Page 19 of Deal with the Devil

Galfree snapped his head up and glared at Denver before letting out a massive huff.

Denver returned the glare, “Oh, don’t give me that.”

Amelia cocked a brow as Denver helped her off the saddle and a human stable hand took ahold of Galfree. She watched the stallion trot into a stall and flick his long hair as the stable hand worked to take off the accessories.

“Knox really likes horses, huh?” she teased, glancing up at the Centaur before her face fell in horror. “Oh, I mean, not like—”

Denver rolled his eyes, chuckling, “Not to fret, Ms. Armstrong, I knew what you were alluding to, and yes, Mr. Zrazduel has a love of horses and the great outdoors. He prefers his life outside the city and business inside it.”

“Mmm, now I wonder where it comes from, or is it just another one of his random life choices,” she murmured to herself, following the butler back toward the house.

“The horses are because of their speed. He likes running; clearly you understand he’s a fan of chasing something.”

Her face lit up in painful embarrassment as she let out a wheeze, “Yeah, I caught that.”

Denver grinned smugly, “But the outdoors is due to having lived in the city his whole life. He told me when he started hiring staff that he wanted a place he could escape.”

Amelia scanned the horizon, looking across the open yard and endless trees surrounding the property. “Yeah, I get that.”

She slapped her hand like a mosquito had landed on it and blinked suddenly. Glancing down to her palm, her heart skipped a beat. The mark was beginning to fade. “Oh.”

“Your contract is almost over, Ms. Armstrong.”

She whirled to face Knox as he strutted up the yard. Amelia was struck solid, staring at him confused. “Oh? So you weren’t kidding, it does just fade.”

He held up his hand and she saw the same symbol as if it weren’t fully filled in.So, it’s almost over then?Why did it sting? Oh yeah, because she was a fucking idiot and caught feelings. Knox was the bad boy of her dreams. She shouldn’t have but she knew herself too well. Amelia Armstrong had more than a crush, more than liked Knox Zrazduel, and she hated it. The whole point was just to trade, and she’d ended up tangled.

It wouldn’t sting so much if he didn’t kiss her.As he leaned over her, their lips brushed, and her chest fluttered. She grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him closer. He tugged on her lower lip before letting it go with a sigh. “Let’s get you packed up and ready to go.”

“What? Why?” she blurted out without even consideration.

“It will take about an hour to drive back into town and then some to get you home. I did promise. Our agreement is coming to an end.” He slipped away and left an ache in her chest as she followed him helplessly.

No, this is a good thing!Knox was a bad person—he was a criminal! She’d come, she’d given him what he wanted, and she was leaving with her freedom and her sister’s safety. This was a good thing, damnit! Yet, as he offered her a stack of clothing to go home in, she almost felt angry.He was just going to let her go like that?

He has to…the contract stated she left when twenty-four hours was up.

She pulled on the underwear and jeans, hating how perfectly they fit. The bra was nice and expensive, she knew the silky ones were ten times the price of cotton. Pulling on the simple camisole over it felt like an anti-climatic ending. This was their ending.

Amelia took a moment to brush her hair in the mirror of his bathroom, staring at her reflection as if it had any fucking answers.This is a good thing, and you should just let it happen.

So, she did. Taking a deep breath, she left the bathroom and found him sitting on the edge of the bed, staring down at his phone. She edged closer to him, “Everything okay?”

“Hmm?” He glanced up and flashed that shark smile like he’d done the first time she saw him. In the alleyway it was a danger sign with neon lights. However, after spending a whole day attached to him at the hip, it was more cute than dangerous.Maybe I should seek therapy.He let out a small chuckle, “Perfectly fine, business never stops and running an empire includes a lot of moving parts.”

“Have to keep track of all your worker bees, I get it.” She tucked her hands into her back pockets, sitting back on her heels.

“If I were a worse boss, I would simply let them handle themselves. However, some need more handholding than others, you understand. Working in retail, that is.”

She groaned, “Oh, don’t get me started.”

“Oh, I’m getting you started,” he snickered.

“Fine, but that’s your mistake. So, there’s this employee named Ravi at the bookstore I work at, and he’s currently the neediest mother fucker this side of King’s Fall. He asked me the other day how to put toilet paper on the hook in the bathroom—which, if we had one that takes a key or one of those fancy crystal dispensers, I get it—but it’s literally a metal hook with a rubber ball at the end. You twist the ball off and shove that fucker on. But I’ve shown him twice. I think he’s just acting dumb so people will stop asking him to do stuff, but Eloise doesn’t play like that. She’ll ask you a hundred times, and show you a hundred times, and has the patience of a god…”

And off she went on her tangent about retail and bad employees all the way down the stairs and into the foyer. Denver bowed his head to Amelia before wishing them a good journey, returning to his task at hand with the rest of the staff. He handed out jobs and checked off things on a clipboard. Knox stood by the door, a hand extended to Amelia. She took it, stepping out into the afternoon sunshine. It glittered against the glistening grass and leaves.

John came around the car and opened it for them. Sliding inside, she glanced down at her hand. With every passing second, a drop of the tattoo disappeared from her flesh.

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