Page 219 of Sinful Pleasure

We entered what I assumed was the living room, with Angelo closing the door behind us.

Maddox was still holding my hand, caressing it with his fingers. Angelo removed his jacket with a sigh before turning to look at us.

His eyes lingered on our intertwined hands for a brief moment before looking up.My cheeks flushed under his gaze.

It was so freaking awkward after everything that had happened. Not that Maddox seemed fazed in the slightest.

“So, does anyone want to tell me what’s going on here?” I glanced between the two brothers, searching for answers.

“We’re in a temporary alliance,” Maddox began, his voice deep, his gaze following Angelo as he leaned against the table in the middle of the room.

“Temporary?” Angelo raised an eyebrow, sneering as he rested his handson the table behind him.

“Don’t push your luck, brother,” Maddox cut him off in a warning tone, and Angelo laughed, shaking his head in surrender.

“What happened in the building?” I asked.

Angelo’s face shifted, his smile faded instantly as Maddox stared ahead. His face darkened as well, but not with rage, as usual—this time, there was something resembling sadness, which wasn’t typical for him.

“It’s over,” Maddox said, his gaze wandering around the room as if avoiding my question.

“But if my father is here…” I began, trailing off and shifting my gaze from Maddox to Angelo. “Where are Lydia and Martin?”

Maddox looked at Angelo, seemingly waiting for him to speak first.

“They’re dead,” Angelo said flatly, his words slicing through me like ablade.

I shifted my gaze to Maddox, waiting to see some reaction from him, but whatever he was feeling, he concealed it perfectly behind an inscrutable mask.

Martin’s death feels like a reward—victory, even. I know I might sound like a bad person, standing in the same room with his sons and saying this, but I’m glad he’s dead. He ruined everything he touched in his life, and he deserves this fate.

But Lydia… I can’t help but feel bad about her death, even though she wanted to kill me herself.

Maddox squeezed my hand lightly before speaking, “I promised you that you’d get revenge for Lara’s death. I always keep my promises.”

He did. He always does, no matter the cost.

I cracked a smile, shifting my gaze to Angelo, who was already staring at us.

“So, you had no part in your father’s plan?”

Angelo shook his head. “No.”

I nodded. If Maddox believes him, then I do too.

“And how did Mikael end up here?”

“My men captured him,” Angelo replied. “He went after you as soon as the shooting started.”

They had answers to all my questions, but it didn’t make the chaos in my head any easier to handle.

They say it’s all over, but I don’t feel that way—not when my father is here, and his life hangs in the balance, depending on the mercy of a man like Maddox, who has none.

“Now all that’s left to decide is what we do with Mikael,” Angelo said, looking between us.

My body tensed, knowing we had to decide the fate of my father.

“Leave that to us,” Maddox hurried to say.

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