Twisted (Never After Series)

My head is pounding as I sit against the wall with my hands tied behind my back and a gag in my mouth.

Dried blood drips down the side of my face, and I can feel a pulsing ache on the top of my head where I’m sure there’s a contusion.

My stomach rolls and heaves, making me want to puke, but since there’s a gag in my mouth, I try to hold it back, not wanting to throw up and have to swallow it down again.

Julian’s piece- of- shit assistant, Ian, is pacing on the other side of the large warehouse— the same one that Julian brought me to when he taught me how to drive— and he has a gun in his hand as he talks on the phone, using his arms to punctuate whatever point he’s trying to make.

There’s another man here too, and I can only see him out of my peripheral vision from where I’ve been hog- tied and leaned up against the wall. He’s older, graying at the temples, and has on a khaki shirt and dark jeans. He’s flipping a gun around in his hand too, like he’s bored and waiting on something.

I’m not sure what it could be.

Ian hangs up the phone and walks over between me and the mystery man.

“He’s coming,” he says.

The man perks up. “How do you know?”

Ian glances toward me, his eyes narrowing. “Because he loves her. He’ll bring the lamp, don’t worry. I know Julian like the back of my hand.”

Surprise makes my heart clench because I had assumed Julian was in on this. I should have known better, should have trusted in what we were feeling and everything he said.

He loves me. And he’s coming to help.

The man nods sharply. “You better be right.”

“Darryn, I told you back in Egypt. There’s nothing to worry about. He’s changed. Gone soft. He’ll bring the lamp to free the girl, and there’s nothing he can do to get both.”

“That’s not entirely true.”

My heart shoots into my throat, my eyes swinging to the front of the warehouse where Julian stands, a long metal bar in one hand and the silver case that holds the lamp in the other, his stature strong and sure like he doesn’t have a care in the world. My stomach tightens even as a tendril of hope weaves its way through my middle and squeezes.

He came for me.

Ian twists around, grinning wide. “Boss, glad you could make it.” His eyes drop down to the case. “Is that the lamp?”

He moves forward until he’s directly in front of Julian, but Julian backs up a pace, flipping that long bar over the back of his hand so quick I can barely see it and shoving it into Ian’s chest roughly.

Ian stumbles back, the hand that’s holding his gun coming up to rub at his chest before he points it at Julian, his arm shaking visibly even from where I am across the room.

Panic wraps around me, and I try to scream through the gag, but only a muffled noise comes out. Julian’s eyes flick to me, taking inventory of my body quickly before going back to Ian.

“This is all dreadfully disappointing,” Julian drawls, his gaze going over to where the other man sits, leaned back against the wall like he’s watching a movie. “Hello, Darryn.”

Darryn smirks. “Julian Faraci. Shame we had to meet this way, but it’s business.” He stands up, grabbing the gun he has sitting next to him and walking toward me. “You understand.”

Julian’s head tilts. “Of course.”

Cold metal presses against the side of my head, and tears escape down my cheeks, my chest caving in on itself, because no matter what I’ve gone through in my entire life, I’ve never felt as powerless and weak as I do in this moment.

“Hand over the lamp, Julian. Don’t make me hurt the girl.”

Julian swallows, and I see a flash of panic in his eyes as they meet mine.

My stomach sinks, my lower lip trembling beneath the cloth gag.

Julian walks forward, bypassing Ian completely, and drops the lamp’s case on the floor in the middle of the room. “Have it then.”

“You, you traitor!” Ian yells, kicking the ground. “You’d give up everything we worked for so easily, for her?”

“It would seem you’re being very hypocritical right now, Ian.” Julian takes a step toward him. “I’m not the one pointing a gun at his boss.”

Another step.

“You betrayed me,” Ian spits. “I was loyal to you for years. And the second you get a warm pussy and a bitch who does as you say, you drop me like I’m nothing?”

Julian takes a deep breath, flipping that metal bar around the back of his hand like a baton. “Now, Ian. I’ve warned you about what would happen if you disrespected my wife.”

Ian laughs, waving his arms in the air. “I have the gun, asshole. I could kill her and fuck her dead body in front of you, and there wouldn’t be shit you could do.”

“I fell in love with her, and I won’t apologize for it.” Julian looks at me. “I’m not sorry for loving you. I’m only sorry it took me so long to realize that I did.”

My heart squeezes, and I know without him even explaining the will that he never would have gone through with it. Not after everything we’ve shared.

Not that it really matters now anyway.

“We had a plan,” Ian hisses.

“Plans change. Surely you realize, Ian, that I would never let you harm her.”

Ian’s eyes darken. “You don’t get to call the shots anymore.”

Julian nods, glancing toward Darryn, who is standing over me with his gun digging into my temple. “And I suppose you talked Ian into this sometime in Egypt?”

Darryn shrugs. “What can I say? He came to me for a meeting and left with a new friend instead. Look, we don’t want to hurt your wife. I just want the lamp. And you’ll have to die, of course, to make sure you don’t cause any trouble down the line.”

No.

Darryn’s attention goes to where Julian set down the lamp, and I take the opportunity, because I can’t not, thrusting my head as far as possible into his hand and knocking the gun out of the way.

It scatters on the floor, and then there’s commotion.

A loud yell, and then a stinging sensation on my hair as I’m jerked harshly to a stand.

I whimper, my eyes squeezing shut from the pain.

Suddenly, I’m knocked over again, a high- pitched scream echoing through the tall ceilings of the warehouse, and I land on my side, a heavy throb radiating up from the fall. I roll over and see Riya on top of Darryn, her fists slamming repeatedly into his face.

I should feel relief, but all I feel is more panic that she’s here.

In danger.

Because of me.

She must have followed Julian.

Groaning, I try to sit, but I can’t with my hands and feet tied together, so I roll onto my back instead, inhaling a sharp breath at how broken my body feels when I do. There are loud noises all around me, but my hearing is muffled, my brain foggy from the abuse.

“Princess,” a whisper comes from my right, and then I’m being jostled again and put into a sitting position. Aidan is crouching in front of me, his jaw tense and his eyes dark and heavy.

His hands float down my body, and I suck in a sob that wants to break free because I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I do know that the people I love most in the world are all here, trying to help me, and I don’t want any of them to die.

He gets the gag off my mouth, and my jaw aches as I suck in deep breaths, flinging my head over to where Julian is staring at Aidan as he unties me. One hand comes free and then the other, blood rushing back in and making my fingers tingle.

“Aidan?” I gasp. “What— How?”

“We followed Julian.” He jerks his chin over to Riya.

I start to nod but before I can even focus on what he means, a sharp shot rings out in the air, and time freezes.

Riya falls to the side from where she was punching Darryn, clutching her stomach, blood pouring through her fingers.

“No!” I scream, grief welling up inside me at the sight. I start to struggle against the rope, Aidan working to try and get them off my ankles. “No, please,” I sob.

There’s a scuffle to my right and I turn my attention there, seeing Julian flipping that metal bar and slamming it into Ian’s legs, his knees cracking as they hit the concrete floor, his gun flying from his hands.

Despair surges through me when I look back to my best friend who has sunk back onto the floor, and I can’t think, can’t see, can’t breathe from the pain that feels like it’s ripping me in two.

The second my ankles are free, I’m crawling over the cold ground to where Riya is, trying to wipe away the tears with my trembling fingers.

“No, no, no,” I repeat as I make it to her and press my hands against hers to try and stop the bleeding. “You can’t do this. You’re not allowed to do this, Riy.”

There’s commotion behind me, but I couldn’t care less what it is, trusting that Julian has the upper hand. I need to focus on my best friend, who’s bleeding out on the floor in front of me.

Suddenly there’s a presence at my back and Julian crouches down, his hands grasping me and turning me to him so he can check on me. “Are you okay?”

“I– I— ,” I stutter through my tears. “Please, Julian. Help her. I can’t…I can’t lose her too, please— ”

There’s a groan from close by, and Julian grows rigid when a gun presses against his temple, a bruised and swollen Darryn standing behind him.

Darryn spits, blood dripping on the floor around him. “Don’t make me hurt anyone else.”

Julian ignores him, and I’m barely coherent from the panic that’s splintering apart my insides. He cups my face in his hand, his jaw set and his eyes clear. “Remember what I told you? My love for you is dangerous, amore mio.”

I shake my head against him, pressing my hands farther into Riya’s stomach, my fingers slipping in the blood. “I can’t let this happen. I can’t let— She can’t die.”

“I can’t save you both,” Julian continues. “Go.”

I’m not even able to comprehend what it is that he’s saying or what’s happening or why he’s doing this. “No, Julian, please…”

He looks behind me and nods sharply, his head pushed to the side when Darryn presses the gun harder against his temple. “I’m being very generous with my time here, Julian. I don’t have to kill them, just you.”

And then there are arms wrapping around me from behind, Aidan dragging me back, away from the two people who I love most in the world.

“No!” I scream, fighting against Aidan’s hold. “Don’t do this!”

Julian’s face is solemn as he drops his head, his hand twitching on the ground as it wraps around that metal bar he’s been carrying since he walked in.

“You can’t save them, princess,” Aidan grits out against my flailing body. He grunts, pausing for a moment and jostling me in his hold as he bends down on the floor and grabs something before he drags me outside.

A shot rings out in the air, and I slump against Aidan then, grief creeping through my veins and cooling my blood until everything ices over and I go numb.

My father is dead.

Riya is close to dead.

Julian is dead.

Aidan puts me in the car, and I hiccup through the pain, staring blankly ahead of me as he does. A flash of silver catches my eye, and if I could feel anything at all anymore, maybe I’d care that somehow through it all, Aidan got the lamp. But instead, I just feel numb.

We’re in some small cottage on the edge of Badour, and for the past few hours, Aidan has been trying to get me to eat.

“Princess, you have to eat something.”

A tear drips down the side of my face, and I twist my head away from where he’s holding out a piece of pizza, looking to the side.

“I can’t,” I whisper.

He sighs, running a hand through his hair as he tosses the pizza down on the end table next to the bed. “Everything will be okay. We’re together now, and we have the lamp. Things will be just fine.”

My chest feels like there’s a black hole spinning in the center, growing larger with every breath I take, sucking everything into its path and leaving behind a blank type of numb that blurs all the harsh edges.

“Sure,” I whisper, staring blankly at the wall.

Julian loved me. And now he’s dead.

And Riya…

How is it that I got here?

All the things I’ve learned in the past few months still end up with me losing everything that matters, so what the fuck is the point?

Aidan stands up, the couch creaking when he moves, and he walks over to grab his phone off the desk in the corner, the lamp sitting in the case next to him like it’s just another piece of furniture.

“Princess.”

I ignore him.

“Princess,” he repeats. “Look at me.”

I don’t. I can’t. Looking at Aidan reminds me of everything I’ve lost, and it makes me sick. He makes me sick.

He sighs, walking over and pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “I’m going to make a couple calls. I’ll be back.”

The front door closes behind him, and I sit in silence for a few moments before his words filter through me. A couple calls.

Who the hell would he be calling right now? Doesn’t he care at all that Riya just died? That we went through an insanely traumatic experience, yet he’s prancing around and making calls.

For the first time since I’ve gotten here, something pierces through the dark fog that’s encased me, and I feel angry.

Shooting up from where I was on the bed, I walk over to the front door, cracking it open and heading outside to find him so I can scream at him and ask him who the hell he is, because clearly he isn’t the same boy I grew up with and loved.

I don’t see Aidan, but when I take move forward, his voice filters from around the corner.

“Yeah. She’s broken, Mom. I can’t get her to agree to anything right now.”

I suck in a breath. Is he talking about me?

“Yeah, everything went to plan. Darryn and Ian handled it. It was messy but… I know it’s dangerous, Mom, but I told you everything is fine. We don’t need Darryn or Ian now, and we definitely don’t need Sultans anymore. I’ve got this lamp, and I’m telling you, it’s worth enough. Let me just take care of things here, and I’ll come grab you.”

His words hit me in the chest, and I stumble back a few steps, my insides curdling and withering away like dying leaves fallen from their branches.

We don’t need Sultans anymore.

Rushing back inside the cottage, my heart beating in my throat and my stomach tied in knots, I scramble to grab the lamp, not willing to let yet another person take advantage of me.

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.