Embrace the Darkness (The Maura Quinn Series Book 1) - Ashley N. Rostek Page 0,129

away from him, towards the six men, aimed my gun, and pulled the trigger twice.

Pop! Pop!

Down went the two who'd showed their obvious hatred towards Stefan. Taking a step to the right, so I was center with the remaining four, I looked between them, watching—waiting. The sound of tires crunching over dirt echoed in the distance.

I shot a look over my shoulder at Asher and Dean. They gave me an understanding nod and walked off to greet the approaching car.

“Are we expecting someone?” Stefan asked.

I kept my eyes fixed on the remaining four men as I answered, “I invited Nicoli De Luca. Our exchange was scheduled for tonight. I figured two birds, one stone, and all that jazz.”

One of the four men’s eyes widened slightly. That’s one.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” I was surprised to hear my uncle Conor ask.

I turned around and found Conor and Jamie being held back by Louie and Rourke. If eyes could kill, the don would be dead twice over. Nicoli approached with Dean and Asher leading the way and four of his own men flanking him.

With the aura of confidence and maybe a tiny bit of arrogance, Nicoli made his way over until he stood mere feet from Jamie, Louie, Conor, and Rourke. Nicoli looked between them with a smug smile, then noticed Dylan, who was standing a few feet back, defeated and with absent eyes. Stop looking at him, Maura.

“What is he doing here, Stefan?” Conor demanded.

“I invited him,” I answered. I tsked as I circled around the group. “Such a display of testosterone. The air is making me want to gag.” I chuckled and stepped between them. “You might as well whip out your dicks now and measure them. I have a ruler app on my phone.” That seemed to draw everyone’s attention. I received varying looks from amused to pissed off. I couldn’t expect everyone to find me funny.

“Maura,” Stefan said, tone displeased.

I sighed and looked to Louie. “You and Jamie need to take Dylan home. Be sure to remind him of the importance of family on the way there.” Louie didn’t look to Jamie for reassurance this time. He nodded and tried to herd Jamie away. I glanced at Rourke next. “You’re no longer needed here. Take your father home before he does something I’ll have to fix,” I ordered, firmly. My uncle needed to go because he appeared to be seconds away from reaching for his gun.

Rourke nodded. “Come on, Da. You heard the Banphrionsa.”

Rourke seemed to get through to Conor and he slowly backed up, then they started for their Escalade. It was taking a little more convincing on Louie’s part to get Jamie to leave because he hadn’t moved more than a few feet back.

Ignoring them, I turned to Nicoli and plastered a fake smile on my face. “Thank you for coming.”

“It seems I’ve crashed a party,” he said with amused eyes fixed on me.

“On the contrary, your presence here is very much needed. If you could please follow me?” I asked, graciously. Nicoli stepped away from his goons and followed me over to the four kneeling men. I gestured for him to stand next to me in front of them. “You would be doing me a favor by standing right here and looking pretty.” He did as I'd asked before his eyes traveled to the kneeling men. I went back to watching them. Two stared at him, then me, clearly puzzled as to what was going on. The other two, however, which included the one guy whose eyes had widened at hearing the don’s name, were both staring at the ground. I glanced back at Nicoli and found him staring at them and only them.

“You did perfect. Let me introduce you to my father, Stefan Quinn,” I said, gesturing at my father standing to my other side. Nicoli stepped around me and the two most powerful men I knew greeted each other.

“Quinn,” Nicoli said, nonchalant.

“De Luca,” Stefan greeted back in an equally bland tone.

I rolled my eyes, but stepped away towards the two men, who had finally raised their gazes from the ground. Both of their eyes drifted to me as I lifted my gun and shot both of them. The remaining two men flinched as their comrades' bodies hit the ground.

“You can untie these two,” I told the goons standing behind them.

“Maura?” Stefan sighed.

“Yes, Stefan?”

“Would you like to elaborate as to what you are doing?”

“I’m keeping these two, for now. The others were

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