Page 67 of Dark Reunion

CHAPTER 25

MAEVE

She had helped Morry clean up more than one puddle of blood, and the grey streaks marring the wood floor of Carlos’s office screamed that someone had died here recently. Body long gone, screams now forgotten, but there was still a metallic echo of his violence. He was a pig.

She had to admit that she didn’t remember much of him from when she was little. After she was taken, she remembered being sad, but not because of Carlos. She missed the servants, teachers, and Dean. Dean had been her one constant. He’d been kind and treated her like a little sister. It was why she’d run with him so easily…she trusted him.

All this time, she’d felt abandoned and unloved. It was so difficult to wrap her head around the fact that Dean had saved her, that what he’d done was out of love. She had been abused so many times by her foster father, and had killed someone while still a child herself. How could she divide the pain from the reality?

“Don’t just hover in the doorway, come in,” Carlos barked from where he’d perched himself on his desk. It was like he sat there for hours just for this moment to show off for them.

Maeve’s stomach twisted as Yasmine nudged her forward. Tate had wrapped his arms around her throat and was clinging tight. It hit her that if Carlos tried anything to hurt them, she would kill him. Morry had trained her well, and unlike Dean and whatever game he was playing to take down the big bad wolf, she didn’t care if Carlos died right this second or in a few days, weeks, or a month from now. It was all the same.

Carlos sipped a drink from a crystal glass, a smug grin spread across his face as though the bandage on his arm was a medal of honor.

Pathetic.

“Isabella,” he crooned, voice dripping with mock affection. “The little runaway lamb. All grown up and back where she belongs.”

Maeve stiffened. “My name is Maeve. I’ve told you multiple times. Do you struggle with your memory at your advanced age?”

His smile slipped, eyes hardening just enough to warn her that she’d hit a nerve.

Good.

She planned to hit a fuck load more.

“Childish barbs, just like your purple hair and false name…” Carlos tsked softly. “Dye fades, names can change, but I think it’s time you grew up.” His gaze slithered to Yasmine. “Do you wonder, querida, if your husband ever sees her when he looks at you?”

Yasmine’s jaw tightened, fury flashing in her eyes. “If you truly knew your son, you wouldn’t even bother wasting the breath to ask me such a ridiculous question.”

“Enough of this stupidity, Carlos. I’m not a child anymore. Your little scare tactics don’t work.” Maeve said and then rolled her eyes.

His lip twitched, and that pleased her.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and just for the record, your false bravado is yesterday’s news. This office stinks like failed leadership, and the bandage on your arm makes you no more a hero than the man who missed your head with his poor shot.”

Maeve smirked at the guard, standing behind Carlos’s desk, mouth dropped open, and eyes wide. He quickly snapped his mouth shut and resumed his stony expression, but she gave him a wink anyway.

For the briefest second, the mask slipped from Carlos’s face, and the ugliness that lived inside of him stared into her eyes. Carlos chuckled, rising with a slow grace that made the hairs on Maeve’s arms stand on end. She was poking the bear with a sharp stick, and she knew it. Probably not the smartest idea, but fuck it felt good.

“I think it is time that our new guest and I have a conversation alone. Escort the children and Yasmine back to their room.”

Tate clung to Maeve harder, like he knew that leaving her was a bad idea. God, he was the cutest damn kid. They both were, but she was suddenly very protective of Tate.

“It’s okay, go with your mom, I’ll be fine,” Maeve whispered as she rubbed circles on his back.

He pulled back and looked at her face, his bottom lip pushed out in a pout. “I don’t want to leave you,” he murmured, voice so small that she barely heard it. But in that moment, she felt the tug in her chest and knew what Dean had felt when he had left her. She could still remember the look in his eyes, how they had filled with tears. She’d thought all this time that leaving her had been an easy escape, but in reality, it had hurt Dean as much as it had hurt her. The clarity was staggering, and a whole new cut formed inside of her.

“I know, but I’ll visit you very soon,” she said, as Yasmine held out her arms for Tate.

“You promise?”

“I pinky promise,” Maeve said, holding up her finger. Tate smiled and linked his fingers with hers before he unlocked himself from her and went to Yasmine. The look Yasmine gave her spoke volumes. Don’t push too much…he is dangerous. The thing was…so was she.

Maeve’s gut turned to ice as the door shut, leaving her alone with the predator and four guards. Not exactly great odds, but she’d had worse.