88 - Hurt

"Very few of us are what we seem."

― Agatha Christie, The Man in the Mist

. . .

I looked up at him, feeling my whole body burn with pain. He stitched my arm, jaw clenched. "It wasn't worth it."

"You know it was," I simply said. "Now we know where he is."

"And we still have to get the Creeds to understand, " he muttered. "We don't have the number, Alisa. We need more men. He has too many."

"If we tell the Creeds about him, they'll help."

"Russians and the Creeds have never worked together in history."

"The threat has never been this large, either. It's not just her at stake here. It's everyone they and we ever cared about."

. . .

OLIVIA

I woke up alone in the large bed, my body thrumming with the pain of last night.

I sat up, feeling empty.

Liars.

I signed, sunning my hand through my messy air, squeezing my eyes shut.

Liars. Liars. Liars.

I loved them and they lied to me.

I didn't know what I was thinking last night. I didn't know what I was going to do today. Confront them? Ask them why did they have to break my trust again? Demand distance?

I did not even have a place to go. Georgia was I didn't know where. My apartment had blown up along with my belongings. Everything I owned belonged to them - from the clothes on my body to the brushes I painted with. They had possessed every part of me.

I let out a trembling breath, feeling my eyes burn. I didn't have anything. I only had them and they had betrayed me - everything we had was built upon a lie. I would have never let myself ease around them if I knew who they were.

I felt trapped, like something heavy was suddenly placed on my heart as tears slid out of my eyes till my lips shook with the effort of keeping the sobs in.

I trusted them - so much. I trusted them with everything and they lied to me, again and again and now I was alone with no one but them for me to hold. What did I have? A little money in my account and my glasses. That was it.

I had let myself depend on them.

"Powerful men, Olivia, they do not come with peace."

She was right and I was a fool.

. . .

I locked myself in my studio, demanding space which they reluctantly gave. I grabbed a blade and destroyed the three large canvases, slashed the fabric still I couldn't tell which one was whose.

I had painted them, for the first time, I had put so much effort into a painting. The first one was Xerxes - just him sitting behind his desk, smiling at me. The second was of Zavier - standing behind the kitchen counter with a smile on his face and the third was of Ashton - him leaning

against the side of a bookshelf, a small grin on his face. I had made these with so much love, ditching my sleep, and they...

And they were liars.

They could be lying about a million things.

. . .

I stared at the ruined canvases. My hands were shaking for some reason and the tears won't stop.

I sat on the ground, clutching my head into my hands, sobbing quietly.

There was a knock on the door. They had been knocking since the morning, asking me to come out but I just couldn't. I knew I'd crumble if I looked at them.

"Olivia."

I frowned. Miss Summers?

"Miss Summers, I want to be alone for a while," I said strongly but my voice was hoarse, making it clear that I was crying.

"Honey, what's wrong?" "Everything," I muttered. "Did they do something?"

"I don't want to talk to them."

"Okay," she said. "Just come out. They are in their office, I'll make sure they won't come out. You have to eat something."

I sighed. I was hungry.

I sniffled, wiping my tears away. "You promise they won't come?"

"Yes. Come out."

I stood up, wiping my tears away again, and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like a mess. I ran my hands through my hair, taming it a little, and unlocked the door.

Miss Summers smiled at me, pulling me in for a hug. "You're alright." I hugged her back tighter, letting some more tears slip out.

"Come on. Let's eat."

I nodded and we walked to the kitchen. Samuel was inside. He smiled softly when he looked at me.

Giovanni was there too. With an ice cream tub in his hand. His spoon froze midway to his mouth when he looked at me. "It's not what it looks like, Livy."

"Miss Summers," I said.

"Put that tub down, Giovanni. Get your damn ice cream," she ordered sternly, wrapping an apron around her.

Giovanni sighed and put the ice cream tub down.

I sat down on a stool beside Gio, setting my elbows on the counter.

After asking me what I wanted to eat, Miss Summers cooked quietly. Even Giovanni didn't say anything.

We ate in silence, no one addressing the giant elephant in the room. Why had I locked myself up in the studio? Why wasn't I talking to the Creeds? I could tell they wanted to ask but weren't asking.

The meal went by quickly. I walked back to the studio but they were there, leaning beside the door, waiting for me. They looked exhausted and worried, dressed in their casual clothes which meant they didn't go to the office today.

"Baby," Xerxes stepped forward. I shook my bead and pulled open the studio door, walking inside and slamming it behind me. I knew they could break the door down if they wanted to.

I say back down on the ground and looked up at the three ruined canvases, wondering if that was how my heart looked right now.

. . .