Read The Devil To Pay for Free Online

her a level look. “I didn’t exactly give you much choice.“
    “No, you certainly didn’t,“ she agreed. “Are you always this overbearing and intimidating?“
    “Goes with the territory,“ he explained dryly.
    Emelina shut her eyes briefly in dismay. “Yes, I suppose it does.“
    “Well?“ he pushed with a hint of challenge.
    “Well, what?“ She glared at him. “Am I going to accept your too-generous offer? Not on your life!“
    “Not even for the sake of your brother?“ he murmured insinuatingly. “Doesn’t your loyalty to him extend as far as
    engaging the best available expert?“
    Emelina surged to her feet, aware that she was being pressured, and furious at the man in the booth for applying
    the pressure. Her eyes went almost green as she leaned over the table, palms planted firmly on the Formica. “I will say
    this one more time, Julian Colter,“ she hissed through her teeth. “I do not want your help. I don’t need your help. This
    is my business and I will attend to it. I have no intention of finding myself under any obligation to someone like you.
    Have I made myself perfectly clear?“
    Julian watched her over the rim of his coffee cup. His face was set and hard, and his dark eyes were pools of
    unfathomable danger. “Very clear.“
    “Good, I’m glad we understand each other!“ Emelina straightened and turned on her heel, anxious to leave him far
    behind. But Julian’s voice caught her just as she was about to stride toward the door.
    “Keep in mind, Emmy, that whatever your fears about me, I’m the one man in the neighborhood who might be able
    to really help your brother.“
    Emelina shoved open the cafe door, violently aware of the eyes of the local people following her out into the street.
    They couldn’t have overheard Julian’s last remark, of course, but they were bound to be deeply curious about her
    relationship to the mystery man in their presence.
    Damn! Damn! Damn! What a disastrous turn of events! Head down, hands shoved into the pockets of her jeans,
    Emelina berated herself during the entire walk back to her cottage.
    No one but a fool would deliberately get herself in debt to a man like Julian Colter! In debt to the Syndicate? The
    Mob? The Mafia? Whatever the proper term was, she sure as hell didn’t need that kind of trouble!
    Visions of movies and books she had read on the subject leaped into her mind. Newspaper stories of famous
    personalities who had found themselves obligated to an underworld figure haunted her as she let herself back into the
    cottage. Her vivid imagination found no end to the frightening images it could conjure from such material.
    And then she thought of her brother. Keith had agreed to let her watch the Leighton house for a few weeks, but if
    at the end of that time nothing happened that could be useful in a fight against Eric Leighton, he was determined to
    turn the whole thing over to the authorities and let the chips fall where they might Emelina muttered another string of
    rather explicit oaths as she considered the damage that could be done to her brother’s flourishing career if his past was
    brought up and used to embarrass him publicly. Her brother might be disgusted enough with Leighton to take his
    chances, but Emelina couldn’t bear the thought of seeing everything he had worked for during the past few years go
    down the drain.
    Keith deserved his success, and she was going to see that it wasn’t ruined by a vicious, scheming blackmailer like
    Eric Leighton! Emelina began to pace the floor as she considered her options. Brow furrowed, she beat a steady path
    between the front window of the old cottage and the kitchen counter. She had to get something on Leighton. And she
    only had a few weeks in which to do it. Keith would take matters into his own hands if she didn’t accomplish
    something quickly. It had been all she could do to convince him to let her try her own plan.
    But there had been absolutely nothing to see during