by J Marie
When I went back out to the bedroom, I crawled onto my side of the bed and threw the sheets up to my chin as I curled into myself.
“Got an attitude now?” he asked with absolute smugness as he sat up in bed.
“No,” I groaned as I cringed back into the sheets, hiding from him. I just wanted to go back to sleep without invoking any more of his wrath.
“Jaden, get over here, now.” His voice was low and dangerous, and it sent a wave of fear over my body.
Begrudgingly, I rolled over and inched myself over to his side, still keeping my head on the pillows and my eyes down. He pushed me over and pulled my back against his chest again, locking his arm around my torso as he had earlier. Burying his face in my hair, Darren took a deep breath as though he was trying to calm himself down. He had the shortest fuse of anyone I had ever known, and I hoped against hope he knew that.
“Go to sleep, Jaden,” he said exhaling deep and kissing my head and finally relaxing against my body. “I have big plans for us in the morning.”
I closed my eyes and fell face first into the haze I had been denied earlier, drifting into the deepest sleep I had ever known.
~*~
At last, I finally felt Jaden’s body go limp while her breathing patterns evened to a nice and relaxed rhythm. She felt so small against me as my arm snaked around her body, clutching her to my chest. She was warm and soft, yet strong and solid. Everything I never expected to want or need.
Today had actually been enjoyable and gone almost as planned, but with every step of the day, she challenged me, and I had only been too happy to put her back in her place. She was a slow learner; either that or she didn’t know how to shelf her pride like a good little girl. She would learn eventually that silly little emotion had no place in her life anymore.
I had to be patient, though. I had to give her ample time to come around, and I figured a week would be plenty. A week was all I would be able to take before unleashing the storm I had brewing inside. I had so many things I wanted to experience with Jaden, wanted to see her reaction, wanted to provoke her fire so I could stomp it out with the ice in my dead heart. And when she was completely broken and undeniably mine, I would make her my wife, and in return, she would give me the sons I deserved.
Seeing her reaction toward the baseball game, so carefree and unrestrained, lifted my heart a thousand feet. I had never been so happy to see someone smile. The game we had watched down in the kitchen was actually a rerun from the night before that I’d had Scott tape for us. I had watched it earlier while making phone calls and checking in with Dan on the deal in Panama while Jaden soaked away in her tub. I deliberately made that bet knowing I would lose just to test her, see what she’d do, and how she’d react. It was beautiful. I didn’t need to make a bet with her to get her to do something I wanted. I expected her to do it anyway, and it seemed like she was beginning to learn this.
Of course, I would keep her sass intact; I liked that too much about her, but she would know exactly who she belonged to and would never dream of leaving me, even if she were presented with the option of freedom. She would choose me because she loved me and I was her only reason for living. I wanted her to be just as obsessed with me as I was with her.
That goal would take the longest to accomplish. I would gain her love eventually, but first, I needed her fear; I needed her to know who was in control in order to keep her in line. I would reward her with gentleness and comfort for her obedience, and when it finally became second nature, I would move on to phase two. I would give her the world. My world.
Chapter Twenty-One
Business
I woke up entirely too hot, and I felt like I was being crushed into the mattress. I lifted my sweaty head from the pillow to find that Darren had practically rolled over on top of me. Lying face down, I pushed with all my might to roll him off me, but he was too goddamn heavy. Bit by bit, I slowly inched myself away from him, and just as I turned my back to him, both his arms came sweeping over me and pulled me right back in.
“Mmm …” he said, nuzzling into me. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“You’re smothering me with your overactive body temperature. I don’t feel like dying of heat stroke just yet,” I groaned as he squeezed me tightly.
He mumbled his sleepy chuckle as he kissed my hair and then reached over to the side of the bed. He fiddled with it and then a few seconds later I felt the mattress becoming several degrees cooler.
“Better?” he asked.
“Thermal mattress covers?” I said looking up at him.
“That’s not what I asked you.”
“Yes, better, thank you,” I quickly corrected myself.
“Good, you should always remember to answer my questions first.”
“Okay.” I nodded.
Darren then rolled me over, laid my head on his chest, and draped my right leg over his while he kept a tight arm around my back. He kissed my forehead and began gently rubbing my back, but it just felt so wrong. I wanted to be lying with Jason, not this monster.
For a moment, we just laid there, and I took the time to quietly study his body while he busied himself feeling up mine. He was solid, yet soft enough to lay on. Smooth lightly tanned skin covered layers of thick muscle, and for some odd reason, I wanted to trace my fingers along the edges of those masculine curves. I hadn’t realized it before, but Darren actually sported an eight pack rather than the typical six, and it made me jealous as fuck. I had to give it to him – his body was impressive, even with all the obvious battle scars.
As my eyes secretly wandered, I realized I had a better view of the eagle tattoo on Darren’s forearm. The symbol on the shield hanging from the eagle’s talons contained an intricate design of interlocking obtuse triangles, revealing the badge of Darren’s life as a criminal leader – the same badge he wore on his right middle finger.
A few short seconds later, Darren's phone went off with an almost urgency to it. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed it.
“Yeah?” he said, answering it.
“We’ve got a situation,” I heard the male voice on the other line say. I pretended to hear nothing as I kept myself relaxed, but I wondered what the “situation” was.
“Give me five minutes,” Darren replied and hung up. “Sorry, princess,” he said, scooting out from under me. “I’m going to have to postpone our morning plans until later.”
“Am I allowed to ask where you're going?” I said, sitting up and pulling the sheet to my chest.
“I’m not leaving the estate. That’s all you need to know," he said as he pulled on a pair of dark gray track pants and a black tank top.
He walked into the bathroom and came back out two minutes later looking fresh and awake. I wish I could get ready that fast. I looked over at the clock and realized it was only 8:35 a.m.
“And what about me?” I asked as innocently as possible. As far as I knew, I was still bound to his room.
“You can go anywhere you want in the house except for the places you already know are off-limits. What would you like for breakfast?” he asked as he laced up his Adidas.
“Do I have to dress up for it if you're not going to be there? I'd kind of like to work out afterward, and it’s not good to sweat with makeup on.” I gave him little puppy dog eyes hoping he would see my side of things.
“That’s fine,” he said. I released a sigh of relief and gave him a slight smile.
“Thank you,” I said. “And I’ll just have a bagel with cream cheese.” I was going to need a lot of carbs for the workout I had in mind.
“That's it?” he disapproved, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Yes?” I replied inquisitively.
“No, you need something else to go with that.”
“I won’t be able to fit anything else,” I interjected.
“Jaden,” he warned, turning his head dangerously to the side.
“Fine. How about a small bowl of raspberries? I like those.”
> “Better,” he said, still glaring at me. “I’ll let Pascal know. You can have it on the patio.”
“Okay. How long are you going to be?”
“Why? Do you have somewhere you need to be?” he asked sarcastically.
“Maybe.” I leaned into my answer for emphasis, and Darren raised an eyebrow at me. “I mean, I do have a pity party scheduled for 10:00 a.m., you know. I can’t cancel that again.”
Darren gave me a serious look that strongly suggested he didn’t like my jokes, especially when he started striding toward me with an angry pace.
“Kidding!” I said quickly with an uneasy smile and that stopped him as he regarded me closely. “I'm just trying to make sure I have enough time to be ready for when you come back.”
Duh.
He seemed to like my second answer as he crossed the room in two long strides and bent down to kiss my forehead. “Now, that’s a better answer,” he said. “Just go have your breakfast, enjoy your workout, and go get ready. I’ll come find you when I'm done.”
“Okay,” I said.
He took my face in his hands and gave me a good deep kiss, possessing everything I had, and I held on to his wrists to help support myself against his force. He then let go and bumped my nose with his fingertip. “Behave yourself.” He smirked and headed for the door.
“Uh, Darren?” I asked inquisitively.
He turned back around, raising an eyebrow at me. I held up my still bound wrists so he could see, hoping he’d finally release me.
“Oh, yeah.” He laughed and pulled out his phone. Seconds later, my wrists were free. He then winked at me and walked out the door, leaving me alone in his room.
~*~
I left Jaden alone in my room, knowing full well there was nothing in there for her to fuck with, extended her perimeter on my phone, and headed over to the security room. Scott was sitting at his desk, staring at the monitors as I walked in and sat down next to him. Daniel was on the flip phone again, waiting for me on speaker.
“He’s here,” Scott said.
“They fucking backed out,” Dan said angrily.
“Motherfucker,” I seethed.
“I know. Said they didn’t trust us and wanted out. I tried to convince them otherwise, but the gunfire was getting ready to go off and I didn’t need the heat.”
“Do those cocksuckers think I do this for shits and giggles?” I said, leaning back and pinching the bridge of my nose. I didn’t need this shit right now. “You don’t back out of a deal with me when I’ve already completed my end of the bargain—not without consequence.”
“What do you want to do?” Dan asked.
“Let me make a phone call and I’ll get back to you,” I said turning off the screen.
I took out my phone and dialed Carlos. He ran drugs in and out of Panama, and he and I had a decent working relationship since he would supply me with the drugs and I’d supply him with weapons. It was perfect. But since he was the motherfucker responsible for this deal, he was gonna fix it. After two rings he answered.
“Hey, amigo! What’s going on?” His fat-ass Latino voice sounded too chipper on the other end.
“Well, Carlos, I’ve run into a little problem with your friends down in Panama,” I said seriously.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, you want to explain to me why the fuck I send my younger brother down there with a large shipment and they back out the day of delivery?”
“They did what? Oh, man, amigo, I am so sorry. Why did they back out?”
“Some shit about not being able to trust my business? You know something about that?”
“No, my friend, I don’t. I didn’t expect this to happen.”
“No shit. I made this deal as a favor to you, but I don’t run my business like this. You know that.”
“Of course. Let me call them and fix this. There must be some kind of misunderstanding,” he spoke quickly.
“Yeah, you do that,” I said and hung up. I turned to address Scott. “What’s that Panama fucker’s name? Juan?” I asked him harshly.
“Yeah,” he replied with a nod.
“Didn’t Carlos mention something earlier about the guy’s brother doing business near the city? That was how he knew of him?”
“Yeah, some deal he’s working on with the locals.”
“Find him. If those Panama fucks still back out, I want a bullet in his head along with every member of that shitty little cartel. You don’t strike a deal with me and back out, especially after I’ve already incurred the costs of delivery.”
“Got it,” Scott replied and picked up his phone to carry out my orders. I texted Dan back on my phone telling him shit was probably about to go down and to be ready to execute.
After ten minutes of pacing the room with Scott making several phone calls, my phone finally rang with Carlos’s number. I answered on the first ring.
“Well? Do we have a deal or do I need to renegotiate the terms myself?” I asked him angrily.
“I’m sorry, amigo. I tried to convince him, but Juan is very hot-headed and stubborn. He doesn’t trust anyone.”
Done deal, then.
“Well, good thing he won’t have to worry about it anymore,” I said and hung up the phone.
Carlos knew better than to call back. He knew what would happen next, and he knew better than to interfere.
I dialed Dan back, and he answered on the first ring. “Yeah?”
“Deal’s off. You know what to do,” I said.
“Got it,” he replied and hung up.
Well, there goes my morning. I knew Dan was more than capable of handling this shit. His accuracy with a gun was beyond precise, almost as good as my own. He never lost his shit in a situation, remaining calm and cool as I’d taught him. He’d become quite the little mercenary since his first kill when he was twelve. Over the years, I had become proud of the man he’d become, and now that he was about to become a father, it had me rethinking his entire role in this business.
I ran my hands through my hair and rubbed my face, my stubble scratching against my palms as I realized I had forgotten to shave this morning. I was beginning to like the feeling of rubbing my face against Jaden’s smooth skin, but my shadow would hinder that. I’d need to shave before I went to find her later.
I replied to some quick emails on my phone before Scott finally addressed me.
“Darren,” I heard him say from across the room. I turned to look at him. “They got him. They’re bringing him in right now.”
“Good. Let’s go say hi then, shall we?” I said with enthusiasm, and we both left the security room and headed out to the driveway to meet our new temporary guest.
It was barely even 9:00 a.m., and it was already turning out to be a very bloody morning.
~*~
I looked around as I sat on the bed, almost lost in a foreign country, but I could still feel him there. Even though he was gone, just sitting on his bed was enough to make me feel like he really did own me. It was total foreign territory to be in his room, especially without him.
It wasn’t until I got out of bed that I realized how sore my ass was from last night. I walked over to the tall mirror hanging on the wall and examined my ass. There was a fucking outline of a handprint on my left cheek. Son of a bitch! I also noticed an array of little bruises everywhere; discoloration completely consumed my ass. Fuck. I was pissed, and I knew sitting down was going to hurt like hell for a while. I guess I had more motivation to behave if I wanted that shit to heal.
I walked over to the now wrinkled dress shirt in a heap on the floor, pulled my arms through it, wrapping the ends around my body like a robe, and stalked down to my room. Slamming the door behind me, I headed into the bathroom, used the toilet, brushed my hair and teeth, and changed into another skort and plain t-shirt before heading down the stairs to the patio.
When I got to the table, I found a silver covered tray waiting for me with a mug, a thermos of coffee, hot water, bags of tea, and the little co
ntainer for my vitamins. I didn’t even bother to sit down and lifted the lid to find a perfectly toasted bagel, cream cheese, and a bowl full of perfect red raspberries.
After making my tea, I slathered the cream cheese on my bagel and took my sweet-ass time eating my breakfast, just staring over the stone railing of the patio and admiring the ocean view. The raspberries had the perfect combination of tart and sweet as I relished their flavor. Surprisingly, I finished the entire bowl, but there was still one-half of my bagel left. I was bordering on full, and I did not want to work out with an overly packed stomach. I took three of the biggest bites I could muster and replaced the lid on the tray. Hopefully, Darren would recognize my effort and leave it at that.
Letting myself digest for a few minutes, I relaxed against the railing, sipped on my tea, and slugged back my vitamins hoping they might actually do some good. The sun was out in full blaze and the ocean was roaring just a few yards ahead of me. If I hadn't been a captive, I might have actually wanted to live here. I honestly loved the water.
Growing up in Michigan, you were never far from a lake, and my cousin Mel had a nice little setup on Lake Huron. I missed the nights I would spend out there just drinking and bullshitting with her while we tore the Jet Ski up until the sun set. When I got out of here, I was going to do a lot more of that.
Once I finished my tea, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and eagerly headed toward the gym.
And then I heard shouting coming from outside the front door. Cautiously, I walked over to the door and peered through the glass to see Darren on the phone, waving his arms and pacing back and forth. Scott was just standing there, watching Darren while he smoked a cigarette. Deciding against getting caught watching them, I turned away from the door and quickly headed to the gym. Thankfully, no one was in there this time.
