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Radcliffe gave her a look that said they’d now stepped into

his territory, landed safely in his world where things made

sense because they were business transactions. They’d moved

away from emotions and feelings, into the land of contracts

and agreements. Dani didn’t want to be there, but she’d sealed

her fate the minute she thought she could throw something

back at him.

And really, why not? She was going to get left. This thing

with Emily couldn’t last because nothing lasted. Nothing

good. Nothing bad. Nothing was permanent. If she was going

to be the one left behind yet again, why not have something

she could keep out of the deal? That was why she’d entered

into the agreement in the first place, wasn’t it? So that she

didn’t end up losing the store that meant so much to her. It had

meant everything.

Why it no longer felt that way, Dani couldn’t say. She didn’t

want to say. She had others to think about. Andi. Her

customers. Mr. Pickles. What would she do with her cat if she

had nowhere to go? She couldn’t go back to having nothing.

To not even having a safe place to call home. She’d lived that

way since she was ten years old. The store was the first real

reprieve she’d ever had. That’s why she cared so much about

it. She just needed a reminder of how things were before.

Radcliffe had seen to it that she got one.

“A building,” Radcliffe said cautiously, steering the

conversation back to the way he wanted it to go. To something

he could navigate his way around. “I’ll buy a building for you.

Whatever you want, within a certain budget.”

Dani shook her head. “No,” she said, but her voice cracked.

Radcliffe couldn’t keep the smug expression off his face. He