Page 159 of Sinful Lies

When I left Aspen and landed in New York, I’d headed straight to the gym in the penthouse. I had to burn off the rage, the nerves, that ticking bomb inside me. I ran for what felt like fucking hours, my feet pounding the treadmill, sweat pouring down my face.

But it wasn’t enough. Not even fucking close.

I grabbed the heavy weights, slammed them onto the walls, and sent glass flying everywhere, shattering the gym.

Everything had clicked when his words had come rushing back.

He had been in the Hamptons when my parents took me for my birthday, staying a couple houses down.

His fucking house, the one he’d bought because his spoiled daughter Spencer liked it.

When my parents called the cops, he’d played the good friend—helped them search for me, all while hiding the truth: he was the one who had fucking kidnapped me.

All these fucking years, he had been right under our noses, slithering around us, poisoning everything he touched with his venom.

The bastard who had scarred me for life.

Jade must’ve felt the heat of my anger, because she moved closer, her knees pressing into the couch, her hands grabbing my face.

“How did you find out?” she asked.

“A feeling.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Kill him.”

“Like you killed his mistress?”

My eyes locked onto hers, brows furrowing.

How the fuck did she know?

She read me like an open book, her hand threading into my hair, pulling me just close enough. Her lips brushed mine.

“I put two and two together, Lazzio. I told you I’mveryclever.”

Her lips grazed mine again, her breath warm.

“Sì,” I rasped. “Lo uccido, come la sua amante. Senza pietà.”

“Senza pietà,” she repeated, her tongue sliding over my top lip, a deep groan tearing from my chest. “No mercy.”

I grabbed her hips, pulling her closer until she was straddling me, her sweet body pressing into mine. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, fingers digging into my skin as she leaned back, giving me just enough room to see the way her chest moved with every breath she took.

My hand moved up, brushing her hair out of her face, the soft strands slipping through my fingers.

“Would you kill me too, if I betrayed you?”

I grabbed her throat, my fingers tightening just enough to feel the delicate pulse beneath my palm.

I pulled her closer, until her lips were a hair’s breadth from mine.

“No,amore. I could never kill you.”

Just the thought of her lifeless body on the floor, void of her soul, made my stomach twist in disgust. It was a vision so wrong, so fucking unnatural that it churned something deep inside me.

She smiled, the curve of her lips brushing against mine. “Why?”

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