Page 6 of Endurance
Maura thrashed with what seemed to be all her strength in my arms and growled from behind my hand.
“Christ, Jameson, put her down before she gets hurt,” Stefan ordered.
I reluctantly did as he said and gently set her on her feet. Once free, Maura’s hand went flying. My head whipped to the side and my entire cheek stung from the strong slap.
“You bastards,” she seethed at both Louie and I as she walked backward, hand pressed to her lower stomach until she reached Brenna’s side. Guilt washed over me.
“We’re just trying to protect you,” Louie said. The desperation in his voice added to my own.
“I don’t need your fucking protection,” she snapped.
My heart was racing to the point my hands were shaking. Why did she have to fight us on this? Just this once, why couldn’t she just listen and understand?
“You’re a woman, Maura.” I didn’t mean what I’d said, yet the cold words had still escaped me. “What would you know? You already lost our baby. I won’t let you get yourself killed too.” I didn’t mean it, but a part of me—a stupid part of me, I’d later learn—thought that if I hurt her, she’d shut down or want to cower and it’d be easier to get her to submit.
“Jameson!” both Louie and Stefan yelled at the same time.
As I'd suspected, my words affected her, and she was starting to back down.
“You are a fucking asshole. How dare you blame her?” Brenna raged.
Dean inched closer. “I’d shoot you now if she didn’t fucking love you.”
I pulled my gun from where it was tucked into the back of my jeans and aimed it at Maura’sgoon. He really needed to butt the fuck out of this, or I’d shoot him. “You all are rallying behind someone who’s incapable of standing up for themselves, even to me. She’s going to Boston.”
Maura looked from my gun to Dean and something changed in her. Strength that had been missing sparked in her eyes. She took Brenna’s gun and aimed it at me. “How’s this for standing up for myself?”
I saw her pull the trigger but only faintly heard it fire because pain exploded in my shoulder, overpowering most of my senses. I fell backward to the ground and Louie knelt down next to me, his hand immediately putting pressure on my wound.
I heard Stefan call out to Maura and I tried to sit up enough to see her. Reading what I was trying to do, Louie helped me.
Maura had turned the gun on Stefan with a scowl. “You’re going to leave me the fuck alone, like you’ve been doing since I was released from the hospital. I won’t be going to Boston. The next person who tries to make me go, I’ll kill them.” Her gaze flicked back to Louie and me. She regarded us with disdain. “You fucking come near me again, I’ll kill you both.” She stormed back into the guesthouse, with Dean, Asher, and Brenna following right behind her.
Stefan turned his attention on us—mainly me. He was clearly pissed and did nothing to hide his disappointment. “Someone call Ben and help Jameson inside,” he ordered to no one in particular before going back inside the main house.
“We fucked up,” I said sullenly from where I sat in the corner of Jameson’s old bedroom. The two of us were alone, sitting in silence and reflecting on the utter shit storm this morning had turned out to be. Or at least I was. Dr. Ben had just finished pulling the slug from the meat of Jameson’s shoulder and dressing the wound. Maura had been kinder than we’d deserved. She had excellent aim. If she had wanted to, she could have easily hit where it could have caused permanent damage, or worse…she could have killed him.
From where he lay shirtless on the bed, Jameson glared up at the ceiling. “We’ll get it right next time.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
His glare shifted to me.
My hands fisted in my lap. “I’m not going to force her to go.”
“What’s changed? Are you afraid she’ll shoot you too?”
“It’s not that I’m afraid. It’s that she will,” I said, anger seeping into my voice. “I’d almost given up that Maura would come back to us. Today, I saw her again. I saw the woman I love. It was the extremely pissed off version of her, but it was still her. Stefan was right. We need to help Maura overcome this.”
“Nothing has changed. There are still enemies all around us.”
“That’s your fear talking, Jameson.” I hated the words but that didn’t make them any less true.
He had never looked at me with such malice as he did then.
“I’ve been afraid too,” I added quickly.
His gaze jerked away from me and I took that as my cue to give him space. I stood and went to the door. Just as I was about to walk out, I glanced over my shoulder. “Be angry with me if you want. I can take it. But don’t sulk for long because I won’t wait around for you to make things right with Maura.”