Page 185 of Desperate Actions

She loves old books, the kind that smell like dust and ink.

She hates the taste of licorice but always buys it anyway, just because it reminds her of her great-grandmother.

She talks to her plants like they’re real people, sings off-key in elevators when she thinks no one is listening.

She’s sunshine wrapped in silk and I’m a man made of shadows.

All I can do is watch her from the outside.

But that changes when an unwanted admirer gets too close.

Too bold.

Too dangerous.

And suddenly, keeping my distance isn’t an option anymore.

Lucy Volkov might be a princess, might be better off without a miscreant like me—but that’s out of the question now.

Because she needs me.

And I ain’t going nowhere.

The end.

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