J.L. Meyrick
Twisted
First published by J.L. Barrett - Writer 2021
Copyright © 2021 by J.L. Meyrick
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
J.L. Meyrick asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
First edition
This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy
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To my new husband, James, who made sure I sat down to write.
To Cat, who wouldn’t stop prodding me to write this book.
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
About the Author
Also by J.L. Meyrick
Preface
To any of my family reading this book, if you wish to skip the more detailed aspects of a romance book, don’t read the italicized section of chapter eighteen!
Chapter 1
Imagine a world full of people, special people, people who hardly seemed human. That’s our world: a world of heroes, people who have extraordinary powers. Unfortunately, in a world with heroes, you also have a world with villains.
The latest battle of Good vs Evil took place late last night across the city. Crashing from building to park to civil offices.
However, the damage could have been a lot worse if it weren’t for the hard work of our national hero.
A loud crash brought Liliana out of the narrative she was writing. She heard a moan from the floor. Looking down, she saw an intern sprawled across the thin excuse for a carpet the facilities team tried to pass by them.
“Are you okay down there?” she asked, pushing back from her desk to help the poor boy up.
“Oh, uh, yeah.” He cleared his throat as he scrambled to his feet. “I mean, yes, thank you. I lost my footing there for a moment. I’m sorry to disturb you.” He seemed nervous and possibly annoyed at himself.
“No, no, it’s okay. Is this your first day or something?” she asked, trying to help the boy calm down.
“Is it that obvious?” he replied, brushing his hand through his shaggy hair. “This chance is all I’ve wanted for years now, and here I am, falling over my own feet on my first day. What a smart impression I’m giving.”
Liliana laughed slightly at his nervousness. “Oh, this is nothing. You’ve not seen true embarrassment yet.”
“What? Was your day worse?” He raised his eyebrows, expecting to hear some terribly embarrassing story.
“Well, not my first day.” Liliana turned to call over the cubicle to the opposite desk. “Rose! Tell this kid about your first day, would you?”
A tall redhead shot up, her face quickly matching her fiery locks. “No! You promised you wouldn’t mention that anymore!” she exclaimed, half angry, half ashamed. Liliana’s laughter grew at her response. She loved to tease Rose. Rose’s pale pink cheeks darkened with a blush of embarrassment. “Don’t you dare, Lil, or I’ll tell him about your twenty-fifth birthday.”
The threat shut Liliana up quickly. “You wouldn’t.” She locked eyes with Rose for a moment before the two smiled at each other and turned back to the intern.
“Don’t worry, kid. Everyone has a bad day now and then, you got yours out of the way early. Smart,” Rose said, calming him down. “What’s your name, anyway?”
“Johnathon.”
“Well, Johnny, welcome to The Daylight Observer. Liliana and I are always happy to keep an eye out for the newbies, so come to us with any questions you have.” Rose was the mother hen of the office and she had the fierce side to prove it. If she took anyone in under her wing, they were well protected. Even the managers were unwilling to go toe-to-toe with her on minor issues.
“Thanks. It’s nice to know people here are so friendly,” Johnathon replied, happy to have made some friends on his first day.
“Ms Masters!” a loud voice shouted down the hallway and to the group of cubicles where they were standing. A tall woman followed the voice. White power suit, sharp blonde bob, and a frown to complete the ensemble. “Where is the latest battle piece I requested?” she asked, a little too loudly to be polite.
“I’m just finishing it up now,” Liliana replied, almost standing to attention. You couldn’t help but straighten your back in the presence of Tanya Netting, the fearsome editor-in-chief, like she was a drill sergeant and you a green recruit.
“Have you developed a new power we don’t know about?” Tanya replied, confusing Liliana.
“Power, Ma’am?”
“Yes. I didn’t realise you could write and socialise at the same time,” she replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice at every syllable.
“Right. Yes, ma’am. I’ll get the article sent to you right away.” Liliana darted back to her desk and started typing as she spoke. Liliana went from frightened and pale to a flushed tawny as she realised Tanya was trying to make a joke. Not her strongest trait.
“You, intern! Follow me.”
Johnathon looked like a deer in headlights as he stumbled after Tanya.
“Poor lad won’t last the day with the witch,” Rose whispered over the cubicle divider.
Liliana chuckled as she finished the article she’d been working on and sent it over to the witch in question. Turning over to her emails to check in with the world, she glanced at the picture on her desk, the one personal item Tanya allowed each person to have. A picture of herself standing in front of a local fountain, curled into a tall, dark-haired, brown-skinned man. Her man. Her Max.
They’d been together for nearly a year now, it’d been a fast-moving, passionate year. What had been an accidental bump in the paper’s corridors had spun into the most exciting relationship she’d had.
PING.
Her email alert drew her attention back to her computer. It was from Max. Liliana took a glance around, making sure Tanya wasn’t anywhere nearby before opening the email.
Hello, love,
I’m afraid I need to push back our plans for this evening. I’m about to go into a meeting that could last awhile. Can we meet at 8 instead of 7? Still at Graciano’s, they’ve agreed to move our reservation.
All my love,
Max.
Liliana hit reply.
Of course, that’s fine by me. I can’t wait!
See you at 8.
Love always,
Liliana.
She’d been waiting for months to go to Graciano’s. It was the newest hit restaurant in the city, with a waiting list of six months. She supposed that was the benefit of dati
ng a man like Max; he opened doors previously closed to her. That wasn’t the reason she was dating him. She never set out to date a millionaire. Not even her parents expected that to happen. They were thrilled with her match. Not that they were entirely thrilled with all her life choices.
They didn’t want their only daughter to become a journalist. No, they’d hoped for a doctor or a lawyer. Something like that. Once they’d realised Liliana wanted to become a journalist they’d thrown themselves into researching what heights a journalist could reach. They started nagging Liliana to reach these near-impossible heights. Where was her Pulitzer? Why wasn’t she promoted to an editor yet? Why didn’t she have her own office?
It wasn’t like she was still relatively new to the field; she was only twenty-eight, still plenty of time to achieve all those things. Her parents were never happy with her. But she did her best not to think about it unless they were actively interrogating her.
Max was completely different. He appreciated her for who she was. He encouraged her to follow her dreams of being an accomplished journalist. They had long discussions on current affairs, issues with superheroes and what they do. He gave her new ideas to write about through these discussions, angles she might not have thought about before. Any discussion with him about the issues the world was facing turned into a new article idea for her. They also gave him new ideas to take to his business. He wanted to help the world through his technology. Liliana admired that about him. He wasn’t like a lot of rich people who only wanted to make more money, regardless of the method. He was always looking for a way to improve life for the people in the city and beyond.
Of course, it did help that he was extremely good looking. The tabloids loved to take pictures of him out and about the city. Liliana wasn’t normally the vain type who only went by appearance, but damn, he looked good. She’d quite enjoyed their time together. From the start there was a spark. That spark swiftly grew into a passionate encounter.
She stopped scrolling through her emails as her mind jumped back to their first night together. Candles lit the room, sweet scents filled the air. Max had wide, open windows leading out to a view over the city. Close enough to appreciate the lights of the living city, but far enough for a decent amount of privacy. Hands on skin, breath on the back of her neck as she looked out over the city.
“Nice view, isn’t it?” Max whispered behind her, handing her a glass of water.
“Lovely. It’s like you’re above the city, watching people go about their lives completely unaware of you. Feels powerful.” She took a sip of water before placing it down on the side table.
Max chuckled. “I see it more like I can watch over the people. Not that they need me, they have the heroes for that, I suppose. But I like to feel like I can help them.”
“I like it when you talk all philanthropic,” Liliana whispered, turning around to face his six-foot-four frame. She wrapped her arms around his muscular torso. Liliana smiled up at him. She breathed in his warm scent as he brought her close. The air got warmer between them as Max brought her lips upward to meet his.
“MS MASTERS!” A shout brought Liliana out of her memory rather sharply. She jumped almost out of her seat and saw Tanya stood next to her desk. “I do not appreciate having to repeat myself.”
“Yes. Sorry, Ma’am. I’m with you now.” A different sort of heat rose as Liliana’s face turned beetroot red.
“I said you need to head out to Central Plaza. I need you to cover the speech. Get your head out of the clouds and your shit together.” She was pissed and the entire office knew it. Heads were poking up over the cubicles like meerkats from their burrows. “If you would rather be anywhere else, I can fill your position with a snap of my fingers.” Tanya held up her hand as a threat.
“No, Ma’am, I love my job. I apologise. My mind distracted me for a moment. It won’t happen again.” Liliana chucked her notebook and pen in her bag and stood next to Tanya. An arch appeared in Tanya’s eyebrow as she stared Liliana down for a moment.
Liliana could feel her hands twitching with nerves, her heart pounding against her chest, breath catching in her throat. She didn’t break contact with Tanya’s piercing blue eyes, eyes that would look lovely on a pleasant person’s face. Liliana’s brown eyes wanted to look anywhere else. What felt like an eternity later, Tanya blinked.
“Fine. Go.”
Liliana relaxed her dry eyes, letting out a sigh of relief. She glanced over at Rose who stood after Tanya had marched back to her corner office.
“Jesus Christ, that woman needs to relax. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just need to stop my heart racing a mile a minute,” Liliana laughed nervously. “I better get going. Do you know what speech she was talking about?” She felt like she’d missed something, which, considering she worked in journalism, wasn’t a wonderful thing to do.
“The Mayor has just announced that he’s giving an emergency speech at the Plaza this afternoon. Word just came down. Something big is happening. I’ll come with you, get some pictures for your coverage.” Rose grabbed her camera bag and they walked through the office together.
Liliana could feel eyes watching her as she walked. While someone got shouted at daily here, it wasn’t often that loud or dramatic.
“Bloody Max,” Liliana whispered under her breath. He had a nasty habit of distracting her at work.
“What was that?” Rose asked, smirking.
“Nothing.”
“Got a certain dark-haired hunk on your mind?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Liliana couldn’t help but laugh. She relaxed; Rose always knew how to calm her down after an encounter with the she-devil.
Chapter 2
The two headed out to the elevator, laughing together. Jumping into a cab outside of the office, the two friends shared their thoughts on what the speech could be about.
“A new crime fighting initiative?” Liliana posed.
“Or a collaboration with a new hero?” Rose replied.
“Or maybe he’s resigning? His numbers haven’t been great recently,” Liliana wondered.
“Oh, that’s possible. A resignation speech would be good for you. Might get Tanya off your back for a while.”
“I heard an old bad guy is back on the scene,” a voice called back from the front of the cab; the driver had been listening to them speculate.
“Where did you hear that?” Rose asked.
“Oh, just another of my passengers.” The driver waved his hand as he took a left-hand turn towards the Plaza. His tone betrayed nothing of his emotions. He seemed bored, like he needed another supervillain just to shake up his daily routine.
Rose turned to Liliana, raising her eyebrow, as if to say, “Sure, that sounds credible.” They always had an uncanny ability to understand each other without the use of words. It’s what made them a wonderful couple for a while there. Friends turned to lovers; they were unstoppable. Rose always knew what to do with Liliana. They were in love for a time. But they made better friends.
Rose was supportive of Liliana and Max when they first started seeing each other, even making the introductions. If you even needed proper introductions after literally running into each other. Rose had been doing an interview with him for their summer expo on business leaders in the city. He walked out of the private room just as Liliana was running past to the print room. Normally, she wasn’t the clumsy type. But when you’re running, you don’t have as much time to switch trajectory as you need. Max tried to catch her, but she fell flat on her backside. She could still feel the bruise all this time later.
She still remembered looking at Max for the first time from her perspective on the floor. She was a little annoyed, to be honest. A little at herself for falling, a bit more at the man who didn’t look where he was going when he entered a busy newsroom. But his concerned smile as he held out his hand to help her up would stay with her for a while.
“Here we are, the Plaza. Looks kinda busy, don’t you th
ink?” the driver called back to Liliana and Rose in the backseat. They glanced out of the window to the sea of paparazzi and reporters surrounding a stage in the centre of the square. There was a curtained area at the back, presumably hiding the Mayor from sight before his announcement.
Liliana’s heart raced and her fingers twitched as she stepped out of the cab. Looking back at Rose, she could tell she was also worrying about what the speech could be about to call this many people so quickly. Sure, the news was fast in the city, but this was taking it a step further than either of them had seen before.
Her breath caught at the back of her throat as she entered the crowd, pressure on her shoulder as Rose used her cool hand to keep them together. They made their way through the crowd to the area that was roped off for the larger local news companies. Briefly, she felt grateful for having the special access that her ID card allowed her. Until she saw who they were sharing their space with.
A tall, pale, dark-haired man stood at the front of their roped off area, a familiar bag slung over his shoulder and a notebook already half filled in his perfectly manicured hands. Tim, lead political reporter for The Daily Tribune, Liliana’s chief opponent in their field. Arrogance needed no other poster boy. He stood at six foot-two and behaved as if he had earned every inch above her admittedly short five-foot-two frame. True, he had been in the field for longer than her, but was twelve months worth the tension between them?
“Ah, Ana, nice to see you again,” Tim drawled as he noticed his new company.
“I told you not to call me that again, Timmy,” she replied, curt yet calm. She didn’t feel calm, she never did around Tim. He always set her on edge, regardless of words spoken.
Tim chuckled at her reply and turned back to his notebook. Liliana tried to sneak a peek out of the corner of her eye, but his handwriting was atrocious. Impossible for her to decipher without closer examination.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” Tim said, clearly noticing her spy attempt.
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