Page 45 of Porcelain Lies

“Remember how they made us practice our new names?” I rub my temples. “Over and over until Larkin became Fermont in our sleep.”

Nick nods, his knee bouncing with nervous energy. “And the way Dad would check the locks three times every night? The security cameras he installed?”

“I thought he was just being paranoid.” But even as I say it, I know it was more than that.

Nick runs his hands through his hair, leaving it standing on end. “Listen, Stels… with everything that’s happening…” He glances at the emergency room doors. “I need to go.”

“What?” I grab his arm, alarm surging through me. “Now? Mom needs us!”

But he’s shaking his head. “I can’t be here now.”

“When will you be back?” I glance back at the door. “The doctors will be out any minute, and Mom will want to see us.”

“I’m not coming back, Stels,” he says. “There are things I have to take care of.” He won’t meet my eyes. “Important things.”

My jaw drops. “You… you’re leaving? Just like that?” When he doesn’t answer, I continue, “What could be more important than this, Nick? Than Mom? Than losing Dad?”

I can’t make sense of this. It has to be a mistake. A sick joke.

He gently pries my fingers from his sleeve. “There are things going on that I can’t tell you about,” he says. “Just… stay with Mom. Keep her safe.”

“Don’t you dare walk away from us!” My anxiety is flaring. But he’s already turning toward the exit, that haunted look still in his eyes.

“I’ll call when I can. But… until then, don’t try to find me.”

“Don’t try to find you?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “Nick, you’re not making any sense.”

He turns and practically runs through the automatic doors.

“Nick!” I call after him. “Nick, don’t go!”

But he does. He just lets the doors shut behind him and disappears from sight. Leaving me alone with the knowledge that our father is dead and our mother is falling apart.

“Goddamn you!” My voice breaks. I don’t realize I’m crying until I feel cool tears dripping from my chin.

The fluorescent lights buzz overhead as I sink onto a plastic chair. The events of the last few days are fading into a blur. Nothing seems real compared to seeing Dad’s car overturned, Mom’s hysteria, the body bag…

I press my palms against my eyes until spots dance behind my lids. Only a few days ago, I was organizing a charity event, engaged to be married, part of a whole family. Now I’m alone in a hospital waiting room while my father’s body lies in a morgue, my mother sedated in a ward somewhere above me, and my brother…

“He left us,”Boyana whispers.“Just like that.”

My brain frantically scrambles for answers, but I’m too shocked, too hurt, too confused to make any sense. I lean my head back against the wall, exhaustion seeping into my bones. I don’t know what’s going on. All I know is that Mom will need me when she wakes. I’ll have to be strong enough for both of us now. But in this moment, sitting alone under harsh hospital lights, I allow myself to feel the full magnitude of everything I’ve lost today.

My father is dead.

My brother is gone.

And I’ve never felt so completely alone.

Chapter Fourteen

Aleksei

Breakfast on the terrace has become my one concession to leisure.

The quiet helps settle my mind before diving into the day’s chaos. No phone calls. No violence. Just coffee and the morning breeze.

The sun warms my face as I survey my domain. Twenty acres of prime real estate sprawling below the cliff. Gardens manicured to perfection. Olympic pool glinting like polished sapphire. Mine. All of it bought with blood and bullets.

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