Page 27 of And Twice as Twisted (Agostino Crime Family #4)

“What did you just say? Say it louder,” I told the idiot holding me. “You just signed your own death certificate. Riposare in pace. ”

“No, honey. Your boyfriend’s dead, and you’ll wish you were.” He laughed, sniffing my hair.

“Hey,” I whispered so he’d bring his ear closer. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s the fucking reaper.” I pulled my head forward, then back, crashing it into his.

The sickening crunch of his nose echoed with his bellowing agony.

I rammed my elbow into his side and charged forward, except I tripped, landing painfully on my side behind Apollo.

I rolled over, only able to sit with my jaw slacked, and watched the horror movie unfold in slow motion.

Apollo didn’t just kill them; he maimed them.

Limbs were broken, the flesh on the inside hanging out.

He wedged his fingers into another’s eyeballs before turning their own knife on them—gutting them from throat to groin.

There was so much blood, terrifying screams, and mutilated body parts.

I felt my stomach turn before I twisted and released the contents on the pavement.

Apollo was a raging animal. I half expected to see him chewing on their bones.

He stopped for a moment, ripping off his blood-stained shirt and throwing it to the ground.

It made no difference; his chest was soaked with their blood and entrails.

He watched me in silence, his chest heaving as I wiped the spit from my chin.

He took one step closer, but I crawled backwards, unsure if he would hurt me too.

“Freeze!”

I turned towards the sound. Two highway patrol cops stared in shock, looking between the dismembered corpses, Apollo, and me.

They were barking commands at him to raise his hands and drop to his knees, but he didn’t move.

The twitch in his shoulder told me he was hyperfocused on me, as I pushed to my feet and forced my palms up towards the sky.

“Ma’am, are you all right?” One officer motioned for me to come to him. “I said freeze!” he shouted at Apollo when he started moving.

“Stop right there or I’ll shoot!” the other screamed, but his terror made him hesitate.

For just a moment. But it was long enough for Apollo to tackle him, throwing him into his partner.

All three of them clattered to the ground.

Mace was sprayed, commands were barked, and Apollo just kept grappling.

He was going to kill one of them if not both, so I had to do something.

He had the officers on their backs, one on top of the other as he held them in place, attacking with his meaty fists.

I saw a large branch to the side and moved towards it before quietly stepping up behind him.

It took two strong swings against the back of his head to have him stumbling enough that they were able to take control.

They got him onto his stomach with is hands cuffed behind his back before he snapped out of it.

“Apollo, enough.” I stood in front of him, hands raised in surrender, to keep him calm.

“Ma’am.” One of the cops gripped my arm, tugging me behind him.

Big mistake.

Cuffs be damned, Apollo charged at him, ignoring the taser that was pinned in his back. They fought with him for a bit before I picked up the branch once more, this time standing in front of him so he could see me.

“Want another?” I asked, my words finally giving him pause. He stood tall, one of the cops dangling from him with a hand around his neck. “Get in the car. I will call Lucky.”

When he turned towards the SUV, the cop dropped from his back, flopping to the concrete in a panting, bleeding mess.

I stopped Apollo long enough to take the car keys from his pocket.

He turned sideways to squeeze his large body into the tight confines.

I placed a chaste kiss to his head and shut the door.

“Quite an interesting sight.”

I stalled to stare at the newcomer. Romano was leaning against my door while Romeo chatted with one of the still-conscious officers.

“Wh-what are you doing here?”

His scar danced as he clenched his teeth, taking in the scene before him. “Chivalry isn’t dead, evidently.” He tugged on his cufflinks. “Your chariot.” He motioned me towards his idling car, and without a second thought, I complied.

I climbed into the vehicle, wanting nothing more than to escape. I didn’t look twice at the battered bodies on the ground as we peeled out from the shoulder. I called my brother and he answered on the second ring, questioning my whereabouts.

“You need to call an attorney,” I interrupted him. “This is going to cost you big time, my darling brother.” I ignored my shaking hands, panting as the adrenaline started to fade and exhaustion took over.

“Where are you? What did he do?” He started shouting for my father to call the attorney.

I relayed the gruesome scene to him, explaining all that I’d witnessed and the issues Apollo was going to have with the police. I skipped the part about our once-tender goodbye in the woods. “I’m half an hour from the compound. Lucky, I…”

“Sienna, get home. We got you.” He was yelling more in the background. “Do you want to stay on the phone with me?” His voice softened.

I pushed myself into the seat, away from Romano and Romeo in the front.

“He… he tore them to shreds, Lucky.” I swallowed roughly, the images forever burned into my brain, while giving my brother a graphic play-by-play with each explicit detail.

“He’s officially lost it. Fuck, it was so bad.

I won’t fight anymore. I-I… We… Lucky, I’m going to leave the city. ”

Romano took the phone from me. “I’ve got her.” He didn’t speak for a moment, just listened to my brother before agreeing and hanging up.

“What were you doing up this way?”

Romano glanced at Romeo, having a silent conversation before answering. “Your father called and asked for support.” He said it so simply, as if he hadn’t just rushed in to save me.

“Oh.”

He coughed out a chuckle, laughing at my expense. “Would you care to elaborate on your plans to leave the city?”

I didn’t know how to answer him. So, instead, I stared out the window as we rushed back home.

I had so many things I wanted to say, had so many thoughts swirling in my head.

As I stared at my distorted reflection in the tinted glass, I wished I had a pair of scissors.

I’d cut off all the parts that he’d touched, destroy the flesh like he’d done my heart.

“I’m forced to be the lead character of their play, conforming to their needs.

An award-winning actress, playing the role they chose.

But if they open their eyes to the truth, my lies would destroy them.

” I ran my pointer finger across the window, painting an unknown image as my voice dropped to a whisper, “Instead I let them destroy me.”

“You crave a feeling of belonging, but you don’t fit into their puzzle.” He stared out the windshield. “So, again, I ask what are your plans ?”

I told him I couldn’t answer—that it was a mystery even to me. As much as he didn’t deserve my continued loyalty, I’d make sure Apollo was freed. The silence was all that remained the rest of the ride, until we pulled down the long drive.

“Will you tell me?” Romano stopped me from leaving. “When you know.”

I nodded and closed the door. As I made my way to the front of the house, I saw my entire family on the steps waiting for me. The moment of serenity was ruined when I recalled all the wrongs they’d enacted against me.

“I need every detail.” A female voice came from behind my father, a woman in a power suit stepping around him.

“Please, this way.” Marco appeared out of nowhere and guided the young beauty into the house.

“Christ,” Al muttered, as Bella added, “We don’t need this, Marco.”

“Let’s get this over with,” I urged everyone forward.

“Oh, God…” Bella gasped, causing everyone to turn in her direction.

Her face paled as she stared back and forth between me and my mother.

She clapped a hand across her mouth and charged past Lucky, shoving Al as she barreled into the bathroom.

The door didn’t even close before we all heard her gagging and emptying her stomach into the bowl.

“Maybe a shower first, dear,” my mother admonished—only then did we notice the blood on my shirt… and now on hers.

Ignoring her request, I entered my father’s office and listened to the attorney weave a story for me to repeat.

She spun some crazy tale of wild animals, heroic Apollo saving the damsel—coincidentally me—while coming to the aid of the two officers.

She stated from the images I’d described, an animal attack sounded accurate.

I had no clue how this was going to work, but her confidence made me believe her.

Lucky and Al disappeared behind the attorney as she left, bound for the police department. I flopped into the chair in the center of my father’s office.

“Lucky said you want to leave.” My father claimed the seat beside me.

“It’s for the best.” I smiled, patting his leg and refusing to elaborate. “I have several things to handle first, then I will make my own plan.”

“And who is included in that plan?” Romano stood in the foyer.

There he was, the man I thought could save me from myself—from my family. Only now did I realize that he was the same type of man I was trying to avoid, just from a different city. I wanted out, away from all these mafia games. His dark eyes turned almost black, as if he could read my thoughts.

“Get dressed. I want to take you out.” Romano left little room for argument, but even as I stared at him in suspense, my fight dwindled. “Your father gave his blessing .”

What a curious word. And even more curious… was the fact that I was too tired to fight, so I agreed.