Page 21 of And Twice as Twisted
Had I really smelled Romano on her skin?I didn’t know anymore.
At the end of the day, her spending the weekend with him painted a bright-red target on Philly.Ifhe’d touched her, Romano deserved to suffer in my same purgatory. I was stuck between the hell she evoked and the heaven between her thighs. Neither of us deserved her. The mere thought of them together burned my throat as I swallowed back my desire to murderhim.
The power of these images forced my hand, and by the time I’d snapped back to reality, she was already unconscious at my feet. Lying so vulnerable and unprotected as I fled—a coward’s flight.
As angered steps charged from a distance, I knew this was the end. I’d happily welcome the filicide that was coming my way. The man was like a father to me, the closest thing to a parental figure I’d known. Mario had given me a life to succeed and I’d practically spat in his face.
My refusal to look at her was solely based on my need to dismiss her, us. She needed to realizethis, she and I, would never be. My urges for her had blinded my ability to rationalize. The desire that burned each time she was near was what incapacitated me.
Confusion rocked me as a gunshot echoed and pain lodged into my shoulder. My eyes dancing between Mario and Lucky, I saw that neither held a smoking gun. They stared to their right, forcing my gaze for the first time to Sienna.
I’d broken her.
She held no concern for the bullet she’d imbedded into my shoulder and the action was owed. Sienna was unscrupulous when it came to protecting her family but always allowed pain and sorrow to trap her soul.
Not anymore.
When the barrel of my own gun was pressed to my chest, a part of me wanted her to pull the trigger. All the adversity I had inflicted upon her warranted my end at her hands. It was the only thing I had assumed would offer her the solace my actions could afford her.There was not a word or a backwards glance as she walked away from me. An action so minimalistic and yet so… final. No matter what transpired, moving forward, the beating organ in her chest cavity had combusted. There was nothing left.
“We should take turns,” Al growled, my eyes turning towards him. “You piece of shit.”
Bella smiled at Sienna’s ghost, my blood appeasing her. Lucky was vibrating with a barely contained rage, but when I turned towards Mario, his glare made me flinch. “I took you inbecause I sawsuchpotential. Your loyalty proved I could trust you. And then you dothistoher.” His words did their damage.
“Mario…”
He raised a hand to silence me. “I knew it would come to this. Years of watching my daughter fall for you, I had no idea how to stop it. Ifucking knewit would end badly, but she’s too fucking stubborn. She thought she’d be happy with whateverpieceof yourself you gave to her.” He paused and I had to clench my jaw to keep from responding. “Now… you’ve broken her and I don’t know if she’ll ever be the same.”
A fist slammed between my shoulder blades, forcing me to my knees. I could immediately feel the swelling in my upper back, overlying the coracoid and acromion processes. I didn’t even try to protect myself. I deserved the excruciating sensations assaulting my large intestine—thanks to Lucky’s boot. Al kicked me in the back, my thoracic curvature taking impact and causing me to roll the opposite way. He gripped the collar of my shirt and pulled me closer to him; the rage emanating from him was stifling. His right fist felt like a sledgehammer to my jaw, forcing my mandible to shake.
“Sleep with your eyes open.” Al’s warning trickled through the pain. “Watch your fucking back, Apollo. Because we willalwayschoose her first.”
Bella slapped me across my face, her open palm darkening the imprint of Al’s knuckles, before Mario hauled me to my feet and Lucky kept me standing. My head rolled sideways and I couldn’t gain purchase with my boots. The Agostino patriarch may have been getting older. May havesoldatosto do his dirty work. But he hadn’t lost his touch. Two heavy punches and I dropped to my knees once more. The direct blow to my lower back brought immense pain—a kidney bruise, also known as a kidney contusion. The blunt force trauma would cause internal bleeding, accompanied by sharp pain and tenderness. My backmuscles and ribs took the impact; the bones were more likely cracked than broken.
“Sir.” One of the guards entered the yard, addressing Mario. “Your package has arrived.”
“Clean him up.” And then he was gone.
Al and Lucky started dragging me towards the house, my head thumping as consciousness slipped through my fingers. But each time they purposefully jostled me, I would snap out of the haze. Grunting as they dropped me on my bed, I couldn’t look at any of them.
“You got what you wanted.” Bella shoved at me until I rolled over so she could place a towel under my shoulder.
And I growled as she unceremoniously dumped peroxide onto the gunshot wound. “Fuck! Bella!”
“Whoops,” she said, but her tone was dry. “You wanted to push her away, andpoofshe’s gone. You’ll never get her back now.”
I closed my eyes as Bella cleaned the wound, biting my tongue when she dug for the bullet with ill-practiced hands. She was doing her best to make it agonizing. The pain wasn’t what I deserved, but I wasn’t dying today.
“There.” She dropped the bullet onto the side table. “Keep it. That way every time you see it, you’ll remember what you’ve lost.”
“Bella.” I stopped her from leaving.
“Save it. Those words aren’t for me. You need to think long and hard about your next move.” She looked over her shoulder. “You’ve all but pushed her to Philly. I suggest you open your eyes before it’s too late, becausewhenshe goes, none of us will get her back.”
“Fuck Romano.” I winced, trying to sit up against the headboard.
Without another word, Bella turned and left the room.
The four stages of healing were arduous enough. But each open wound would go through the hemostasis, inflammatory, proliferative, and maturation stages to put me back together. And as my body mended itself, I had time to search for the duo far more deserving of this painandmy wrath.
