Twisted Lies (Twisted, #4)

Christian is already inside Stella’s apartment, scanning it for secret cameras and surveillance devices when she arrives home. Stella accuses him of invading her privacy, even if it’s in the name of security. She admits to having nightmares about a home intruder lately. Her fear of such a reality prompts regret on Christian’s part.

Christian asks Stella to detail everything about her stalker. She admits that things began two years ago. She started to receive letters at her home address. They were romantic at first but became more sexually graphic and accompanied by candid pictures of her on daily errands. When she took the evidence to the police, they were dismissive and told her to stop posting on social media if she didn’t want attention. When her stalker quit soon after, Stella let the matter go. Christian believes that it is her recent Instagram post of him, and therefore the implication of having a boyfriend, that has drawn the stalker out of retirement. Christian plans to increase Stella’s security but believes that if she keeps posting about their relationship, it will draw the stalker further out, and he will get caught.

Christian receives a call from Kage. He reveals that Rutlege—a much larger account of theirs—might transfer over to Sentinel soon. While Christian is distracted, Stella posts a poll on her stories. A picture of Christian’s back is beside another picture of Stella’s stuffed Mr. Unicorn with the poll, “Who would you rather cuddle with?” (146). Already, Christian is losing to Mr. Unicorn.

A month after the Delamonte dinner, Stella still hasn’t heard anything about the brand ambassador position. However, her Instagram following has continued to grow to 930,000, which has secured her other, smaller brand deals in the meantime. Christian gives Stella short notice for an art gallery opening that they must attend together. While he claims that it’s to close another business deal, it’s really because he’s concerned that Stella has rarely left her apartment in the past week due to fear of her stalker lurking.

At the gallery, Christian supposedly closes his deal while Stella regards the paintings. When he rejoins her, they are candidly photographed together by the event photographer. Stella asks Christian about his favorite art piece, which immediately turns Christian’s mood sour. They leave the gallery, and Stella notices how good it feels to leave the house and how comforting the security of Christian’s company is.

The following week, Stella digs up the unfinished fashion sketches from one of her drawers. She’d always given up on her sketches due to self-doubt and imposter syndrome, but this time, she decides that to try and fail is better than not trying at all. With invigoration, Stella finishes multiple sketches over the course of a few hours. She stops and leaves to grab lunch at a café next to her apartment building. While there, she receives a call from Luisa at Delamonte, who offers her the brand ambassador position. When Stella returns home, she realizes that her door is unlocked; she’s certain that she locked it while leaving to grab lunch. Stella hesitantly enters her apartment and searches for an intruder, but the place is empty. She checks her bedroom, where she finds another disturbing letter.

While Kage briefs him on the Rutledge account situation, Christian is distracted with a text from Luisa informing him that Stella got the Delamonte position. The meeting is further interrupted by a call from a distressed Stella, and Christian drops everything to rush to her apartment. Upon arriving, Stella hands him the letter, which simply reads, “I warned you” (167). Considering that the intruder entered her apartment without force, Christian decides that she’ll be much safer staying in his own apartment, which boasts more airtight security. Christian urges Stella to rest in his apartment while he has employees move all her things upstairs. He also calls The Mirage’s chief of security and requests the footage from every security camera in the building. Christian is uneasy at Stella’s state of shock and draws her a bath. When she asks him to stay, he washes her hair for her and allows her to stay in his room with him.

Stella is greeted with a big breakfast and a wheatgrass smoothie upon waking at Christian’s, courtesy of his cook, Nina. Christian lays down ground rules for the home: no having guests over and no touching unrecognizable devices, as they might be dangerous. He also requests that Stella tell her friends about the stalker, as he might pose a danger to them as well. Stella calls Ava first and informs her of the news. Ava is understandably worried and warns Stella to be careful. Afterward, Stella calls both Jules and Bridget, too.

Christian finds nothing useful in the security footage, only a “technical glitch” that occurred at the same time as Stella’s trip to the coffee shop. Christian replaces the entire building’s security system and changes the codes. He suspects that it might have been an inside job or that the stalker had inside help. At dinner, Christian congratulates Stella on the Delamonte deal. When he asks if she wants to continue working with brands full time, Stella admits that she dreams of starting her own fashion brand. Christian encourages it, and she shows him some of her sketches, which he claims are beautiful. They share a moment of intimacy, and Christian kisses Stella. The moment shocks them, and Christian quickly regains composure and vacates the room.

Over the next week, Stella finishes more sketches and begins filling out a business plan for her fashion brand for which Christian provides a template. Meanwhile, her fears about her stalker begin to recede. Stella receives word that her first Delamonte photo shoot will be next week in New York and tells Christian, who claims that they will take his private jet, effectively inviting himself along.

When Christian returns from a long and stressful day at work, Stella offers to give him a massage. Though he’s tense at first, he begins to relax under her hands. However, the experience soon turns too sensual, and they awkwardly startle apart. Afterward, Stella retreats to the guest bedroom, where she pleasures herself to thoughts of Christian.

Stella and Christian fly to New York the following week for the Delamonte photoshoot. Stella’s anxiety and feelings of inadequacy prevent her from performing well at the shoot, and the photographer calls a short break after an excruciating hour. During the break, Christian approaches Stella and reminds her that she deserves to be there. He gives her a pep talk about how hard she’s worked for her success. The pep talk gives Stella a renewed sense of confidence, and she impresses everyone in the second half of the shoot.

After the photoshoot, Stella and Christian have dinner at his friend Dante Russo’s house. His fiancée, Vivian, joins them, and it’s clear that they only tolerate each other. While Christian and Dante discuss business after dinner, Vivian gives Stella a tour of their penthouse. Stella’s attention catches on the one hideous painting in their art gallery, and Vivian admits not knowing why Dante bought it. Upon returning to the dining room, they overhear Dante and Christian talking about a Magda painting, but the conversation ends before they can discern any real information.

After leaving Dante’s, Stella asks questions about the conversation she overheard, but Christian is unwilling to reveal anything. Stella becomes frustrated that even though he’s getting to know her, Christian is not allowing her to get to know him in return.

A week later, Stella goes grocery shopping after visiting Maura and gets the same strange feeling that someone is watching her. Though she has not received any letters from the stalker recently, she has a feeling that he still lurks. When she returns to Christian’s apartment, she does a pre-interview with Julian, a lifestyle columnist for Washington Weekly who is doing an in-depth profile on her and her Delamonte ambassadorship.

Christian returns home early from work to congratulate Stella on reaching one million Instagram followers. When she checks to confirm, she feels excitement at seeing the big number but also disappointed because she expected to feel more. She realizes that while she’s reached a long-term goal of hers, it isn’t the world-shattering change that she built up in her head. Christian gifts her an expensive watch as congratulations. Stella is spooked by the deepening nature of the connection between them and attempts to refuse the gift. When she tries to put up boundaries, Christian admits to wanting her and storms out.

Christian goes to the Valhalla Club to calm down. Though many women flirt with him, he cannot get his mind off Stella. When he returns home slightly inebriated, he finds Stella awake on the couch. She asks about his whereabouts and who he was with. Christian admits that he had the opportunity to sleep with women but didn’t even want to because they weren’t her. Sensing that he might lose control and make a move on her, Christian orders Stella to go to her room and lock her door. Christian retreats to his own room, where he takes a shower and pleasures himself to thoughts of her.

Christian and Stella attend a housewarming party at Jules and Josh’s place. Bridget and Ava are also in attendance with Rhys and Alex. During the gathering, Stella catches up with her girlfriends, who pick up on the romantic tension between Stella and Christian. Though Ava and Jules are encouraging when Stella admits that things have turned into very real romantic territory, Bridget still has her concerns.