by J Marie
staring at me with a disappointed look on his face.
“Yes?” I said, raising my eyebrows and looking at him expectedly.
He sighed deeply and relaxed his shoulders. “What are you doing, Jaden?” he
asked me gently.
I furrowed my brows. “What are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“No, asshole, I don’t.”
Sid sighed again and rolled his eyes, like that would make this conversation any
easier for him.
“You’ve been acting like some spoiled child ever since Darren left the island.
Don’t think I haven’t been monitoring your behavior. I’ve been watching very
closely,” he said.
It was my turn to roll my eyes. “What do you care?”
“I care because, believe it or not, I do want you to get better, Jaden.”
I scoffed at him. “Sure, you do.” I snickered, folding my arms across my chest
and leaning back.
“And I’m not the only one who cares, Jaden. Darren cares very much for yo—”
“Fuck. Him,” I said sharply, cutting him off. I couldn’t give a fuck less about
whether he thought Darren cared about me. The only thing Darren cared about was
controlling me.
Sid rubbed his face in frustration. “I know you’re angry, and I know you’re
depressed, but is this any way to handle it?”
“And how do you suggest I handle it, doc? The same way Darren suggests? He’ll
die first,” I spat.
Sid cleared his throat before squaring his shoulders as if he was ready to give me
some bullshit heart-to-heart speech.
“There is no changing your situation—”
“Wrong,” I dejected.
“But that doesn’t mean you can’t still thrive in it.”
I straight up glared at him. Thrive? Was he serious?
“I’m not allowed to thrive. In fact, I’m not even allowed to be having this
conversation with you. Does Darren even know you’re here?”
“No, this conversation is just between you and me.”
“It won’t stay that way for long,” I replied. Darren always found out about
everything.
“Something I’m sure he’ll understand if it doesn’t.”
I snorted. “Yeah, okay,” I said, turning my head to look out the window.
“Jaden, this is no way for you to live your life, and toying with your guards is just
a childish way of distracting yourself from the real problem. You need to focus and
get better. You need to get healthy again. Stronger again. We can help you.”
“No one can help me,” I muttered, my eyes lingering on the water that danced
in the dark, almost reminding me of a certain pair of eyes I loathed.
“You’re not alone in this, Jaden. You have help—”
“Sid,” I said cutting him off sharply. “I am more alone now than I ever was
before. Please don’t insult me by telling me otherwise because I won’t believe you.”
“Jaden, come on—”
“Just go,” I clipped, turning my head back to the window to hide the tear that
slipped through.
Sid sighed heavily as he stood; his gaze heated as he stood over me, but I was
done with this conversation.
“You’re better than this, Jaden,” he said forcefully. “You can choose to be a
victim, or you can choose to be something else entirely. Stop being a little bitch
about it and stand up.”
I turned to him, almost ready to kick him right in the dick. “Get out,” I spat.
Sid groaned, threw his hands up in the air, and stormed out of the room,
slamming the door behind him.
Fuck him. Fuck all of them.
5
WORTHLESS
My wrists burned in agony. Chains rattled above me. Dirt and sweat covered my
body.
Where was I?
“Look at me, slave.”
My heart stopped in its tracks. Slave …
My eyes snapped to find him, and then I immediately regretted it.
“There is no escaping this, and there is no escaping me. I am four times your
size and over twice your weight. My strength and speed will always exceed yours.
Always. Whatever hope you have left of beating me in this little game is false as
well as foolish. In what world do you ever imagine escaping me and your future?”
“FUCK!” I screamed as I jolted from my hospital bed.
My heart was pounding out of my chest, my face was sweaty, and my breath was
coming in and out of my lungs like I might die if I didn’t take my next breath that
very second. I was back in my hospital bed; the last thing I remembered was
passing out on my reading nook, so I didn’t know how I got there. Hank probably.
Snagging the hair tie from my wrist, I bunched my hair back into a messy knot
just to get it out of my face and ignored the ache in my wrist. When my hair was
secure, I pulled my knees to my chest, rested my temple against my knee, and
looked out the window. The sun was rising, and the birds were already awake. I
closed my eyes and tried to focus on their songs, hoping to calm the storm raging
inside me. I stayed like that until Ginsby finally entered my room unannounced.
“Oh, good, you’re up,” she said, surprised. “I brought your breakfast.”
“Not hungry,” I said without moving from my position.
“Jaden, please!” she shrieked, and I immediately snapped my head toward her
in shock and concern, scowling in her direction. She quickly backtracked. “I’m
sorry,” she said in a huff, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You’ve just become so
difficult these last two days.”
For some reason, that was enough to make me feel bad. So I released a deep
breath and traded my bed for the table, sat down, and attempted to eat my
breakfast. Ginsby smiled and sat down to make sure I ate enough for Darren’s
approval. I silently picked at my egg white omelet and sipped on my orange juice
until I was full, which consisted of only three-quarters of it, but whatever. Valiant
effort and all.
After breakfast, I took a shower and changed into a flowing teal blue sundress,
allowing my hair to air dry. I practiced my jaw and wrist exercises under Ginsby’s
instructions, took my medications without complaint, and was rewarded with a trip
to the pool. Escorted by Hank and Benito, who were still pissed off from yesterday, I
lounged in the shade with my tablet and tried to read for a while, but my thoughts
kept lingering back to my conversation with Sid.
“You can choose to be a victim, or you can choose to be something else
entirely.”
The question was, what was that something else? What did it make me if I chose
not to be a victim? I didn’t know. Was there even another choice of status? I was the
stolen, and as of a few weeks ago, officially the forgotten. I was gone, but I was still
here … barely a survivor, but a survivor nonetheless. Yeah, I was wallowing in my
self-pity; so much so, I probably deserved an Oscar for it. I was only depressed
because my body was useless. End of. Once my strength returned, so would the rest
of my fire-breathing antics. For some reason, it was just hard to find the mental
motivation.
After a while, my lunch was brought out and placed on the table next to me. A
bowl of hot creamy potato soup and
a smoothie awaited me, but I wasn’t interested
in the soup. It was too hot outside for that, so I sipped on the smoothie instead.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Benito was still fuming as he watched me
ignore my soup. He had a nice little red mark that led from the corner of his eye to
his temple, courtesy of my foot. He’ll probably have to explain that to Darren later
when he returns. That should be a fun conversation.
By the time I finished my smoothie, my soup had gone cold, and I had even less
interest in eating it. When the staff came around to collect my lunch, the same
maid who had cleaned up my mess from my spilled soup the other day looked down
at the still full bowl, disappointed.
“You no like your soup?” she asked me politely, her accent conflicting with her
English.
“I’m not that hungry. Thank you,” I replied with a small smile.
“Jaden, eat your goddamn soup,” Benito nearly yelled at me from across the
way. I turned and glared at him something fierce.
“Why don’t you come over here and make me, Benito,” I challenged.
Benito took a rushed step forward, but Hank immediately stopped him before
his back foot could even move by placing a quick hand on his arm. Benito stopped
in his singular track and stepped back into place, taking a deep breath to calm
down.
Choke on it, Benito.
Evading the tension, the young maid quickly collected my dishes and left
without another word. I then decided it was probably time for some exercise. Since
there was no chance of accidentally bumping into Darren anywhere, I decided to
wander the house and do some exploring. None of it interested me, to begin with,
but it was something to do.
Most of the house was either hardwood or tile, lots of open space and windows,
with orange and cream-colored walls dominating nearly every room. I eventually
stumbled upon the home gym and became instantly envious. It was significantly
smaller than the one at Darren’s home, but it still had all the same equipment.
There was another home theater, still smaller, several random bedrooms and
bathrooms, a parlor with a wet bar and pool table, and a finished basement of no
important significance. The house was beautifully furnished, decorated in a
Spanish setting with cultural references and adornments everywhere. For a
moment, I almost thought I was standing in some Mexican drug lord’s home. Close
enough, I guess.
The rest of my day was dull and mundane. I played a game of pool alone in the
parlor, practiced my jaw and wrist exercises several times, and took my medication,
which eventually made me sleepy. I took a small nap in my reading nook for a few
hours until it was once again dinnertime.
Begrudgingly and absent an appetite, I was escorted back to the dining room,
where my dinner was waiting. This time it was a thick, creamy zucchini soup. I
pushed my spoon around in it for a while, taking one bite and immediately
regretting it. Fucking gross. I noticed Benito’s face flare up at my refusal, but he
said nothing. Hank stood next to him, slowly shaking his head in disapproval, until
he left the room to take a call. That was when Benito made his move.
He stormed over to me, slammed his fist down on the table only a few inches
away from my bowl, and stood over me, fuming.
“You’d better eat your goddamn dinner this time, you little brat. I’m done
dealing with your stupid rebellious bullshit,” Benito seethed.
I shook my head with a laugh.
“Get the fuck out of my face, Benito, before I make your left match your right.”
“Ya know, you’re never going to amount to anything,” he retorted with a snarl.
The fuck did he just say to me? I looked up at him, enraged and shocked he had
even dared to share that kind of shit with me.
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me, you little shit. Keep rebelling all you want, but it’s never going
to get you anywhere. You’re nothing but a tiny girl with a bad attitude and a tight
hole to fuck.”
I immediately saw red.
“You don’t know shit about this tiny girl, Benito. Keep pissing me off, and I
swear I will burn your ass for good. All I have to do is flash you, and I get the
pleasure of watching Darren kill you. Is that what you want?”
Benito chuckled, and I almost punched him right in his stupid face.
“Try it, Jaden. We’ll see who comes out of that one alive. Even if I’m dead, at
least I died my own man and not someone else’s worthless whore,” he spat and
then returned to his position against the wall just in time for Hank to return.
My fists curled so tight my palms burned and my knuckles turned white till my
hands shook with rage. I wanted to flip the table. I wanted to rip the walls down
with my bare hands and shatter every window with the wrath blistering in my vocal
cords.
Worthless whore.
Well, fine then. I would show Benito exactly what this whore was worth.
6
LUDACRIS
I didn’t know how I did it, but I managed to finish half my bowl of soup, even with
a stomach full of rage and violence. I was then taken back to my suite, where I
watched movies for a while, waiting for my opportunity. I sipped on some tea at my
table, Hank and Benito quietly chatting at their designated chairs, until Hank was
called away again.
After a few minutes, I caught Benito watching me. On a whim, I took my teacup
and gently pushed it right off the edge of the table and watched it shatter and spill
all over the floor.
“Goddammit, Jaden! Come on!”
I shrugged. “Whoops,” I said and got up to head to the bathroom, which was
only a few feet away from the door to the hallway.
“Ugh! Do not move! I’ll be right back,” he shouted and then walked out of the
door. But as soon as he was out of sight, I quickly snatched the door handle before
the door could shut and lock me in. Bingo.
I slowly pulled it open and peeked out. Benito was long gone, and now so was I. I
snuck around the corner quickly, managing to avoid all eyes until I found my way
back to the parlor, shut the doors, and locked myself in.
Oh, Benito. You fucked with the wrong bitch.
Smiling to myself, I walked over to the wet bar, grabbed a bottle of Jack and a
shot glass and sat on the floor behind the bar where I could hide and finally enjoy
some well-deserved whiskey.
Let the fun begin.
W ith Jaden now secured back in her suite, I summoned Hank to my office for the
meeting I had called him about earlier. I was able to return to the island a half a
day early thanks to some serious micromanaging and three dead drug dealers. Turf
wars were always messy, but give them an inch and an entire city is taken … or
attempted, I should say.
Sid was sitting in the black leather chair across from my desk, waiting with an
anxious look in his eye. I was currently flipping through Jaden’s medical file,
looking over her latest updates and considering her current medical status.
I was pleased to discover that Jaden’s jaw and wrist were healing nicely, along
with her ribs. I hadn’t planned extensi
ve damage when I broke them; just enough
to remind her of what I could do and who she was fucking with. She should be fully
restored in the next month, assuming she followed her recovery plan.
Hearing her voice over the phone felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders, even
if it was clipped and angry. I missed my name on her tongue and the way her voice
shook when she was afraid. I planned to hear it again very soon. You never really
realize how much you miss something until it's gone. Of course, I only missed her
sailor’s vocabulary or her argumentative mouth a little bit, but that was something
that would diminish in time. The only thing I ever wanted to hear was her moaning
my name in brutal ecstasy.
Much to my irritation, Jaden had, in fact, been diagnosed with depression, which
wasn’t much of a fucking surprise. All she ever did was sleep and mope around like
it was the end of the goddamn world. But it wasn’t the end of the world; it was the
beginning of a brand new one, one I was very much looking forward to.
But I had been watching her while I was away. She had been much more difficult
with her guards and staff than I had anticipated now that she could voice her
frustrations. I had been so enraged, I wanted to turn around and fly right home to
deal with her, but I had to handle my own shit first. And that shit was now officially
handled.
When Hank finally gained access to my office, he quickly took the empty seat
next to Sid and sat down, unbuttoning his suit jacket and tugging on his uniform
black tie.
“Mr. Davis,” he said with a nod.
“So,” I said, closing Jaden’s medical file. “How productive has she been?”
Hank cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable.
“Not very, sir,” Hank said with disappointment. “She’s been far more difficult
than usual. Lashing out, causing fights, and raising all kinds of hell. I don’t know
what to do with her anymore. She just won’t listen.”
I looked over at Sid, knowing I wore a disapproving scowl across my face as I
glared at him, waiting for an explanation. He was the brains behind her recovery.
He shrugged, looking down at his knees before finally answering. “This is
normal. People with depression experience different symptoms all the time, and
some of them are irritable, angry, and argumentative. This will pass.”
