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The Deal With The Devil 45
VeronicaStefan and I walked back to the house in silence. He held my hand, his thumb making circles inside my palm. The air hung heavy around him, his mood dark. I wished he'd tell me what had happened between him and Stephen."Are you okay?" I finally asked before we went inside.He turned to me and rubbed my arms, backing me against the wall. His expression looked as though he had a thousand things to say, but instead of saying any of them, he cradled my head with one hand and leaned down to kiss me full on the mouth, his lips soft against mine, the touch intimate and sensual. Different than his other kisses. Not erotic. Not at first. When he pulled back, his eyes almost gleamed.I touched his face, and he flinched. He'd have a wicked bruise tomorrow."My intention when I started this, the whole time I planned it, I never thought about you. Not you as in flesh and blood and human. My brother is right to be worried. I keep telling you I won't hurt you, but I do, don't I?""Stefan—"
The Deal With The Devil 46
VeronicaOn the morning she was to fly home, we got up early and took a long walk around the property with Charlie."I'm not sure who you're going to miss more, me or him," I teased."Both of you. I wish I could stay longer.""I tried, but Grandfather wouldn't allow it." I left out the part about Stefan thinking it was safer for her to go home anyway."Well, maybe I can come back over the Thanksgiving break. We can show Maria what an American holiday is like.""You mean we cook a turkey? You and me?""Nah. We don't want to kill her." She paused, hesitating for a moment before reaching into her pocket. "Do you think when you see Stephen again you can give him this?" It was a sealed envelope.I took it from her hand, studying her, trying to work out how far I could go."What happened with you two?""Nothing. Not really."She turned to walk, and I stepped alongside her. She kept her eyes on the ground, but I saw the small smile creep along her lips."I don't even know how to describe it.
The Deal With The Devil 47
StefanMy fucking brother wouldn't stop dialing my phone. I guessed Veronica had called him as soon as I left, and I knew he wouldn't stop calling. Finally, after the eighth time, I answered."What is it, Stephen.""Where are you, Stefan?""I'm guessing you know that.""On your way to Moriarty's offices?""He's gone too far.""Veronica said you have a gun.""Do you propose I go without one?""I propose you don't go at all. Not until you've calmed down. He's not some two-bit thug we're talking about. He's a legitimate businessman—""There's nothing legitimate about him.""Unless you want to give him ammunition, you can't go into Florence with a fucking gun."He was right. I knew it. But fuck. "He sent a car after us. Us, Stephen. Veronica was with me.""I realize there has to be a meeting. Just not like this, not when you're out of control.""Aren't I always out of control? That's what you were telling me a few days ago with your fists, wasn't it?"He sighed. "I need to be there too. T
The Deal With The Devil 48
Stefan"You know, once upon a time, your mother, father, and I were very close.""Ancient history." I did know that. My father had gone to school with Moriarty when his parents had moved to Italy. He'd met my mother two years after that, and the three of them were once friends. For a short time at least."Still." He shrugged a shoulder."Wait a minute." I chuckled and looked around the room. I had a feeling the two leather armchairs the men sat on had been moved from the front of his desk so he would keep us standing. "Mind if I sit?" I asked, picking up a smaller, hardback wooden chair and carrying it toward his desk before he could reply. Stephen remained standing. "So, is that what all this is about?" I asked. "Is it what it's always been about?"His eyes narrowed just a little. I would have missed it if I wasn't paying attention. Stephen wasn't the only one who could read people."My mother?" I continued."Stefan," Stephen's low voice warned from beside me.Moriarty picked up a pe
The Deal With The Devil 49
StefanRage throbbed inside me, burning hot, pumping my blood with adrenaline. With a roar more animal than human, I tore free from the men who held me and lunged across the desk to fall on top of Moriarty, knocking his chair over, sending him to the floor. I wrapped my hands around his throat and squeezed, his fat flesh too thick to snap his neck. His eyes bulged, his face reddened as he struggled to breathe, but before I could kill him, I was dragged off and tossed against the far wall, a fist landing in my gut, then another, then another until I hunched over, gripping my middle. Someone kicked my legs out from under me, and I dropped to the floor. A shoe closed over my throat and held me down when Moriarty came to stand over me, kicking me hard in the kidneys.When I looked up, I saw how disheveled he looked, his tie askew, his shirt and suit splattered with what I assumed to be my blood. I laughed as one of his men kicked me again and again until I couldn't see straight."Get him
The Deal With The Devil 50
VeronicaThree weeks went by, and in that time, Stefan healed. I gave Stephen my sister's note and watched him when he took it. I don't know if I made up the fact that his eyes seemed to sadden a little when he looked down at her neat little script.Stephen returned to the seminary but came for dinner each night. Neither of them would tell me what happened that day, and Stefan grew more and more distant than ever. We hadn't made love once, not even as he'd healed. And he'd even told me it was more comfortable for him to sleep on his own and sent me to my room.It was the end of the second week when I overheard Maria sending Eric to fetch Stefan from the chapel for dinner."I can go," I said. "I've been sitting around all day anyway." I knew for sure now that he was avoiding me, so I headed toward the chapel. It was early evening, but the moon was bright. By now, I had a pretty good sense of the lay of the land. I saw a light on in the chapel, and although I wasn't trying to approach i
The Deal With The Devil 51
VeronicaI pulled his belt apart and undid the top button of his jeans.His hands covered mine, but he didn't stop me."That's what you want?"He leaned down, his face an inch from mine."You want a good, hard fuck? You miss my cock inside you?"He spun me around, bending me forward and slapping my hands hard on the altar."Keep them there. Don't fucking move."I gasped as he undid my shorts and tore them and my panties down and off, then shoved my tank top up and pushed my bra beneath my breast, so that when he bent me all the way over, the cold stone of the altar made me shudder."Ra—"But before I could even speak his name, he was inside me. He leaned over me and thrust in hard."You want to be fucked?"His breath was hot against the side of my face."You want my cock in your pussy? You want me to make you come?"I let out a groan as he thrust."Like a whore? Here? Before your God? Here, bent over his holy altar?"It should have felt wrong. I thought it would. This sacred place, us
The Deal With The Devil 52
StefanShe thought she loved me.Moriarty's rage was real. His hatred for me, it was because I was my father's son. He didn't care about the money he felt he was owed. That didn't matter. What he wanted was the decimation of my family. Because that was the only way he could have his revenge. Revenge against my mother for not having chosen him. Revenge against my father for being the one she had loved. The one she had chosen.He wanted the house, the land, to destroy it.I knew now he would stop at nothing. My life, it was forfeit. But hers? I couldn't let him destroy her because of me.I watched Veronica's sweet face, her trusting, innocent, hopeful eyes. She believed she loved me. The thing was, the moment she'd said it, I'd known it too. I'd loved her for a long time now.And that was exactly why I had to let her go.I hardened my face and stood.She remained kneeling at my feet."There's just one problem, Veronica. I don't love you." How my voice carried the power it did, I had no
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