Page 1 of And Twice as Twisted
Prologue
SIENNA AGOSTINO
Apollo was alive.
Well, if you could consider thebodythey pulled from the Hudson River—riddled with gunshots and succumbing to hypothermia with a gaping wound across his throat—any semblance of living. His chest would rise and fall with every intake of breath, his heart pounded, and blood filtered through his system. But that was it.
Dead. Vacant.All life was extinguished from behind his eyes.
My family blocked me from seeing him, referencing the still-present brutality marring my skin. They’d assumed it would send him over the proverbial edge and we’d lose him forever. However, he didn’t speak or acknowledge anyone who came to visit.
Not my father. Not Lucky.
His silence was slowly destroying the family and none of us had a clue as to how to pull him back from the hell that consumed him.
That day,those bastardshad given me everything I’d wanted, while simultaneously stealing it all away. I saw it in his eyes, the revelation, his need for me. Now, I had nothing.
And as I was known to do when it came to anything Apollo, I made another huge mistake when I snuck into his hospital room by myself.When I’d demanded he look at me, a part of me died too—a serrated knife brandished and quickly puncturing my heart. His head turned and he stared at me. Through me.
He hadn’t spoken until that moment. Not a word.
“Get out! Leave!”
I had to be forcibly removed from the room by the doctors, while their attempts to calm him only inflated his anger. Towards me. His snarled hatred echoed down the hallway, and I fled from my heartache as it nipped bitterly at my heels.
I resented all the love he’d stolen from me and never reciprocated. We were in this position because of something in his past, not mine. Yet, even after he came home to the compound, he had nothing to give. He continued as Lucky’s right hand. A soldier, silently following orders.
He’d proven to me what I’d already known. Even after the egregious crimes enacted against me, my heart still beat for him. While his was nothing more than an organ that pumped blood through his system.
What happened to the girl who demanded respect?I barely recognized the weak woman staring back at me in the mirror.
“Where are we?” I asked my driver. I was so lost in my own misery that I hadn’t noticed we were on the side of the road. It was raining, an absolutely miserable night that matched my miserable mood. I couldn’t make out much besides the trees to our right and the dreary sky looming above us.
I was forever cloaked by the dark cloud that followed me.
Usually that thought was metaphorical, but now it was physical as the car was pelted by a sudden flood of torrential raindrops.
“Sorry, miss, engine problems.” My driver slid out of the car before I could respond. The hood raised and blocked my viewof the road ahead of us. Pulling out my cell phone, I started checking emails before an odd noise caught my attention. Dread settled into my gut, but I swallowed back my nerves and opened the door, stepping out into the storm. In more ways than one…
“Everything okay?” I shouted as I approached the front of the car.
“Sienna.” My name was called out from behind me.
Haunted. Distant. Andfuckingangry.
“W-what’re you doing here?” I hated the weakness in my voice but the animosity inhisrattled me.
“I’ve come for you. Isn’t that what you wanted?” He took a step forward and I took two back, calling for the driver. “He’s dead.” The words came without remorse. “He was going to hurt you. I saved you, Sienna. Just like in one of your fairy tales.” He was mocking me, his vacant eyes burning with cruelty.
“What do you want from me?” I rushed forward. Fuck self-preservation. I always knew my temper would be the death of me. “Tell me!” I slammed my fists into his chest, my pain and guilt driving each blow.
“I find it absolutely insulting that you haven’t thanked me yet.”
My heart was lodged in my throat as he pulled me closer. “No.” I tried to push him back but all I could do was continue to flail my arms. He ignored me, grabbing both of my hands in one of his and slamming my body against the car. He pinned me in place, his much larger torso rubbing into mine. I could feel his arousal against my stomach and dread cemented my limbs, stalling my fight as if I were somehow locked in his palpable animosity.
“Fine. I’llmakeyou thankful.” He wrapped his free hand around my throat and tugged me forward. His muscles flexed and the tattoos on his arm seemed to dance with the movement. Mocking me.
I latched on to his wrist, scratching his skin as he opened the back door and threw me inside the car. When my pencil skirt hindered my legs from widening, he shredded it down the center and stepped between them. His fingertips roamed from my thighs, up to my panties, and rubbed me through the fine silk. He hummed his appreciation before traveling north, groping my breasts and pinching my nipples through the material of my shirt.
