Twisted (Never After #4)(99)

I may have lost everything, but I won’t let him take this from me too.

And fuck him for playing me for a fool. For all these years? God, the thought of how gullible I must be punches through my stomach, making nausea churn in my gut.

Reaching the end table, I stumble over my feet and grab on to the silver case, the metal rough against my fingers, and then I dive into the pocket of Aidan’s bag, searching for something. Money or anything that will help me get out of here and far enough away to safety.

My fingers brush against cool metal and my heart stutters as I wrap my hand around it and bring it out of his bag.

A gun.

Oh my god. Who is he?

“Princess.”

His voice jolts me out of my daze, and I spin around, seeing him standing in the doorway, his eyes wide as they flick from the gun in my hand to the lamp in my other. He walks in slowly, his hands held out in front of him as he closes the door and moves toward me.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

My arm shakes violently as I raise the barrel and point it at him, tears blurring my vision. “Was any of it real, Aidan?”

He tilts his head, acknowledgment that I overheard him filtering through his gaze. “Let’s just take a second here.”

“Answer me!” I yell, my frayed insides unraveling until there’s nothing left.

He swallows, placing his phone down on the table slowly. “You have to understand, Yas…my mom and I, we’ve lived our lives with nothing.”

My nostrils flare from the burn building behind my eyes, because finding out that the man I thought I loved for most of my life was just using me to get my fortune is the icing on top of this fucked-up cake.

My father was right when he told me to be wary.

“So this whole time, everything between us was just what? You using me to get my fortune?”

He licks his lips and moves closer. “I care about you.”

And with that, I’m done.

Done people-pleasing and living for others. Done giving a fuck about anything other than the sorrow that’s shredding apart my soul until it withers and turns into an unrecognizable lump of charred remains.

“Put the gun down, princess,” Aidan coos, walking up to me until the barrel is pressed against his chest. He runs his hands over mine gently. But then they tighten and he bends my wrist until it feels like it might break. I let out a harsh yelp and stumble, but I tighten my hand around the gun, even as he tries to wrench it from me.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he huffs out as he fights me for control.

I lose it, flinging myself forward and bashing my head against his face, a sharp pain radiating through my skull as he rears back, blood pouring from his nose.

My arms shake as I pull up the gun and aim it at his chest.

“You don’t have the power to hurt me anymore, Aidan.”

And then I pull the trigger, feeling nothing as he falls to the floor.





Chapter 42





Julian





The plastic tarp crinkles beneath my feet as I walk back and forth, staring at the two men who thought they could walk into my house, hurt my wife, and get away with it.

Isabella slithers around my feet, hissing.

Darryn is unconscious, the gun wound to his side slowly stealing his life away. Unfortunately for him, it will only make the pressure of Isabella’s coiling body worse. He should have known that I wouldn’t allow him to walk away after he used Yasmin as bait. As soon as I saw she was out the door and being dragged to safety, I moved, spinning my staff around and busting his kneecaps. When Darryn fell to the floor, his hold on his gun slipped, and he injured himself. Makes my job easier, I suppose, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t enjoy this more if he was conscious for what I’m about to do.

Ian, on the other hand, is bloodied and broken but alert, eyes staring out of his mangled face as he watches me slowly pace in front of them. They’re both stripped naked, their backs facing each other, tied together with rope as they sit on the floor.

Isabella doesn’t enjoy the taste of cotton.

“This is truly an unfortunate situation,” I muse, my footsteps stopping as I stare at them. “I don’t care that you tried to take the lamp or that you crossed me. Predictable, really. Textbook, almost. The thorn in my side and the greedy assistant banding together to try and outsmart the man they love to hate.” I smile. “Unfortunately for you, that man has a vengeful spirit and a pet he doesn’t like to let go hungry.”

Bending down, I stroke Isabella’s head. Ian jerks as much as he can with no working limbs, muffled sounds coming from his bruised and bleeding mouth.

“Luckily, I have a soft spot for the people I’ve cared for, even when they choose to hurt me.” I purse my lips. “It’s a complex, really. One that I’m just now working on overcoming.”

I move closer until I’m directly in front of Ian, his eyes locked on mine, wide and filled with terror.

He gurgles, blood trickling from the side of his mouth.

“But then you touched my wife.” Standing up straight, I walk over to where the box of mice sits, a bone saw directly next to it. I click my tongue, looking back and forth at the two. “Decisions, decisions.” I pick the bone saw, gripping the large handle and making my way back to Ian. “What was it you said?”