Embrace the Darkness (The Maura Quinn Series Book 1) - Ashley N. Rostek Page 0,5

phone. There was only one reason his cell would be off. Family meeting. The phone rang twice before a feminine voice picked up.

“Quinn residence. May I ask who’s calling?” I didn’t recognize the voice.

“It’s Maura. Put Stefan on the phone, please.” I tried to be polite. The apparent irritation and my curt tone, though, made me sound condescending. Way to go, Maura.

There was a pregnant pause. Despite not knowing who I was speaking to, there was no way she didn’t know of me. It’d be hard not to. There were pictures of me growing up all over the house. Unless Stefan removed them all. As soon as that thought entered my mind, I instantly knew it was false. He would never have done that. Brody wouldn’t have let him.

“He’s in a meeting right now. I can tell him you called.” Her tone told me she knew who I was, but her response wasn’t what I wanted to hear, especially in my current mood. Stay calm.

“I know he’s in a meeting, but this is urgent.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I can’t interrupt—”

Ma’am?! It never mattered if Stefan was in a meeting or naked in the shower. If I, his daughter, needed him, one was to put him on the phone. If Brody had answered, I’d already be speaking with my father.

“I didn’t ask what you can or can’t do.” So much for staying calm, Maura. Then again, I'd never claimed I was perfect. This was really hard for me. I just needed to get Stefan on the phone before I lost my nerve.

“Excuse me?” she drawled.

This was going nowhere fast. I needed to backtrack, instead of acting like an asshole. “Listen,” I sighed. “I wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t important, believe me. It’s an emergency.”

“That’s unfortunate. I’ll let him know you called, or you’re welcome to call back at another time. Have a wonderful day, ma’am!” She ended the call in a chipper tone that screamed sarcasm.

I dropped the phone from my ear to look at it in disbelief. Sure enough, the screen showed the call had ended. “What the fuck!” That was becoming my new favorite phrase today.

I was fuming, frantically bouncing my knee like a tweaker jonesing for their next fix. I debated on waiting to see if Stefan would call me back. Something about that lady didn’t sit right with me. She wasn’t going to tell him I’d called.

There was one more person I could call. Jamie.

He always had his phone on him. Even during meetings. He had to because of his position. I dialed his number and as I pressed the phone to my ear, memories of when I'd been seventeen, beaten, bloody, and hiding in a bathroom at a party flashed behind my eyes. Wow, lock that shit down. Now is not the time.

Taking in a shaky deep breath, I listened to the rings, counting them. On the fifth ring, I wasn’t feeling optimistic and started preparing myself to leave him a message on his voicemail. Before the sixth ring, the mumbling sound of multiple voices talking in the distance filled the silence through the phone. “Maura?” Jamie’s deep, silky voice poured into my ear, his tone filled with disbelief.

“Jamie…” Shit, what do I say?

“Maura’s on the phone?” I heard Stefan ask Jamie and the mumbling voices in the background went quiet.

“Maura?” Jamie said again.

“I…” Deep breath. “I need Stefan.” Great, I sounded pathetic.

Jamie was quiet for a moment. We’d had a call similar to this one before. Same tone, different circumstances, and it was probably bringing up the same shitty memories for him as it was for me. “Are you hurt?” That confirmed it. He was definitely walking down memory lane with me.

“No.”

“You don’t sound okay.”

A dry laugh escaped me. “That’s because I’m not. Can you please put Stefan on the phone? I’ve been trying to get ahold of him with no luck.”

“Why didn’t you just call the house?”

I went from zero to sixty with that question. “I did! The new lady refused to get Stefan for me even after I told her it was an emergency!” I snapped. Jamie was quiet again. Damnit. I was frustrated, but I didn’t need to take it out on him. “I’m sorry. Please, put Stefan on the phone.”

“Maura?” The deep confident sound of Stefan’s voice was the essence of my relief but also my overwhelming regret. This was why I hadn't wanted to call him, because deep down, I knew the truth. I was a person torn. I just