Page 33 of And Twice as Twisted
“Call your uncle. One of his contacts will know where Gio is hiding.” I yawned, completely depleted of energy by this point.
“No,” he ground out, so I hung up on him too.
I’d do it on my own then. I wandered into the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror, my fingers running over the bruises on my neck. Could I leave my family behind and run away with the enemy? In the mafia, my family reigned supreme, but would they allow me to live if I committed the ultimate sin? Some travesties wereunavoidablebecause of our limited moral compasses.
But this… this would beunforgiveable.
He wanted to give memycity. To take it from my brother.
And I could be queen.
Maybe his desire, his affections, his drive for us to lead together… maybe it could turn into more. Maybe I could love him. Or maybe the poison Apollo injected into my veins was sending me over that edge into insanity.
After all, I’d become accustomed to a life of devastation and pain. So why not where a crown along the way?
Chapter 12
APOLLO DELUCA
Petulant little bitch! Guard cosa mi hai fatto fare!
My intention had been to gain answers, not tempt my inner beast. Lurking skin deep, he seemed to bubble to the surface whenever she was near. Her lies thickened the air between us with ease and forced me to shatter the brick wall harboring my rage.
And I knew what I had to do.
Her list of grievances quickly caught up to my own, drawing a line in the sand and preparing us for this battle of wills. If her games were going to be my undoing, then I was going to take her with me. The end of the road met a thick line of trees, and we barreled towards it at dangerously high speeds.
“Woah.” Bella approached me slowly as I stood with my back to Sienna’s door. “Apollo?” she whispered, faltering when I made eye contact.
“Leave.” The word came out breathless, and I grabbed the pulse point in my wrist, counting along with my rapid heartbeat. There was a strong association between anxiety and respiratory symptoms.
The smell of coal infiltrated my nostrils. The path to hell was right in front of me.
“Apollo, it’s okay.” Bella raised her palms as I took a step towards her. “Lucky!” She slammed into the wall, shrieking when I took another step.
I could tell her she was safe, but I wouldn’t believe my hypocrisy either. I wasn’t blind to the fact that I couldn’t conceptualize my actions. My mouth opened as something fractured my occipital bone, forcing me to my knees. The blow sent me slumping onto my side, and I cradled my head as I curled into a ball at Bella’s feet.
“Bella! Get Lucky, go!” The youngest Agostino stood above me. Tall and imposing.
Ever since the disappearance of the girl he’d beenseeing, he’d fallen into the ranks. It was only a matter of time before the games he played caught up to him. It was unfortunate that someone else paid the cost. Tessa, his plaything, haddisappeared.Though something about that story, that girl, never seemed right to me.
I tried to rise but Marco twisted me into a submission hold, wrapping his legs around my torso as his arms circled my neck. We became lost to the outside world, each trying to beat the other.
Several heavy steps charged towards us, the approaching shouts coming out in waves of static. Al ripped us apart, holding me to his chest with a bicep lodged under my jaw, applying precise pressure to my cricopharyngeal muscles and closing off my airway.
“Sienna.” Bella’s soft gasp forced us to look in her direction, only to find the woman in question standing in the doorway, her silk robe doing little to hide the bruises on her arms and her neck. I’d hurt her. Again.
I could only surmise that I was suffering from a mild cognitive impairment—the stage between normal aging andsevere trauma. It was characterized by problems with memory, thinking, and judgement.
“I’m fucking done with you! I don’t know if the reasonable side of you drowned in that fucking river or if it never existed at all.” I couldn’t blame my best friend for the assessment. “Sienna will go to Philly and you’re out of this house.”
“No, I won’t.” Her refusal was dark, stern. “This is ridiculous!”
“You will go to Philly. There is no choice in the matter,” Lucky commanded.
Deadly crimson waves hardened her face as she fought against his orders. She wouldn’t bow to her brothers demands; everyone knew that. However, the mere mention of Philly—of Romano touching what belonged to me—had me twisting against Al’s hold.
“Why am I being forced out when this ishisfault?” Her voice was high-pitched and devastated, eliciting a niggling discomfort in my chest.
