A deal with the devil: from revenge to love

Nina

"What's this?"

"What's what?" Rosa asked, raising another spoonful of cereal to her mouth.

"What the hell is this, Rosa?" I snapped.

My tone was sharp enough to slice through the quiet morning. Her head shot up, eyes widening when she saw what I held. In an instant, she was on her feet-anger flaring hot in her eyes.

"Were you in my room? Who gave you permission to go through my stuff? You have no right!"

I rolled my eyes. "I have every right to know why there's blood money under my roof."

"Your roof? Seriously?" she scoffed.

My fingers curled into a fist at my side as I tossed the bundle of cash onto the worn kitchen table.

"Yes, Rosa. My roof. You haven't contributed a dime to rent, utilities, or even the damn groceries in months."

"If you're just going to rub it in my face, then I'll leave," she snarled, snatching up the cash and turning for the door.

I stepped in front of her. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me where you got that money. That's over ten thousand dollars in crisp notes."

She crossed her arms over her chest, eyes rolling toward the ceiling. "My boyfriend gave it to me. Happy?"

"What boyfriend? Simon?" I huffed. "How the hell did Simon get this kind of money? Last I checked, he was a deadbeat leeching off you."

"He wasn't a damn leech." She stepped closer, her teeth bared in fury. "And it wasn't Simon. It's my new boyfriend, Manuel."

My mind raced. Then it clicked.

"Manuel? As in one of those cartel thugs? First it was the bikers, now it's the goddamn cartel. Are you crazy, Rosa? You're going to get yourself killed rolling with that SOB!"

"Don't insult him! He loves me, and I love him too. He's going to marry me and get me out of this dreary life," she shot back. "I'm sick of living like this-this tiny, shitty apartment, eating instant noodles and stale cereal. I'm sick of wearing two-dollar pants and cutting my own hair. Manuel is going to-"

"Manuel isn't going to do shit but get you killed." I jabbed a finger into her chest. "If you're sick of anything, it should be the men who keep promising to save you. Open your eyes, Rosa. The only person who can save you is yourself. And if you want to do that, you'll have to get off your ass and work."

She threw her head back and laughed. "You've been working all these years. What's that gotten you?"

"A life."

She glanced around our cramped apartment with a sneer. "You call this a life? You're pathetic."

My heart hammered as she brushed past me toward the door.

"If you walk out that door, Rosa, we're done," I said, my voice trembling despite my best effort to sound firm. "My life is already hard enough without having to drop everything to save you again."

The words hit the air