Page 13 of No Merciful Corruption
“Well, he wouldn’t have to work so hard to provide if my mother actually did something for herself. She relies on him for everything.” I say. “Rent money, grocery money, school tuition. She dropped out of college twice and can’t keep a job for longer than a year. I don’t blame him for being sick of her. I’m sick of her”
“I heard your mom tell my mom that your dad has a wandering eye.”
I wave a hand in dismissal. “So says my mother. Sometimes I wonder. Between the two of them, who is actually telling the truth?”
“I bet to some extent they both are.” She nibbles on her bottom lip before shaking her head. “Forget about all this. Let’s talk about something else.”
I yank a tissue out of her bra. “Like your terrible boob job?”
“Danny Perez wants to see a movie this weekend…” She trails off. “But he went out with that high school girl over the summer. I’m not exactly on the same level as her.”
“You’re right. You’re way higher.”
She cracks a smile. “She’s tall and blond and looks like a Victoria’s Secret model.”
“And you’re a hot, redheaded bombshell. Give it a few years and you’ll have the bra size to match.”
Her nose scrunches up as she lifts a hand to her head. “My hair is brown.”
I heave a heavy sigh. “Actually, it’s auburn.”
She jumps up from bed and heads to the closet. “Why don’t you come? I can see if he has a friend you might like.”
“Not in the mood. Boys are horrible. They grow up to be deadbeat losers.”
“Not all boys,” she counters. “My dad is pretty sweet.”
“Needle in a haystack.” I roll over in bed again and hold onto her One Direction pillow. Five beautiful British boys and I bet they’ll grow up to be the bane of some poor woman’s existence. “I’m going to be different…I’ll choose better.”
“I was reading this story on Wattpad the other night,” she lifts one of her black scarves to over the bottom half of her face. “About an infamous assassin who falls in love with the innocent girl he’s meant to kill.”
“Wonderful.”
“At first, he’s a hardened killer. Trained by the US government before defecting to the world of organized crime where his foster brother turned partner was murdered by a crooked agent.” She spins around the room. “He’s determined to have revenge. He tracks down the crooked agent and decides to go after the one thing he loves most: the agent’s daughter.”
I smother my face with the pillow. Mostly because I can’t stand to listen to another one of her Wattpad tales but also because I don’t mind pretending to kiss Zayn for a little while.
“Over time, the daughter wears him down. The assassin is…terrifying and strong and dangerous but he’s brave, loyal, and fearless. She shows him a whole different way of living and in exchange, he protects her from the cruelty of the world and will make whatever sacrifice for her happiness. Like a dark knight.” She collapses on the bed beside me and sighs. “That’s what I want.”
“A ruthless assassin?”
She giggles. “No, silly. Someone who would do anything in the world for me.”
The room falls silent a moment.
“You know, I really get Karina sometimes. It’s hard being the only daughter and feeling like you have to be everyone’s therapist. The assassin isn’t appealing because he’s dangerous. He’s appealing because he’s a protector. He’s selfless,” she explains. “He doesn’t take. Only gives.”
I squint at her. “What the Hell do you be reading sometimes?”
Her cheeks color slightly. “It’s romantic.”
“It’s crazy. I want love to be simple.”
“Simple?”
I nod. “Yes. I want to fall in love with the right person at the right time and it all just falls into place because it’s meant to be. I don’t want some scary ruthless assassin or a dark knight. I want someone who’s gentle and generous and kind. That’s it. That’s all I want.”
“Nothing else?” She asks.
