Vincent did not so much as turn his head in my direction as he tossed his silk tie onto the velvet armchair.
"Not now, Seraphina," he said, his voice a dead, toneless thing. "I've been managing Syndicate affairs all day. I lack the strength for your complaints."
He disappeared into the master bathroom, the heavy door clicking shut with a sound of profound finality.
The desperate words I had spent hours preparing died in my throat. I sat on the edge of the mattress and stared at the closed door, the silence in the room pressing in on me like a physical weight.
My encrypted burner phone vibrated against my thigh, startling me.
I pulled it from my pocket; the muscles in my thumb spasmed, and it took three attempts before I could press it flat enough against the fingerprint reader.
The text message was from an untraceable number.
"Extraction flight confirmed. Departure at dawn."
I locked the screen. I curled down on my side of the vast, cold expanse of the bed. I stared at the vaulted ceiling until my eyes burned, letting silent, bitter tears trace a path down my temples to soak into the expensive silk pillowcases.
I was leaving. Before the sun rose, I would be leaving him and this territory forever.
The next morning, I woke up to the acrid aroma of toasted bread and the bitter scent of coffee.
I slipped out of the bedroom. The penthouse was unnervingly quiet. I moved toward the kitchen, following the scent.
Vincent was standing by the massive marble island. He was already fully dressed in a tailored black suit, his leather gun holster strapped securely over his broad shoulders. He was meticulously wrapping a freshly made sandwich in silver foil.
He barely glanced up when I entered.
"Eat," he said, with a vague gesture to a ceramic plate sitting on the very edge of the counter.
I walked over to the plate, my gaze dropping down.
On it lay a single hard-boiled egg, its yolk carved out with such cruel precision that only the rubbery, translucent white remained. Beside it sat two dry, discarded crusts of toast and a single, wilted leaf of lettuce.
I stared at the composition on the plate. The egg white's edges were tinged with a faint, dry yellow, and as I reached for it, my fingernail accidentally tore the fragile, papery film of its surface. A vicious cramp seized my lower abdomen, a raw, physical echo of yesterday's procedure.
"What is this?" I breathed, the words barely audible.
Vincent did not even pause his wrapping. "Elena prefers the egg yolks and the soft center of the bread. She has a delicate stomach, so I made her a specialized sandwich. You can have the leavings."
Reaching into the stainless-steel refrigerator, he pulled out a familiar glass bottle of milk.
"That is my prenatal calcium milk," I said, the words falling from my lips like stones.
"Elena needs it more," Vincent said with an agonizing casualty. "She has been feeling weak. Make sure you clean up the kitchen before you leave today."
He tucked the bottle carelessly under his arm and grabbed the foil-wrapped sandwich.
"I have to escort her across the city," he added, finally turning his back on me. "Don't wait up."
He strode past me without a single touch. He did not even look back.
Seconds later, the heavy front door of the penthouse slammed shut, the deadbolt engaging with a loud, metallic click that struck the air like a gunshot.
I stood completely alone in the massive kitchen. The oppressive silence of this cold, marble mausoleum pressed down on my shoulders.
Another sharp, agonizing pain radiated through my lower abdomen, a knife-like twisting where life had been. I gripped the edge of the marble island until the bones in my knuckles ached.
A raw, gut-wrenching sob finally tore out of my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut against the agony, but the tears came anyway-hot, fast, and unstoppable, dripping off my chin to strike the cold stone counter.
Blinking through the blur, I looked at the hollowed-out egg white. I looked at the dry, discarded crusts of bread.
This was exactly what I was to him now. The scraps. The worthless leftovers.
Snatching up the ceramic plate, I marched over to the sink and flicked on the garbage disposal. The machine roared to life with a vicious growl. I ruthlessly scraped the pathetic remnants of his offering straight down the drain.
I washed my hands in freezing water, letting the icy temperature numb my skin before drying them on a pristine towel.
Returning to the master bedroom, I reached up and pulled my two large, reinforced suitcases from the top shelf of the walk-in closet.
Throwing them open on the hardwood floor, I began ripping my clothes from their hangers. I packed only what was essential: my tactical gear, my weapons, and my encrypted drives. Every diamond, every piece of jewelry Vincent had ever purchased, I left glinting untouched on the velvet vanity.
I zipped the suitcases shut with a sharp, decisive motion and dragged them out to the foyer.
A hollow hunger gnawed at my stomach, sharp and unrelenting, but it was nothing compared to the ice in my veins. Pulling out my burner phone, I opened my secure messaging channel and prepared to vanish.
