Fire & Brimstone (Neighbor from Hell #8) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,8

of here for a few hours and unfortunately for her, the only thing that would grant her sanctuary until Mr. Cranky Pants here redirected that anger issue of his onto someone else was a visit to the Doctor’s office.

Well, there really was no point in putting it off any longer, especially since Lucifer looked liked he was going to try firing her again. He really was cute when he thought that he was in charge, she mused with a resigned sigh as she got to her feet and headed for the door.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he demanded, somehow managing to look downright adorable for a man that could have easily been a cover model with his brooding green eyes, perfect tan, great build and short jet black hair that he swept forward every morning.

It really was a shame that he was such an asshole, she thought as she gave him one of those huge smiles that made always seemed to make the muscle beneath his eye tick and said brightly, “Doctor’s appointment!”

Before he could reply, she was out the door and in a chokehold by a woman who could teach Lucifer Bradford a thing or two about channeling all that anger.

Chapter 4

“What are you going to do if he actually fires you?” Melanie asked as though this time her answer would be different.

“Kill you,” Rebecca answered with a lazy shrug as she continued to flip through the health magazine on her lap.

“Killing me wouldn’t pay the rent,” Melanie pointed out smugly.

“It would if your family paid me to do it,” she felt obligated to point out as she shot another calculating glance towards the exit.

“My family loves me.”

“Your father offered me fifty-thousand dollars to kill you,” Rebecca pointed out, wishing that she’d managed to jump out of the car before Melanie had stopped her, but the damn woman had lightening fast reflexes. Besides, the idea of getting road rash at forty miles as hour hadn’t really appealed to her.

“He was joking!” Melanie gasped in outrage, giving her the distraction that she needed, because honestly, she wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to sit here, knowing what was coming.

“He wrote a check,” she answered as she glanced back at the disapproving receptionist, who hadn’t taken her eyes off of them since they’d walked in the door, before she returned her attention to the magazine pushing the latest version of Viagra.

“You’re lying!”

“You were dating Craig Milton,” she said, reminding her best friend of the biggest dating mistake of her life.

“I was ten years old!” Melanie gasped with a chuckle.

“Your father took exception to him,” Rebecca said with a shrug as she stared at the magazine in her lap, trying her best not to think about…anything.

But, with every passing second she was losing that battle and she couldn’t help but think about the conversation that was to come or the gut wrenching feeling that hit her every time another Doctor looked at her with pity and annoyance as they came to the conclusion that she’d wasted their time. She didn’t want to be here, but then again, she really didn’t want to be home or at work where a certain terrifying man was no doubt on a rampage thanks to the fact that she’d once again narrowly escaped another attempt to fire her.

Okay, so technically she hadn’t escaped anything since he’d flat out told her that she was fired nearly a dozen times over the past five years. If it had been anyone else she probably would have just accepted her fate and moved on by now, but this was Lucifer Bradford, who obviously had no idea what he was doing, so she felt it was for the best if she simply ignored him and focused on saving the Fire & Brimstone before he ran it into the ground.

Lucifer was a very intelligent man, a hard worker and even though she personally thought that he was an asshole, he was also one of the most honest men that she’d ever met. That being said, he was also incredibly stubborn and that just wasn’t going to work for her.

She understood probably better than anyone how much the Fire & Brimstone meant to him. She hadn’t been able to help but fall in love with the restaurant and its charm the very first time she’d laid eyes on it. She’d do anything to make sure that it was a success even if that meant saving it from the man