Dealing with the Devil

By M.E. Clayton

What do you do when you have no choice but to make a deal with the devil?

You pray.

Devi
Devi Westland did her best to keep her head down and stay out of trouble. She lived a quiet life as a waitress, and while she didn’t live in the best neighborhood in town, it wasn’t the worst. Happy with simplicity, she was content in life, even if she had only one friend and a brother who often found himself in a little trouble. Things could be worse.

When Devi discovers that her brother’s ‘little’ trouble isn’t that all that little this time around, she realizes that things can be worse. Since he’s the only family she has left, Devi has no choice but to help him in any way she can. However, when one deal goes horribly wrong, the last thing she’s expecting is a savior in the form of one of the most dangerous men in the city, Cassius Sire.

Cassius
Cassius Sire did his best to stay out of the spotlight, content to run things from the shadows. He lived a dangerous life where he made sure his legal ventures camouflaged his illegal ones. With his brother and best friend at his side, he feared nothing. While he was a legitimate businessman, the streets knew who he really was, and he liked it that way.

When a hypnotizing, stunning, heterochromia gaze peers up at him from a face that’s too beautiful to be real, Cassius’ entire world shifts on its axis. Always the businessman, that philosophy flies out the window when he’s approached by Devi Westland, and she explains the mess her brother has put her in. Drawn to her in a way he’s never experienced before, it’s no longer just business. Now, it’s personal.

When the line between good and bad begins to blur...
As Devi finds a way to save her brother, she quickly realizes that she’s way in over her head, but how smart is it to expect help in the form of an underground criminal? However, what choice does she have but to accept it? Her options aren’t good, but then neither is her unwise attraction to Cassius Sire.

As Cassius does everything he can to save Devi and her degenerate brother, he quickly realizes that he’s way in over his head where this woman is concerned, but the hell if he’s walking away. While he never expected to fall under Devi Westland’s spell, Cassius has, and he’ll do whatever to protect what’s his.

While Devi is doing everything that she can to get out of her brother’s mess, Cassius is doing everything that he can to make it happen. However, nothing is guaranteed when you make a deal with the devil.

NOTE: This book contains adult language, adult situations, explicit sexual encounters, violence, gun use, and murder. If sensitive to any of the aforementioned issues, please do not purchase.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.E. Clayton
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005270261

M.E. Clayton

M.E. Clayton works fulltime and writes as a hobby only. She is also an avid reader and Pinterest addict. When she's not working, reading, writing, or on Pinterest, she is spending time with her family and friends, or her dog, Boy, or her cat, Seatbelt. She lives in California with her husband and enjoys doing nothing but reading. Seriously. She does nothing but read. However, that's how she likes it.

Book preview

Dealing with the Devil

Copyright 2020 Monica Clayton

Published by M.E. Clayton

All Rights Reserved

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. The entire content is a product of the author’s imagination, and all names, places, businesses, and incidences are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), places or occurrences, is entirely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner, whatsoever, without the express written consent from the author, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Formatting: Smashwords

Cover: Adobe Stock

Warning: This book contains sexual situations and other adult themes. Recommended for 18 years of age and over.

Table of Contents

Author's Note

Contact Me

Dedication

Prologue

1. Cassius

2. Devi

3. Cassius

4. Devi

5. Cassius

6. Devi

7. Cassius

8. Devi

9. Cassius

10. Devi

11. Cassius

12. Devi

13. Cassius

14. Devi

15. Cassius

16. Devi

17. Cassius

18. Devi

19. Cassius

20. Devi

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Other Books

Author’s Note

Just a couple of things before I let you go and get your read on. While I am doing my best to work with better editing and proofreading software, all my books are solo, independent works. I write my books, proofread my books, edit my books, create the covers, etc. I have one beta who gives me feedback on my stories, but other than that, all my books are independent projects.

That being said, I apologize, in advance, for the typos, grammar inconsistencies, or any other mistakes I may make. Since writing is strictly a hobby for me, I haven’t looked into commitments in regard to publishers, editors, etc. My hope is that my stories are enjoyable enough that a few mistakes, here and there, can be overlooked. However, if you’re a stickler for grammar, my books are probably not for you.

Also, I am an avid reader-I mean an AVID reader. I love to read above any other hobby. However, the only downside to my reading obsession is when I fall in love with a series, but I have to wait for the additional books to come out. And because I feel that disappointment down to my soul, when I started publishing my works, I vowed to publish all books in my series all at once. No waiting here…LOL. Now, the exception to that will be if enough readers request additional stories based off the standalone, such as in Facing the Enemy. At that point, if I decide to move forward with a requested series, I will make sure all additional books are available all at once. As much as this is a hobby for me, I am writing these books for all of you, as well as myself.

Thank you, for everything!

Contact Me

I really appreciate you reading my book and I would love to hear from you! Now, unfortunately, because I do have a full-time job, and a family I love spending time with, at this time, I’m afraid it would be very hard for me to maintain a multitude of social media sites. However, for the sites I do participate in, here are my social media coordinates:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Email

Newsletter

Dedication

For Kim –

The hero in this book doesn’t have a plane, or property all along the Eastern Seaboard, or home in Malibu and Hawaii, or a family hotel in New Orleans, or eighteen college degrees, or is eligible to collect Social Security. However, he does have the back and arm strength for wall sex, and he does have a nine-inch penis. So, you’re just going to have to make do with that.

Prologue

You have no idea how it pains me to have to do this.

Alvin was lying.

Keith knew this.

Alvin got off on this kind of shit. If Alvin wasn’t a piece of white trash from the East Side of Rockford, Keith imagined Alvin would be a Mob enforcer if he’d ever had the good fortune to be recruited by the Mob. However, Alvin didn’t have the class or discipline to ever catch the Mob’s eye, so Alvin’s success was his own. Small in comparison, but his own, nonetheless.

Another boot to the back had Keith scrambling to protect whatever part of his body he could. Were they going to kill him? He wasn’t sure, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

Thirty-thousand dollars was a lot of money.

However, had that goddamn jockey not pulled the reins too soon, Keith wouldn’t be in this mess. He would have cashed in and been able to get even. He even would have been able to pay Devi back all the money she’s lent him over the years.

Instead, he was facing down Alvin, and even if they did let him live, it wasn’t like he had the money to pay him back. His job as a freelance mechanic didn’t bring in that kind of money, and neither did Devi’s waitressing job.

I just can’t keep letting you slide, Keith, Alvin said, his voice finding its way through the sounds of kicks and punches, coughing and bones breaking. It sets a bad precedence. Another kick to the back. You understand, right?

Keith couldn’t say much through the pain, but even if he could, what was there to say? Alvin didn’t lend his money behind a professional desk in a legitimate office building. No. Alvin lent his money from his office located in the back of an electronics store.

Suddenly, everything stopped. However, it wasn’t a reprieve. Keith knew better. This wasn’t the first time he’s been in this situation with Alvin, so he knew better.

Fingers fisting in his hair, Keith’s head was jerked upward, blood splashing outward with the motion. Only one eye was capable of opening enough to focus, and Keith’s one blue eye was met with Alvin’s face, staring down at him.

Since you’re one of my most loyal customers, I’m going to give you three weeks, Keith, Alvin told him generously. One week for each ten, and I’ll even wait until the end of this week to start the countdown. Alvin grinned at him. That’s an extra two days. Keith saw Alvin look up and around at his henchmen. That’s rather kind of me, don’t you guys think? There were murmurs and grumbles of agreement overhead, but Keith’s mouth was too broken up to comment.

Alvin let Keith’s head drop with a thud before standing up. Get him up, he ordered, and Keith could feel a pair of gigantean hands lift him to his feet. However, a chair was brought over because everyone in the room knew he wouldn’t be able to stand on his own.

Slumping into the chair, Keith was able to make out Alvin leaning against the edge of his desk, his arms crossed over his chest. Alvin wasn’t a big guy by any means, but he was an undiagnosed psychopath, and his lack of remorse was what has gotten him to where he was today.

Glancing around the room, he commanded his men to leave. Leave us alone for a moment, gentlemen. Keith heard the shuffling of feet, but he didn’t have the energy to look around.

The room was silent, and just like having been in this situation before, Keith’s been in this room many times before; sometimes asking for money, sometimes paying back money, and sometimes bleeding on the floor.

I’m willing to make a deal with you, Keith, he offered, and even through the pain of such a severe beating, Keith could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise in dread.

Wh…wut…ind of de…eal? Keith managed to ask.

Alvin’s ice-blue eyes speared him with a look before making his offer. An offer he believed Keith had no choice but to accept. I’ll void your debt, Keith. I’ll wipe it completely from the books in exchange for your sister.

Keith’s chest felt like it’d just been kicked in, and that was saying something since it had been kicked in several times tonight. Wh…ut?

Three nights, Alvin replied. Ten-grand for each one. Or I kill you at the end of three weeks.

If Keith could talk, he’d tell Alvin to just kill him now and get it over with.

Chapter 1

Cassius~

I looked out through the bulletproof glass walls, and the restaurant was pleasantly packed. Atticus and Xavier were seated with me, so behind the glass it was.

Whenever I made a public appearance with my brother, I always took precautions. If anything were to ever happen to me, as my only family, Atticus would stand to inherit everything I owned. Someone taking us out at the same time was more of a coupe than someone taking me and Xavier out at the same time. As my right-hand man, Xavier knew damn near everything there was to know about me, but while he would inherit a lot if I met an untimely demise, his inheritance didn’t match that of my brother’s.

Atticus and I were extremely close. Not even a year apart, our mother had popped us out, one right after the other. At thirty-one, Atticus was thirty, and for one month out of the year, we were both the same age.

Now, when I said that my brother was the only family I had, that wasn’t to say that we were orphans. Our parents were very much alive.

I think.

I stopped keeping tabs on Corey and Anita Sire years ago. A drunken mechanic and a cocaine-snorting nail tech, our parents were the very definition of deadbeats. It was another reason why Atticus and I were so close.

Sheryl Brass came slithering around The Orchestra yesterday,