Page 115 of Twisted Beauty

At the moment, he didn’t know who to be angrier with. There were too many choices boiling to the surface all at once. His mother for lying to him all these years, his grandfather for going along with it, his father for cutting him out of his life, or Liv for sneaking around. Maybe even Zach for thinking Nate and Katie were the right people to bring along when he was hanging on to the edge of a cliff.

Matt folded his arms and glared back at Katie. “This photo doesn’t change a thing. There was no legitimate reason for Liv to lie to me.”

“Oh please.” Katie rolled her eyes. “Tell me you wouldn’t have insisted on going along when you found out where she was headed. Or that you wouldn’t have followed her there and made an even bigger mess out of everything.”

Would he? Maybe.

He did really want to deck that asshole ex of hers for the way he’d treated her. But there was no fucking way he’d admit that to Katie. “I guess we’ll never know, will we? Since she didn’t give me that chance.”

“You tell me you don’t want to be chef anymore.” Tito leaned back in his chair and stroked his wrinkled chin as if he had a beard. “Why you lie to Tito?”

“Because you wouldn’t have let me come here to—” Matt huffed. “That’s not the same thing, and you know it.”

“Si. Same thing.” Tito nodded with a smug little smile on his face.

Fuck. This was a waste of time. He obviously wasn’t winning this round. Maybe he didn’t even want to. At the moment, his brain was so frazzled he didn’t know what to think.

And that’s exactly where the raicilla would have helped.

28

Liv

“You’re what?” Katie’s shriek was so loud, Liv had to rip the earbuds out of her ears.

She couldn’t help but laugh, which felt insanely good considering she hadn’t so much as cracked a smile for days. Still, maybe waiting to call Katie until she got to LAX wasn’t her best plan. Katie was melodramatic at the best of times, and this was sending her completely over the edge.

Liv glanced around, wondering if anyone else had heard the commotion through her headphones. But no, everyone looked so pissed off they weren’t even paying attention. Probably because this was the longest security line she’d ever seen. Good thing she’d arrived early for her flight to PV.

She turned down the volume on her phone and put her earbuds back in.

Naturally, Katie was still carrying on. “—not trying to trick me, are you? I mean, you’re really, truly on your way here? Like right now?”

Liv wished she could see Katie’s expression. “I should have FaceTimed you. It sounds like you’re jumping up and down.”

“I am, you doofus! You just made my day. I can’t believe you’re coming back. It’s only been a few days.”

Liv couldn’t believe it either, not really. It was crazy. Completely out of character for her to take a chance like this, at least as a conscious decision rather than some knee-jerk reaction. But after her mother—her do everything by the book and you’re still wrong mother—told her she was running away again, something clicked. And everything seemed clear all at once.

Well, maybe not all at once. Her first instinct had been to tell her mother what to do with her judgmental bullshit. But she’d clenched her teeth and kept her mouth shut, since swearing at her mother had never ended well.

And by the time she’d calmed down, she couldn’t help but think her mom had a point. Never mind that she’d run out of the editing room without a word when she caught Graham and Jillian together. Or that she’d quit her job without notice and fled to Mexico. Those may have been the most extreme examples, but the truth was she’d been running from one thing or another her entire life. Maybe it was time to figure out what she wanted in life and go for it. And face the consequences head on.

She doubted it would matter if she tried to face Matt again. It wasn’t like she was the one who left him. He’d pushed her away because he didn’t trust her, and she had no idea how to fix that. Or if she could fix it. But if there was the slightest chance her mother was right, that once Matt cooled down he’d see her side and regret pushing her away, she had to try. One more time.

Besides, when she decided to cut her trip short, she didn’t just leave the whole mess with Matt behind, she left everything else she loved in Mexico too—the people, the lifestyle, and the world of possibilities open to her if she stuck it out and tried to build her business there. And she could still have all those things. With or without Matt.

Liv inched forward in line, silently cursing the TSA. She wanted to be there already. Her new home. A smile played at the corner of her lips as she imagined walking out of the Puerto Vallarta airport and into that warm, salty air.

“Oh my gosh. What about all your stuff? What did you do with it?” Katie’s voice was still a little too loud in her ear. “Please tell me you didn’t give away those red martini glasses.”

“Not yet.” Though she did kind of hate them. She’d only kept them because they were a gift, and Katie was the only person ever to like drinking from a red metallic glass.

She sighed, thinking about her apartment full of furniture and all the clothes she’d left behind. Cold weather clothes she’d never need in Mexico. She gave notice on her apartment, but couldn’t quite bring herself to part with everything.

The shock was when her mother volunteered to pack it all up and store it for her so she could get back to Mexico sooner. Volunteered. Wildly out of character. Except not two minutes later, her mom was on the phone with Two Brothers moving company arranging for someone else to do it for her. Well, it was the thought that counted, right?

Today she needed to get her butt on a plane to Mexico, before that voice of reason in her head took over and tried to make her do something more responsible. Like find a new job and a cheaper apartment in LA.