Page 15 of Keeping My Enemies Closer: Pt. 1

I gave her a terse nod in understanding.“I promise to make an extraordinary example out of any man who hurts any of the girls.”

“Thank you,” she said sincerely.“These girls are not hookers, despite taking payment for sex.These are desperate women who are at the end of their options.They are not signing up to get abused.”

“I guess that depends on how they fill out the limits card,” I remarked pointedly, making Aurora grin.

“Depending on how they fill out the limits card,” she echoed.

I couldn’t say it enough; my sister-in-law really was one-of-a-kind.

Chapter 8

Zoya~

“Did you know that there’s an educational salon just over on Disharde Street?”my mother asked, choosing to forget all about our argument the other day.“They opened up about six months ago.”

“No,” I answered.“I wasn’t aware.”

I usually skipped dinner because I was working, so I tried my best to eat a decent lunch before I went to work, but the weeks in between paydays always felt a little strained.My mother really felt that the money left over from Uncle Armen was going to last forever, and so she didn’t do moderation.She ate whenever she was hungry, she bought whatever she needed, and she didn’t care that there was virtually nothing left in the estate account anymore.

“Well, there is, and their rates are very cheap since they only have students working there,” she went on.“So, I was thinking that it’s time for some self-care.”

I stared down at my sad bologna sandwich, and I must be close to starting my period, because anger hit me faster than it normally did.Usually, I was able to dismiss my mother’s careless ramblings, but this was just too much too soon after just having argued with her a couple of days ago.

“Self-care?”I echoed as I turned around to look at her.

“Yes,” she replied primly.“Every woman needs to take some time for herself, and you’d be surprised at how better you’ll feel after some pampering.”

“Well, I can’t afford pampering, Mother,” I bit out.“I’m too busy trying to pay the bills.”

“Oh, stop it,” she huffed.“What difference does a few dollars make in the way of the bills?”

My eyes widened with her audacity.“Weren’t you just lecturing me about our late notices the other day?What happened to it not being the thing to pay your bills late?”

She bristled a bit, but I didn’t care.“While that is all still true, your uncle would have wanted me to treat myself with the money that he left us.”

“Are you insane?”I squawked.“Uncle Armen wanted you to always have a roof over your head, that’s why he took care of you.He never cared about your salon appointments.”