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“Because I would rather the family be prepared in case Dylan does something rather than be blindsided and end up with someone getting killed.”
“Even if it means you’d be punished?”
I didn’t look away or cower under his intense stare like most would. “Yes.”
“At least there’s that,” he grumbled as he typed on his phone and brought it to his ear. “Call your uncle and tell him he needs to come to the manor today, as soon as he can.”
I had a feeling he was talking to Jamie.
After Stefan hung up and put his phone back in his pocket, he said, “Tell me everything you know.”
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
“Why didn’t you tell anyone when you returned home that you suspected Dylan?” Jamie asked me. He, Stefan, Vincent, Dean, and I were all in Stefan’s study waiting on Aiden to arrive. I had just finished explaining, again, what I’d overheard Buck and his lackey discussing. Like Stefan, Jamie wasn’t pleased with me at the moment.
I was currently pouring myself a big drink at Stefan’s liquor trolley. I took a huge gulp before I turned to face the room. Stefan was sitting behind his desk, Vincent was sitting stiffly in one of the armchairs in the lounge area that took up the left side of Stefan’s study, Dean was standing by the door, and Jamie was standing right behind me when I turned around.
“She took responsibility for Dylan, Jameson,” Stefan reminded him. “She didn’t want to risk anyone finding out.”
I took another drink. “Sure, we’ll go with that.”
Stefan gave me a disapproving look. “Care to enlighten us as to why you didn’t tell anyone sooner?”
I wouldn’t admit to him that I had been in too much pain and too exhausted to remember when I’d first arrived home or that, because I hadn’t been left alone for one fucking minute, I hadn’t been comfortable enough to allow myself to process what I had gone through, so I’d shut out what had happened. I would rather be whipped again right now than tell any of them that when I had remembered and put two and two together that it was Dylan, it had nearly destroyed what tiny pieces I had left of myself. Dylan was my responsibility. His mistakes were my mistakes. The guns the Aryans had stolen fell on me. The men that Rourke had lost fell on me. The loss of my baby fell on me.
Jamie stared at me, and I swore he could read my mind even though I was revealing nothing. He stepped closer. “I know you don’t trust me, but despite that, you know if you had told me I would have taken care of him without anyone knowing.”
“It’s nice to know that both the children I raised would have tried to hide this from me,” Stefan said dryly.
Jamie turned slightly to face Stefan. “To protect her, I would have.”
Stefan did nothing to hide the anger burning in his eyes. “To protect her from the family or from me?”
Jamie didn’t answer, but his silence was answer enough.
Stefan’s gaze flicked to Dean and then Vincent. “I need to speak with Jameson and my daughter alone.”
Vincent and Dean looked to me before they moved, which didn’t help Stefan’s mood. I nodded and they both left the room.
The moment the door closed, Jamie said, “You threatened to kill her.”
“Yes, Jameson. I’m aware of my fuck-up,” Stefan snapped.
Jamie’s shoulders relaxed a little. “Rourke and Conor won’t hold Maura responsible for Dylan’s actions.”
“Conor will forgive the loss of the guns, but I’m not sure about Rourke,” I said and threw back the rest of my drink. “He was close to the men he lost.”
“As of right now, no one knows someone within the family was working with the Aryans,” Stefan said. “That has been something that has stayed between Jameson, Louie, Aiden, and me. We didn’t want the rest of the family finding out that we were investigating them. We’ll keep it that way. We’ll find Dylan and take care of this mess without anyone knowing.”
I turned back to the trolley. “And if they find out?”
“I will handle Conor and Rourke,” Stefan said.
“Sean can’t find out,” Jamie said. “He’ll use this to make you punish her severely, and if you don’t, he’ll use it against you, Stefan.”
I refilled my glass with more whiskey. “I get that we were hurting for support here in New Haven after we removed Samuel and his men, but there had to be better options than Sean.”
“There weren’t,” Stefan grumbled.
