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Grieving Highlander
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2024-04-01 01:55:55Related chapters
The Deal With The Devil Cards All Out On The Table
SiennaThere's so much stuff in the drawer that I have to tug it to get it out and when I do, something slips out and falls to the floor.I look down and it takes me a moment to process what it is.An American passport.I pick it up, open it and see the photo of me taken hastily in one of those booths at the mall. I remember Giovanni hadn't given it back to me after our flight. I open the folder wondering if his is in there too. Maybe for safe keeping? Makes no sense though.But when I open the top flap to see what's underneath, the air in the room suddenly becomes thinner.My missing flash drive, I'd forgotten about it. So much has happened that the last few days feel like months.But this, what I'm looking at, it reminds me. Abruptly and absolutely, it reminds me.And it's not the flash drive.This is worse.It's what's on the drive. It's all those files printed out. The police reports. The photographs. Everything.I think I would be sick if I had any food in my stomach.I'm unprepa
Last Updated : 2024-04-01The Deal With The Devil No Time To Die
SiennaMy phone comes to life, startling me.I catch my breath, put the sheet of paper down.Taking my phone, I absently enter my password and look at all the missed calls.I listen to the first from Deirdre telling me she'd work extra hours until I got back, then another from Jim at the garage telling me about a newer model Ford Escort that he just took in to sell and would I be interested? He says it's a good car without too many miles and makes a crack about my duct tape fender.The next two are disconnects. Probably wrong numbers.I think the one after those must be a wrong number too because it's silent at first but there's something different about this silence. It's not empty. I can hear whoever is on the line breathing.And when the caller clicks his tongue, I feel myself go rigid, feel myself grow cold as every hair on my body stands on end.How can a sound, the simple clicking of a tongue, have that kind of power over someone?How can it just erase years?Because it does jus
Last Updated : 2024-04-01The Deal With The Devil Back With A Vengeance
SiennaI find the number of the Brewster Clinic and dial. Someone answers there. I assume they have someone on twenty-four hours a day."Hello, I'm looking for a patient, Ciara Williams.""Ms. Williams is no longer a patient here, ma'am.""You mean she was released?""I'm afraid I can't give out personal information.""Do you have contact information for her?" I ask."Ma'am that is all confidential. We take care to protect our—"I disconnect, frustrated, then remember the other messages.One more of those is disconnected right away, but the next one, it's from Deirdre and it takes her minute a speak like she doesn't realize it's time to."Hey hun, I was hoping to catch you. I have something here for you. That man from the other day was back. Honestly, he was more than a little upset when he heard you weren't here again. Left something for you. An envelope addressed strangely to L. B. W." I can almost hear her shaking her head. "Just a sec, dear." I hear her say something to someone an
Last Updated : 2024-04-01The Deal With The Devil Go Get The Girl
GiovanniI'm walking back to the house from the cliffs beneath a heavy sky. The air is cool and damp. How I'd forgotten this. Vegas couldn't be more different and every moment I pass here the farther my life there feels. The emptier.At that, I think of Sienna.She's become important to me. A part of me. And it has nothing to do with our arrangement.My brother signed all the papers last night.I got everything I wanted.The house is mine as it should always have been. But even the text from Axel telling me they've finally picked up Williams doesn't help.I'm not in the mood for celebrating.A sound breaks into the perfect silence. I stop, turn my face to the wind and listen. It's coming from some distance, but it's there. And I know where it's coming from.Without consciously deciding, I begin to walk toward the source of the noise.The music grows louder and mixed in with it is the sound of a hammer pounding against wood.As I near the peak of the hill, the broken-down mews comes in
Last Updated : 2024-04-01The Deal With The Devil Levi's Jeans
SiennaMy phone keeps losing reception and I'm lost. It doesn't help that the rain's picked up again and it's cold enough that the roads are slippery.It's been ages since I've driven a stick shift and never with my left hand.The gears scream as I shift to drive up the next hill, trying to load the map on my phone again, my attention split.It happens so fast, the turn coming out of nowhere, the rain at its heaviest, the boulder on the side of the road. I look up and it's too late, I know it even as my foot instinctively slams the brakes.The tires screech, the car slips and swerves.I scream, clutching the steering wheel, realizing I'd never put on my seatbelt as the SUV collides with the boulder, the sound of metal crushing and my own screaming all I hear as something pops and my forehead collides against the windshield, the pain sharp and instant just before I lose consciousness.-------GiovanniThe car's stopped moving.She's not much farther, but I'm stuck, cursing as I wait fo
Last Updated : 2024-04-01The Deal With The Devil Tethering Propositions
GiovanniI give her that night and the next few days to rest. And all I can think about any time I look at her is what I'd thought, what I'd felt, when I'd seen her slumped over the steering wheel.It's five days later when I decide it's time we had this talk."How long have you known what's on that drive," she asks when I enter the bedroom.She's sitting up and Alice has just cleared the tray of food she'd brought up. Sienna's on bedrest. My orders."Long enough. You shouldn't have left like you did. You should have waited for me. Talked to me.""I thought Deirdre was in trouble. I thought—""You should have talked to me!" I slam my fist into one of the bedposts.Sienna jumps.I hold up my hand, mutter a curse under my breath. I don't mean to frighten her, but I do because she gets that look in her eyes, that one from the first night."I don't want to talk about it. Ever. I don't want to think about it. You can't understand what...I just...I wish I could forget. Why can't I forget?"
Last Updated : 2024-04-01The Deal With The Devil A New Day Has Come
Another deal with the devil."Our month isn't—" she starts."I don't care about the month. It's not enough. This is my home. It's been my home from day one. Declan's right. I should never have left. But past is past. And I'm finished with it."I'm staying here, Sienna. Reclaiming my place. I want to watch my nephew grow up. I want to be here with my grandfather. I will rebuild the house to what it once was. No, even better. I will make it grand, as it should always have been."I lift her hair over her shoulder before brushing her cheek."And I want you to stay here with me. Make this your home too.""You want me to leave everything behind—""What is everything? What is the life you've built in Vegas?"She shifts her gaze away and I watch her eyebrows furrow."What life?" I ask again.She looks up at me. "The shop.""You don't need the shop. I'll make monthly donations to the shelter.""It's Mrs. Adams' legacy, Giovanni. I can't just shut it down.""Then I'll buy it outright. Buy the w
Last Updated : 2024-04-01The Deal With The Devil Deluxe: The Mafia King's Most Prized Possession.
Note: This is a completely different story.Veronica Kingston didn't know Stefan Armando from Adam. When he showed up on her doorstep, demanding restitution for an old debt, she was convinced he got the wrong house. But he was sure he was at the right place, and her dear, old grandfather wouldn't look straight in the eye.She was to be that restitution. But because she was still a minor, Grandfather pleaded with Stefan to wait till she was eighteen to come take her.Running away wasn't an option. Stefan was a dangerous man. Head of the Tuscan Mafia, no hole would ever be big enough for him to dig if Veronica chose to hide. When her eighteen birthday came, Stefan claimed her, taking her to his Tuscan Castle, where the crumbling chapel, destroyed vineyard, and dark caller told bold tales of the man she was now married to.At last, Veronica discovered that getting married to Stefan was only the beginning of her hell.-------VeronicaChristmas 2015* * *The Christmas holiday was my fa
Last Updated : 2024-04-13
Latest chapter
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
