Page 25 of Warped

Except find X.

Tony turned and left the room, leaving me to nurse my poor throat. I wouldn’t let him get away with this.

I used the bathroom to check my injuries. Finger marks patterned my skin in distinct bruises around my neck. I leaned over the sink and took sips of cool water from the faucet. Anger simmered inside me, but I felt so helpless. I didn’t like that Tony had me trapped.

The bedroom door opened and I froze, half expecting him to be back again. When I heard a female voice singing, I realized it was Nicole. She caught sight of me, peeping around the side of the doorframe.

“What on earth are you doing?” she asked.

“Recovering,” I managed to say.

She frowned. “From what?”

I stepped farther into the room so she could see my throat. “From Tony. I woke up and his hands were around my neck, strangling me.”

Her nose wrinkled. “He wouldn’t do that.”

My mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me right now? You think I did this to myself?”

“I don’t know what you’ve been up to, but I know you’ve been trying to turn me against Tony this whole time. He’s the only one who’s ever helped us, and you keep trying to make him into the bad guy.”

“Tony is using us, Nickie. It’s the only reason he’s helping. You think he came and got you because he wants to be some kind of father figure to you? He’s only doing this to use us against our dad. You must realize that. People like him and our father don’t do anything out of the goodness of their hearts.”

Her lips thinned, her nostrils flaring. “You’re wrong. Tony is helping us. Why else would he make sure I’m still getting to finish school? He could just have us locked up somewhere, but he doesn’t.”

“I haven’t figured that part out yet,” I said, “but we are as good as locked up. We’re not allowed to go anywhere without his men on our asses, watching everything we do.”

“That’s for our own safety, remember.”

“That may be, but how do you explain this?” I gestured to the bruises already forming on my neck, dark purple smudges against my skin.

She shook her head. “You must have done or said something to upset him.”

I stared at her. “Seriously, Nickie, sometimes I wonder how we can even be related. Even if I had said the most horrible things to him, he still shouldn’t have done this to me. But as it was, I was asleep when he started strangling me. It was only because I couldn’t breathe that I woke up and found his hands around my neck.”

She shrugged. “Well, that’s your story.”

Why was she being so obtuse? Did she not want to see what was right in front of her because she felt guilty she’d brought Tony into our lives? I’d never known my sister to feel bad about anything she’d done—everything had always been my fault—but she couldn’t ignore what Tony had done to me.

“Nickie,” I tried for the final time. “I’m worried about what’s going to happen after the trial. This is just the start of it, a hint at what Tony is capable of. Perhaps he has more planned for you than me, but I think he’ll kill me just as soon as he gets what he wants from me. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“It would mean something if I thought it was true.”

“So how do you explain this?”

“I’m not saying Tony didn’t do that, I’m saying that you probably did something to deserve it.”

I stared at my sister, barely recognizing her. Who was this person? She was my flesh and blood, and we’d been through a lot together, but was she really saying I deserved to have Tony strangle me? I knew she blamed me for the way our mother died, believed I could somehow have done something different and saved our mother’s life, but I never thought she would actually want to see me hurt.

I couldn’t speak to her anymore. I couldn’t even look at her. I suddenly felt utterly alone, and all I wanted more than anything was to find X.

I would take whatever risk I had to. Yes, I wanted my sister to be safe, but was I willing to sacrifice everything for her when she gave me nothing in return? She’d thrown Tony into my life because she’d wanted to be back in New York, and I was expected to do whatever she wanted without complaint.

I’d had enough.

I had to do what I had to do.

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