Liora’s Pov
The heater in the back of the car was blasting. I could feel the hot air hitting my ankles, but it didn't matter. I was cold from the inside out. My wet uniform was starting to steam slightly, filling the small space with the scent of damp polyester and the grease of the diner.
Xavier didn't even look at me. He was focused on his tablet, his thumb scrolling through lines of data. He looked so calm. So clean. I looked at the leather seat beneath me. I was leaving a damp, dark patch where I sat. I felt like a stray dog someone had picked up by mistake.
"You said service at the hospital," I said. My voice was small, but it cut through the hum of the engine.
Xavier didn't look up. "I did."
"Are you sure it’s what you explained? About the… surrogacy? You make it sound like a business deal, but I'm not a business. I'm a person."
He finally turned his head. His eyes were dark, and his smile didn't reach them. "Liora, everything is a business deal if the price is high enough. And don't worry about being a person. For the next nine months, you aren't a person. You’re an environment. An optimal health zone."
"That’s disgusting," I whispered.
"Is it? Is it more disgusting than your landlord throwing your mother’s jazz records into a puddle? Is it more disgusting than a hospital billing department telling you that your mother’s heart isn't worth the cost of the electricity to keep it beating?Be for real Miss Hayes"
I flinched. The air in the car suddenly felt too thin. "How do you know about the records?"
"We know everything, Liora.I told you before" He tilted the tablet toward me. I saw a scanned copy of my birth certificate. My high school transcripts. My bank statement with its pathetic $12.40 balance.
"We know your father’s debt. We know your mother’s blood type. We even know that you’ve skipped lunch three times this week to buy her extra magazines she’s too tired to read."
"You've been stalking me," I said, my voice rising.
"We've been vetting you," he corrected smoothly. "Darian doesn't invest in unknowns. You’re perfect for the bloodline because you have no one to come looking for you. No brothers to demand a better price. No father to protect you. You’re a ghost, Liora. And ghosts are very easy to manage."
I gripped my father’s satchel tighter. I felt like I was disappearing. "Why him? Why Darian? He’s a billionaire. He could have anyone. Why does he need to buy a child from a waitress?"
Xavier laughed. It was a soft, dry sound. "Darian Volkov doesn't want 'anyone.' He wants an heir that belongs only to him. No messy marriage. No divorce lawyers. No emotional baggage. He wants a legacy that is pure. And you… you have the right eyes. The right history. You’re a Hayes. There's a certain… poetry to it."
"Poetry?" I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the rain.
"Your father and his father were… rivals," Xavier said, waving a hand dismissively. "Let’s just say Darian likes things that are rare. And a Hayes in his debt? That’s very rare. It’s a trophy, Liora. A very functional trophy."
"I'm not a trophy," I snapped. "I'm a human being who is trying to save her mother."
"Exactly," Xavier said, his eyes glinting. "And that's why you're so easy to control. A woman with a heart is a woman with a leash."
"Do you have one?" I asked, looking him dead in the eye. "A heart? Or did Darian buy that from you, too?"
Xavier’s expression didn't change, but his grip on the tablet tightened just a fraction. "My heart isn't part of the contract, Liora. Yours, however, is currently beating for two people. Let's keep it that way."
Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a sharp, vibrating sting against my hip. I pulled it out.
The screen was cracked, but the notification was clear. It was a red banner.
EMERGENCY ALERT!!!!!: ST. JUDE’S CARDIAC UNIT.
My heart stopped. My thumb shook as I swiped the screen.
Patient: Evelyn Hayes. Heart rate erratic. Blood pressure dropping. Status: Critical.
"No," I breathed. "No, no, no. Not now. Not yet."
"Something wrong?" Xavier asked. He sounded like he was asking about the weather.
"My mom," I gasped. I held the phone out to him, my hand trembling so hard I almost dropped it. "She's crashing. The alert... they say she's dropping. Why aren't they moving her!? You said the Volkovs took the account! You said she was safe!"
Xavier looked at the phone, then at his watch. He didn't look worried in the slightest instead he looked bored. "They won't move her until the final authorization is signed, Liora. Not by me. By you."
"But she's dying!" I screamed. I tried to reach for the door handle, but the child locks were on. I hammered my fist against the window. "Tell them to start! Please! Just call them!"
"The doctors are standing by the elevator," Xavier said, his voice dropping to a low, terrifying crawl. "They have the transport van running. They have the specialist on the line. But Darian is a man of protocols. He doesn't pay for the meal until he sees the menu. He needs to see you. He needs to know you aren't going to flake out the moment things get difficult."
"I won't! I'm here! I'm in the car!"
"Being in the car isn't enough," Xavier said.
He reached over and gently pushed my phone back into my lap. The screen was still blinking red. A heartbeat that was fading away. "We’re two minutes from the building. The faster you walk, the faster she breathes. It’s that simple. If you want the hospital to stay quiet, you need to convince Darian you’re worth the investment."
"How?" I choked out. "Look at me! I'm wet, I'm shaking, I'm... I'm a mess!"
"Darian doesn't care about the mess," Xavier said, looking out the window as the lights of the city center began to swallow the car. "He cares about the core. Take a breath, Liora. Stop crying. If he sees you like this, he might decide you're too unstable for the bloodline. He wants a vessel of steel, not a puddle of tears. If he rejects you, I turn this car around, and your mother’s heart stops before we hit the highway."
I forced myself to breathe. It felt like inhaling needles. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, but more tears just took their place.
"That's better," Xavier lied. "Now, listen to me. When we get inside, do not speak unless he speaks to you. Do not touch anything. And for God's sake, don't mention your father. Darian has a long memory, and most of it is filled with people he’s destroyed."
"Is that what he’s going to do to me?" I asked. "Destroy me?"
Xavier looked at me then, and for the first time, I saw something that wasn't clinical. It was pity. Cold, hard pity. "He’s not going to destroy you, Liora. He’s going to use you. Sometimes, that’s worse."
The car slowed down. I looked up.
A massive glass monolith loomed over us. It was a hundred stories of black glass, cutting into the rainy sky like a jagged tooth.
LUMINAIRE.
The name was written in silver letters over the entrance. It looked like a tombstone for everyone who had ever failed to make it in this city.
