Ten Thousand Lies (7 page)

David scowled at me.

“What?”

Pointing at Deo, he snapped, “Can you guarantee my child will be safe from the giant?”

“Hey!” barked Deo.

Ronen snorted.

“The only sex Xanthe is allowed to partake in is the teenage freaky shite she and Rex get up to when he’s feeling straight. Other than that, she has to wait for college.”

Xanthe’s face went so red that it was a wonder it didn’t burst into flames. “Jeez, Dad…”

Ronen was losing it. I was just so stunned that David had casually spoken of his daughter engaged in teenage fuckery that I couldn’t find my voice.

“I’m not into jailbait,” grunted Deo, who was almost as red as Xanthe.

“Bullshit,” snapped David. “Well?”

“He won’t touch her,” I promised.

David nodded. “Then, they can stay. I’ll be back by midnight.” Dragging the equipment out with him, he left.

“Girl, you have the weirdest family,” said Ronen after the door shut.

“Do you openly discuss your sex life with your father?” Deo asked Xanthe. “And are you two together? What did he mean by, when Rex is feeling straight?”

I was dead curious myself. Ronen, Deo, and I expectantly stared at Rex and Xanthe. Both of them were pink-cheeked and mute.

“Well?” prompted Deo.

“Well, what? How is any of that your business?” snapped Xanthe.

“I’m nosy,” Deo stated the obvious. “And it’s my right to know everything about the people who know everything about me and my friends. It’s only fair.”

Clearing his throat, Rex took a seat on the couch. “We used to be together.”

“And now?” I asked.

“Now, we’re just friends,” said Xanthe.

“How does that work?” asked Deo.

“It works just fine,” she replied scathingly.

“So…the straight thing—are you gay or something?” Deo asked of Rex.

Rex shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. It’s complicated.”

Taking the seat next to Rex, Xanthe patted him on the knee. “It doesn’t matter what you are, Rex. It’s
who
you are that’s important.”

“Do you two still have sex?” asked Deo.

Xanthe whipped around to face him. “I really don’t think that’s of any concern to you.”

“You
do
!” Deo crowed.

“So? It’s more about love than sex,” muttered Rex.

“Holy shit, you all are so wacked that it’s hilarious!” Deo was losing it. “Do you tell your dad about it afterward?”

“No. He’s just busted us a few times,” Xanthe fumed.

It was all too much. I fucking lost it, too. Ronen had tears leaking from behind his specs, and Deo’s booming laughter echoed around the room.

For the next few hours, we all opened up some with each other. With everything I had just lost—my family, my way of life—it was good to feel some sort of connection with others.

Rex had grown up with a mother who had tried and just failed at being a parent. She was a drug addict, who’d had a shit hand dealt to her when she got knocked up with Rex. Rex’s father hadn’t always been a complete piece of shite. Rex had had some good times with his parents when he was really young. But shit had happened. His father had become an addict, too, and everything had gone downhill from there.

Xanthe had lost her mum and Gran in a drink-and-drive when she was twelve, and her father, a British citizen, had moved her back to his homeland from Boston, Massachusetts.

Xanthe had her lifelong best friend, Jaime—my heart lurched at hearing the name—in New Jersey, but the girl would come to visit her nearly every summer. Apparently, Jaime’s father was a bit of a drunk and drug addict, and David had taken it upon himself to help her out and show her that she had a family waiting for her, outside of the one she had been forced to have.

Hearing how Xanthe had grown up, traveling the world with her strange father and how he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her friends without proper parental guidance and affection, made me realize just how much my own life was lacking.

My father had been richer than Midas and had given Max and me anything money could buy.

David wasn’t by any means a wealthy individual, but he spent his hard-earned money giving the kids his daughter loved a chance to see the world and feel appreciated as people.

It was in Ronen’s face and in Deo’s expression, too. David and Xanthe, and Rex, too, were the most wonderful people on the planet. Rex had already been saved before we had gotten him out of the warehouse dungeon. What had happened to him had only sparked something inside him to
do for others
. Yeah, he’d murdered two people, but those two people had harmed how many others? And how many more would they have harmed had Rex not rid the world of them?

Rex and Xanthe opened up about their relationship to us, and it felt as though this was a relief to them. They were so young, but they loved and trusted one another enough to explore their sexuality with each other. They didn’t feel it was wrong, and David certainly didn’t discourage it either. That might have struck the three of us as weird, but then…David Malcolm didn’t just see his daughter when he looked at her. He saw a human being. He treated her with the respect he would any other person. Xanthe did the same in return.

David had raised an amazing person.

Xanthe was perusing Deo’s uncle’s DVD collection when she pulled one out with a huge smile on her face. “
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
, anyone? It’s the original!”

A completely amazing, strange, and oddly bloodthirsty person.

Deo turned to me. “I can’t wait till she’s no longer jailbait.”

David Malcolm returned as midnight closed in. Looking tired, he handed Ronen and me our packages.

“Everything you need is in there. Have you read what your brother sent you?” he asked me.

I shook my head. “No.”

For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to do it just yet. Once I did, it would signal the permanent change my life was about to take. There was no choice in the matter. I would no longer be who I had grown up as, and I was scared to leave it all behind. My family—my brother and mother—the few friends I had. Deo was like a brother to me, and I didn’t even know when I’d see him again. He’d been my best friend since I was a child.

“Well, I suggest you do so. Your flight leaves tomorrow morning. When you arrive in Amsterdam, you’ll be greeted by a woman named Ellen Lawrence. She’s going to help you from there, okay?”

Xanthe’s pretty mouth curved into an easy smile.

“Okay,” I replied. “Um…thanks for everything.”

“It’s just part of my job,” David stated.

But I knew there was more to it.

“Really?” asked Deo. “I didn’t realize part of the job description for an archaeologist was to help people escape the life of organized crime.”

David smirked behind his beard. “I’d like to think we’re not all what we seem to be, Amadeo.”

Deo appeared dumbstruck. “What else do you know about me?”

“Besides your aversion to your first name? Everything I need to. Now, it’s time for us to hit the road.”

“Wait,” said Deo.

“No. We have to get going, and these two have a new life to plan. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you around though.”

David knew I’d asked Deo to watch over Xanthe and Rex for Ronen and me.

Xanthe patted Deo’s shoulder. “See you, Sweeney.”

David’s eyes narrowed on Deo. Deo’s eyes narrowed back.

Xanthe’s warm scent engulfed me as she pulled me into a hug. I had no idea why, but I was fighting tears. She and Rex…they’d become like siblings to me, and I was about to lose them for however long.

“Promise you’ll keep in touch?” she asked.

“Every chance I get.”

Rex came next. “Don’t forget about me, man.”

“Never. You’re our brother now. You’re in this with us.”

David shook my hand. “Everything is going to feel overwhelming at first, but you guys will get the hang of it.”

“What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?” I asked quietly.

“Something worthwhile. I promise.”

After they left, I headed to the spare bedroom and grabbed the large envelope from Max. Ronen and I were sharing the room, but he was leaving me alone now, knowing I needed privacy.

It was time to face the unknown. The future before me stretched out into black nothingness. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. My entire life before now had been controlled, mapped out by The Godwin. Without my father telling me what to do, how to feel, I wasn’t even sure who I was.

Unsealing the envelope, I slid out the packet of papers.

To my astonishment, Max had split the family fortune with me. Upon our father’s death and my supposed death, Max had inherited everything. However, when the funds had been released just days after The Godwin had been confirmed dead, Max had deposited half of everything into two separate accounts.

My share.

One account was for me to live off of while the other was to aid Ronen and me in our new lives in whatever capacity. In the months to come, we would need to establish ourselves in Amsterdam. At least, that was what Max’s information told me.

Brother,

I can’t put into words how proud I am of you. Your passion, hotheadedness, and possible death wish have pushed the door wide open for all we have been fighting for. You took a chance to save the soul of one, and in doing so, you’ve saved all of us from certain damnation.

It’s no hard task to give you what is rightfully yours. In your new life, you will be on the front line.

Don’t try to contact me. For a long time, it won’t be safe to do so. It might never be. If I ever need to, I will get in touch with you, but there are people who will let me know of your welfare.

Know that, even though we might be lost to each other in a sense, you forever have my love and gratitude.

For always,

Your Brother

P.S. Don’t forget to create art. You’ve always been able to see the beauty in everything.

Create art
. With Ronen—that was exactly what I’d be doing. Granted, I was sure Max had something a little more sophisticated in mind, but…

Holy shit.

Five and three-quarter
billion
pounds. I could probably fucking buy the Red Light District.

I was a billionaire.

The question was…
who am I?

Ricki

“Richard
Darcy
Conklin?” I whispered.

No, seriously.
This had to be some sort of fucking joke.

“What’s that?” asked Deo, looming over me from the driver’s side of his van to sneak a peek at my shiny new passport.

“My new fucking name is
Richard
?”

“I’d be more worried about the Darcy part. Who the fuck picked out that middle name?” mused Deo.

Xanthe would have.

“Darcy. As in…
Mr.
Darcy?
Pride and Prejudice
Mr. Darcy?” asked Ronen, peering over my shoulder from the backseat.

Deo busted out laughing. “I’m calling you Dick Darcy. Fuck, that is some funny fucking shit.”

“I’ll shoot you if you call me Dick.”

“I already call you
dick
at least five times a day,” he pointed out.

True.
“Yeah, but not as my fucking name. Fuck no, man.” Pulling out my phone, I called the one person I knew who’d had a sneaky literary hand in this shit.