Page 98 of Endure the Pain

New Haven’s night sky lit up with orange light from the blazing fires.

“Time to go,” I said.

We quickly piled into the van and drove away.

We all returned to our newly acquired hotel room in New Haven. I’d asked Vincent to get the largest suite the hotel had, so that we could all stay together. He hadn't disappointed. The suite could sleep fifteen. The hotel was really luxurious and there was a club downstairs, whichI'd caught Brenna staring at a few times. We all had fake identification and Vincent had made sure his and Brenna’s age was listed as twenty-one.

Once inside our hotel room, the guys and Brenna headed straight for the suite’s living room. Asher turned on the TV and switched it to the news. The explosions were already being talked about.

I slipped into my and Brenna’s shared room and I pulled my burner cell from my pocket. I went out onto the balcony and dialed Stefan’s cell.

It rang twice before Stefan answered. “Hello?”

“It’s me,” I said.

“Maura.”

“I’ve called to tell you that I’ll be making some noise in the city. In fact, I’ve already started.”

He sighed. “The explosions, I take it that was you?”

Refusing to confirm or deny, I replied, “I should be done with my vacation in two weeks. After that, I’ll come home.”

“Running away isn’t a vacation, Maura,” he snapped.

“You know why I left,” I snapped back.

“We were trying to protect you.”

“You weren’t protecting me. You shut me out and tried to send me away.”

“Enough,” he bit out. “I just want you to come home.”

“I said I’ll be home in two weeks. And I need you to guarantee my goons and Brenna’s safety. You can punish me all you want, but you won’t lay a finger on them.”

“You think I’d go after them for helping you run away?”

“No, not because of that. I stole the cocaine and used it as currency. I owe the family a few million. I’ll pay it back. If I need to be punished, punish me. Or if my fate is to be the same as Samuel’s, then so be it. But you won’t touch them or so help me, I will destroy everything this family has built and don’t doubt that I will. I have nothing left to lose.”

Stefan went quiet for a few heart beats. “I’ll pay the family back. No one has to know.”

It was my turn to go quiet.

“Don’t act surprised,” he said. “Sasha said you came to see him. I told him to give you whatever you wanted.”

“Did he tell you what I asked him to do?”

“Yes,” he answered.

“Then you know what I have to do.”

“I didn’t need Sasha to tell me what you were up to. I know my daughter.” He sighed again, this time sounding exhausted. “Jameson’s shoulder healed, in case you were wondering but were too stubborn to ask.”

“I don’t care,” I said with indifference. “I have to go.”

“Finish what you need to do and come home.”

I didn’t respond and hung up.