A Deal With the Devil (32 page)

He folded his arms and his jaw clenched as he said. “I’m selfish.”

She glared at him. “You are. You had so much to say about Rob, I suggest you take a long, hard look in the mirror and I’m pretty sure you won’t like what you see.” She stalked past him, heading for the door.

“Where are you going?” he shouted.

“I’m going to the hospital to visit your grandfather.” She snatched her coat and purse off the chair and flung the door open, not bothering to look back.

* * *

The intensive care nurses finally kicked Amanda out at ten thirty and, by the time she let herself into the townhouse, it was well after eleven. Thank goodness Max was okay. But as her worry about Max dissipated, her anger at Jake had increased and it was now at a boiling point.

She trudged up the stairs and glanced down the hall. Light streamed through the crack under Jake’s bedroom door. It was all she could do not to race down the hall, throw the door open and give Jake the tongue-lashing he deserved. Instead, she tiptoed into her bedroom and eased the door shut.

Once inside, she opened her laptop and checked email. Sure enough, she saw a note from George. She clicked on the attachment and played the brand video twice. Her lips curved up. He’d done it. The video was genius. But instead of feeling triumphant, all she could think about was how she’d like to throttle Jake. She certainly didn’t feel like helping him at this point.

The video was poignant, emotional . . . perfect—exactly what she’d envisioned. A big part of her wanted to fly down the hall, thrust the laptop in front of Jake’s face and watch his reaction. He’d love it. But she couldn’t make herself do it. And it wasn’t because she wanted to keep it a secret as she’d originally planned. It was more than that. The truth was, at this point, the whole brand platform felt like nothing but a lie. And after all the deceptions she’d been party to in the past week, she couldn’t stomach another.

She jotted off a quick, heartfelt thank you to George and turned off the laptop. Then she brushed her teeth, washed her face and crawled into bed, trying to figure out whether she would use the video tomorrow or not. She didn’t feel like going at this point, but she couldn’t let Jake down when he needed her.

Jake knocked on her door. She pretended not to hear, hoping he’d go away. He didn’t.

The door opened. “Amanda,” he said softly. “Are you awake?”

She lay there, still as a statue, breathing deeply as she tried to mimic the sound of sleep and taking care not to move a muscle. Jake stood there for a long while. She couldn’t see him because her back was facing the door, but she could feel him, could sense his penetrating gaze studying her. After what seemed an eternity, he closed the door and plodded back to his bedroom.

Amanda rolled over and stared up at the silhouette of the ceiling fan. As exhausted as she felt, she knew she wouldn’t get any sleep. And it wasn’t pre-pitch jitters that would keep her awake. It was the selfish, emotionally-closed off man down the hall. The one who didn’t even care that his last living relative was lying in the hospital.

To think that she’d actually begun to listen to Jake as it concerned her brother. Had told Rob she couldn’t meet him tomorrow. Had convinced herself it was time to reevaluate her priorities so her brother didn’t always top the list. It was ridiculous. Jake had no business lecturing her or anyone else about anything that actually mattered. He could serve as the poster child for messed up values.

She shouldn’t have placed Jake’s pitch before Rob’s needs. What if he needed to talk to her about something important? She rolled onto her side, yanked the covers up to her chin and decided that, first thing tomorrow, she’d go see Rob.

And if that made her late for Jake’s pitch then so be it.

* * *

Jake was still at the gym when Amanda came down the stairs wearing a black business suit and carrying a briefcase with her laptop. It was nearly nine thirty and she would have to go right from Rob’s restaurant to the business meeting.

Before she left, she scribbled a note for Jake saying she’d meet him at Rand’s office. Then she dashed out the door and hailed a cab. Ten minutes later, the cab pulled up in front of the restaurant. Amanda paid the driver and stepped onto the sidewalk.

She looked around, but didn’t see Rob. Then she remembered. He didn’t know she was coming. Yesterday, she had told him she couldn’t make it. Amanda sighed and rooted around in her purse. She pulled out her cell and dashed off a quick text letting him know she was at the restaurant. Then she dropped the phone back in her purse and gazed about, taking it all in.

The place looked deserted—especially for nine thirty on a Monday morning. It certainly wasn’t bustling with construction crews the way she had expected. She decided to head inside. If he wasn’t here, she’d give him a call.

Amanda opened the door and walked inside, noting with satisfaction that the interior looked further along than the exterior suggested. The flooring had been installed and the drywall installed and taped. The walls looked ready to paint. And off to one side of the large dining room, tables, chairs and what looked like upholstered booths had been stacked on top of each other, still wrapped in plastic.

Voices drifted up from the back of the building. She followed the sounds, making her way through a series of dining rooms and the huge kitchen, stepping around power tools and over discarded drywall nails and piles of saw dust. The voices grew louder and seemed to be coming from behind a closed door that appeared to be a storage room. Amanda knocked once, then opened the door and stepped inside. As she crossed the threshold, she stopped short and her eyes widened in shock.

The room reeked of cigar smoke and stale beer. A bunch of filthy, bedraggled men with mussed hair and bloodshot eyes encircled a beat-up card table. Empty beer and scotch bottles littered the floor and a huge stack of cash and chips lay in the center of a table.

A few of the men glanced over their shoulders and then turned their attention back to the game. She opened her mouth to speak, but Rob materialized by her side and pushed her gently out the door, shutting it behind him.

He looked about to speak but she cut him off, her shock gone and replaced by a blistering, white hot rage. “What the
hell
is going on here!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Quiet.” Rob said, under his breath. “We don’t want to disturb them.”

“Speak for yourself. I’d love to disturb them.” She lifted her chin and reached for the doorknob.

“Stop,” he commanded in a voice slightly above a whisper. “These aren’t people we want to mess with.”

She stepped back and regarded him with disgust. “Which would be exactly why you chose to go into business with them, I guess.” She folded her arms and glared at him. “You
lied
to me on Saturday. You looked me
directly
in the eye and you
lied
to me. How could you.”

His eyes grew round. “Let me explain.”

She wasn’t about to listen to anything else from him. She slowly shook her head and her eyes searched his face. For the first time in years, she no longer saw the vulnerable, slightly awkward thirteen-year-old who’d just lost his parents. She saw what he’d grown into, what she’d helped to create—a selfish, self-absorbed young man who’d taken advantage of her, lied to her, for years.

Tears welled. She whirled around and ran blindly for the front of the restaurant. She tripped on a power tool, which sent her sprawling onto the floor, skinning her knee as the contents of her purse spilled out. She barely felt her skinned knee as she gathered herself up, brushed off her skirt and began grabbing items and shoving them back into her purse.

Rob bent down to help her.

“Get away from me.” Her voice shook with rage.

“I can explain.” His eyes implored her to listen.

“I’m not interested in hearing any more of your lies.” She stood and started for the door. He reached for her arm but she snatched it away, pointing at him. “If you know what’s good for you right now, you’ll get away from me and you’ll give me some space until I’m ready to talk.”

“Wait,” he said, his voice pleaded with her to listen. “You don’t understand—”

She stopped short and whirled around. “No,
you
don’t understand.” She glared at him, her hands trembling as they clutched her purse and briefcase. “I’ve spent the last ten years trying to make everything okay for you. I felt guilty and so inadequate that I was all you had; that mom and dad were gone. So instead of spending my time grieving and making sure
I
got better, it was all about you, making everything better for
you
.” Tears streamed down her cheeks and he looked about to interrupt, but she held up a hand and continued. “I know it was my choice. I know you didn’t ask me to do it. But I
wanted
to.”

“And I appreciate everything—”

“Stop! Stop the bullshit.” She drew in a ragged breath as she continued. “And how do you repay me for everything I’ve tried to do for you? You lie, you take my money, you lie again, you take more money and you get involved with shady people doing illegal things to start a business you’ve no idea how to run in the first place.” She gestured wildly toward the huge mirror leaning against the wall and said, “Take a long hard look in that and I think you’ll see what I see. You’re a liar.” She stared at him, her chest heaving. After a few moments, an eerie calm settled over her and she said, “I’m actually glad mom and dad aren’t here to see what you’ve become.”

Rob stared at her, looking dazed. “But…”

She held up a hand to stop him. “No, I’m not finished yet. I’m
done,
” she said quietly, brushing away the tears spilling down her cheeks. “I’m done making everything okay for you. I’m done trying to figure it all out while you wander through life happily causing one catastrophe after another. I’m done trying to be everything for someone who doesn’t appreciate it.” She drew a long, fortifying breath and then said, “From now on,
I
come first.”

She threw open the door.

“Wait,” Rob said. “Please.”

She stopped and turned back, her gaze swept over him, trying to figure out how things had gone so wrong. “You know, you never once stopped to ask how I was doing.” She arched a brow. “I lost my parents too. And actually, I finally realize I lost something even more troubling, if that’s possible. I lost myself.” She paused and was barely able to choke out her next words. “But you’re too selfish to see that, or care, I guess. And now, I feel like I’ve lost you, too.” She sucked in a long, shaky breath and stood up straighter. “I’m not sure I even know who you are anymore.” She shrugged. “Maybe I never did.”

Rob stood rooted to the spot as she turned and walked out the door. It swung closed behind her with a thud.

She stepped into the blinding sunlight of the clear November morning and lost herself in the bustling morning crowd. She plodded along in pace with the pack, numb and completely out of it for a long while. After several minutes, she glimpsed a park bench and made her way through the crowd towards it.

She flopped down and looked around her. Where the hell was she?

Amanda looked around and didn’t recognize the neighborhood so she scanned the skyline, searching for a landmark to give her a point of reference. She found Willis Tower, which was right across the street from the building where Jake’s pitch would happen.

She sat bolt upright.

After all the drama with Rob, she’d forgotten about Jake’s meeting. She pulled up her coat sleeve and peered at her watch. Ten forty five. Jake’s pitch started fifteen minutes ago. And she was on the other side of town.

Crap, crap, crap!

She sprang off the bench and raced to the curb, her laptop bag bouncing. She waved her arms wildly in an effort to hail a cab and practically had to fling herself in front of one to get it to stop. She ignored the glare of the driver, yanked the door open and scurried into the back, rattling off the address.

“Hurry please!”

Obviously irritated with her, the driver grunted and floored it; tires screeching as they peeled out. The force threw her against the back of the seat. She could feel the cabbie glaring at her in the mirror and she bit back an urge to ask him to keep his eyes on the road. Instead, she pretended not to notice and gazed out the window. At this pace, she could get there in ten to fifteen minutes. She might not be alive. But she’d get there.

No sooner had she formed the thought than they turned a corner and encountered a wall of unmoving, honking, exhaust-spewing cars.

Amanda let out a blood curdling scream and squeezed her eyes shut as they careened towards the stopped cars. The cabbie slammed on the brakes and they screeched to a halt. The sudden stop turned Amanda into a human bullet and she slammed against the front seat and then bounced back hard.

As she glared at the driver’s reflection in the rear view mirror, she could have sworn she saw him smile.

They sat there, unmoving for several minutes and neither spoke. The driver just muttered and occasionally pressed on the horn.