Page 12 of Sinful Pleasure

He was studying me, every inch of my face, like he was trying to read me in ways I didn’t want him to.

His eyes were dark, and cruel, like a storm brewing just beneath the surface. It made my blood freeze in my veins, and for a brief moment, my heart skipped a beat.

But I didn’t look away.He leaned forward, his biceps flexing under the pressure of the movement, and I couldn’t stop myself from noticing the way his muscles shifted beneath his shirt.

“I’ll give you a piece of advice if you want to survive in this world, Miss Delgado.” His voice was rough, a dangerous whisper that seemed to slide down my spine. “Don’t ask dumb questions. Your chance of staying alive is better like that.”

I couldn’t help the shiver that ran down my spine, though I tried to mask it with a calm expression.

“Noted.” I said, my voice cool despite the warning in his words.

And just like that, he left the kitchen, leaving me with nothing but my tangled thoughts.

My appetite was long gone, swallowed up by the weight of his words. The realization gnawed at my insides, but it wasn’t just the threat that lingered.It was the understanding that my entire existence now was at the mercy of people I could barely tolerate.

People who held the strings of my life and didn’t hesitate to pull when it suited them.

And Maddox — He was just another string in that web, an enforcer of the life I didn’t choose.

I wanted to scream. To punch the walls. To run. The walls of this house felt like a cage, a gilded one, but a cage nonetheless. But where could I go?There was no place for me to hide, no corner of this world that was mine.

And that was the hardest truth to swallow.

CHAPTER4

ALLYN

It’s been five days since my life turned upside down.

Five long, torturous days of being trailed by Maddox, the ever-present shadow in my life that I can’t shake off.

Every day feels like it’s stretching on forever, and every minute spent in his company leaves me more irritable and suffocated than the last.

We’ve been avoiding conversation since that disastrous night in the kitchen. When he practically threatened me, and though he wrapped it up in his usual cold arrogance, the message was clear: keep asking questions, and see what happens next.

And I have to watch him—every damn day.

And even though he keeps his distance while I’m at the shelter, it’s not enough.

I need him gone.

Back to wherever the hell he came from.

I’ve started requesting my meals in my room, away from the prying eyes of my so-called protector.

My room is the one space Maddox can’t invade, thank God for that.

And my mother—don’t even get me started on her.

She’s been blind to the way he treats me, insisting that Maddox is polite, respectful, and a gentleman. She is living in some alternate reality, because the Maddox I see is far from any of those things.

He’s arrogant, rude, and a walking disaster. A red flag waving around, daring anyone to ignore it.

Tonight is yet another peaceful night.

I’m stretched out in my bed, watching How to Train Your Dragon—for the third time this week—nibbling on caramel popcorn.

Just as I’m getting to my favorite part, my phone rings, and a groan escapes me.I glance at the screen,Tamara’s name lights up my screen.

---