Page 185 of Porcelain Lies

Shit!

Gianni steps forward, his mouth twisting into that infuriating smirk. That smirk that slithers under your skin and festers. The sharp lines of his face look even harsher under the unforgiving light, his predatory eyes glinting with something dark, something vile.

Then a woman moves into view beside him, and I gasp. “You!” I choke. “You’re…!” The sleek black hair, the impeccable designer suit, her head held high like a queen surveying her kingdom.

Sofia!

My eyes rove over her as a realization dawns on me. It was her! She was the woman I saw coming out of Gianni’s apartment that morning I went to confront him. The one he’d been screwing while we were engaged. I never saw her face that day, but her bearing, her posture… it’s impossible to deny.

I shake my head as I try to comprehend this.

“Hello, Stella,” she says, her voice cold as ice.But it’s her eyes that unnerve me — the pure, cold hatred there pierces right through me, leaving me raw and exposed.

The pieces lock into place like jagged fragments of a broken mirror, cutting as they come together. A sickening clarity washes over me, pulling the breath straight from my lungs. My vision wavers.

Oh God.

They’re working together!

And whatever their goal is, getting rid of me seems to be part of it. I feel it in my gut, in the way their gazes pin me like a cornered animal.

Gianni spreads his arms, the gesture as slimy as the false warmth in his voice. “Welcome to the party,cara.”

The fluorescent bulb above flickers, swelling the shadows on his face until he looks almost monstrous. Something oily twists in my stomach, and for a moment, nausea floods me so fast I clutch the railing harder to steady myself. But it’s not morning sickness this time — it’s fear. Raw, unfiltered fear.

“What do you want?” The words somehow stumble out of my mouth. My voice, though steadier than I feel, sounds foreign to me. False bravery wrapped over trembling lips. I keep my arms stiff at my sides, willing them to stop shaking. Cold metal against my spine forces me to walk forward again, but even the fear of the weapon held against me can’t force me to close the distance between us.

Sofia’s laugh cuts through the stagnant air like a blade. She stalks toward me, setting my teeth on edge.

“What do wewant?” She stops just short of me, tilting her head as if she’s looking at something pitiful. “That’s rich,” she sneers, the contempt dripping from her tongue. “I want what’smine. What youstole.”

The accusation hits like a slap to my face, making me recoil as though she physically struck me. Even though I open my mouth to protest, my voice falters. The words stick to the roof of my mouth.

I didn’t steal anything.

But the truth tastes hollow when I chew on it. Because I did, didn’t I? Aleksei was hers first — I didn’t know it, but that doesn’t change what happened.

She arches a dark brow, one manicured hand flicking in quick, dismissive motions. “You know what’s funny?” Her smile spreads, cruel and tar-like, smothering anything soft. “I actually tried to handle this… delicately at first.” She takes a step closer, her perfume sharp, suffocating. “Poor, stupid Imelda was so easy to bribe. A few thousand dollars, and she was ready to slip anything I wanted into your food.”

I stare at her, the air stalling in my lungs as yet another revelation hits me.

The food.

Diana’s warnings.

I sway as the pieces slot together, and horror rises in me.

“You—?” My hand flies instinctively to my stomach as realization unfurls. Protecting… something.Someone. Something so small and fragile it feels laughable to cling to it in the face of this onslaught. “You tried to poison me?”

Sofia rolls her eyes, as though I’m the one being irrational. “If it wasn’t for that meddling Diana,” she spits the name with such venom that it makes me flinch, “you’d already be gone. No mess, no fuss. Just a tragic little accident.” She offers a theatrical sigh, her voice dripping with mock regret. “But no. Dear old Imelda’s gone back to starve in the Philippines. And here we are, doing things thehardway.”

The hard way?

My arms wrap around my stomach like a shield, but I know it’s useless. I can almost hear Diana in the back of mymind, her voice laced with warning. I’d told myself it was just another way that Aleksei was trying to control me. But it wasn’t. It was an assassination attempt. This woman in front of me. My sister. The irony of it twists inside of me, too sharp to laugh at and too painful to ignore.

My voice trembles despite my best efforts to sound steady. “Sofia—” Her name feels foreign on my tongue, as though it doesn’t belong there. I step forward, just a little, just enough to put hope into the movement. “There’s something you need to know—”

“Shut up! I know everything I need to.” She cuts me off.

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