“Thank you, Mr. Dicky. Men say nice things to me when it’s happenin’—or ’cause they want something extra—but it’s nice to hear sugary words this way.”
“I would like to have a child, and I would like for you to be the mother of this child.”
Stunned, Viola stopped breathing and stared at Dicky with her wide hazel eyes. It was unclear to him whether the look upon her face was one of pure joy or one of pure terror, though he presumed it was a mixture of both.
“You’re going to pay me to be your wife? You don’t even know me. And I’m a w***e. And I don’t know you at all.”
“My name is Richard Sterling. I live in New York. I have been a card sharp and a gambler and an outlaw. I have probably shared a bed with more different partner than you have.”
“That’s why you ain’t got no wife? You’re runn
