A Corruption Dark & Deadly (A Dark & Deadly Series Book 3) Read online

  "Annie Brennan," he said, sliding out of his seat to walk toward her. He stretched out his hand, the look in his eyes never wavering. "Bruce's little sister. It's a pleasure to meet you."

  Annie stared at his hand. Bruce nudged her hard, grabbing her attention. She didn't want to touch Jericho, didn't want him to touch her. Annie clenched her jaw but placed her hand in his. It was surprisingly soft and warm and when his fingers closed around hers, it covered practically all of her hand.

  "Your brother talks about you all the time," he continued. His touch lingered a beat too long before he gently released her hand. His eyes still sparkled as he looked at her and Annie could understand why so many women fell for him regardless of his enormous wealth. "It's nice to finally put a name to a face."

  She pressed her lips together and nodded in acknowledgment. There was really nothing else for her to say. In fact, she didn't want to say anything. She didn't want to offer him any sort of information he could use against her at a later time. She took his offered seat even though she wanted to stand, and bent her head forward so her long blonde hair covered her face. She liked the long hair, liked hiding behind it when it was convenient for her. She rarely wore it up, afraid if she did, people would really see her and she didn't like the feeling of such exposure.

  “Will she be joining us?"

  "I can stay here," Annie said. She didn't particularly want to know what was going on; she didn't want to know what business Bruce had gotten himself wrapped up in. She just wanted to be inside, somewhere dry, until Bruce was finished and they could leave.

  "Nonsense," he said. "We'll have our discussions here." He stood behind a bar stool and offered it to her. "Would you like to sit? Let's get this started, shall we?" Jericho said, taking his own seat across from Annie. He did not offer a seat to Bruce and she couldn't figure out if that was on purpose or if he hadn't thought to do such a thing.

  Regardless, Bruce grabbed his own seat and placed it next to Annie.

  "It's been about a year since I lent you fifty grand," Jericho said.

  Annie blinked. Before either could continue, she said, "He lent you how much? We did not spend fifty thousand dollars on our parents' funeral, Bruce."

  "Annie," he hushed out of the side of his mouth, not even looking at his sister. Not because he was ashamed of her behavior, exactly. More because he wanted to keep his eyes on Jericho, which was probably a good idea since Jericho had lent Bruce fifty grand and was expecting him to pay him back.

  "Don't Annie me," she snapped. "Why would you borrow that amount of money from Jericho? Not only is he your boss but he..." She cut her eyes over to the man in question, who smirked at her. His eyes somehow remained on her, not bothering to look at Bruce for any reason. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that and didn't bother to think about it all that much. She clenched her jaw to keep the rest of the sentence in: but he's a criminal.

  "Sir, I apologize for my sister," Bruce said, staring at Jericho. "We typically go out to dinner and I was already on my way to pick her up when you called."

  "There's nothing to apologize for," Jericho told Bruce but he kept his eyes firmly on Annie. "Are you saying that you weren't aware of your brother's debt?" He tilted his head at an awkward angle, almost like some sort of feline. The gesture was graceful and smooth.

  "Yeah, she-"

  Jericho cut a look to Bruce, one that clearly stared this was a warning and to tread carefully. "I was asking your sister," he said.

  Annie swallowed. There was a small, rebellious part of her that felt flattered by his lack of dismissal, that he took her presence here seriously. But the more prevalent part of her was curious as to why he was being so nice, as though he couldn't possibly be being nice just to be nice. There was a reason for it, something he wanted from her. What that was, she didn't know.

  "No," she said, shaking her head once. "I didn't know he borrowed that much money from you. I didn't realize I had to worry about that."

  "You don't," Bruce said with a hint of exasperation in his tone.

  "Hey," Jericho snapped, his voice low and dangerous. "Don't talk to your sister like this. Honesty is a good thing. It helps you learn about people." He turned his attention back to Annie. "So he didn't tell you about the loan? Interesting, because he said as an accountant, you would be the perfect person to assist him on some kind of payment plan in order to ensure I got back my loan in a timely manner."

  Annie clenched her jaw. "You told him what I do for a living?" she asked through gritted teeth. "What the hell did you use that money for, Bruce? Because four grand covered the funeral expenses and a year later, you mean to tell me you spent forty-six grand and don't have anything to show for it?"

  "That's what the meeting is for," Bruce explained.

  "I'm sure Jericho called the meeting because you weren't paying him back," Annie said through gritted teeth. She crossed her arms over her chest, cutting her brother a look she hoped screamed absolute fury with him. "I'm sure this night is your fault because you couldn't, for the life of you, be responsible for anything. What did you spend that money on? Concert tickets? Parties? Going out to eat every damn day?"

  "Annie," Bruce said. "I understand your frustration-"

  "I'm not frustrated, Bruce," Annie corrected. "I am literally angry with you. Angry. I don't think I've ever been angry with you but I am now."

  "Okay," Bruce said defensively. "Okay, I get it, but-"

  "No, you do not get it!" Annie exclaimed. "Do not tell me you get it. How could you possibly get it? I never borrowed that amount of money before."

  Bruce gave her a sideways look. "Oh, and what about your student loans?" he asked. "Don't you owe like seventy grand back? Not including the interest that's accumulating?"

  "That's different," Annie said. She could not believe he would think of comparing borrowing money for further education and borrowing money from a known criminal he happened to work for because he needed the money for God knew what.

  "Why?" Bruce asked, a flicker of annoyance in his tone. "Because you say it is? Why do you get to decide that?"

  "I don't," Annie said. "But my education is bettering my life."

  "Is it?" Bruce asked doubtfully. "You make good money at your firm but you can't afford to live in the city. A good portion of your check goes straight to your loans. Yeah, maybe you're taking a path that will lead to marriage and children and security but that doesn't mean your life is better than mine. You don't get to decide that."

  "I borrowed money for an investment in my future," Annie said. "I will continue to promote, I will make better money, and I will pay off my loan."

  "Same here," Bruce said, his gaze unflinching.

  "Then why are we here?" Annie asked. "And, by the way, you never told me one way or the other what you spent that money on. Oh, I'm sorry, invested." She did air quotes around the word invested, clearly not believing he did such a thing.

  "Don't get nasty," Bruce said. "I invested it. Not that it's any of your business but I invested in property. There a cabin in the middle of nowhere that I'm working on to fix up and rent out by next winter. There is nobody around for miles. Just think about it. What a perfect romantic getaway, right?

  "That's what the meeting is for," Bruce continued. “I'm hoping to have it fixed up, completely furnished. I'm nearly finished with it. I have a huge tub in the restroom and just installed a water heater. I'm working on doing central air and central heat soon, too. Maybe in the next week or two. I've been putting a lot of time into this place, starting to get a real estate license to look into doing a couple of open houses in the next few months. I really thought about it. I put a lot of time and research in this. Yeah, maybe I never went to school like you or graduated with honors but I still read a lot and I still network and make friends with those people who have that experience." His tone sounded defensive and as Annie listened, she couldn't help but feel a tad bit guilty for completely writing him off. "I haven't spent one cent of that fifty grand on myself."
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  "Fine," Annie said with a curt acknowledging nod. "How are you going to pay Jericho back?"

  From the corner of her eye, she noticed Jericho push up his brow and turn his attention to Bruce. He seemed to be interested in Bruce's response, which would make sense, since he had given away fifty grand to a guy who wasn't the most responsible person on the planet. Perhaps fifty grand was nothing compared to what Jericho's wealth actually was but it was still a decent amount of money and if the agreement was that that was a loan, Jericho had a right to want it back. The fact that this was the first time Jericho asked for a meeting a year after he first lent it was mind-boggling to her.

  "I was thinking he could get a stipend of the profit I make from the cabin," Bruce said, shifting his eyes over to his boss. "Once I get tenants in there, you and I can split the bills and any fees we require them to pay. The best part is, it's practically passive income once I finish up the cabin. We won't have to do much of anything once everything's finished except repairs."

  Annie didn't know much about business but she knew this was a shit offer.

  "So," Jericho said, furrowing his brow as he looked at Bruce with a questioning look on his face. "You want me to wait even longer for you to pay me back - not the full amount that I loaned you, but to take my money in payments on the off-chance that you get people to rent the cabin. Am I understanding correctly?"

  Bruce nodded slowly, not recognizing that he was prey being led to his death by a predator.

  "Okay, you're meeting with a realtor," Jericho continued, using his hands to gesture. "That's great. But as of right now, the cabin isn't finished and nothing is set in stone. So what you're asking me is if I'll continue to trust that your business plan will work out exactly the way you want it. On top of that, you will not be paying me back in full, you'll be paying me back in installments which are all contingent upon you having tenants who pay their rent. Does that sound about right?"

  "Uh, yeah?" Bruce said, taking a moment to let Jericho's words sink in.

  “If you were a businessman and you loaned your employee fifty thousand dollars, an employee who assured you he would pay you back in full within a year, would you accept being paid this way?” Jericho asked, quirking a brow. He didn’t sound angry, just conversational. Annie was surprised at how much patience he had, to be honest. She felt a twinge of respect for the man who was making her heart flutter.

  “I would hear him out, at least,” Bruce replied.

  “Fair enough,” Jericho said. “However, I’m afraid to tell you that I will not be accepting your offer to go in with you on renting a cabin out in the woods. I require monetary payment and I require it in the next five minutes.”

  “I don’t have that kind of money,” Bruce told him. “I thought once you heard my idea, you’d be all in to help me rent out the place and earn income that way.”

  “Why would you assume that?” Annie asked through gritted teeth, leaning forward so her hair blocked her face from Jericho. “Why the hell would you think that? Jericho, fucking Jericho, calls a meeting with you. Shouldn’t that send alarm bells, like, I don’t know, maybe he fucking wants his money back? Maybe? And you show up to this meeting completely un-fucking-prepared, thinking Oh, I’ll offer him a portion of rent if I get tenants. Do you realize how stupid you sound?”

  “No need to be a bitch about it, Annie,” Bruce said.

  She sat back in her chair, flinching at his words. Bruce had never called her names, even when they were younger and fighting. He wasn’t that sort of guy.

  “Hey,” Jericho snapped in a low, dangerous voice. His eyes were a piercing grass-green color, and embedded in the irises, they held a warning to Bruce never to say that word in his presence again. And if Bruce decided not to heed the warning, he would suffer consequences. “Do not call your sister – or anyone, for that matter – that word again. I don’t care if I’m around or not. Have some respect.”

  Bruce didn’t say anything. Annie could tell he was biting his lip, chastised.

  Jericho turned to look back at Annie. “I don’t appreciate it when women are referred to in any derogatory way,” he explained. “Even if they’re quote-unquote acting like a bitch, it just tells me the individual has little to no vocabulary because he has to resort to something as lowbrow as name-calling.”

  Annie felt herself agree with him, surprised.

  “Sorry,” Bruce shot out, more defensive than sincere. Annie was certain that if Bruce hadn’t been lectured by Jericho, of all people, he actually would have meant the apology. “What if I gave you something else, instead of money? Clearly, I don’t have fifty grand. I invested it and I have the receipts to prove that to you. Since I don’t want to give you the property I purchased nor do I have fifty grand to give you now, would you be open to receiving something worth more than that?”

  Jericho quirked a brow. “I’m listening,” he said.

  “My house,” Bruce said.

  “What house?” Annie asked, furrowing her brows. “You don’t have a house.”

  “Mom and Dad’s house,” Bruce explained quickly. “It’s in Eastvale, just outside the city. Three bedrooms, two and a half baths. Easily worth two-fifty, three if we fixed it up a bit.” His eyes were wide. “What do you say?”

  Chapter 2

  There was no way this was happening. There was no way this was real.

  “You can’t do that,” Annie pointed out, but even her own voice was weak as she snatched the contract her brother – her stupid, hard-headed, prideful brother – had signed so she could read it for herself. However, she knew they were screwed. She knew Jericho had the money to cover his ass; everything was probably locked in place.

  She didn’t have a home anymore. All because her brother was an idiot.

  Jericho cocked his head at her, his pale green eyes boring into her with an intensity she hadn’t expected. She swallowed, unsure of how to react to his penetrating stare.

  “Yes,” he said slowly. Annie wanted to avoid locking eyes with him. She wanted to avoid engaging with him in any way, but he had this ability to make her feel like she was the only person in the room when he stared at her. Like she was a sun among stars. It made her feel odd things in her bones – hesitant, cautious, but also… curious. And they had only known each other for perhaps twenty minutes. “Yes, I can. Feel free to read the contract for yourself. I’d be happy to wait.”

  Annie clenched her jaw, causing it to pop. She cast a sideways glance at her brother, wanting him to know just how furiously pissed she was, if he didn’t know already.

  “Is there any way for us to get it back?” she asked with a tight voice. She was looking at Bruce but she knew he wouldn’t be the one answering.

  “Not as far as I’m concerned,” Jericho said. His silky voice slid down Annie’s spine. She suppressed a shudder and forced herself to look into his eyes without reacting.

  “And why would you want a three-bedroom house just outside the city?” Annie asked. She saw Jericho’s two bulky bodyguards glance at each other, almost as though they didn’t expect anyone to question Jericho. Jericho did whatever he wanted; the fact that he was being questioned in the first place was unexpected and they weren’t sure how to handle it. Maybe she should learn to keep her mouth shut around Jericho. “You have a penthouse at Greene Building and a mansion in the suburbs. You don’t need my house.”

  “True,” he replied. The corners of his lips were tilted up, but he wasn’t smiling. Except in his eyes. The pale green seemed to be sparkling with amusement. “I don’t need it. But when do I ever buy things I need? I want your house because your brother borrowed money from me and has yet to repay me. Instead of making him work for free, I figured I would give him the opportunity to give me something of equal value in return for my generosity.”

  “It isn’t generous if you expect something in return,” Annie snarled.

  “Annie,” Bruce snapped. He had never been a strict older brother, letting their parents be parents. In fact, he nev
er raised his voice when it came to Annie. But when he did, when he snapped, she listened.

  “Don’t snap at your sister,” he instructed Bruce, though he kept his eyes firmly on Annie. “She’s just concerned what’s going to happen to her. I didn’t realize you had someone living in your home when you offered it to me as compensation.”

  He tilted his head at an odd angle, reminding Annie of a cat. “You have told me about her, however. I just didn’t realize…” He let his voice trail off.

  There was something odd about his stare, something in those pale green eyes that was hard to discern. It was an answer to a question she hadn’t thought of, and it didn’t seem like he particularly cared one way or the other that he stared so openly at her. Not even in front of her brother.

  Then again, why would he? Jericho had all the power in this relationship. He could do whatever he wanted without consequence. Annie bit the inside of her bottom lip. She wished she had the courage to say something. She wished she could be one of those girls she watched in movies and read about in books who was sassy without a care in the world and defied any challengers or annoyances with a single glare. At five foot three, slender, with blonde hair and hazel eyes, she didn’t see herself as intimidating in the slightest. The best she could do was meet his gaze with a steady one of her own, showing him that she wasn’t afraid of him even if her heart was racing. She didn’t have it in her to have a flippant attitude, especially since she wasn’t quite certain how it would affect what was going on right now.