Page 44 of Mr. Dangerous

"You look so young to own your business," Mitch said approvingly. "Where did you go toschool?"

Naomi made a valiant effort to pick up a beef ball with her woodenchopsticks. "CCRI."

"Oh," Mitch said. "Did you know that's the largest community college in the UnitedStates?"

"The onlylargestRhode Island has to offer,"Naomisaid.

"What did youstudy?"

He sounded interested enough, but I could see his eyes glazing over as Naomi answered. That was it. She was not the daughter of someone important, and she wasn't likely to be important herself. Mitch was already swiveling to talktome.

I angled my body towards Naomi, ignoring myfather.

"I have an Associates in Accounting," Naomi said. "I would have gone on, but my mom got sick and my parents started to need a lot of help. So. Here I am. Still doing the same thing, ten yearslater."

The last was directed, a bit ruefully,tome.

"I think it's great,"Isaid.

She pulled a face at me, and I wondered if she really heard me.Believedme.

"Absolutely," Mitch said. "Education is great, but there's nothing like getting your education in practice.Entrepreneurship."

"Ever the politician," I said, smiling to take the sting out of hiswords.

"Maybe. You should consider running , son," Mitch said. "You’re what this country needs more of. More people grounded in reality, more people who have proven their ability to solveproblems."

“I'm too blunt." I knew my father meant it as a compliment, but I had zero interest in following in hisfootsteps.

"Blunt can be refreshing," Mitch said. "As long as you tell people what they really want to hear intheend."

"When it’s fake, it’s not blunt. It’s just being anasshole.”

Mitch half-shrugged. "Sometimes, to get to what you really want, you have to make other sacrifices. You can't always have everythingatonce."

I shook my head. "Unflinching integrity is kind of a theme in the SEALs. No matter what itcosts."

"Is this shu mai?" Naomi asked. "It'sdelicious."

"That was always my favorite,"Isaid.

Naomi had a mouthful of shrimp. She was trying to look as if she liked it. Clearly, the tension between me and Mitch was too muchforher.

I tried to make myself smile. "Nice choice of restaurant. You remembered myfavorite."

"I always loved this place," Mitch mused. "We got to know the owner well. You know, his parents were first-generation American, built this place from the ground up. Beautifulstory."

"Oh?" Naomiasked.

"Louis," Mitch said, nodding to me. "You remember Louis? Thegrandfather?"

No one had a memory for names and faces like Mitch. When Mitchcared.

"Well, he'd fallen in love with Dee. And her family had been well-off in China, and Louis' family? No. But here, none of them had much. At the time, Louis was just a teenager, and he was working in this little family grocery store and bakery when he wasn't in school. Well, he went to Dee's father and asked if he could see her. They'd known each other in high school but Dee was never allowed to date. Her father was very strict, veryprotective."

Sounded like the kind of guy who would never allow a Delaney near hisdaughter.

"Dee was gorgeous," Mitch said. "You wouldn't have realized this, you were just a boy when we came here and she was a grandmother already. But I've been coming here since before you were born – your mother and I used to come here on Sunday mornings. And Dee, she was something else, the glossiest black hair I've ever seen and aristocratic features, sharp cheekbones, these amazing brown eyes with gold flecks. No wonder Louislovedher."

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