Page 116 of The Twisted Beats

Whatever her motive is, she’s determined to destroy us. I just hope I can stop her before it’s too late.

Chapter Twenty-Four

LIVIANNA/LILY

Then

Love Turns Its Back & Dares You to Survive

Some loves don’t leave…they twist until survival feels like treason.

Iclimb out of the back seat of my dad’s car. “Thanks again for getting me home. I have so much to do.”

My dad carries my bags into the house as my mom waits for me to get out. I slip my bracelets over my bandages, praying my parents won’t notice. Thankfully, it’s January and I can wear long sleeves until the fresh cuts are healed.

I don’t tell them the real reason I asked them to fly me home was so I didn’t have to see John. He’s never going to get me into a situation he can use against me again. He’s lost all my trust.

My mom ushers me inside. “You have two more weeks before filming starts again. What we need to do is sit down and go over the stories that are being released. I want you to be around people who love you when you see them.”

“Whatever you think is best.”

She gets some snacks and water for us while I shower andchange into a cozy velour sweatsuit and fluffy slippers. A few times, memories of what happened with Tony sneak into my thoughts and I bury them.

People have gone through a lot worse than I did. Besides, I’m an actress and can use the experience to tap into other parts of myself that might arise.

Yeah, that’s how I’ll look at that experience. An opportunity for me to use it in my acting career. Actually, I can pretend it was a movie role.

I nod to myself. That feels better than anything else I’ve come up with.

I wander down to her office once I’m ready to be smacked in the face with all the pictures from last night that will be all over the internet, magazines, and entertainment news stations.

My rib cage feels empty. In fact, I’m numb all over.

I knock on her door as I enter. “You’ll be happy to know I’ve taken my anxiety medicine as instructed.”

“I know you don’t like it, but I think in this case it’s the best thing for you.”

“Um-hmm.” I sit across from her at her contemporary desk.

There aren’t any drawers. It’s more like a rectangular, classy wood table. I scoot my chair in and glance at her computer. It’s facing sideways so we can both see the screen.

She clicks on a file folder and it opens. Pictures take form and make a square.

My mom peers over at me. “Are you ready to view these?”

“Yep. I already know what they are, so what difference does it make?”

“Just be prepared, Livianna.”

I motion with my finger to give it a spin. She hits a button and a slide show starts. They’re the images she told me about, so I’m not upset. If anything, they aren’t as bad as I thought they would be.

Callum has a strange glow in his eyes, which goes alongwith what he told me about being drugged. I shrug it off and get ready to leave, feeling better about Callum than I did going in. I get up to retreat to my room and take a nap.

My mom stops me. “You need to sit down, Livianna. There’s another file folder we haven’t gone through.”

“Okay…” I return to my seat. “When did these new photos come in?”

“While you were on the plane.” She gives me a sympathetic smile. “These are much more personal and they’re going to be printed along with the others.”