Page 98 of No Merciful Corruption

“He’s one of the American dads at the dance school.” Diego barely manages to get the words out through gritted teeth. “Apparently.”

Karina’s back straightens. “I’m just going to come out and say it.”

Oh God, that can’t be good.

“Diego and I are getting divorced.”

“We don’t get divorced.” Abuelo states plainly. “We die.”

Dahlia snorts and has to cover her mouth.

Karina takes a measured breath. “Everyone knows our marriage has always strictly been on paper.”

“And in church.” He adds. “In front of God.”

“It was a last-minute ceremony because I was pregnant and no one wanted Allegra to be born out of wedlock. I only did it to make everyone else happy. No matter how absurd and antiquated I thought it was.”

Dahlia’s expression softens and I watch her gaze dart across the table. We both focus on Diego who is as still and emotionless as we’ve ever seen him.

“I don’t see why we have to make a thing of it.” Karina goes on. “Lela is getting older. She’s going to start noticing things—she already is. I don’t want to confuse her by making her think my marriage to her father is normal when she can clearly see from Dahlia and Alex that⁠—”

She cuts herself off. There’ve been many times where I sympathized with Karina but never has my heartbroken for her the way it does in this moment.

Allegra said the quiet part out loud. She understands a marriage is what her aunt and I have but it looks different between her parents. Dahlia and I love each other openly but Allegra’s never seen her parents so much as hold hands. Add Jeremy into the mix and this whole thing has become too complicated for a three-year-old to understand.

Karina has had her own dance studio in the neighborhood for about a year now. It’s one of few things that brings her joy and was a gift from Diego. However, I’m sure my brother never imagined the gift he intended to bring him and Karina closer would be the thing to later drive them apart. She had many false starts when we relocated to Barcelona but none of them made her happy. Neither academia nor full-time motherhood seemed to cure her restlessness but dancing did.

She made friends, developed a clientele, and suddenly had a life outside of this house. I’m happy for her, I really am. But there’s still the part of me that wishes she and Diego had found a way to make it work. Dahlia and I thought there might’ve been some hope when we first moved back but…

Nothing ever came of it. Diego and Karina have since dated other people, discreetly of course, but those relationships were all short-lived. Things must be getting serious between Jeremy and Karina if she’s announcing her divorce to the family, no matter how symbolic their marriage may have been.

Diego gets up from the table. “I’m going to go check on my daughter.”

“Diego—”

He leaves and Karina buries her forehead in her hands where she applies pressure to her throbbing temples.

So much for a nice family dinner.

* * *

Dahlia

“You need to be nicer to your cousin.” Alejandro says.

I drop my comb on the vanity and whip my head around. “I am nice!”

Alejandro cuts a look in my direction as he puts his phone to charge on the bedside vanity. “Your comment at dinner was uncalled for.”

“Oh, give me a break. Even you have to admit the whole thing is absurd. She wants him, she doesn’t want him, she’s jealous when he dates someone else, then she dates someone else. No one can keep up! In fact, I’m surprised Diego didn’t divorce her first.” I pick up my comb and resume untangling the knot in my hair. “He should consider himself lucky. It’s a blessing in disguise.”

“I don’t know if my brother sees it that way.”

He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my shoulders before kissing the top of my head. I cover one of his hands with mine and wait expectantly for him to finish his train of thought but he falls quiet instead.

“What’s wrong?”

He shrugs lightly. “I always hoped that with time they would find their way to each other.”