Page 145 of Sinful Pleasure

Every representative of the families has always been a man.

It’s a law that has lasted for centuries.

Murmurs rippled through the room, the men confused and stunned by Allyn’s unexpected presence.I could hear the sneers in their whispers.

But I was too stunned to look away from her. I could hear their voices, but it was as if they were nothing more than background noise.

My entire focus was on her.

“What the hell is this?” Garrett Stone finally spoke, his voice cutting through the silence.A man in his forties, the head of The Stone family.

“Is this some kind of joke?”

Allyn tilted her head to the side, crossing her arms on the table, giving me an unobstructed view of her cleavage.Fuck.

“Is there a problem, Mr. Stone?” she raised an eyebrow, her tone sharp and commanding.

“Yes. You have no place at this table.”

“Says who?” she shot back, challenging him in a way that only fueled his rage.I couldn’t suppress the grin tugging at my lips. I was enjoying this more than I should.

“Says our law,” he hissed, disgust dripping from his words.

Allyn rolled her eyes.

“You’re a woman. You have no place here.” He sneered at her. “Who the fuck do you think you are? You want to get yourself killed?”

His words were quickly echoed by the others, a chorus of dogs with half a brain.But Allyn’s smile, a devilish twist I’d never seen on her before, stopped everyone cold. It was wicked, far darker than anything I could’ve imagined from her.

“Allyn Romano,” she said her name with such authority, as if to drown out the disgusting thoughts of the men in the room. “Head of the Romanofamily. A right granted to me by my father—Mikael Romano.”

Her confidence silenced every single man at the table, me included.

I felt like a fucking idiot, staring at her like I was seeing her for the first time. It had been months, and yet, she still had the power to fuck with me without so much as a glance.

As if I didn’t even exist. As if I wasn’t worthy of her attention.

I tried to force my gaze away, but it was fucking impossible. Every fiber of my being screamed to look away, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t tear my eyes off her.

“Any other questions?”She asked, her voice filled with an undeniable confidence as she locked eyes with the men around the table.

They exchanged wary glances, grumbling under their breath. Every one of these fuckers feared Mikael Romano, despised him, and probably now despised Allyn just as much.

But none of them dared to speak up.

“The meeting was called by me and my family,” She crossed her arms over the table again, making every man in the room—me included—listen intently.“We think it’s time to make some changes to the law code. It would be in your best interest to cooperate.”

Her plump red lips curled into a sly grin. I found myself distracted by the thought of how badly I wanted to erase that red lipstick with my own mouth.

“No.” A man’s voice broke through, drawing my attention. I didn’t even know who he was—either I’d never seen him before, or he wasn’t important enough to be remembered.

“The Law Code is not subject to change.”

“It is now,” she replied sharply, cutting him off. Her words left no room for argument. “It’s up to you whether you’re with or against us. Either way, my family will get what they want. You choose whether blood will beshed first, or if we’ll do it the peaceful way.”

“I don’t want to listen to this bullshit anymore,” snapped another man, standing up. “I don’t care that you’re Mikael’s daughter. I’m not going to let a woman tell me what to do.”

The men around the room murmured in agreement, their approval of his words hanging in the air like a stench. I just leaned back in my chair and observed, letting them fight it out.

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