Page 38 of Embrace the Darkness
He interrupted again by snorting with a rueful smile. It was my turn to be angry and confused.Is he laughing at me?
“I had you pinned underneath me. I woke up to you screaming and my hand…” He sighed. “I thought I hurt you—that I forced myself on you.”
I shook my head quickly. “No. We could have avoided this whole mess if I’d woken you.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you?”
My cheeks went from pink to crimson. “I…uh.” I wasn’t ready to answer that question with honesty. “I don’t know.”Pathetic.What am I, a child?
He stared at me intently, eyes searching mine. “You didn’t make me touch you, Maura. You can’t take all the blame.”
“If that’s how you feel, can we forgive each other and move on?” My voice bordered on pleading.
His expression softened before he cupped the back of my neck, pulling me closer and enclosing me in his arms. I buried my nose in his chest, relieved to be there and that we were okay.
Walking into the meeting together, I caught Stefan watching us, his expression blank. Conor was already seated in one of the chairs in front of Stefan’s desk. Jamie and I each took one end of the couch. We were all waiting for Samuel to show up.
“Are you joining the meeting, Maura?” Conor asked, turning around in his chair. His seat was closest to the couch.
I just smiled. Conor looked to Stefan for confirmation. He nodded and Conor scratched the back of his head with a tight smile.
“This should be interesting,” he mumbled before standing up and moving to sit in the other chair, furthest from the couch. It was obvious why he'd done it, and I couldn’t blame him. He didn’t want to be caught in the middle of the shit storm Samuel was going to cause.
“Pussy,” Stefan teased. Everyone in the room chuckled and Samuel chose that moment to show up.
“Sorry for running late,” he said, shutting the door behind him. He made his way to the empty chair in front of Stefan’s desk. His gaze passed over me quickly as he glanced around the room. A second passed before he did a double take. “Maura, I didn’t see you there.” His eyes lingered on my face as he wrinkled his nose, then turned to Stefan. “She should be resting in her room. The poor thing has been through an ordeal and looks terrible.”
“You should see the other guy,” I grumbled.
Jamie rubbed above his nose with his fingers to hide his smile. Conor did nothing to hide his and Stefan looked like he was fighting a losing battle as the corner of his mouth twitched.
“Maura’s an adult. I’m sure if she wasn’t up to being here, she wouldn’t be,” Stefan told him.
“And what is she doing here? I thought we were having a meeting.” The man was completely dense.
“The meeting is about me. Why wouldn’t I be present?” I fixed my tone with naive curiosity as if I truly didn’t understand why I couldn’t be here.
Samuel glanced at Stefan. “She shouldn’t be—”
“Stefanasked me to be here in case you had any questions, but maybe he should have cleared it with you first. Shall I wait outside while the head of the family asks your permission?” Again, my voice was innocent, but my words held meaning. I was putting both him and Stefan on the spot. Stupid move on my part, and I was most likely going to catch hell for it later. I shouldn’t have dragged Stefan into my fight, but I was over Samuel’s small-minded, superior bullshit. For too long he’d overstepped his position and for too long Stefan had allowed him to do it.
The room filled with tension. Jamie and Conor seemed like they’d prefer to be anywhere else. Stefan’s eyes kept traveling between Samuel and I with a blank expression.
At first, Samuel looked befuddled, mouth slightly ajar. He recovered quickly. His lips pursed and anger creased around his eyes. Within just a few days I was in another stare off with my uncle. It was a battle of wills I was clearly winning because the more carefree I looked, the more pissed off he got.
“Can we please get to the point of why we’re all here?” Conor asked, sounding exasperated.
I cocked an eyebrow at Samuel, leaving the decision up to him. Samuel blinked before turning to Stefan. They stared at each other for a moment. I couldn’t see Samuel’s face, but Stefan’s eyes shifted. The change was slight, barely noticeable, but it was enough to show his displeasure. The tension got even heavier, urging me to fidget at the awkwardness, but I held myself still.
“Shall we begin?” Stefan asked Samuel, but he wasn’t seeking his permission. The question was laced with bait. Which way would Samuel go? Would his pride overshadow the good sense to stand down?
Samuel stayed quiet and that seemed to satisfy Stefan. Stefan’s attention moved to me and the fierceness etching his face dulled. “Maura?”
Squaring my shoulders, I began going over yesterday’s incident.
By Conor’s annoyed sigh, I could tell the meeting was dragging on longer than it should have. Samuel, of course, was the one holding everyone up. After I'd gone into great detail and he'd watched the surveillance footage, he still had questions. We all knew what he was aiming to do, no matter how many times he reworded the same question. He wanted me to admit I was at fault.
“You should have apologized,” Samuel huffed.