Page 79 of Wicked Proposal
“I wish you could, too.”
He goes back to coloring. I take a long, deep breath to keep my arm from trembling.
“Green for the leaves?” he asks after a quiet minute. “Or orange?”
“I think green. It’s still summer, isn’t it?”
“Good point.”
The grown-up way he says that makes me laugh. He gets it from the cartoons he watches—new phrases, new sayings, every day. I love that for him. I love seeing him grow, even in little ways like this one.
Soon, if Yulian’s advance comes through, he’ll be getting his new words from friends at school.
I watch him finish his masterpiece. He’s added little clouds in white highlighter pencil, and used lipstick to paint butterflies. Once, these scars were a symbol of my pain. Now, they’re my son’s favorite pastime.
Kids are gifted like that, aren’t they? Returning innocence where it was once lost, without even knowing it.
It’s why I have to protect him at all costs.
I can’t let Brad take away Eli’s innocence, too.
Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door. “Yeah?” I call from the kitchen.
“It’s Boris,” my last remaining bodyguard announces in a thick Russian accent. “I have a package from the boss.”
The boss.I roll my eyes.
Right away, Eli’s eyes go wide. “It’s the Russian spy?”
“He’s not a spy,” I tell him. “He’s just… new security for the building.”
Not technically a lie, since he provides security forus,who live in the building.
“Why?” Eli asks.
“Because someone decided it.”
“Why?”
“Because sometimes, adults make decisions without consulting anybody else.”
“Why?”
Because they’re rich, entitled, stuck-up assholes.
“Beats me, munchkin.”
I open the door. Boris looms there, a huge box in his hands. I can feel Eli shrink behind me, his little voice whispering, “He’stotallya spy.”
“I’ll take that.” I swipe the package from his hands as fast as I can. “Thanks, bye, take care!”
Then I shut the door.
“Open it, open it!” Eli starts jumping up and down excitedly. “I wanna see!”
I put it on my bed—the only surface large enough—and pop the top open.
Oh. My. God.
