"You look unusually fresh today, Boss," Mathias said, raising one eyebrow. He and Max had been waiting in Severin's office for an hour before Severin finally appeared. That in itself was strange—Severin was almost always in his office unless something urgent pulled him away.
Severin took his seat, lit a cigarette, and looked back and forth between Maxen and Mathias.
"I heard your mission went smoothly again this time," Severin said, exhaling a plume of smoke as he waited for the twins to state their reward.
Whenever a mission went well, there had to be a reward. Usually, it was money, and Severin would have Nikhael handle it—but their presence here today meant they wanted something else.
"I want someone released from prison," Max said. Severin studied him. If memory served, Max was the older of the two, though only by mere minutes.
"What's the charge?" Severin asked, taking a drag from his cigarette.
"Attempted murder," Max replied quickly.
"Alright. Just give Nikhael the name and the prison. I'll get it done," Severin said, then turned his attention to Mathias, who sat right beside Max.
"And you? What do you want?"
"Nothing," Mathias said with a shrug. "I just want to enjoy myself. Hopefully, the next mission doesn't come too soon. I need a break."
Severin gave a slight nod of his head, a silent signal for the twins to leave. "You're free to enjoy yourselves here until the next assignment comes in."
The twins bowed slightly and left Severin alone in his office. He ran a hand back through his hair, jaw tightening at the memory of what had happened the night before, how foolishly he had fallen asleep in the same room as the woman Lucien had sent.
And even worse, he'd slept the entire night without realizing it. Fortunately, he'd cuffed the woman. If she hadn't been restrained, there was a very real possibility he wouldn't have woken up this morning. The first real sleep he'd had in years might've been his last.
Severin brought the cigarette to his lips again, inhaling as images of last night returned.
When exactly had he fallen asleep?
After he'd shoved himself into her mouth, after each time he struck her for disobedience, after finishing on her face, Severin had stepped back, seated himself on the sofa, and stared at his "masterpiece": bruised, soaked, and shackled.
He didn't even remember closing his eyes. It wasn't until Nikhael knocked on the door and called out that he'd woken. He had assumed it had only been two hours, his usual limit. But when Nikhael said morning had arrived, Severin realized something was wrong.
For years, Severin had battled insomnia enough to consult Malric multiple times. Malric had even prescribed him sleeping pills, which Severin never once touched. Not even when his body screamed for rest, not even when the migraines got unbearable, not even when the shadows beneath his eyes darkened into bruises.
He had never allowed himself the weakness of sleep until last night.
Sleeping pills left him vulnerable, dull, and unaware. If Severin took them, he wouldn't be able to wake at the slightest noise or sense someone moving near him. That kind of weakness was dangerous. Anyone could kill him in his sleep if he let his guard down.
And yet, without any sleeping aids, Severin had finally managed to sleep deeply. At first, he thought it was a fluke. The first time he slept with Isolde, he'd slept for more than two hours, just one hour longer than usual. It was unusual, yes, but Severin dismissed it as a coincidence.
The second time he slept with her, it was more of an experiment. He wanted to see if sleeping with Isolde again would make him rest longer. But something she said provoked him and ruined the entire night. He didn't enjoy it. He ended up injuring her, split her forehead open, and then ordered his guards, who were meant to stand watch, to punish her instead.
As expected, he didn't sleep any longer than usual. Two hours, no more. Then, he had to leave for Mexico. So, he decided it was all just a coincidence. Isolde had nothing to do with his sudden, deeper sleep.
At least, that's what Severin believed until last night.
This morning changed everything. For the first time in what felt like forever, he woke up without that familiar pain pounding in his skull. The constant headache from chronic sleep deprivation… was gone.
.
.
.
Of all the people Isolde might've expected to run into at Devils Allure, her ex—Maxen—was nowhere on the list.
The same Maxen she had walked out on the night he whispered another woman's name—Olivianne—while inside her. That moment shattered her. She ended things right then and there.
As far as Isolde knew, from what she'd last heard, Maxen had gone to prison for some criminal offense. She never bothered to look into the details. From the start, she had always expected Maxen would end up there. His life had been spiraling for as long as she knew him.
It was Maxen who first introduced Isolde to drugs, who taught her things about pleasure, including the kind that bled into violence.
And now… she wasn't the only one stunned by his presence. Liraine and even Nikhael looked shocked. If they were surprised to learn Maxen had once been Isolde's lover, Isolde herself was amazed by the fact that Maxen was here, standing beside a man who looked exactly like him.
What had he just said? Twin?
Since when did Maxen have a twin brother?
Isolde had dated him for a whole year and never once heard of it. Then again, she had never known much about his personal life. Maxen had always been guarded.
She hadn't even known where he got the drugs he brought her; every time they met, he'd hand her something, and soon after, they'd end up having sex under the influence of ecstasy.
Back then, Maxen had been Isolde's most excellent escape from her problems.
Until he ruined everything and deepened the hatred she already held for her little sister, Olivianne.
Liraine pulled Nikhael away, giving space for Isolde and Max to talk. The man who looked so much like Max seemed to understand and silently stepped back, leaving Room 429, leaving Isolde and Max alone.
Max studied her, his eyes taking in the bruises scattered across Isolde's body, all marks of Severin's brutality the night before.
"I didn't expect to see you here," Max murmured, his gaze sweeping slowly over her disheveled state, her naked body hidden only by a blanket, the bruises on her skin a deep shade of violet.
"I didn't expect to see you in a place like this. Not like this," Isolde replied, lowering her head, her fingers clutching the blanket tighter. Shame flooded her, shame at being seen like this by someone from her past, reduced to nothing more than Severin's toy, a prisoner.
It hit differently when someone who knew her saw her like this, especially considering how proud and arrogant she had been. And now? Now, she was the one being stepped on.
"You're hurt," Max whispered as he gently touched the corner of her swollen lip. "How did you end up in a place like this?"
Isolde pressed her lips together, unwilling to explain to her ex the series of foolish decisions that had landed her here.
"The last thing I heard about you," Max continued, "was that you were in prison. Your sentence wasn't over yet, so how the hell are you here?"
His question made Isolde pause. He knew? He knew why she'd been imprisoned?
She turned her gaze away. "None of your business."
Max reached for her fingers. Isolde tried to pull away, but she didn't have the strength to resist. Her wrists were already wounded from being cuffed all night.
"I looked for you, Isolde. I went to the prison where you were being held, but they always said you refused to see visitors. I thought you were still angry with me, that you never wanted to see me again."
Isolde looked at Max, irritation bubbling beneath her skin. The way he was looking at her—like she was still his whole world like she was still his—disgusted her. As if the way he'd treated her in the past hadn't made it clear he didn't love her at all.
"Why do you even care? We ended a long time ago."
"You ended it. On your own."
"And did you come after me? Try to fix it? No—you didn't even try. You disappeared—"
"I was in prison."
Isolde fell silent, her expression shifting with surprise at his sudden confession. She'd heard about it, yes, but she didn't expect him to admit it out loud.
Max looked at her and took a deep breath as if steeling himself to finally be honest.
"You always knew I wasn't a good guy, Isolde. You knew I was trouble. No man who introduces you to ecstasy is good. I was a dealer. I'm sure you figured that out a long time ago—but you just chose not to ask."
Max was right. Isolde had suspected it for a long time, suspected how he always seemed to have a steady supply of pills and how easily he got his hands on so much of it.
"You were caught while dealing?" Isolde asked quietly. Max nodded, but a second later, he shook his head, leaving her confused. What was that supposed to mean, yes or no?
"I was being chased by the cops. Mathias got away with the drugs. They didn't know we were twins, so it was easy for one of us to escape with the evidence while I drew their attention. While I was fleeing, I drove too fast and hit someone. That's why I was arrested. I was released after Mr. Severin paid the victim's family a large sum of money."
Isolde nodded slowly. "But that still doesn't justify what you did. Even if you never got the chance to apologize to me because you went to prison, you still said someone else's name while you were sleeping with me. You said my sister's name."
Max rubbed his face roughly with both hands. "That wasn't me, Isolde. That was Mathias."
Isolde's brows furrowed sharply. "What did you just say? Mathias?"
"I told you, I was already in prison. Perhaps your friends told you afterward that I was arrested, and you assumed it happened after we broke up. But the truth is, I was already in prison before that. The one who was with you that night, the one who slept with you and stupidly said Olivianne's name—that wasn't me. That was Mathias."
Isolde's grip on the blanket covering her naked body tightened. Mathias? Max's twin brother?
Was she supposed to feel relieved by this revelation that it wasn't Max who had said Olivianne's name while making love to her? Or should she laugh at herself for being so stupid, for not realizing she had been played by Maxen and Mathias?
Max's explanation didn't make her feel better. If anything, it made her feel worse. It made her feel pathetic, like a joke, like her feelings were just toys for everyone to trample on.
"So all this time, you had a twin, and you never told me? And all this time, you were switching places, taking turns sleeping with me without me even knowing?" Isolde's voice cracked. She knew Max could feel the fury lacing every word that left her mouth.
Slowly, Max nodded. And that single nod was enough to make Isolde sick to her stomach. She felt like vomiting, imagining the two of them laughing together every time they'd pulled it off without her noticing.
"Get out," she whispered, voice barely audible. She didn't need this. She didn't need Max. Severin had already drained all her energy last night, and Max's confession was bleeding her dry.
"Get out. I want to be alone."
"But Isolde, you still haven't told me why you're here—"
"You don't need to know. Let me remind you again we're over. Now get the fuck out. I don't want to see your damned face again."
"Isolde, you have to tell me how you ended up here. If you just let me, I can help y—"
"I SAID GET OUT!" she screamed, using the last of her strength. The sound of it finally made Max back away and turn around, leaving her alone as she slumped back against the headboard.
…