Spark, стр. 3

but it was all I could eat until my mouth was unwired. I had lost nearly ten pounds

from my new liquid diet, losing my muscle tone along with it since I wasn’t exactly

working out anymore. I felt like I was withering away, both physically and

mentally.

At least I had Ginsby to keep me company, though she wasn’t much for

conversation, but then again, neither was I. I had Hank, but he never spoke much,

not unless he was telling me what to do. He never let me out of his sight. Whenever

I had to leave my suite, he escorted me, which wasn’t often since I had no desire to

ever leave my room anyway. Upon Darren’s approval, I could roam the house, but I

had zero interest in going anywhere or doing anything. I preferred to just sleep.

Darren informed me that when I fully recovered, I would have two guards since

he didn’t trust me with just one. There was a compliment in there somewhere, but

in the end, it just made me feel more hopeless. I had strived so hard for freedom,

yet I set myself back further than when I had first started. I couldn’t allow myself to

get upset about it, though. I knew the risks as well as the consequences, and now, I

had to live with them. It didn’t make the situation suck any less, though.

Broken, defeated, and restrained, I didn’t know what hope I had to escape

Darren a second time. I knew I would have to kill him first, but just the simple

thought of that was exhausting, especially since there was a prerequisite to

complete first — namely, his empire. I wasn’t giving up, though. I promised myself

that and I promised Jason. I owed it to my family and to everyone else who had ever

been wronged by Darren’s organization. But it didn’t mean I couldn’t wallow in a

little self-hatred for a while. I’d earned it, after all. I was just so tired of being

stronger than I felt. It was exhausting. I needed a break … and I suppose I was

getting it … literally.

“Here’s your soup,” Ginsby said with a smile, breaking me from my train of

thought. She handed me the thermos, and I took it from her, placing it in my lap

and returning to my book. “Oh, I should inform you,” she began a little nervously,

“Mr. Davis would like for you to join him for dinner tonight.”

My stomach immediately dropped, as did my appetite. I gave her an incredulous

look before turning to my tablet. I pulled out the stylus and began to write on the

notepad app.

‘Why,’ I wrote.

She shrugged. “He just does, dear. He’s been gone for over a week now and

would like to see you.”

Best week of my life.

I cleared my notepad and wrote ‘great’ on it and flashed it to her.

“We’ll need to get you ready in a couple of hours. He’ll be arriving on the island

around six p.m.”

Fucking. Fabulous.

–∞–

I spent the next several hours sitting in a shower chair while Ginsby helped to wash

me. It was difficult to wash my body and hair with a busted wrist and ribs. For the

longest time, I tried on my own, but it took me forever, and the struggle just wasn’t

worth it anymore. At first, I didn’t like the idea of Ginsby washing me and seeing

me naked, but eventually, I stopped giving a fuck. She wasn’t much for beauty help,

but she could flat iron my hair like it was her own. My hair was ridiculously long

now, past my breasts and annoying as hell. I always managed to get it caught in

something or lay on it wrong. For the most part, I kept it back in a ponytail and out

of my way, but I knew Darren liked it down and fanned out.

When I was presentable, Hank escorted me to the dining room where I sat and

waited for Darren to arrive. The moment I sat down, my long smooth hair fell into

my face, and I just couldn’t take it anymore. It was so long and annoying that I

didn’t care if Darren preferred it down. I took the hair tie from my left wrist and

pulled my hair into a loose low ponytail. My hair was never this long, ever. I didn’t

have the time to manage it, and it just got in the way. I planned to ask for a real

haircut soon, but I doubted Darren would grant it. He liked my hair long and still

wanted it longer.

As Darren’s doll, I had been dressed in a light yellow strapless sundress and

glittery nude flip-flops for shoes. While my hair was straight and smooth, my face

no longer had to bear the annoyance of makeup. Over the past few weeks, I hadn’t

worn any during my recovery, and Darren seemed to appreciate my natural beauty

now, rather than mask it with something fake. Although, he expected to go the

extra mile for special occasions apparently.

I