Twisted Lies (Twisted, #4)

Four days later, Stella finishes sewing the first piece of her collection. Though she hadn’t felt pride when she reached a million Instagram followers, she does feel pride finishing her first design. Her appraisal of the dress is interrupted by a call from Natalia, who reminds her about family dinner tonight. They insist that she bring Christian along. Though Stella attempts to lie her way out of this, he overhears the conversation and tells Natalia over speakerphone that he will be there.

At dinner, Natalia asks about Stella’s job at DC Style. To avoid getting reprimanded by her family for losing her job, Stella attempts to lie, but Natalia calls her out on it. Natalia apparently stopped by Stella’s former office the other day only to discover that she’d been fired two months ago. When Stella attempts to salvage the situation by talking about her Delamonte position, her father calls it an unstable income. He inquires further about her savings, and Stella is forced to admit that she’s been paying for Maura’s care at an assisted living facility. When they reprimand her for even that, Stella snaps that Maura was more of a mother to her than her own mother ever was. She refuses to apologize to her mother for the truth, even when her father orders her to.

Christian steps in to defend Stella. He reprimands her parents for attacking her instead of supporting her. Stella’s father turns his anger on Christian and calls him a “snake in the grass” with blood all over his hands (278). Stella defends Christian in return. As a result, they are both kicked out of the house, even at the protests of Stella’s mother.

Upon returning home, Stella journals about the night. In her daily gratitude list for the day, she lists Christian as one of the things for which she’s grateful.

Two weeks later, Christian and Stella pack for a trip to Hawaii for Delamonte’s big photo shoot. Stella decides not to pack Mr. Unicorn, comforted enough by Christian’s presence instead.

In Hawaii, Christian seems more at ease. Stella enjoys his openness, and they connect on an even deeper level. Stella tells Christian more about her family. She used to wish that she were adopted because she found comfort in the idea that there might be another, more loving family out there for her. She feels like she never fit into her own family because their career interests were surer and more practical, whereas hers have always been less certain yet creative.

When Stella asks about Christian’s family, he admits that they’re dead. He was orphaned at 13, and his aunt raised him until she died while he was in college. Christian reveals that his father was a software engineer and that his mother was a school administrator. His parents loved each other deeply. In childhood, he was told stories of how his father wrote his mother a letter every day while he was studying abroad and how his mother ran away from home when her parents didn’t approve of their relationship. Christian believes that his parents didn’t have love—“[I]t was ego and destruction disguised as affection. A drug they kept chasing because it gave them a high they couldn’t get anywhere else. It clouded their judgment to the detriment of themselves and everyone around them” (294).

Later, Christian receives a call from Kage, who claims that someone has hacked into The Mirage’s security system using a device similar to Scylla—something Christian developed two years ago and that only Harper Security knows exists. This means that there is a traitor at Harper Security who is also connected to Stella’s stalker. Christian orders Kage to pull the footage from the area around The Mirage to track the movements of the stalker before they reach the apartment building.

The next day, Stella is disappointed to learn that Christian will be busy with work and cannot be present on the site of the photoshoot. On the last day of the trip, Christian reschedules the rest of his work meetings and takes a boat to the Nā Pali Coast, where her last shoot is taking place. He finds her in the shallows of the ocean with her arms covering her bare chest and wearing an extravagant emerald necklace. When the photographer calls a wrap, Christian demands that the crew immediately pack and vacate the premises, leaving him and Stella alone.

Stella drops her arms at Christian’s request, revealing herself to him. Christian tenderly touches her, eliciting a gasp. They give into their desire for one another, and Christian brings Stella to orgasm. Before she is able to reciprocate the favor, they realize that they only have an hour until the wrap party with the crew.

After the wrap party, Stella and Christian have sex in their private room. Christian caters to all Stella’s desires—even darker fantasies that she’d have been embarrassed to admit to anyone else.

The next morning, Stella admits that she wishes they could stay longer so she could actually explore the island. Though Christian has pressing work to do, he agrees to stay through the weekend before heading back home. Over the next two days, Christian and Stella cycle between exploring and having sex. As the time approaches to head home, however, Stella becomes concerned about their romantic bubble bursting. She thanks him for the past few days and decides to reaffirm that they’re a fake couple with benefits now. Christian does not accept this and instead asks her to be his real girlfriend, which she accepts.

Back home, Stella brings Christian to visit Maura. They get along wonderfully and bond over their mutual love for puzzles. When she has an outburst due to confusion over her memories, Christian expertly helps Maura avoid a full crisis by distracting her with another puzzle, which Stella appreciates.

That evening, they attend their first business event as a real couple. While Christian is busy talking business, Stella uses the restroom, but on her way back to Christian, a male stranger gropes her. When she tells Christian who did it, a cold calm comes over him as they leave the event.

The following day, Christian goes to his office to meet with the man who groped Stella. He plans to stab the man in the hand that he used to assault her, as a warning, but when that isn’t enough to satisfy him, he also shoots the man in the head, killing him.

Stella has her last interview for the Washington Weekly profile with Julian.

Christian spends a month weeding out suspects for the traitor within Harper Security. He believes that Sentinel is to blame for the Scylla-like device used to hack Harper Security. However, he still doesn’t know how it all connects to Stella’s stalker. Though he’s continued to intercept messages from Stella’s stalker, he hasn’t shared them with her. Christian decides to take Stella on another trip, this time to Italy for a month, to keep her out of danger.

Stella and Christian spend a month exploring Italy. While there, Christian opens up to Stella more. He admits that his father was the “Ghost”—an anonymous art thief who stole dozens of priceless artworks for over a decade before he was caught and shot by police while trying to flee. Christian claims that his father stole the paintings for his mother. When he was caught and shot, she shot herself two days later. Though Christian apologizes for souring the mood with stories of his tragic past, Stella appreciates his transparency more.

Christian anchors a boat off the coast of Capri, their last stop in Italy. They have sex on the boat, and afterward, Stella tells him that she loves him. She accepts that he’s not ready to say it or admit the feeling to himself yet.

A week after returning to DC, Natalia texts Stella about the Delamonte campaign that has gone live. When she reprimands Stella for embarrassing the family with a half-naked photoshoot, Stella stands up for herself more forcefully and claims not to care.

When Stella goes to water the plants in Christian’s office, she hits her head on the desk and accidentally opens a secret compartment, revealing a huge folder of information on Stella. Stella is sickened by the invasion of privacy. Though she knows that Christian can’t be her stalker, she believes that he’s crossed the same boundaries. Stella rushes to pack and brings Mr. Unicorn with her to stay the night with Ava and Alex.