Page 78 of Guarded from Corruption

Niall takes my father’s hand and from the way Niall’s lips twitch, I just know my father is trying his power handshake, which might work on his employees but not with someone like Niall.

Still, Niall smiles pleasantly and replies, “Thank you. I’m Niall Walsh. It’s very nice to meet you.”

My father’s smile fades as soon as his gaze drops to Niall’s hand wrapped around mine, but he quickly recovers. “Well. Come inside. Mrs. Bell is waiting in the lounge. She’s been very eager to see you, Jade.”

As we follow my father, he says, “Your mother has been so worried about you. It’s a pity it took this long for you to visit. If you’d just stayed here, imagine how much better your mother would have felt.” He glances over his shoulder at me. “She lost sleep, you know.”

And there it is. The first volley.

Niall’s hand tightens around mine; not painfully, but comforting.

Once we get to the lounge—it’s really just another living room, but only used for guests, which is kind of messed up when I think about it—my mother claps her hands together and says brightly, “Oh, Jade. I’m so pleased you could come. I’ve been waiting to show you the seating arrangements for the company gala. And the table settings. I’m thinking silver and crimson this time. Or is that too garish? Passé?”

I can feel Niall’s eyes on me as I paste on a smile and reply, “I’d love to look at them.”

But honestly, it’s easier to just play along than to tell her I have no idea what table settings are currently in style. And really, she doesn’t care about my opinion. She just wants to tell me all about it.

“Vanessa.” My father’s voice is lightly scolding. “You haven’t seen Jade in ages. And she brought a young man with her. Perhaps you could greet them before talking about the gala.”

She pales, then jumps to her feet. After a stilted pause, she says, “Of course. How silly of me. Jade. I’ve missed you so much. And it’s lovely to meet your young man.”

“Niall Walsh.” Niall casts one of his infectious smiles at her. “It’s a pleasure to be here. And to meet Jade’s parents.”

The next few minutes after that, everything goes like a normal visit. My mother sits beside my father, bobbing her head in agreement every time he speaks. And my father gives me the rundown on his company—profits are still holding steady, but frivolous lawsuits are really threatening the industry.

“These people,” he says dismissively, “trying to blame the company when they get addicted. There’s nothing wrong with the product when used responsibly. It would be like me suing the car company for getting into an accident after speeding.”

I swallow back what I want to say, which is that it’s not close to the same thing. That the cars weren’t built with the intent to make people speed. That cars aren’t addictive. That they’re not handed out to anyone who wants them.

But I’ve tried that argument before, and it goes nowhere. All it gets me is a heavy sigh and a look of disappointment, followed by a patronizing you couldn’t understand.

Once the business briefing is over, then my father lobs his second volley. Pinning Niall with his gaze, he says, “So. Niall. From what I understand, you went straight into the military after high school? No college degree? Do you have plans to go back to school?”

“No degree,” Niall agrees with a smile. “And I’m quite happy where I am, career-wise. I don’t think school would benefit me at this time.”

“Niall has been through extensive training,” I add, feeling both defensive and protective. “Years of it. Some of the hardest training anyone in the military can do.”

My father raises his eyebrows at me. “Well. I suppose that’s good.” Then he turns to my mother. “Vanessa. You wanted to talk to Jade privately, didn’t you? I recall you saying that over breakfast. Something about… girl talk?”

“Oh, yes.” My mother beams at me. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about… things.” Her gaze shifts to Niall before coming back to me. “Woman to woman.”

The tiny flame of hope kindles. I’ve never talked to my mother about guys before, but maybe she realizes Niall is the real thing. Maybe she’ll have some kind of advice. Or maybe she just wants to hear about him. Wants to know if I’m in love with him.

“Go,” Niall murmurs. “I’ll be fine out here.”

“Yes, let’s go chat.” My mother is already halfway out of the room. She stops to give me another bright smile. “We can talk in my bedroom. It’ll be lovely.”

Niall squeezes my hand and kisses me on the cheek. “Have a nice time talking to your mom. I’ll be right here.”

Although I’m loath to leave Niall—he makes this visit much more tolerable—I follow my mother with a cautious optimism brimming.

Maybe this will be one of those mother-daughter talks, like the ones Shea told me about. Even though I’ve never had one with my mother before, there’s always a first time, right?

Fifteen minutes later, I’ve come to the realization that I’m not having an intimate talk about love with my mother.

It’s disappointing, but not surprising.

Instead, I’ve been sitting on her bed with dozens of pictures of table settings all around me, listening to her explain the pros and cons of each of them. It’s mind numbingly boring, and I’ve been surreptitiously checking my watch while trying to determine how soon I can leave without being rude.

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