Embrace the Darkness (The Maura Quinn Series Book 1) - Ashley N. Rostek Page 0,57

men goons, but old habits and all.

He turned distant. The quick change in him caused unease to bubble in the pit of my stomach. Was there a threat to the family? Were we at war again? “What?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he looked down.

“Stefan?”

“You weren’t entirely alone in Hartford.”

My back straightened, preparing myself. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what was coming. “What do you mean?”

He steeled himself, eyes determined when they met mine. “I hired a security team outside the family. Over the past six years, eight men were rotated in and out. Each stayed for a year or two at a time. All blended in as fellow students or neighbors to watch over you.”

…What?!

Gritting my teeth, I bit out, “You mean they spied on me?”

“No. Watched over you. I couldn’t risk someone going after you to get to me. Especially in the beginning, when things were still tense between us and the De Lucas.”

This was a new low.

“You said I was out!” My outburst startled us both.

His shoulders squared and his expression hardened. “You’re a Quinn and my daughter. You can never be out.”

“So you lied to me?” I scoffed. “I don’t know why I’m fucking surprised. It’s what you do. It’s what you always do.”

“I was losing you!” he roared.

I reeled back, but still kept my feet cemented to the ground. He thought he could put this all on me?

“Yes, you were,” I seethed honestly. “I couldn’t trust you to let me fall apart—to feel the pain of what those assholes did to me in order to heal. I was worried you’d shame me for my weakness. So I held it all in. I stayed strong to make you proud. With each passing day, the burden of having to hold it all in became harder and harder until it was too much and I didn’t see the point of living anymore.”

His shoulders sagged slightly and the muscle in his jaw ticked. “I know,” he said in a low defeated voice.

“You knew?” I repeated in disbelief. “And what, you just didn’t care?”

“We both know that’s not true. You may like to paint me as the villain, but at the end of the day I am still your father.”

“Then why didn’t you talk to me? I needed you, yet you kept your distance.”

“Would you have believed my intentions were pure if I had?” he asked, eyes leveled with mine, waiting to read my reaction because we both knew I wouldn’t answer. What would be the point? He knew I would have assumed the worst.

I folded my arms across my chest. It was a defensive gesture. I knew it and Stefan knew it, but in that moment I didn’t care. I just needed something between us. “I’m assuming your spies reported everything they saw?” I asked, deflecting.

He hesitated before replying, “They gave me weekly reports on your activity.”

I was starting to feel overwhelmingly exposed. Wait… If they'd been watching me, did that mean they'd seen what Tom had been doing? Had my sad excuse of a relationship been broadcasted like a fucking soap opera?

“Did you know Tom was cheating on me the entire time?”

I got my answer when he didn’t respond. I stormed out of the room before I said something I’d regret later.

CHAPTER 18

I went to Jamie’s room instead of mine. Stefan would undoubtedly come looking for me later and the last thing I wanted to do was make things easy for him. Jamie’s room was in the west wing, the opposite side of the house from mine, on the second floor. I walked in without knocking. I had a feeling he wasn’t there and the silence confirmed I was right. Right away, I was greeted with his masculine scent that was addictively fresh and woodsy. His furniture was set up with his bed up against one wall and with a dresser and large flat screen TV mounted on the opposite wall. The door leading into his private bathroom was in the far left corner and the door leading to his walk-in closet was on the far right. There were two cushioned window seats under large transom windows that overlooked the pool and property. His bedding was dark blue with white cloud-looking pillows. The room didn’t have many personal items out in view except for two framed pictures on one of his nightstands.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, I looked over both pictures. One was of Jamie, Louie, and me at their high school graduation. The