Read Online A Deal With the Devil by Abby Matisse - Free Book Online Page A

her ankle and repositioned the peas. Then, she nestled back into the sofa cushions and waited for Rob to get to the point.
    She didn’t have to wait long.
    “Listen, Mand,” —he hesitated for a moment and then said— “I need another twenty thousand.”
    Amanda shot to her feet, the peas plopped to the floor and a stabbing, searing pain blasted through her right leg. She flinched and shifted her weight to her left foot. “Twenty thousand dollars!” Her shout—fueled in part by outrage and part by the pain radiating from her wounded ankle—echoed back from the cabin walls.
    The door opened upstairs. Jake poked his head out and called down, “Did you say something?”
    Damn! For a second, she’d actually forgotten about Jake. Amanda flopped back onto the sofa and covered the phone so Rob wouldn’t hear her response. “No, sorry,” she called. “I was just playing with the volume on the television.”
    Jake closed the door and a few moments later, the shower turned on. Amanda put the phone back to her ear. “Sorry.”
    “Who was that? Is someone there with you?”
    Amanda groaned inwardly and repeated her lie. “No. I was just playing with the volume on the TV.”
    “Then why—”
    “Don’t try to change the subject,” she said. “I’d love to know where you think I’d get the money.”
    “Yeah, I know it’s sort of a lot.” Rob sounded sheepish.
    The lame admission wasn’t enough for Amanda; not after their endless discussions on the subject. “Sort of a lot? I’d say twenty thousand equates to a hell of a lot—especially on top of the money I’ve already given you.”
    “You know I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t really need it.”
    She knew no such thing. She tried to stay calm, but couldn’t mask the undercurrent of anger in her voice as she said, “Rob, I’ve cleaned out my savings and taken on a second mortgage. You know there’s nothing left. I recall being quite clear about my financial situation when I gave you the last loan.”
    “It’s expensive starting a restaurant. There are unexpected costs.”
    Apparently there were a lot of unexpected costs; for her .
    She drew in a long breath and tried to harden herself to his pleas. “What about your partners?”
    “Tapped out,” he said. “They’ve put in even more than I have.”
    “In that case, you and your partners need to apply for a business loan.”
    “It would never get approved. No one wants to loan money to a bunch of guys right out of college.”
    She couldn’t have said it better herself. So why had she done it? She’d asked herself the same question hundreds of times the past six months and still couldn’t figure it out.
    Almost immediately, guilt stirred and she could hear her mother’s voice, clear as day, reminding her to take care of Rob on his first day of kindergarten. As big sister, her job was to watch over him, to protect him. And since he was all she now had, she took her role very seriously. She didn’t consider it her job to question the wisdom of his hopes and dreams. She needed to be supportive. Her mother would undoubtedly tell her as much if she were still alive. And that—more than any other reason—is why she’d loaned Rob the money. She wanted to be there for him in the way her parents would’ve been.
    Still, her financial well had run dry. Any future support would have to come without monetary reinforcement. “You know I don’t have any money, Rob.”
    “Will you at least consider it?”
    Say no . She heard Kate’s voice, clear as day, inside her head.
    I am saying no. He’s not listening.
    She hated how she always felt compelled to justify her actions to Kate—whether in person or when she popped up inside her head as she seemed to do with increasing regularity. Kate’s evil twin—as Amanda liked to think of the disembodied voice—seemed hell-bent on harassing her every time she spoke with her brother and she was tired of it. She got lectured by the real Kate far too often