Page 103 of Twisted Beauty

But Liv? What did Liv have to gain from this farce?

Well, what the hell ever. Women were all the same, weren’t they? Sweet and thoughtful creatures on the surface, and plotting little liars underneath. You needed more than a manual to understand them. You needed a fucking PhD.

What he needed now was to get Lita’s pendant back. Liv wasn’t wearing it at lunch with that asshole, which meant she’d left it here. No chance he was walking away from all of this letting her keep it. She had one hell of a surprise coming if she thought she’d get a damned thing from him.

He paced across the living room to the kitchen, where Zach was blending a drink. He threw his car keys down on the counter, shut his eyes, and counted to ten.

When the blender stopped, he glared at Katie, who was relaxing on the couch with a book. “Which way to Liv’s room, Kat? I need my grandmother’s pendant back. Now. And when your little friend gets back, you can tell her I said goodbye.” He surprised himself with how steady and factual his voice came across.

Katie looked up from her book. “What?”

“Hey chill out, man.” Zach swooped in to her rescue as always. “You just walked in. What’s the rush?”

“Don’t tell me to chill out.” He glared at Katie, losing his hold on the steady voice. “Answer the damned question, Kat.”

He still couldn’t wrap his head around the whole thing. Had Liv been deceiving him from day one? Had she planned to go back to that ass from the start? Maybe her whole woe-is-me story was complete bullshit. Maybe it was some kind of dare, just to get laid on vacation, and she and Kat had been having a good laugh about it over margaritas every afternoon on the deck. Fuck if that didn’t sound at all like Liv. But what the hell did he know?

“Wait. When my little friend gets back?” Katie had the nerve to look shocked. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Matt spoke slowly and deliberately, reining in his need to blow a goddamned fuse. “It means, she’s not out meeting a friend about a wedding today. But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

Katie’s eyes widened, but she didn’t answer.

Matt pinched the bridge of his nose. His head was pounding. What the hell was he thinking? Getting involved with another American like this? Caring about her? Jesus Christ. The ink on his divorce was barely dry, and he was already being manipulated by yet another woman. Well, fuck that shit. Never again.

Finally, Katie spoke up. “I tried to stop her, but she said they needed to talk. She’s not with him with him, you know?”

“I’m afraid to ask,” Zach said from behind Matt, still pouring drinks in the kitchen. “Where exactly is she?”

Matt gritted his teeth and kept his voice calm. “One of the few five-star restaurants in town. Lunching with the asshole ex. You sure you want to be involved with this?” He gestured over his shoulder toward Katie. “They’re both full of shit.”

“Watch it, dude. Look, I know you’re pissed off but maybe you don’t know the whole story.”

“The key word here being story. And your girlfriend is in on it. Shouldn’t that tell you something? Why the hell are you standing up for her?”

“Hey, I’m not in on anything.” Katie stomped past him and stood in his line of sight with her arms folded and her face flushed. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. She needed to—”

“Save it for someone who gives a rat’s ass about her reasons.”

“Do not talk to her like that.” Zach stepped in front of him, blocking Katie from his view. “You need to calm the fuck down. Kat, hun, can you give us a minute here?”

Katie huffed. “With pleasure. He’s all yours.” She stormed out to the balcony and slid the glass door shut behind her, hard enough that the glass rattled.

Matt glared at Zach. He wanted to punch someone, but this wasn’t Zach’s fault. He was one hell of an idiot to be smitten with a girl like Kat, but he wasn’t the one making shit up here.

“Dude, you need to back the hell off Kat right now. I thought you came here to talk to Liv about the whole Malecon thing,” Zach said. “Not to fly off the handle like some crazy fuck before you even see her.”

“That was before I caught her having a cozy lunch with her asshole ex. You didn’t know anything about that?”

Zach raised both his hands. “No. You know damn well I would have told you if I did. But there might be a good explanation, like Sebastian said. Wait until she gets here and ask, for Christ’s sake.”

“Right. Because what I need to hear right now is more lies. I’ll pass.” He’d find the damn necklace himself, if he had to ransack the entire place. He’d grabbed his keys off the counter, ready to leave the second he had that pendant in hand, when he heard the front door swing open.

Liv rushed in, leaving the door open behind her, wearing a slinky green dress and a look of confusion on her face. She stopped short and glanced between him and Zach. “What’s going on? Where’s Katie? She said she’d be here when—”

“Your partner in crime is outside,” Matt said. He folded his arms, gripping his keys so hard they were cutting into his flesh. “Sunning herself on the deck, so she can’t back up any of your bullshit right now.”

Liv took a tiny step back. “My what?”