Page 1 of The Lies That Shatter
11 YEARS AGO
“Finn, open this fucking door right now before I kick it in,” Liam shouts whilst banging his fist on the other side of my locked bedroom door.
I throw myself backwards, so I’m laying on the bed I was just sitting on the edge of, and let out a large groan before pulling my hands through my dirty-blonde hair. I should have known my nosey bastard of a little brother wouldn’t keep out of my business.
I try to ignore him for a little bit, hoping that he might take the hint and fuck off, but I know that’s just wishful thinking. My brother is nothing if not stubborn and persistent. When thebanging gets so loud that I can practically feel the door vibrating, not too far away from being ripped off its hinges, I pull myself up off the bed. The last thing I need is Dad kicking my ass because I broke my bedroom door. Liam is his golden child, so there’s no way he would ever get the blame.
I slowly pull the door open, a stern expression on my face as I take in my younger brother, standing before me with his fist raised, ready to bang again. Liam may be a year younger than me, but he doesn’t look it. He spends more time in the gym than I do, and he’s muscular where I’m more lean. He’s also got the typical tall, dark, handsome, and brooding thing going for him that women go crazy for.
I’m the easy-going brother with dirty-blonde hair, blue eyes, and girls say I have the sort of good looks you’d typically find in a boy band—though I don’t see that as a compliment, I know it is. It took me a long time to see that girls find me attractive, because in all honesty, there’s only ever been one girl for me, and earlier today, I burnt that shit to the ground for good.
“What the fucking hell do you think you’re playing at? Please tell me that everything I just heard is a lie,” shouts Liam as he barges his way into my room, slamming the door behind him.
I wince at the loud noise the door makes slamming against the wooden doorframe, but that’s nothing compared to the furious look on my brother’s face.
Despite clearly being Dad’s favourite, and the sibling with the most potential to excel in our world, he really doesn’t give a shit about any of it.
We were all trained by Dad from a young age, as he desperately tried to find roles for us within the Family business.
Evan was easy. As the oldest, he was always meant to become Dad’s heir. For a short time, Dad wanted Liam to be his heir, after seeing that he was good at nearly everything, but Liam declined, saying the job was always meant to be Evan’s.
Despite Liam excelling at everything, his true talent became very obvious quite quickly. He’s an amazing marksman, which Dad cultivated to turn him into an assassin. Despite still only being fifteen years old, he’s quickly gaining a reputation as one of the most talented in the business—a title my father boasts about at every opportunity.
Liam had not only learnt to kill people in such a clean and clinical way, he could also compartmentalise and not let the kills get into his head. The ability to turn his emotions on and off has always been his greatest strength, which is why I’m surprised to see him looking angry and unrestrained.
I shrug him off, playing innocent, despite knowing exactly what he’s talking about. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Bro. You may want to elaborate a little more.”
“Mac,” he grinds out, his eyes laser-focused on me as he watches for any hint of understanding.
Despite him saying the one word that guts me to the core, I remember my training and keep my face an unreadable mask. My heart is racing and I feel sick to my stomach as I try not to think about what happened between us earlier today. I already feel like I’m rotting slowly from the inside out. I don’t need my brother to bring it up and gut me further.
I sink down to the edge of my bed, trying hard not to fidget as Liam paces around in front of me. He continues to give me a hard, penetrating stare, allowing the silence to suffocate me as he waits for me to cave first. Normally, I would try to hold out a little longer, but he won’t let this drop, so it’s better to just get it over and done with.
Letting out a deep sigh, I try to keep the emotion out of my voice and hope like hell he believes my lies. “Look, Lee, you don’t need to get involved. This has been a long time coming. McKenna told me today that she’s been in love with me for years, and she wants to go to the end-of-year prom with me. Sheassumed I felt the same way, which is why she was more than happy to risk the eleven-year friendship we’ve had.
“I told her that I don’t feel the same way, and I never would. I only see her as a friend, and now she’s gone and ruined that. I don’t know why the fuck you’re angry with me. She’s the one who decided to open up about her feelings and fucking blow up our friendship.
“Of course, I’m fucking gutted that I upset her, but I can’t help that I don’t feel the same way. And now that I’ve told you what happened, I would be grateful if you would mind your own bastard business and leave me the fuck alone. Okay?”
Liam pauses, his piercing green eyes that look so much like our mum’s bore into me, and as one twitches, I know he’s trying to tell if I’m lying or not.
My brother is a bloody good judge of character, and can read people’s tells easily. With anyone else, I’m sure he would have known they were lying, but not with me.
As I mentioned before, all my siblings have a talent, and lying is mine. For a while, I didn’t think I had one—not the way my brothers do. But it soon became clear that lying, and reading people in a way that allows me to manipulate the situation, are my greatest strengths.
I have also been learning how to use my looks to get what I want out of people. I hate it, and I feel fucking repulsed by my role in the Family, but there is a part of me that’s relieved I finally have a role to play. There’s nothing worse than feeling left out and inferior to my siblings.
“I don’t believe a word you just said,” Liam hisses, before sitting next to me. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re a good liar, and everyone else will believe you, but not me. I know you, Finn. I know you’ve been in love with McKenna Lowry since you were five years old. You came home from your first day of school and told everyone you had met the girl you were going to marry.”
“Fuck, Liam. I was a kid. Give me a break,” I groan, running my fingers through my dirty-blonde hair. It’s getting a little longer on top, which allows me to grab the strands and tug, causing that delicious sting on my scalp.
Liam gently rests his hand on my shoulder, his way of trying to get me to stop pulling on my
hair. I may not like it when my brother looks angry, but the disappointed, sad expression he has on his face right now is even worse.
“Don’t lie to me, Finn. I know you’ve been waiting for your shot with Mac for forever. And you have been talking about asking her to prom for a while, even if it was just as friends. So now she’s finally admitted that she feels the same way, why the hell did you burn it to the ground? I heard she didn’t take it well.” Liam grimaces and I can’t help but do the same as I think about what happened just a couple of hours earlier.
“I never intended for it to happen so publicly. We were sitting on a bench just outside the school gates, but when our voices became raised, of course, all the nosey bastards from our school that were nearby started to edge closer to listen to all the juicy gossip. I tried to let her down gently, telling her I don’t feel the same way, but she called me a liar. She said she knew I liked her too, which is why she was so willing to risk our friendship.
