Twisted Lies (Twisted, #4)

by Ana Huang

If we didn’t have such a long history together and if I didn’t owe him for the favor he did me, his head would already be shattered on the bar cart near him. Not only for helping himself to my liquor but for his less than amusing show in the lobby. I didn’t like people touching what was mine.

“People say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.” “But it’s the highest form of intelligence.”

Adult friendships took work and conscious effort to maintain, but the ones that stayed were the ones that mattered most.

As much as I hated Alzheimer’s for robbing her of the life she’d lived, sometimes I was grateful for it. Because the absence of good memories also meant the absence of bad ones, and at least she could forget the pain of losing her loved ones. No parent should ever have to bury their child.

Black had always been my favorite color. Silent. Deadly. Impenetrable. I felt at home in it, like shadows merging with the inky wells of night.

“If you saw yourself the way other people see you,” he said quietly, “you’d never doubt again.” Curiosity and something infinitely sweeter and more dangerous fluttered to life in my heart. “How do other people see me?” Christian’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “Like you’re the most beautiful, most remarkable thing they’ve ever seen.”

“It’s because you haven’t looked me in the eye since New York. Because you’re all I can fucking think about no matter where I am or who I’m with, and the thought of you hurt or upset makes me want to raze this city to the ground.” Soft, almost desperate viciousness coated his voice. “I’ve never wanted someone more, and I’ve never hated myself more for it.”

I may not be her first, but I would damn well be her last.

I would never make it to heaven, but that didn’t matter as long as she ruled beside me in hell.

I believe in everything when it comes to you.

My life would be so much easier if I could move on, but I know I can’t. Even if you never forgive me. Even if you never talk to me again. Even if you move on. I’ll still love you. You will always be my first, last, and only love.

The world wasn’t black and white, no matter how much I wished it were. And sometimes, we found our happiness in the shades of gray.