Page 65 of And Twice as Twisted
Nikolai gripped his nephew’s wrist. “Ne seychas.”
“Ya v poryadke, dyadya.”Alexei shook him loose and lifted a finger in my direction. “You’re only breathing because she wants you to be.”
“As are you. But I can’t promise it will stay that way for much longer.” My grip on Sienna was punishing by this point as she struggled to hold me back.
“Dostatochno.” Nikolai corrected his nephew, effectively silencing our respective pissing match, and motioned for everyone to sit. “We need to discuss this deal Persephone bartered.”
“I just don’t understand any of it,” Sienna muttered, looking up at me. “We’re missing something.”
Octavia was a victim of psychological warfare. She was taken as an act of war. Killing her would have been devastating but turning her against them, against her family, it meant their destruction. There was no coming back from it. And that had been their intention all along. Not to end Mario, but to eviscerate him from the inside out.
“The mind does what it needs to do to protect itself when forced to endure high stress situations. Her reality’s skewed.” Sienna’s tears racked her body as I continued to speak the words no one wanted to hear. “If I were looking to punish someone, I’d send them back a shell of their daughter. Death is one thing. It’s easy. People mourn and move on. But when the body’s there, breathing but never truly living, there’s hope. Even when there’s not. And that’s the real torture. The never being able to grieve properly, watching someone die a little more each day, without ever burying them.”
We all turned at the sound of approaching footsteps as the truth seemed to choke the room.
“You look well, Sienna.” Romano grinned as he crossed the threshold with his two guards at his back.
“I told you the fucking deal was off.” Mario pushed to his feet, the room giving him their full attention.
“Language. I hear there are children in this house,” Romano scolded and the implication seemed to thicken the air. He knew about my son. And his words were as much a power play as they were a threat.
“What is he doing here?” Lucky looked to his father.
“Your old man made a deal and I’ve come to collect.” Romano’s glare landed on Sienna, forcing me to pull my Glock from my holster. “I also expect compensation for the guys you killed.”
“Your men were looking to hurt her. Why?” I hissed between clenched teeth, my barrel raised and my sights aimed center mass.
“Hurt her? They were there to protect her.” He waved a hand, silently ordering his men to stand down. “There will be no bloodshed as long as everyone complies. A deal is a deal. Right, Mario?”
“Things have changed, as you seem to be aware,” Mario countered. And despite all the double talk, everyone appeared to know those “things” were my son and the fact trying to take him from me would incite more than just bloodshed. It would mean all-out war. Beyond anything either city had ever seen.
“I broke barriers when I became the head of Philly. My mother was Irish, you know, and I was the first of my kind. So, you see, something as insignificant as an illegitimate child isn’t a concern. You signed Sienna over to me, Mario, and I’m here to claim what was promised.” Romano didn’t flinch, his hands tucking into his pants pockets as he rocked on his heels defiantly. Clearly unaffected by all the weapons trained on him.
My body was vibrating, as I wavered between what I wanted to do and what I knew I shouldn’t. He was calling my soninsignificant. It was a challenge meant to send me spiraling, and even as I knew as much, it was a struggle to contain my rage.
“Get out before I do something we’ll both regret,” I growled in his direction, as Sienna clung to me with a misguided belief she could somehow hold me back if my leash snapped.
His two guards stepped closer to his side, and Romano raised a palm to halt their actions a second time. “Do you really want a war? Because I’ll give it to you, and I can’t promise who will and who won’t end up as casualties. I mean, you know better than I do how often sons pay for the sins of their fathers.”
Another threat against my boy, and my rage was boiling beneath my skin. I could feel it and it wouldn’t be long before we all burned. “Don’t make threats you have no intention of keeping,” I ground out. “Because if you expect to leave here in anything other than a body bag, you’ll drop your unfounded claims on my family and get the fuck out of our city.”
“Ours?” he parroted. “Funny, didn’t know a stray dog owned anything.” Then he turned to Mario, uttering a single word, “Tomorrow,” before storming out again.
“You used my pain against me. Leveraged my weakest moments to bend me to your will and push me to Philly.” Sienna’s dead, even tone filled the space. “Whatever happens, I want you to remember you did this, Daddy.”
No one could look her in the eye, knowing each had played a part in everything that was to come. Even me. Especially me.
“Sienna…” Mario knew he’d failed both his daughters, but that knowledge came too late. “He’ll never give you what you need.” He nodded in my direction.
“None of you know what I need! You all just assume you know me better than I know myself.” She paused, her eyes flicking between everyone in the room. “I’m not your fucking puppet, and much to your dismay, you’ll never control me again.None of you will.” She pushed to her feet and stalked towards the door.
“You will not walk away from this family.” Lucky’s arrogant tone had Sienna’s shoulders pulling back and her heel pivoting to face him.
“Me? You don’t want me to walk away, dear brother?” Her eyes narrowed in on him. “Each of you have turned your back on me time and time again, favoring everyone over me. And, suddenly, I’m the one who’s the problem?”
“Sienna…” Lucky and Mario said in unison, but she continued to speak over them.
“I’m. Not. Done.” She was eerily calm, her penetrating gaze stopping on each one of us again. “I was hunted. I was beaten. I wasraped. Or did you forget that?” Her trembling hands were the only signs of her distress. “I overcame all of it. For me. For my son. None of you have the fucking right to ask anything of me. Let alone demand it. Now, goodnight.Iwill bring my sister home tomorrow.”
