Page 54 of One Twisted Lie

“Parents,” I snort distastefully. “You can barely call them that.”

“And you want me along for the ride?”

I drop the flash drive in his hand, and he nearly drops it out of nerves. I can tell why he wouldn’t want to hold it, not since the last time it’s been in his hands, but it’s not a weapon against us anymore. “Think about it. Your knowledge of business, your ruthlessness, everything you’ve been taught to become, a badass, take-no-shit CEO, and me—”

“Will you get to work on your games?” he rushes out, and it makes my heart float that it’s his first thought. Another reason I’ll take him back. Even though he’s annoying as fuck, he remembers all the little things, all my dreams and all my hopes.

I break all pretense of keeping my distance and kiss him. He responds without hesitation like we didn’t just spend two weeks not doing this. My tongue slides against his bottom lip, flicking his mouth open, and he groans at the taste of me. His hands dig into my shoulders, pulling me so close we’ve fallen, and I’m sprawled on top of him.

He pulls away to breathe, those thick brows furrowing as he considers my offer. “Am I being given an ultimatum? That’s fucked.”

I shrug. “We’ve never been the most normal couple.” I stretch myself fully on top of him, resting my head against his chest as I lay it all out. “I want to start my own business where I can do what I want to do. I want to do it alongside my bastard of a boyfriend. I want that fantasy flat in London with that random bird. Don’t you?”

“Yeah, but—”

His hesitation makes me pause, but I promised myself I’d lay it all out for him. My plan, our future, my heart, everything. “You can have time to think it through, Oz. Maybe I’ll forgive you without it, maybe I won’t. I won’t push you into anything. This has got to be what you want. Take a few days—”

“No, I don’t need a few days,” he rushes out, pulling me back down when I try to sit up. “If our time apart has taught me anything, it’s that Father doesn’t care about my well-being. He doesn’t care that I didn’t want to do this in the first place. He’s ruthless and I can be ruthless too, for you.”

Myruthless princess.Myapex predator.Myking of kings.

“So,” I say, dragging my hand down his chest to finger his belt. “We’re really doing this? We’re taking the flash drive and we’re making a name for ourselves?”

His responding smirk is sexy as hell and full of so much devilish promise it automatically makes my cock hard.

“Let’s take those fuckers down and give them a taste of their own medicine.”

Epilogue

Carter

“You’re going too fast!”

“No, you just need to collect all the crystals first!”

“Imade this game, so I think I know what I’m talking about.”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

I laugh into Oz’s hair. We’re in his dorm, pretzeled together in front of his audaciously large television, finally playing a gameImade. I find it adorably amusing how he thinks he knows this game better than I do. I can’t be too irritated with him because he’s got this look of concentration on his face with his tongue sticking out as he aggressively jabs at the controller. I can’t resist. I give his temple a kiss and, with a contented sigh, lean further against his bed.

It took a hot second to get us here, get us comfortable enough with each other after his betrayal, but now that time has passed, it’s easy to pretend like it never happened. Sometimes, when we wake up in each other’s arms, he’ll forget for a moment that I took him back, and sheer horror will pass over his handsome face that I have the pleasure of kissing off. Sometimes, the sharp sting of humiliation will hit me, but then I’ll remind myself of all the ways Oz has made up for his transgression, and I’ll smile. He’s still a dick, but he’s my dick.

This was the last test of trust for me. He’s the first person ever to see, let alone play, one of my games. It took a lot of painful contemplation to convince myself to let him see it. When I showed it to him, you’d think by his face that I just doubled his inheritance. He jumped on me and hounded me until I let him put it in his gaming system.

He looks over his shoulder at me, the brightest most child-like grin on his face as he plants a kiss on my chin. “Sorry, babe, but I think the game has taken on a life of its own.”

“Or my boyfriend’s just an idiot,” I counter, pulling him back against my chest as I tighten my arms around his waist. “For real, what do you think? I can take it.”

He pauses the game and turns fully toward me, planting both hands on my cheeks, and I’m worried for a second I’m not going to like what he has to say. “It’s awesome.”

“Really?” A pathetic flutter of validation thrills me. “You’re not just saying it because you’re my boyfriend?”

“Have you met me?” he snorts, raising a brow as if I could ever suggest he’d be nice just for the sake of it. “The animation, the shortcuts, the storyline. It’s fucking brilliant. Show it to the other guys and they’ll agree with me.”

I scratch the back of my neck, the skin heating up there. “I’m not sure—”

“It’s ready,” he insists, kissing the tip of my nose as he twists himself back to face the screen. “All your hard work has paid off. Let the world enjoy it.”

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