Page 26 of And Twice as Twisted (Agostino Crime Family #4)

SIENNA AGOSTINO

H e had officially lost it. He’d spent the last hour disconnected from reality as he rambled incoherently. I only got small pieces, but those tiny parts killed me a little more. His need for me was there but it was never going to willingly reach the surface.

“Need help with that?” I stared at his dick, hard and pressing against his pants.

“Sienna.”

Was that a warning or a request?

“Just an offer.” I glanced out the window. “You do owe me for locking me in the fucking trunk.”

“Sienna.” That was irritation.

“I’m hungry.”

His neck twitched and I laughed.

“Food, Apollo. I need food.”

“When we get closer to home.” He was watching all the mirrors as if someone besides him had a clue as to where the hell we were.

“I. Need. Food.”

His neck twisted in my direction, his lip snarling. Apollo was gone. I’d pushed him to his limit plenty of times before, but this was different. When this band snapped, it was going to open a portal into a dimension I hadn’t seen before. But I had a death wish, so I pushed on.

“And. Dick.” I stifled my laughter. I had a hell of a lot better comebacks than that, but I couldn’t help myself.

With absolutely no qualms, I pushed to see if I could survive all parts of him.

Another comment was ready when he slammed on the breaks, my seat belt digging into each of my pressure points.

He swerved to the right and the car flew onto the shoulder, the tires skidding across rocks.

I screamed until it came to a stop just before a grove of trees.

He ripped his seat belt off, flying around the hood of the car.

His look told me I was fucked and I couldn’t tell my hands to move fast enough.

My door opened, practically ripped from its hinges, and the seat belt held me in place when he tried tugging me out.

I heard the click and saw the glint of silver right before the belt was shredded and I was wrenched out by my arm.

His grip on my bicep was impenetrable as he pulled me into the trees.

My heart was lodged in my throat and I suddenly resorted to begging.

I just didn’t know exactly what it was I was begging for.

God knew I’d pushed him too far. I knew it was coming, but I’d done it anyway, taunting il meititore to come and play.

Instant. Regret.

I glanced around and things slowed, everything falling around me.

The trees turned red, my blood dripping towards the ground and turning to ash before floating in the air.

I wanted him to show me the fire, to let me feel the burn and spiral into the tunnel of never-ending sorrow and pain.

Rose petals mixed with the ash before floating towards the sky, and drops of blood glittered in the glimpses of sun, making their way through the drifting embers.

I tripped, but his tight hold forced me to stumble beside him. He didn’t speak, dragging me farther and farther into the unknown of the smoldering forest. Then the blood turned to flames, the fire burning my skin as someone whispered sinner . The voice sent a chill down my spine.

His face was devoid of anything, as he stared at the sky like he was pleading with something in silence. He wasn’t saying a word, but he might as well have been screaming at me. This was it. Even if he didn’t kill me, this was my ending. Our ending.

Could it be the ending if we never really had a beginning?

He was beyond reproach, so damaged I didn’t recognize him anymore. His demons were catching up to him and I was beckoning them forward. I was only adding to the monstrosity inside his soul.

When he looked at me, my gut clenched and tears immediately dripped over the edge. He showed me his pain, his eyes filling with something beyond tender and filled with defeat.

Don’t let me go.

I couldn’t say the words out loud. But I knew this is what it was. He was saying goodbye. Nothing would be the same. One of us would die if we kept this up and all it was doing was destroying us both.

I nodded in understanding, wiping my eyes free of my sorrow and approaching him slowly.

He stepped into my embrace and held me to his chest. His body was twice as wide, his fists able to kill me with one blow.

Yet my death would be at the weakness he was displaying, his shaking plea to let him go.

And I would. I would tell him goodbye just to save him.

To save us. His thick arms encased me and I held on for dear life.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, taking his face between the palms of my hands.

“Sienna…”

I silenced him with my mouth, savoring his taste as I said my wordless goodbye.

He lifted me with ease, my legs wrapping around his torso on their own accord.

He dropped to his knees, the scent of earth drifting closer as my back met the cold leaves.

I tugged his lips to mine, devouring his harsh kiss and moaning into his mouth.

Pulling back for a moment, he stared at me with the same lost look.

Then he dropped to his elbows on top of me, sweeping a trail of kisses from my ear to my breasts.

He took me, slow and sweet, in the middle of the woods that seemed more fitting for my burial than his passion. I guess, in a sense, I was burying my heart beneath the cold earth. I couldn’t stop the tears that flowed, crying harder when he kissed them away.

I was a vessel of emotions—pleasure and pain—with no guidance as they took control.

I cried harder and hated every second of it but loved the buzz that was left in its wake.

His hands were all over me, memorizing each curve.

His kisses touching every sensitive part of my body until I couldn’t take it anymore and crashed.

I tipped over the brink of sanity as my mind gave up fighting.

I knew that falling out of love was going to be the hardest thing I’d ever have to do. I steeled my spine, my stiffened body forcing him off me. He helped me to my feet and we cleaned ourselves off as everything inside me wanted to scream.

Everything that we had was gone… There was no gravity tethering us together anymore.

“How do we get back to the car?”

He looked over his shoulder, the tenderness gone.

His chest was heaving while the molten lava was dripping the honey pools into a violent storm.

He laughed, catching me off guard as anger replaced the lofty sound.

I silently followed him out of the clearing as his mumbling returned, mixing with pockets of delirium.

“Motherfucker!” he belted out suddenly, turning to the nearest tree and imbedding his fist into it over and over.

“Stop!” I knew I should take caution. “Apollo, stop it!” But I didn’t.

My scream caught his attention, his entire body twisting into an unrecognizable hellhound that was charging at me.

I couldn’t tell my legs to run before he was on me.

I jumped backwards, landing on my ass, as he loomed above me.

This was the face hundreds of men saw prior to their brutal murder—a part of himself he kept hidden from me.

And now I understood why.

My hands shook as I kept them raised, too scared to touch him as he hovered over my face. His lip raised in a dancing snarl, his jaw clattering under the pressure and his eyebrow raised in challenge.

I was goddamn petrified. For once in my life, I couldn’t say he wouldn’t hurt me . I was near certain he needed to hurt me, to cross that line he knew there was no coming back from.

“Pl-please.” Sienna Agostino was dead and buried. In her place was a scared little girl who had gotten in way over her head. I’d begged for this, for him to lose control. And he finally gave it to me.

I’d never regretted anything more in my life.

And then he was gone. I was suffocating.

I was a tortured soul, unable to be fixed, and everyone just needed to let me go.

He slowly started to disappear into the trees, but I couldn’t tell myself to go after him.

Bears. Bears sounded like something I could deal with more than him.

To be caught in a metal cage with him like this, no thank you.

I waited a few minutes, allowing myself to calm down before brushing off the dirt from my ass and following in his wake.

I took a few deep, calming breaths and got my head on straight. I just needed to get back to the city and then this was over. I was going to start on my own, maybe take Alexei or Romano up on their offers. Disappear into a new life, one far less complicated than the one I’d been given at birth.

“Motherfucker!” he roared in the close distance.

Only… he wasn’t alone. I heard more voices cursing, feet shuffling, and what sounded like a fight at the street’s edge. I charged through the clearing of trees, watching three men circle Apollo, who was heaving like a rabid beast. A fourth man was at the driver’s side door, trying to jimmy it open.

Lovely. A carjacking on top of an already shitty day.

“Lookie what we got here, boys.” One of the dead men laughed, staring at me. “So pretty.”

They fucked with the wrong car, the wrong passengers. Their mistake was going to be their death. Apollo glanced at me before rolling his shoulders and returning his attention to the men.

“Come here, honey. We’ll give you a ride home.” The one idiot reached out a hand, turning his back on Apollo—a fatal mistake.

“Don’t touch her.” Apollo grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, throwing him to the side like he weighed nothing. “Sienna.” He pointed to the spot next to him and I moved to follow his command.

The guy breaking into the car managed to get the door open, the screaming alarm barely noticeable over my hammering heart. He stepped forward, approaching his three friends as they regarded him.

“Not so fast.” One reached out, tugging my back to his front and placing a knife to my throat. “This could’ve been easy if you would have just let us take the car. Now I’m gonna hurt her… and make you watch.”