Page 39 of Embrace the Darkness

I ignored him because I was done defending myself to him. This wasn’t a trial. I'd said my piece. He could do with it what he wanted.

“Are you saying you would have apologized?” Jamie, who’d been quiet the entire meeting, decided to chime in.

We all gaped at him. His focus was solely on Samuel as he held a challenging glare. Everyone glanced back to Samuel, waiting for him to answer.

“No, but—”

“Exactly,” Jamie interrupted and dismissed Samuel by looking to Stefan. “Are we done here?”

I thought if my father’s eyebrows could have reached his hairline, they would have. Even I was unable to hide my shock.

Stefan nodded.

Giving up, Samuel didn’t argue, and everyone got to their feet to leave. Before I could take a step toward the door, Stefan stopped me. “Maura, a word.”

I watched everyone else leave, then turned to face him with my head held high. I knew I was in trouble. There wasn’t a doubtful bone in my body. I had put Samuel in his place, but in doing so, I'd forced Stefan’s hand.

My father was unmoving as he stood behind his desk.

“I’m not going to apologize.” Was I being stubborn? Yes, but I refused to feel guilty for something that had needed to be done.

“Then you’re no different than your uncle.” He didn’t mean that, at least I hoped he didn’t. Either way, my pride took a knife to the gut.

“There’s a difference between undermining you and defending you,” I argued.

“Which you managed to do at the same time,” he snapped. His words were like a hammer, nailing his point before me, leaving little room to argue. “You can’t do that.”

“Yes, I did,” I admitted with bitter tasting words. “But it was still different.”

“How so?”

Did I really have to spell it out for him?What I'd done had beenforhim. Samuel, though, was a fucking snake waiting for the right moment to strike. I didn’t trust him.

Stefan shook his head, clearly displeased. “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t demand the same respect as everyone else and expect to be treated special.” He was right, but I didn’t want to admit it. At the same time, I didn’t think I could ever not defend him. Moving forward, I’d just have to go about it in a different way.

“Yes, I can. I’m a woman. I was born to be confusing to men. Learn to adapt.” I gave him a little smile, showing him I was only joking.Kind of.

He let out a breath as he rubbed the side of his face. The tension in his body seemed to fade. “As punishment, you won’t be attending tomorrow’s family meeting.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but Stefan arched a challenging brow—a trait I'd clearly inherited. Snapping my mouth closed, I pursed my lips. There was no point in fighting it. “Fine.”

Seeming pleased that I'd relented, he stuffed his hands into his pockets, trying to appear relaxed. “I’m going to be out of the house for the rest of the day,” he announced. “What do you have planned?”

I wanted to laugh at how quickly he'd switched from mob boss to father. “I was thinking about going out. There’s still a few things I need.”

Looking intrigued, he asked, “Like what?”

I shrugged. “Girl stuff.”

“Girl stuff?” Tilting his head to the side, he eyed me with a curious expression.

For fuck’s sake, did he think that’s code for something diabolical?

We avoided talking about tampons and periods like it was taboo. As a teenager, I'd been embarrassed of my period, especially because I'd grown up surrounded by men. On the flip side, I could only imagine how awkward it would feel for a single father to talk about periodswith his little girl. Thankfully, we'd had Brody to help us through those situations.

Right now, however, I was feeling a little spiteful. “Yes, girl stuff. Tampons, pads, panty liners. I’m going to start my period soon and the first day or two is always really heavy. Maybe that’s why my periods only last four days? I hemorrhage everything in my uterus those first couple of days. Hmm, it’s a good theory. Anyway, I’d hate to start and not have anything. It’s a messy business being a woman.” I smothered a smile as I held a stoic mask.

He tried his best to appear unfazed. With the clearing of his throat, I knew he was a little at a loss with what to say or do. His life was surrounded by death, drugs, and guns and the mention of tampons unsettled him? I coughed in order to hold back my laughter and took pity on him. “I was thinking about picking up some cute PJs and some athletic wear, as well. I need to exercise, or my hips will be the first to blow up from Jenna’s cooking.”