Sienna decided to test the waters. She sat down on the bench, throwing off her shoes to dip her toes in the sand. Grace sat down beside her, but keeping a respectable distance in the middle, for appropriateness.
"I don't like mind games," Sienna said, "I feel like you are trying to play one with me."
The man sat straight with the dignity of a retired emperor. His eyes half-lidded, his lips showing a small smile. "It is only because you don't trust me that you think I am playing a mind game with you. But I am being truthful. I am 77 years old. I don't know how many years I have left but I don't want to spend my last years working an assembly line or begging for food after I lose everything because of my foolish daughter. I worked hard in my youth. I deserve to retire with dignity, in the embrace of all the wealth I earned."
