?” He didn’t say anything for a moment, rocking back in his chair like a newspaper editor lording over his domain. “You’re lucky we found your bag before it was stolen.” That was a no. I chewed my lip. “My phone was in the pocket.” “Was it?” was all he said, not offering to let me use his.