Page 66 of No Merciful Corruption

Karina’s eyes narrow as she looks at me. “Try not to sound so disgusted.”

“I’m not disgusted. I feel betrayed. Did the two of you have some weird, semi-erotic, platonic-bordering-emotional-cheating situationship going on?”

“We did not!” She insists.

“Okay well there must’ve been something because he got you pregnant. I mean, why didn’t you ever tell me there was something between you guys?”

“Because there wasn’t!” She defends. “I never cheated on Brent!”

“Oh and I’m supposed to believe that? Brent was always jealous of Diego.”

“He was jealous of everyone.”

“I saw you guys. On Christmas Eve.”

We entered the park a while ago. She stops in her tracks and I sit down on a nearby bench. A moment passes before she follows suit.

“The porch light was on and I went to turn it off. The two of you were sitting on the swinging bench and I watched him hold you as you cried.”

She says nothing.

“I don’t believe you when you say nothing happened. Maybe you never physically cheated on Brent but there was something between you and Diego. There had to have been. And you kept it a secret from me all these years.” My throat tightens. I can’t bring myself to say any more without betraying how deeply hurt I am. “All this time…I feel like I don’t even know who you are.”

“Dee—”

“Do you think I would judge you? Because I wouldn’t. I would never.” I whisper. “I have only ever wanted for you to be happy.”

She rubs her hands together and looks around as if the answer might be somewhere in the trees. When she meets my gaze again I’m struck by how similar the color is to mine. It’s like looking in the mirror.

“When you woke up from surgery, I didn’t know what to do. I thought you wouldn’t want to see me and even if you did, you’d change your mind as soon as you found out your dad was there too. Alejandro was in there with you for a long time. Tio and I went back to Brooklyn and I was so exhausted I fell asleep on the sofa. We went back later that afternoon but …”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. At the last minute, Tio Gael changed his mind. Alejandro and I begged him to go inside but he was too afraid to see you. Or maybe he was ashamed, I’m not sure. Lyss was there and another guy too; I think his name was Sorcha…”

“Sasha,” I provide.

“Right, him. They were talking about someone else who was in the hospital and Alejandro got distracted. He told me to come back tomorrow and then left. Tio went home but I stayed. I don’t know for how long. I kept pacing the length of the waiting room and then the cafeteria and then I wandered the halls. I didn’t know whether to stay or go and then I realized I felt ashamed too. Ashamed of the last argument we’d had and of the way I’d treated you. You almost died and the last thing I ever said to you was⁠—”

She presses a hand against her forehead before continuing.

“I was drowning in guilt and remorse and didn’t know where to put my face. Then I thought it’d be better if I left but right when I did, Diego showed up.”

I frown. “Diego was at the hospital too?”

She nods. “I crossed paths with him at the front desk on my way out. It was our first time seeing each other since the Christmas before last. Like me, he couldn’t muster up the courage to go upstairs. I didn’t understand why. All he said was that your relationship was in a weird place and had been ever since you moved back home. I didn’t ask and he didn’t elaborate. We talked for a while. Mostly about you.”

“About me?”

“We were worried about you,” she says. “Is that so hard to believe?”

I don’t respond and she continues.

“Neither of us knew how to face you but we also didn’t want to be alone. Diego had a suite in a hotel downtown and we went there. We talked for hours. About the summer we all met in Barcelona, the time I visited you for your birthday, and the Christmas we spent together in New York. We talked about our families and life and all the things we couldn’t share with other people. I told him about how my parents got back together but are somehow unhappier now than when everything first happened. He told me how sometimes he misses his mother but doesn’t tell Alejandro.

“It just happened. And for obvious reasons, neither one of us was prepared and now…” She rakes her hands through her hair and sits back. Time passes before she speaks again. “My IUD expired in December and I had it removed because I didn’t think I needed it anymore. It made my periods heavier and more painful but then I changed my mind. Thought it’d be safer to have it just in case. I was on the phone with my doctor’s office literally making the appointment to get a new one when I took one look at my planner and realized. I was late. Very late.”

“Can I ask you something?” I turn on the bench to face her completely. “But you have to be honest.”

“Why would I lie to you?”