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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
The Deal With The Devil 53
VeronicaI don't know how long I sat in the chapel like that, but by the time I got back to the house, a single light was left on over the stove and Stefan's car was gone. Charlie was the only one waiting for me. The moment I opened the door, he nudged his little nose around the corner, and I bent to pick him up and hug him to me.What had happened in the last three weeks? Had it been in those weeks that Stefan had come to the realization he didn't want this? Didn't want me? Or was this the truth all along? Was I just blind?I really thought he'd cared about me.No, more than that.I thought he loved me.A sudden chill made me shudder, and I carried Charlie up to my bedroom.When Stefan had stood like he had, with me kneeling at his feet, when he'd looked at me, I'd seen something so strange in his eyes. So at odds with what he was saying. At least for one single and very fleeting moment.Once inside my room, I set Charlie down. He circled my legs twice then looked up at me with his b
The Deal With The Devil 54
StefanIt was close to midnight by the time I got home. My attorney had worked overtime, getting the paperwork for the sale of the house in order. I'd been ready to sign, but we'd hit a snag. A document the buyer had to provide, and he hadn't. I guessed the holdup was the fact that it was the weekend, and Italians didn't like working weekends. I'd hoped to get everything signed and finished today. The less I had to think about it, the better. And the faster I could do what I'd told Veronica I'd do—let go of the past.And once I'd signed, I couldn't change my mind.Selling the house was my last resort. I hated to do it. Stephen hated me having to do it. But there was no other way. Moriarty wasn't fucking around. I couldn't take a chance he'd hurt my family over this. It wasn't worth it.As I walked past her room, I tried hard not to think about her at the chapel. Not to see her face when she'd knelt at my feet, looking up at me when I told her I didn't love her. I just needed to rememb
The Deal With The Devil 55
StefanIt felt like a trapdoor had opened up underneath me. I stood there holding the phone to my ear, trying to make sense of what she'd just said.The buyer had a representative, and all the paperwork was being done over wires and faxes—as old-fashioned as the latter sounded. The buyer had been missing one legal document that was necessary for the sale to be acknowledged by Italian law. That holdup was the only reason I hadn't signed over the property today.I'd tried to find information on the buyer, so had my lawyer, but everything pointed to a company in southern Germany. It hadn't occurred to me once that would be a front. The offer had been above the value of the land. Why in hell would Marcus Kingston want to buy this house? This dead land?"Are you still there?" Robyn asked."I need to find your sister. Robyn, does your grandfather know you know?""No. I overheard something he said, and I snuck into his study when he went out for dinner. I just knew something wasn't right.""
The Deal With The Devil 56
Stefan"Veronica!"I tore my shirt off to cover my mouth and nose and ran to the stairs. Thick smoke made it impossible to see."Veronica, where are you?"Nothing. Not from her.But a bark.I stood at the top of the stairs and looked down the hall at the last door. The one farthest from me. More barking. It was Charlie.The hallway seemed to grow longer as I moved, too slowly even as I charged, battling the nightmare, the demons who kept replaying that reel, over and over and fucking over again."Veronica!"Something crashed behind me, a beam falling, the ceiling opening to the sky. Choking, I went forward, reaching the door. Charlie's barking was continuous now."Veronica. I'm here." I touched the door handle. It burned. Wrapping my T-shirt around it, I turned it.In the nightmare, it was locked. It was always locked, and I had to break the door down. That's what always slowed me down. I could never reach her in the nightmare. Not when it was my mother. Not when it was Veronica. But
The Deal With The Devil 57
VeronicaArson.Somebody had deliberately set the fire that destroyed Kingston Winery.Two weeks had passed, and the information Stefan had received from his source was confirmed by the official investigator. My grandfather had arrived the day following the incident. He hadn't brought Lina with him. I hadn't seen him yet, although I would later today. I wasn't sure how I'd be able to look at him, knowing what Lina had told me. What she'd found. Evidence of what Stefan had told me about Grandfather's transfers of money. More than that, more information that would leave the business vulnerable if it ever got out.I didn't tell Stefan what Lina told me. He took good care of me while I recovered, spending time with me during the day, having dinners in my room sitting beside me on the bed. When he touched me, it was tenderly, but nothing more than that. Not once did we talk about what had happened at the chapel. It felt like the elephant in the room, but neither of us brought it up. As muc
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