Page 84 of Sin and Deception

“You can mock me all you want, Xander, but that doesn't change the truth.”

“We would never mock you,” Theo said, his energy matching Xander's now. “We’re only stating facts.”

They were ganging up on me, communicating silently with each other, but I refused to let them intimidate me.

I lifted my chin. “Is that so?”

“You’ve changed, haven’t you, Nerine?” Theo asked, his sharp gaze darting down to my exposed cleavage and then back up. He cocked his head to the side, analyzing me with a hunger that made my skin tingle. “Not just your full breasts you keep displaying. Or that curvy ass you keep sashaying around us seductively. But motherhood. It changed you in deeper ways, didn’t it?”

He pushed a strand of hair away from my face, his fingers brushing my cheek and sending a shiver down my spine. I tried to resist their allure, but it felt almost impossible. My body fought against me every second of the way.

“You’re stronger. More determined. More serious now,” Xander added, stepping forward with an air of authority.

“Perhaps,” I admitted, taking a deep breath to steady myself. “But that doesn’t —”

“You want to seem more assertive. Is that right?” Theo interrupted me with a crooked smile as he closed the distance between us.

“Like I said, I’m in charge now.”

“Of the Angelos estate? Of the Angelos fortune? Of the fate of the Angelos name?” Theo said, shrugging nonchalantly. “Sure.”

“We’re not questioning that, are we, Theo?” Xander interjected without even glancing at him.

Theo shook his head slowly, and together, they approached me with a sexy, sultry confidence.

I swallowed hard at the sight of the raw, savage hunger gleaming in their eyes.

Taking a step back, I found myself cornered against my mother’s heavy wooden desk. It was her favorite piece—a seventeenth-century antique with intricately carved legs and corners, passed down through our family for generations. With my back pressed against it, I felt them closing in on me.

“No, we’re not questioning that at all,” Theo replied, his voice low and seductive, his intense gaze burning into mine. “But I believe it’s important to clarify who is in charge when it comes to our relationship, Angel.”

He reached up, cupping my chin and forcing me to meet his heated gaze.

“Surely, you haven’t forgotten that, Nerine?” Theo growled.

The bastards.

Rage and lust battled within me. Theo and Xander knew precisely how to provoke my feelings buttons. How to make my insides melt. But I wasn’t ready to give up that easily. I’d battle them every step of the way, if necessary.

“Our relationship is not relevant right now.”

My words were a dare that hung between us, taunting them. The truth was that even in our most vulnerable, primal moments, no matter how much dominance they chose to display, we all knew I was still in charge. With just one word, I could shut the whole thing down.

But that didn’t mean we didn’t enjoy playing the game from time to time.

“Now that we know Fiona is safe and we’re not in a rush to find her, maybe we should show you who’s in charge here. Unless you need some convincing first?” Xander spoke with a hint of menace in his tone.

His words hung heavily in the air between us.

“This isn’t a game,” I insisted. “I mean what I said. I’m the?—”

Xander scoffed, his eyes flashing with wicked intent. “You don’t quit, do you?”

“About my family? No. Never.”

He reached out and grabbed my wrist, his fingers encircling it tightly.

“Careful,” he warned, his voice dropping to a low, rough tone.

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