Free Deal with the Devil by Stacia Stone Page A

over her features, but she’s doing her best to hide it. Probably because she’s about to ask me to do something that she knows I’m not going to want to do.
    “The real problem is that Cecile still thinks she can get at this money. Right now, it’s just threats to get me to sign it over. But eventually she and Mack are gonna figure if they can find a way to just get rid of me without getting pinned, the cash goes to her by default.”
    I’m surprised and a little impressed by how matter-of-fact she rattles it all off. Like,  oh yeah, gotta figure out what I’m gonna do when my own mother tries to murder me.
    I’ve worked hard to be stone cold. Makes me wonder what the hell Cecile must have done to Mara as a kid to make her like this.
    “What’s your point?”
    “I have to stick around long enough to make sure the will gets sorted out with courts. I also need to get the accounts in order and move everything around. Something tells me that Cecile got her hands on at least a few of Papa’s account numbers over the years. I can’t go back to school until that’s all done. But short of sleeping at the police station, I’m running out of safe places to stay.”
    “So you want to crash here for a while?”
    “Well, yeah.” She says that like she’s already been offered my hospitality for the duration. Presumptuous little brat. “But that still doesn’t stop them coming after me.”
    “Just spit out.”
    “Jesus, you’re impossible.” She blows out a rush of air. “The only way I can think of to protect my inheritance is to make sure Cecile and Mack know that if something happens to me, the money goes to someone else.”
    Her hands nervously clench and unclench in her lap. For anyone else, the movement would have been pretty much unnoticeable. But for someone as nonreactive as Mara, it means she might as well be sweating bullets. There’s something about this that I’m not getting.
    “What, like donating it to charity?”
    “It would have to be something that they wouldn’t want to go up against. Mack isn’t afraid of a charity.” She pauses and I realize what an effort it’s taking her to get this out. “But I think they might be afraid of you.”
    “You want to leave your money to me?”
    “No. I want you to marry me.”
    This crazy bitch . “No. Hell, no.”
    She glares at me. “You’d rather they just kill me?”
    I’ve done more for this broad than I have for anyone still breathing. But this is a bridge headed out into the ocean, or too fucking far as the saying goes. “I’m not doing that.”
    “It would only be temporary, just until I figure something else out. We can get an annulment after a few months.” Real fear flares in her dark eyes. “You are literally the only person that can help me right now.”
    “Sorry sweetheart. The answer is no.”
    I expect the tears that I think I see shining in her eyes to fall, but once again she surprises me.
    “You promised Papa that you’d take care of me.” She regards me solemnly. “Doesn’t that mean something?”
    “I sincerely doubt this is what he fucking meant.” The idea is so ludicrous that I want to look around for hidden cameras. This has to be some kind of prank because the universe wouldn’t be this cruel. “You want protection or someone’s head bashed in? That I can do.”
    “I’d pay you.” Her mouth sets in a stubborn line. “However much you want. Fifty thousand? A hundred?”
    “I don’t need your fucking money.”
    “It wouldn’t have to mean anything. I just need a piece of paper. You can go on living your life the way you always have after I go back to school. I just need something to keep Cecile and Mack off my back.” She stands and comes around the couch, her palms up in entreaty. “Look, I get you’re not attracted to me. But it’s not like I’m asking for a real marriage.”
    Not attracted to her?  Is that what she fucking thinks? After that searing hot kiss this morning, I pushed her away