Page 104 of Twisted Beauty

“You heard me.”

Her eyes widened, but they were red and swollen, like she’d been crying. It tugged at him, but he couldn’t deal with that right now.

“Um, I can see you’re angry,” she said in a small voice. “But you’re not making any sense.”

“Aren’t I? So you were out meeting a friend about her wedding. Not on a lunch date with your ex? Or perhaps he never really was an ex.”

Liv swallowed. “Of course he’s my ex. And I planned to tell you eventually, but I—”

“Eventually?” Matt laughed without humor. Like right after she’d left the country with whatever she could take from him and Tito? “Yeah, that’s priceless. Look, I have no idea what kind of game you’re playing here and I don’t care. The only thing I care about is my grandmother’s pendant. So if you’d be a good girl and go get that for me, we can forget this whole thing ever happened.”

He needed to return it to Tito and let him know they’d both been duped before the old man offered her any other precious family heirlooms. Or wrote her into his will.

Poor Tito. He’d be heartbroken.

Instead of rushing off to grab his necklace, Liv’s eyes narrowed and she scowled at him. “So this is how you want to play this.” She stood with her hands on her hips, and the same expression on her face he remembered from their first meeting in this very room. The one where she’d pegged him as an ass the minute they met, and tried to look ferocious with those innocent green eyes and that splash of freckles across her nose.

This was the worst afternoon he’d had in years, and he almost smiled at the memory. How the hell did she do that to him? He needed to focus on what was at stake here.

And Liv was definitely not smiling. “Right. So instead of bothering to take five seconds to understand my side of this, you’re just planning to storm out of here like some entitled jerk.” She threw her hands in the air, and then returned them to her hips. “How mature and enlightened of you.”

He wasn’t doing this. “Necklace. Now.”

“Fucking caveman,” she muttered under her breath as she swept past him and disappeared down the hallway toward the bedrooms.

Zach cleared his throat. “She has a point.”

“Are you still here?” Matt shot back, but the fight had gone out of him. He wouldn’t see Liv again after this, and it was one hell of a way to end the weekend. The thought of never touching her again made his gut ache, but he’d deal with that later. What he needed to do right now was get the necklace and get out.

Because he sure as fuck wouldn’t let himself be conned again. There was nothing left to talk about.

Zach shook his head. “Sorry, man. I know you went through hell with Sadie, but you’re being an ass. And jumping to conclusions.”

“Don’t mention Sadie to me again.”

Liv brushed past him to stand near Zach, and Matt got a whiff of that sweet scent of her skin as she did. She jutted out a hand toward him, dangling Lita’s chain over her index finger. She swept her gaze from his eyes, over his face, and back to his eyes again, but didn’t say a word. He took the necklace and gave her a curt nod before walking out.

Matt shut the door behind him and stood on the landing for a few moments, breathing in the fresh air. He waited to feel something. Anger, frustration, sadness. But nothing. He just felt tired. Tucking the pendant into his pocket, he walked down the drive toward his car.

“Matt, wait.” Liv’s voice came from behind him, and his gut clenched at the sweet melody of it.

He stopped to take a breath and steel himself for more of the same conversation, before turning to see her walk across the parking lot toward him. “What do you want? In case you didn’t understand that exchange back there, that was goodbye.”

She nodded, and the look on her face was about what he’d expect to see if he looked in a mirror right then. Resigned. “I know,” she said softly. “But I do wish you’d give me a chance to explain. It’s not what you think. I went there to tell him to stay away from me, to give him back his ring.”

“At a five-star restaurant over a glass of wine.”

Liv shrugged. “I didn’t plan it that way.”

“But you did decide to keep it from me. Why is that?”

Liv looked down at her feet, probably trying to concoct some brand-new story to explain herself. “I was in a hurry to get there, and I just—kind of panicked. I was freaked out and that’s what came out of my mouth spur of the moment. I didn’t think it mattered, because—”

“You didn’t think it mattered if you lied to me.” It wasn’t a question. She’d just made it perfectly clear exactly who she was. “Then you don’t know me very well.”

Moisture pooled in her eyes, but she blinked it back. “It wasn’t like that. I was afraid you’d try to stop me like Katie did. Or that you’d want to go with me, and it was something I needed to take care of on my own.”

Turned out there was always a valid reason to lie. Both Sadie and his mother had taught him that. He knew from experience he couldn’t trust women. Damn it. Maybe he’d have that fucking tattooed to his forehead so he’d never forget again. He looked into her eyes, expecting to see that same look of triumph he remembered so clearly when Sadie dumped his ass. But all he saw was sadness.