Page 18 of A Corruption Dark & Deadly

"Bruce," she snapped. "Don't make me ask you twice. I know you called me here for a reason. What do you want?"

"I need you to ask Jericho for another five grand," he said seriously.

Annie's mouth dropped open. He wasn't being serious, was he? No, from the way his eyes were looking directly in hers, from the strained look of his mouth, the clenched jaw. He was serious, but more than that, he was desperate.

"What the fuck, Bruce?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and clenching her own set of teeth together. "You are not seriously asking Jericho for more money, are you?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "No, of course not. You are. Or, you will be, I hope." He gave her a sheepish smile.

Annie blinked. This could not be for real. No way was her brother asking her to ask Jericho for even more money on his behalf.

"Huh, no," she said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why in the hell would you assume I would do that? You finally paid him off, using my house, and now you want more? What could you possibly want more for?"

"I want to install a fireplace," he told her. "I just finished the central heating and air conditioning. It's the last thing I need and then I can put the place on the market and turn a kick ass profit. Come on, Annie. Please. Please do this for me."

"If I do this for you," she said slowly, making sure to lock eyes with him so he would know just how serious she was, "I don't want to hear from you for a very long time, Bruce. I am done with your bullshit. I want you to stay away from me. I want you to stay out of my life. Do you get that? Is that clear?"

"Annie," Bruce said but Annie cut him off.

"No, Bruce, I'm serious," Annie told him. "Is this favor really worth it? I'm all you have and you're all I have. Is five grand really worth losing me over?"

"Annie, this is my dream," he said, his eyes wide and pleading. "I'll finally be able to have something to call mine. I'll be able to manage a property, making consistent income, and be in charge of something. I've been working so hard for this."

"No you haven't," Annie said. "You took a loan and invested in it, sure, but you didn't have any type of way to pay Jericho back so you gave him the house as collateral. Now, you can't even ask him for an investment yourself. I have to do it."

"Annie, if you could see the cabin, you would understand," Bruce said. "Please don't make me pick between my sister and my dream."

"So you still want me to ask?" Annie asked, her tone, a warning.

At least Bruce had the foresight to look guilty. At least he took his time to really consider her offer. And, when he gave her an answer she didn’t expect – and yet, somehow, knew was coming – she understood what it was like to have a broken heart. It wasn’t when a boyfriend or a husband betrayed her, although that hurt in its own right. But when someone you loved and depended upon, someone in her family that always took care of her and was always there for her, did the betraying. That was the definition of a broken heart.

“Yes,” he said with a nod. “I still want you to ask.”

She hated him in that moment. If she didn’t have the self-restraint she had, she would have leaped out and clawed his eyes out. How could she not, when owning a piece of property he could manage was more important than being with his sister.

Perhaps he didn’t take her threat seriously. He probably thought she was all talk, no action. The thought made her even more furious than before and she couldn’t even be in the same room with him anymore.

“Fine,” she snarled, throwing her arms over her chest. “Go get him. Tell him I’d like to speak to him. But Bruce, I swear to God, I will not forgive you for this. There’s nothing you’d be able to do to make up for what you’re doing. Do you understand?”

Bruce didn’t get a chance to respond before a knock interrupted them. Bruce furrowed his brow, surprised by the interruption, but went to open the door anyway.

There was Jericho, standing with a silver tray of Eggs Benedict and cranberry juice with ice. He barely regarded Bruce except with a courteous nod of his head before bringing the tray in the room and setting it on his desk. Annie immediately inched closer to the tray, the strong scent of potatoes teasing her senses.

“He brought you breakfast?” Bruce asked in a low voice. The tone was clear: what was going on between the two of you?

Despite the fact that the answer was clearly nothing, Annie didn’t think it was any of his business. She was certain Jericho also heard the question – judging by his tone, it was more like an accusation than anything else. Instead of responding, however, he decided to take his seat across from Annie so that the desk was between them and smiled at her.

“I guess I’ll leave you to it, then,” Bruce muttered.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jericho said, standing up. “Did you finish your business?”

“Yeah, we did, sir,” Bruce said. “Thanks for letting us use your office.”

Jericho turned to Annie and gave her a questioning look. She sighed through her nose, not quite sure how to respond, not quite sure if she should respond.

Deciding it would be best just to be blunt, she said, “He wants more money.” She shook her head. “He texted me the next day, asking for this favor. I bet you anything he was going to ask you for more money before paying you anything.” She groaned, rolling her eyes. “I-“ She hesitated. She was going to apologize. She never thought she was going to apologize to someone like Jericho before but she couldn’t help it. Not when her brother was an ass. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to do it. Unless you want to. I guess he wants to install a fireplace and it’s the last thing he needs to do to complete the cabin. I feel bad for even asking so don’t feel as though you actually need to do it.”

His smile grew wider with each word she said.