Page 149 of Sinful Pleasure

But here we are, and nothing has changed.

Even after everything, I’m still weak for him.

“I want one night with you, Allyn,” he demands. “That’s all.”

I grip the table, my fingers trembling, cheeks burning.

“You wish.”

“Just to talk,” he clarifies, his voice smoother, almost like a promise. “Nothing else.”

Asking.Maddox King doesn’t ask — he takes what he wants, whenever he pleases. I’ve learned that the hard way.

But right now, he’s playing it differently. He’s looking at me like he’s sincere— like there’s no hidden agenda behind his words.

I can’t tell if he’s fooling me or if I’m fooling myself.

Then, suddenly, he steps back. The coldness of his absence hits me like a punch. It was so unexpected.

I’m gripping the table, my legs shaking.He lifts his hands in the air— like he’s surrendering, trying to earn my trust.

“I’m staying here for two more days,” he says, pulling out a business card and handing it to me. I glance down at the name of the villa he rented.

“Think about it.”

And then he leaves, and the world feels like it’s crumbling around me again.

That’s the Maddox King effect.

One look, and everything I thought I’d healed from, is shattered.

I thought I had the cure for him.

But I was wrong.There’s no cure.

You just have to find a way to survive it.

CHAPTER45

ALLYN

Feelings are weakness.

Mikael hammered those words into my mind during my training over the past few months. Each time he said it, the phrase took root deeper in my soul until I believed it as an undeniable truth.

I’ve learned to suppress my emotions, locking them away in a tiny, impenetrable box deep inside me.With no feelings, there’s no pain.

No surprises. No vulnerabilities. I was untouchable.

Or so I thought.That illusion shattered the moment my life crossed paths with Maddox King again.

For months, my hatred for him and his family had been my driving force. It fueled my every step, a fire in my chest I could not extinguish. I fed the darkness inside me, honing it into a weapon meant to destroy them.

I wanted them to suffer. Maddox King didn’t deserve the hold he still had on me—not after everything he did.

And yet, here I was, sitting outside the villa he rented, clutching the slip of paper he gave me.It surprised me that the place wasn’t guarded. I expected a fortress, but yet again — is Maddox King.

He didn’t need anyone to protect him.

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