Embrace the Darkness (The Maura Quinn Series Book 1) - Ashley N. Rostek Page 0,122

it into my gun, spun the cylinder, then clicked it back into place.

I pointed the gun at Dylan before turning my head to face my uncle. Samuel’s eyes were narrowed and filled with murderous rage as he looked from the gun pointed at his son to me. “This is how we play,” I said cheerfully with a smile full of mirth. “I’m going to ask you a question and you’re going to answer. If I feel like you’re lying, I pull the trigger. If you don’t answer in a timely manner, I pull the trigger. I’m not looking. I don’t know if the gun is going to click or if your son is going to eat a bullet. It’s your gamble.”

Samuel turned back to Stefan, whose eyes finally met his brother’s, completely void of all emotion as he regarded him. “Are you seriously going to just sit there and let this shit show continue? She is threatening to execute my son and is accusing two leaders of this family without providing a scrap of proof. This is not how things are done, Stefan. Your daughter is about to start a war.”

Revealing nothing as to what he was thinking, my father’s eyes shifted to me. “Maybe you should tell the room why you’re accusing your uncle and cousin before you continue your game?”

“Of course. How silly of me to forget that not everyone is privy to Samuel and Dylan’s betrayal,” I said as I continued to point my gun at Dylan. Samuel stared with disbelief like a fool. “Twelve million dollars. That’s what’s missing from the last eight hundred kilos you moved over the past two years.”

“That’s the drug business. Not everyone can afford asking price.”

“Well, according to Nicoli De Luca, the don of the Italian Mafia, we’ve been his pipeline for the past two years and he’s been paying asking price at forty thousand a kilo. I followed Mark, Dylan’s head enforcer, to Show 'n Tail down in Bridgeport, where he had a meeting with the don. I was in the same room while Mark ran his fucking mouth, telling me everything you and Dylan have been up to.”

Samuel went quiet, his mind clearly scheming. Trying to think of any excuse or lie he could use to save him.

“So, Uncle, here’s my first question…was it your idea to sell to the De Lucas?” I asked, cocking the gun.

Samuel glanced at his son. He was trying to hide what he was feeling by steeling his expression. The void facade made him look just like Stefan, but his eyes always gave him away. They were permanently full of anger, resentment, and jealousy. He’d always hated having to follow Stefan’s rule. He wanted the keys to the kingdom, but like his son, his emotions controlled him.

“No,” he answered.

I pulled the trigger and the gun clicked.

“Fuck!” Dylan roared, voice shaken with fear. He closed his eyes as he released a trembling breath. “Maura, please. You need to listen to me. I—”

I whooped and laughed. “Talk about a rush!” I peered over my shoulder. “Anyone want to place some bets? I have a feeling it’ll fire next time.” They just blinked at me. They seriously need to lighten up. I looked back at Samuel. “Let’s try this again. Uncle…same question?”

Samuel’s void facade faltered back to murderous rage. His eyes filled with the promise of everything he’d do to me if he got his hands on me. The pain he would inflict played out like a fire dance in his depthless pupils.

“You think this is funny?” he seethed. “You think just because you hold the gun you hold the power? You’re just a sniveling little girl desperate for Daddy’s love.”

My finger pulled the trigger and the gun clicked again. In my peripheral, Dylan jerked in his seat, but neither Samuel nor I looked away from each other.

“If Stefan had married you off to De Luca like I suggested years ago, I wouldn’t have had to send Dylan to make a deal with him. His hate for the Italians and his love for you clouds his judgment. We needed peace between our two families. We’ve been fighting for too long and have lost too many of our own.”

“If you did this for the good of the family, why are you lining your own pockets?”

Samuel’s hand slammed down on the table in a fit. “Who do you think your father is going to name as his successor, hmm?” he asked caustically, then looked to Stefan. “You think I’ve