Page 99 of Endure the Pain

I leaned on the railing and stared out at the city. Large clouds of smoke were still wafting up into the sky. I had been curious to know how many Aryans we'd taken out in each explosion, but now my mind was consumed with Jamie. My hand squeezed around my phone.

I didn’t regret shooting Jamie. I hated why I'd had to.

The morning after Jamie and Louie had snuck into my room under the false pretense of wanting to hold me, I had woken up to them stuffing my clothes into a suitcase.

“What are you doing?” I'd asked.

They'd ignored me and exchanged a look. Louie had finished stuffing the clothes in his hand into my suitcase and begun zipping it up. Jamie had come to the side of the bed, thrown my covers off, and scooped me up in his arms.

I'd groaned from the sharp pain in my abdomen. Jamie had carried me toward the door that Louie had held open.

“Stop!” I'd yelled and grabbed at the door frame as we'd passed through it. “Put me down!”

Louie had removed my hand from the frame and Jamie had continued on.

“No! Stop it!” I'd screamed as I'd thrashed, despite the pain, and knocked over pictures on the walls, trying to grab on to anything I could. “Dean! Ash—”

Jamie had covered my mouth with his hand, and they'd taken me out of the guest house. I'd continued to struggle, and his arms had squeezed around me. “Stop it, Maura. You’ll hurt yourself.”

“Stop!” I'd heard Brenna scream from behind us.

Jamie and Louie had ignored her.

A shot had rung out. They'd both frozen, then turned around. Barefoot and dressed in champagne silk pajamas, Brenna had stood just outside the guesthouse with a gun aimed at the sky. She'd glared at Jamie and Louie as she'd lowered it and aimed it at Jamie. “Let her go.”

Dean and Asher had rushed out of the house, each armed. They'd quickly taken in the scene and aimed their own weapons at Jamie and Louie.

“Jameson, put her down,” Brenna had ordered again.

“Your aunt Kiara is waiting out front with a car to take you and Maura to Boston where you’ll both be safe,” Jamie had said.

“She doesn’t want to go to Boston,” Brenna had argued.

“She doesn’t get a say,” Jamie had spat.

“Yes, she does,” Brenna had snarled. “You may be her lover, but she’s Stefan’s heir. You don’t have the right to make that decision for her.”

I would've been proud of her if I hadn't been so fucking pissed.

“What is going on out here?” Stefan’s voice had bellowed. He'd appeared from behind Louie. Will and Josh had been with him. Stefan had looked from Brenna and my goons to Jamie holding me and Louie holding my suitcase.

“I thought you were going to talk to her and convince her to leave, not force her,” Stefan had said to Jamie.

I'd thrashed again and growled behind Jamie’s hand.

“Christ, Jameson, put her down before she gets hurt,” Stefan had ordered, and Jamie had done as he'd said.

The moment my feet had touched the ground, I'd slapped Jamie across the face. His face had jerked to the side.

“You bastards,” I'd seethed and turned my glare on Louie as well. I'd walked backward until I'd reached Brenna’s side, with my hand pressed to my tender stomach.

“We’re just trying to protect you,” Louie had said, his tone pleading.

“I don’t need your fucking protection,” I'd snapped.

Jamie’s eyes had turned cold as they narrowed. “You’re a woman, Maura. What would you know? You already lost our baby. I won’t let you get yourself killed too.”

“Jameson!” both Louie and Stefan had yelled at the same time.