Page 74 of Embrace the Darkness

It took a lot of effort not to roll my eyes. He was unhappy I'd pulled one over on him.If we were to tally up the number of times he’d done something like this to me, he’d have no ground to stand on. “Do we have a deal, Mr. King?” I looked back at Asher, who had been quiet this whole time.

He pulled his phone from his pocket. “Fifty percent increase?” he asked. I nodded and he began tapping away on his phone. “My guy back at the home office is going to fix the contract and resend it. Anything else you want to change?”

Stefan was still pissed but didn’t protest. I sighed, shaking my head. The new contract was sent back toAsher’s phone within minutes, and we both signed it electronically.

“Perfect. Take a seat, Thor. This will be the best time to get you up to date on the clusterfuck we’re currently facing,” I said, taking a seat in the vacant chair next to him and crossing my bare legs.

As Asher sat, Dean walked in with Vincent. I gestured to the couch. “Take a seat, Vin. You might as well stick around too, Dean.” Dean nodded as he handed over Mark’s file. I passed it to Stefan, who stared at me expectantly as he opened it.

I went over everything from the money we'd found in Mark’s deceased brother’s bank account to Jamie and Louie showing up at Show 'n Tail, finding me with a gun held to my head and wearing nothing but my panties in Nicoli De Luca’s lap. By the tightness in Stefan’s jaw, I could tell he wasn’t particularly thrilled about my hour as an exotic dancer, but he made no comment about it. With a deep breath, I steeled myself for what I had to tell him next. The deal I'd made with Nicoli.

My body was stiff. I was expecting my impending doom by the time I was done telling him. The room had fallen mute as everyone processed. Stefan leaned back in his chair. With his thumb brushing his bottom lip, he stared absently at the painting over his hidden safe.Shockingly, he didn’t look mad. Which was freaking me out.

“Stefan?” I said, apprehensively. His eyes flicked back to me. “If you’re debating how you’re going to kill me, can you at least not be so calm about it? It’s unsettling.”

He rolled his eyes at me. “I’m surprised at Jameson. I wonder if he realizes what he did.”

…Huh?

“What are you talking about?”

“My enforcer just took orders from you, a novice to our world, in a…pressingsituation and without question. I don’t know if I should be proud of you or disappointed in him.”

Seriously?I sighed, slumping back in my chair. I was tired. Today had been a whirlwind. Imagining having to face Jamie after this exhausted me further. “When’s the next family meeting?” If Stefan wasn’t going to wring my neck, it’d be best to move on.

“Day after tomorrow,” Stefan answered.

“I still don’t have the proof we need against Samuel. Everything we’ve found all points to Dylan. You and I both know there’s no way Dylan could have pulled this off on his own. Vincent is still searching for offshore accounts. All that money they’ve been pocketing has gone somewhere. I highly doubt they have it stuffed under their mattress—”I palm smacked my forehead.Why didn’t I think of it before?“Vincent, search for any storage facilities leased just prior to or within the past two years. Don’t just look for it to be leased by Samuel or Dylan but by my aunt or another close relation, as well.” Vincent nodded, getting to his feet to leave. “If he can’t find what we need by the time of the meeting, I have something else I want to try.”

Intrigued, Stefan’s brow arched. “And that is?”

“I’m Stefan Quinn’s daughter. When people hear that, they imagine a little girl.” An evil grin grew slowly across my face. “I think it’s time to change that.

CHAPTER 32

Due to his deep seated hatred for the Italian Mafia, Stefan wasn’t thrilled about the deal I'd made with Nicoli. Still, he said he would honor it. I came to find out that if it meant keeping myself alive, I was allowed to make whatever deals I wanted. “Just don’t make a habit of it, Maura,” he ordered.

Putting myself in danger seemed to upset him more than anything. That was the father side of him coming through. Hisbossside didn’t hold my actions against me. I did the job he'd tasked me with. It was what he’d expect of Jamie or any other loyal member of this family.

Leaving Stefan’s study with Dean and Asher in tow, I wasn’t surprised to find Jamie waiting outside. He was pacing the hall, seeming more pissed off than before. Louie was leaning against the wall, arms folded over his chest with a calm yet closed off expression while he watched his best friend. That alone should have warned me of how bad things were going to be.

Noticing me, Jamie stopped his pacing abruptly. Meeting his burning eyes, my heart picked up speed. If we were going to argue, which I had no doubt we were, we should at least do it in private. Dropping my eyes from his, I walked in the direction of the stairs, intending to take our conversation up to my room.

I barely made it into the foyer before a hand locked around my arm. “Stop walking away from me, Maura,” Jamie growled, yanking me harshly around to face him.Damnit, here we go.“Do you have any idea how fucking stupid that was? Christ!” he yelled while shaking me roughly by the arm. He wasn’t hurting me, but his uncontrolled rage still shocked the hell out of me, and I wasn’t the only one. Dean, Asher, and even Louie stepped closer to us with unease written all over their faces as they continued to watch. “What if I hadn’t gotten there in time, huh?”

Narrowing my eyes, I yanked my arm free from his grip. “I’m sorry I worried you, but I’m not a child. Stopberating me as one,” I snapped, stepping backward, needing to put space between us.

“Then stop acting like one!” he snapped back.

Well, shit. That lit my metaphorical fuse.“I had it under control. In case you’ve forgotten, it was me who got us out of there, not you! So get off your fucking high horse!” And thus, our screaming match began.

“You had nothing under control! You were naked with a gun pointed at your head when I showed up! What were you going to do, hmm? Fuck your way to freedom?” He was so lucky I didn’t have anything to hit him over the head with.

A wide-eyed Brody stepped into the foyer from the kitchen. I guessed our heated argument was being heard throughout the house.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. “I’m sorry you had to see that—”

“You’re sorry I saw that?” He scoffed with disdain, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you fucking kidding me? How about you show a little remorse that you got naked for another man and rubbed yourself all over him!”