Page 16 of Endurance

Louie stepped closer. “We’re here to help.”

Asher came to stand next to Dean, displaying a united front and blocking us from following Maura. “She doesn’t need your help.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Louie said, irritation seeping into his voice. “But we’re here anyway.”

Dean huffed. “You’re here to win her back.”

“It’s none of your business,” I snapped. Maura was right. Her security was mouthy.

“Where she’s involved it is my business,” Dean snarled. He always gave off a pissed off vibe but right now his anger was genuine. “Because we were there for her. We helped her stand and reminded her that she was still strong. What did you do? You kicked her when she was down and tried to send her away.”

I was a breath away from shooting Maura’s goon. Even though what he'd said was true, it wasn’t easy to hear. So before I lost it, I walked away. I pounded down the steps and took off into the woods, not giving a fuck where I was going.

“Jameson!” Louie called out to me. I didn’t stop and I wouldn’t until I came up with a plan to make things right. Everything I had done up until now had been one fuck up after another. I hated myself for it. I hated that I'd let my fear and grief consume me and I'd ended up hurting her more because of it. I'd used to pride myself at the control I maintained but when it came to Maura…my love for her outweighed everything.

I tried to chase after Jameson but after following him for a while I turned around and headed back to the cabin. He needed time to figure his shit out and I had a feeling it was going to take a while. When I returned, Asher was waiting on the porch.

“I'll show you the room you’ll be sharing,” he said and led me inside.

Right as I walked in, I was in what looked to be a living room. Asher led me down a narrow hall that was filled with doors. Just after we passed the second one, a loud voice said, “And you’re a jaded asshole!” Then the door ripped open and Brenna stomped out. “Fucking dickhead,” she muttered as she shoved past us. She was fuming so much I highly doubted she saw us. She was four steps ahead of us before she whirled around, her blonde ringlets flailing about as she did, and she leveled a glare at me. “You better not take this from her.”

My brows rose at the threat in her voice. “We’re only here to help.”

She arched a brow and for a second I thought I was staring at a younger, blonde version of Maura. “And get her back?” she asked.

I hesitated in answering but eventually nodded.

“I hope you realize that the safety is off, and everyone here has their finger hovering over the trigger, waiting for Maura to say the word. I suggest you don’t fuck up,” she warned and disappeared through one of the many doors.

Asher chuckled. “Looks like she’s rooting for you.”

“What makes you say that?” I asked.

Asher smirked and continued on down the hall. “Did anyone else here give you a warning?” he shot over his shoulder.

Jameson had returned, cooled off and holding a determined look. “Let’s focus on helping her get back at the Aryans,” he had said. “She doesn’t need to deal with us on top of that and getting back at them seems to be the thing that she needs. I don’t want to take that from her. Not again. We’ll make things right after.”

I had agreed. “Did you check in with Stefan?”

He’d nodded. “He understands why we can’t leave her, and he had assumed that we wouldn’t drag her back to the manor. He seems more at ease now that we are with her.”

Later that night everyone congregated in the living room. Just as Jameson and I took a seat on the couch, Maura announced that we were going after Alex Roth in the morning. Hearing that name made Jameson and I go tense. Yet Maura said it with such indifference. I saw the others exchanging looks as Maura went over the plan and answered our questions like a textbook.

Her and Brenna were loading bullets into magazines while they sat on the floor. Next to them was a huge ass crate of weapons, which I'd come to find out had been from Nicoli De Luca. I supposed I understood why she hadn’t asked Rourke, but he would be hurt if he ever found out that she hadn't trusted him enough to ask. Our family was the largest arms dealer in the U.S. after all.

Vincent, Stefan’s hacker who Maura had supposedly stolen, slammed his computer shut. “I’ve got nothing on Buck.” By how he interacted with Maura, I'd have said it hadn't taken much convincing for him to leave with her at all.

Vincent went on to explain how he had tracked Buck from Hartford using street cameras after Maura had sniped a few of Buck’s Aryans yesterday. Then he said that he'd lost Buck after he'd gotten onto the interstate. “Facial recognition hasn’t picked up him or the others that are with him anywhere.”

Maura got to her feet. “No more computer tonight.” She took his laptop from him. “We’ll find him, but right now, you need rest. Go to bed and try again tomorrow.”

He pushed his electric blue hair out of his face and stood. “Okay.”

She handed over his computer with a motherly look, which made me sad, and he went to his room.

“We should all get some rest,” Asher said from where he was standing next to the weapons crate. Him and Finn had been taking inventory of everything inside. “Big day tomorrow.”

“Some rest it’s going to be. Finn snores,” Brenna grumbled.