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The Deal With The Devil 18
VeronicaMy heart beat hard as he swam out to me, his dark head parting the water like a shark as, with two powerful strokes, he was at my side, then had me cornered, his arms trapping me at the edge of the pool."One thing I learned early in life is never let your enemies see your fear." He moved in closer, his wet face inches from mine. "Never let them smell it on you because it's like a fucking drug." He inhaled deeply. "You can get high from it, Veronica.""Are you my enemy?" I asked, focusing on that one word. Unable to think about the rest. Knowing it was true."I'm not your friend, am I?""No.""Your eyes betray your desire, Veronica. Your hunger.""You don't see very clearly, Stefan.""I see very clearly. And I read you like a fucking book."I looked away, very aware of his body so close to mine, very aware of how my lips parted and my tongue darted out to lick them. And how he watched that little involuntary movement so knowingly."You're curious, Veronica. At least admit it
Last Updated : 2024-04-13The Deal With The Devil 19
Stefan"Look at me, Veronica."She did, and her pale eyes searched mine. Inside them I saw humiliation. I saw sadness. Uncertainty. I saw vulnerability, and I saw a loneliness, a longing, a hope, that I recognized. One I couldn't ignore. One that threatened to resurrect a part of me I'd buried long ago.One I intended on keeping buried.I knew only one way to shut it down, and I needed to shut it the fuck down. Now.Anger boiled inside me. Rage at my own weakness. My weakness around her."I own you," I said, gripping her jaw harder than I needed to and bringing her face to me."Stop!""When I want to fucking kiss you, I'll fucking kiss you." To prove my point, I mashed my lips over hers. This time, they didn't open. They didn't yield like they had just a few moments ago.Good. That was good. That was the point.I released her, and she tried to scramble away, scraping her thigh on the edge of the pool as she tried to slip out of my grasp but ending up on her back instead, with me on top
Last Updated : 2024-04-13The Deal With The Devil 20
StefanTake care when fighting the monsters you don't become one.My mom used to tell me that. All the time. It was her favorite fucking quote from Nietzsche.I fought for her too. I fought him. I always lost. I always knew I'd lose, but I did it anyway, and I took the penalties, endured the consequences.I guess I didn't realize when the transformation had happened. When the monster had beaten me. Had taken me over and made me like him. Like my father.I staggered to my feet like a drunken man and went into the house, up to my room, unable to even look at her closed door. I didn't bother to shower. I just pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, got into my car, and drove, not sure where I was even going until I pulled up to the seminary gates. I'd never been here before. It was while I was in prison that Stephen had told me his plans. We hadn't really talked much before that. Stephen and I, we were as opposite as could be. I guess, though, in a way, we were both surviving.My father
Last Updated : 2024-04-13The Deal With The Devil 21
VeronicaIt wasn't hard to avoid Stefan after the incident at the pool. He seemed to be avoiding me too. He seemed to have always eaten before I did, and I kept to my room when I didn't have to go downstairs to take care of Charlie. I didn't know where Stefan was most of the time, and I didn't want to care. But I did.He had two sides to him, and he flipped with deadly precision on a dime. His demons were so dark and so deep that when they reared their heads, when they overtook him, he was the scariest beast of all. A man filled with hate and vengeance. But wasn't it those very things that had broken him?But that fissure, it only made him more dangerous because that hurt, it could swallow me up too. It could destroy me like it was him.I could still feel him on my lips, his mouth on mine, his tongue inside my own when I'd opened to him. Like some fool, I'd yielded and so fucking easily. He hadn't even had to make me. If he made me, it would be easier. If he made me, I could hate him.
Last Updated : 2024-04-13The Deal With The Devil 22
VeronicaI gasped, but he swallowed the sound, his hand at the back of my skull holding me in place as his lips moved over mine, slow and soft, tasting me. When his tongue probed, I opened, and he slid inside. I tilted my head, and he pressed against me. When he did, I felt him, his hardness, at my belly.I would have stopped the kiss.I did.But he held me and reclaimed my mouth, and this time, urgency replaced the gentler exploration of moments ago. His kiss was hungry, ravenous almost, and his desire only seemed to wake the same inside me. I raised my hand and laid it against his arm, liking the feel of hard muscle there. Feeling somehow safe for it. My body eased, relaxing into him, and my eyelids fluttered closed.But then he broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against mine.His breath came heavy. His hands moved to my hips, holding me."I'm fucked up right now," he said. "You need to go upstairs."I raised my head to look at his face, into his eyes. They told so much he didn'
Last Updated : 2024-04-13The Deal With The Devil 23
StefanI sat in my study with the door locked, reading for the hundredth time the amendment to the contract that her grandfather had made. As much as I hated him for it, part of me wanted it, rejoiced in it.That was the sick part. The part I tried to warn her about. The part she felt sure didn't exist.I shook my head, my thoughts wandering again to last night. I should put a lock on that cellar door. I couldn't have her go down there again. I couldn't have her see what lay beneath those sheets. Hell, I should seal that door. Maybe then I could forget the things that had happened in that room.Last night was the first time I'd been there in more than six years. It was raining, and I had needed to go to the chapel. To the cemetery behind it. I hadn't shown Veronica that part when I'd shown her the small church. It seemed too personal, too private. My excuse to use the tunnel had been the rain, although it was flimsy. I didn't care about getting wet, and if I did, I could have driven.
Last Updated : 2024-04-13The Deal With The Devil 24
VeronicaI didn't see Stefan for three days after what happened in the cellar. Maria just said he'd gone out on business. I don't know how I'd missed him leaving the bed that morning. I wondered what time he had left. I hadn't even felt him move when he'd climbed out of bed. All I knew was I'd slept like a rock in the warmth and safety of his arms. This man who would steal me away—he was the one who made me feel safer than I'd felt in years. Ever since my parents had died.I'd been so young, but with Robyn being younger, I'd become her protector, in a way. It wasn't even a conscious thing. It felt good to finally let go. So good, it made me realize how I'd been holding on for so long.But what about Robyn now? What would happen to her, now that I was gone? Who would protect her?This idiocy about feeling safe in Stefan's arms, what was that? Shouldn't I feel the most afraid there?But the image of him that night in the cellar, of his eyes, I couldn't get it out of my head.Stefan Arma
Last Updated : 2024-04-13The Deal With The Devil 25
VeronicaThe door slamming against the wall startled us both. I jumped, gasping, and we both turned to look behind us. Stefan stood at the entrance of the chapel, one hand flat against the door he'd just smashed into the wall, the other fisted at his side, his face hard.Stephen stood. "Brother.""Cozy in here," Stefan said, his gaze shifting from his brother to me, the accusation in his eyes chilling. "I was looking for you.""You weren't home," I said, feeling guilty but not sure why."You shouldn't come out here on your own. It'll be dark soon.""You just disappear and expect me to sit around and wait for you?"Stefan ignored my comment but didn't deny it. He turned his attention to Stephen and cocked his head to the side. "What were you telling her?""He wasn't telling me anything," I folded my arms across my chest. "You disappeared," I repeated.Again, he didn't look at me. This was between the brothers."I always come to the chapel, you know that. I just happened to run into Ver
Last Updated : 2024-04-13
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The Deal With The Devil Epilogue
StefanSpring, One Year Later* * *She never did sign those annulment papers. My stubborn, beautiful wife.I stood drinking coffee at the kitchen window, watching Veronica talk to one of the workers. Charlie, full grown and weighing eighty pounds, never left her side.We'd come back to Tuscany a few days after the bank took possession of the house in Philadelphia. Robyn had come with us and would be starting her final year at a school in Florence geared toward gifted musicians.Thanks to their grandfather's greed, Veronica and Robyn had lost everything. Guardia Winery no longer existed, except as an example of corruption and destruction.Robyn never spoke about any of it. She rarely mentioned her grandfather at all. Veronica worried, but Italy was a good move for her. It got her away from everything, the past, the publicity, gave her anonymity again, and hopefully would give her a fresh start.I finished my coffee and set the mug in the sink before walking outside. Veronica waved whe
The Deal With The Devil 65
Veronica"Well, I wouldn't want to put you out. You've probably been busy tonight, putting someone else to bed." I didn't mean for it to come out angry like it did."Ah." He finished his drink and poured another. "The truth.""I never lie to you.""You did once.""When?""You lied to protect your sister."I felt heat flush my face. How had he known?"I haven't put anyone to bed but you since we've been together," he said, cockiness gone."Oh.""Did you really think otherwise?""I don't know what to think. You don't have to be married to me anymore. I'm really more of a liability now.""I think of you as a human being, not a liability.""But I'm not an asset either.""Human being. Don't feel sorry for yourself, Veronica. Shit happened to you. You survived it, and you will now move forward. Welcome to life.""Piss off."His face changed, hardening a little. "Be careful, sweetheart."Sweetheart. God, I loved when he called me Sweetheart. "I'm not feeling sorry for myself.""Then ask the
The Deal With The Devil 64
VeronicaThe house had never felt like home to me. I didn't want to stay here and wouldn't have if it weren't for Robyn. But she'd been closer to our grandfather than I ever had been. And she'd lived here for as long as she could remember.After the very public scandal, Grandfather took the plea deal he was offered, which meant a reduced prison sentence—they took into consideration his age—in exchange for full disclosure. He'd kept meticulous notes, so much like him. In addition to the notebook Robyn had found, there were three others. At least three that were uncovered. I wondered if there were more. If he'd ever tell us. The land in Italy was auctioned off, bought by Vincent Moriarty of all people. And what a deal he got. It was unfair, but it was also finished.I saw my grandfather during his sentencing. I watched from inside the courtroom. I didn't make physical contact with him. Seeing him like that, up there looking smaller, older, I wondered if there was something wrong with me
The Deal With The Devil 63
StefanShe finally quieted.Fuck. I hadn't come here to fuck her. I hadn't."You still want me to let you go?"She shook her head.I released her wrists and flipped her over onto her belly, then straddled her again, trapping her beneath me."I love you," I said, reaching over to grab the bottle of hand moisturizer she had on the nightstand. "But you're a pain in my ass." I drew her hips up, so she was on her knees. "Don't get up," I told her when she started to rise. I pushed her knees apart with mine and fisted a handful of her hair, pushing her face down into the bed. "Ass up, face down. Understand?""Stefan—"I slapped her hip—not hard, but enough to get her attention. She cried out and looked back at me from the corner of her eye."Understand?""Yes.""Good." I let go of her hair and twisted the lid off the lotion, squeezing about half the tube on her lower back. "Now like I said," I started, unzipping my jeans and pushing them and my briefs down, my cock like steel in anticipatio
The Deal With The Devil 62
VeronicaI felt stronger, like the effects of the wine were wearing off. Maybe it was the water or the coffee, but I had a feeling it was the anger inside me burning away the alcohol more than anything else.But then he said what he said."If you wanted me out of your life, you would have signed the annulment papers."And I knew it was true. He was right. If I wanted him out, I would have signed and put all this behind me."I've changed my mind, anyway. You're not going anywhere, Veronica.""Not until you have my signature, you mean? Did you bring a clean copy of the paperwork?""You're being stupid.""No, I think the word is naive. You used that once too, didn't you? You had my number all along. I was the fool to fall for it, for your tortured soul act. Get out. I mean it.""No.""Get the fuck out."He cocked his head to the side. "Fine. You want me out? Make me go."I narrowed my eyes and went toward him. With both my hands on his hard chest, I shoved him backward.Except he didn't
The Deal With The Devil 61
VeronicaI left by train from Siena to Venice that evening. Once I checked into a small hotel, I called the attorney who'd overheard my conversation with my grandfather and left him my address, telling him to forward any paperwork to me here. I called Robyn and told her I was in Venice, told her what had happened and what I'd done, and told her I needed to be off-line for a few days.I missed Charlie. I missed cuddling up with him on my lap, missed his unconditional love.The first twelve days I spent in bed, feeling sorry for myself.On the thirteenth day, someone knocked on the door. When I told whoever it was to go away, they answered that I had received a package.Reluctantly, I went to the door, cringing when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I opened it and took the large white envelope, assuming it was paperwork about Robyn's guardianship. I pushed the shutters and window open to let in some fresh air and sunshine. The room smelled stale, and it seemed my sadness had
The Deal With The Devil 60
StefanIt had taken all I had to turn my back on Veronica and walk out of that office. I knocked someone's shoulder on my way out but didn't look back, didn't apologize, couldn't stop. I went out the door and into the hallway and flew down the stairs and out the front doors where I stopped, gasping for breath, my hands on my knees, wanting to vomit.Lying to Veronica on the chapel floor, that had wounded me. But this? Today? Leaving her like that, signing that damned contract and walking out on her, it finished me. I'd promised her truth, and I'd kept my promise, finally. And it destroyed me.I straightened, wiping sweat off my forehead.I didn't remember walking through the city to the parking garage. Didn't remember driving home. As soon as I stepped out of the car, though, Charlie came running to me. I stopped and looked down at him. Watched him wait for the passenger side door to open, for Veronica to step out. He barked several times, ran back to me, tail wagging, then returned t
The Deal With The Devil 59
VeronicaAfter Stefan left the office, I stood in the room, staring after him. Staring at the space where he'd just been before falling back into my chair, my legs unable to support me.I wasn't sure what would be easier, thinking he didn't love me or knowing the truth. Although I guess I knew there was no easy. This would hurt. It would hurt for a very long time.My grandfather and the attorneys walked back into the room. No one seemed to take notice of me. Grandfather set the ring and pen aside and checked the signature on the contract."It's done," he said, handing it to one of the men who slipped it into his briefcase then clicked it closed. No one sat back down. "Gentlemen, thank you. I'll be in touch."They were shaking hands, almost at the door, when I spoke. "Why did you want the marriage consummated?"They all stopped. Someone cleared their throat. My grandfather turned to me, a coldness in his eyes that chilled me, then shifted his attention back to them."Forward official c
The Deal With The Devil 58
VeronicaStefan shifted his gaze from my grandfather to me, but his eyes revealed nothing. My hand rested in his. His thumb drew circles in my palm.The longer he took, the heavier the silence grew, the more tears welled in my eyes.This was it.Stefan and I were finished.My grandfather cleared his throat and rose from his seat. "Five minutes, or the offer expires, and you can take your chances on the payout." He buttoned his jacket. "I'll be outside."We didn't watch him go, and we didn't speak for an eternity after the door closed.Stefan stood and went to one of the two windows. "I thought you were dead," he said, his back to me."What?" I started, swallowing the lump in my throat.He faced me but remained where he was. "I have this nightmare—I've had it for six years now—where I keep seeing the fire at the house, keep running inside to save my mother, and keep finding her too late."A weight heavy as a pile of bricks settled in the room with us."Well, it changed over the last fe
