Page 71 of The Devil's Deal

“I only want to show Mr. Smith how well I’ll be enjoying this pool that he so kindly allowed me to use.”

“I can call him for you and you can ask him yourself.” He reaches into his pocket.

I raise a palm to stop him. “Oh, no, don’t bother him. I’m sure he’s working. I’ll tell him all about it when he gets home.”

“All right, ma’am.” He opens the door for me, leading into acres of greenery and the bluest pool I’ve ever seen.

“Thank you.” I smile triumphantly and walk right outside.

Chapter Twenty

Dominic

I shouldn’t have allowedher to get close to me last night, to help me with my wound. It made her think we’re friends.

We’re not.

We never will be again.

The last time I allowed her to get close, she broke me. Shattered me into pieces. And I’ll never let her break me again. Some wounds never close. They only fester, gnawing at the pain, reminding you they’ll never forget what you wish you could. And I remember all of it.

The shit I did earlier in the kitchen…man, I don’t know what I was thinking.

I wasn’t. That’s the fucking problem. I never am when she’s that close to me, looking at me like she’s about to claw at my clothes.

This attraction between us is on a whole other level. If I let her, she’ll have the power to sink her venom into my flesh and spread her poison through me. I can’t trust her. I can’t afford to, and neither can my heart.

The girl I once thought I knew tore my heart while it still beat for a friendship I thought we had. And the woman now? She’s no different.

I grip the back of my neck as my assistant, Camille, fills me in on my meetings today, her voice drifting in and out of my thoughts.

“You have a meeting today at four with Damian Prescott of JDG Global,” I think she says. “It’s regarding the security for the…hotels.”

I roll my chair closer to my desk, looking up at her, pretending I heard whatever the fuck she said. She flips her blonde hair past her shoulder, her dark brown eyes waiting for me to respond.

“Okay,” I throw out casually.

Enzo has a thing for her, even though she’s about fifteen years older. But then again, he has a thing for any hot female. If it weren’t for me putting a stop to him getting with her, he’d probably break her heart and make her quit. Not happening. She’s good at her job and has been with me for the past two years. I’m not starting fresh with someone new.

She taps a few more buttons on the tablet I supply all my staff with and peers down at me from beneath her glasses.

“Let me know if there’s anything else you need.”

“Will do.”

She walks out of the office, and I get back to work.

* * *

Hours later, my burner cell—the phone reserved for my enemy—goes off with a text. A surge of anger fills me as I take it out of my pocket, unlocking it.

Opening the text, I read his words, clenching the phone so hard it almost breaks in my palm.

Faro: You don’t know what you’ve done. I thought we had a deal. Now you’ll die. I took one brother. I’ll take them all. Then I’ll kill you like I killed your father. On your knees. Begging.

My breathing comes out in a mangled strain. My heart pounds inside my chest. I squeeze the phone so tight, it digs into my palm with an ache before I throw it across the room. It crashes against the wall with a heavy thud.

The hatred for that man runs through my veins, filling me with savagery. There’s nothing I want more than to watch him die. I crave it more than oxygen. It’s the only thing I’ve lived for since he took them from me.

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