Twisted Love (Twisted, #1)

by Ana Huang

His eyes were wild, that muscle in his jaw jumping so fast it had a life of his own. I’d never seen him like that. Pissed, yes. Annoyed, definitely. But not like that. Like he wanted to burn the world down at seeing me hurt. My naïve heart sang, cutting a swath of hope through my lingering panic. Because no one looks at someone like that unless they care, and I realized that I wanted Alex Volkov to care. Very much.

“If you let lesser people determine your self-worth, you’ll never reach higher than their limited imagination.” He leaned forward, his expression intense. “You don’t have to work overtime to get people to love you, Ava. Love isn’t earned. It’s given.”

But here’s the thing: even a few seconds can change someone’s life.

“That was what I believed because I’d never known anything else, but you showed me there is beauty in the world. I see it every time I look at you

or see you smile or hear you laugh. You believe the best of people, and that’s a strength, not a weakness. Don’t let anyone, least of all me, take that away from you.” His eyes burned into mine, bright with pain. “You told me once there was something beautiful waiting for me, something that would restore my faith in life. I’ve found it. It’s you.”