Survival, стр. 130
That morning, I had been given a small bowlof bland oatmeal and black coffee for breakfast, both of which Ibarely touched. I laid on the bench, staring up at the ceiling withmy hands behind my head and my ankles crossed, trying to keepmyself relaxed for when the time finally came for Darren to comeget me. This time it wouldn’t bejust a little battle between us; it would be a full-on war. I couldfeel it in the pit of my stomach. And I knew I was going to fuckinglose and lose hard. It was okay,though. I said it would all be worth it, and even though I had noidea what was coming for me, I still didn’t regret a damnthing.
A few hours later, the lights suddenly cameon and bright light instantly blinded me. I squinted my eyes butremained in my relaxed position as someone stepped through thedoor. I didn’t even have to fully open my eyes to know who it was.My entire body could sense him before my eyes could even registerhim. I could probably pick him out of a crowd blindfolded.
My muscles tensed as my nose caught a whiffof Darren’s scent and my stomach retracted into a thorny bush ofknots. Terror began to fill my body knowing he was here and I triedhard not to show my fear, but I could already feel his rage in theair like a thick reminder of how much trouble I was in.
When my eyes had finally adjusted to the light, I formed a sleepyglare on my face before I finally sat up to meet his stare. He wasleaned up against the wall nearest the door, his arms crossed overhis chest with the most pissed off, terrifying look I had everseen. It made my blood run cold, and I suddenly felt myself shiverwith fear.
Then randomly, he lifted his hands and beganto clap slowly, as if he was applauding me. I entertained hisgesture and brought my arm up, twisting my wrist and hand up andlowering my head in a bow, a slight smirk on my face.
“Well done, Jaden,” he finally said, hisvoice low and cold as ice. “You successfully bypassed my securityand made it off my estate.”
I just nodded with an amused look as if itwas the greatest accomplishment ever. It kind of was.
“Not only did youmanage to get away,” he began, “but you also attempted to burn mychildhood home to the ground, caused several second-degree burns onmany of the men who were there to guard you, stole one of my bikes,and put yourself in serious danger by riding around at high speedsin a small town with no helmet, drawing attention to yourself andmaking contact with your fucking family. Have I forgottenanything?”
“Probably cussing. I did a lot of that.” I shrugged. Sarcasm alwaysmade me feel better.
“Well, now that’s just a given.”
I shrugged again. “Could have been worse. Iconsidered blowing up one of your sports cars, but I didn’t havethe time. You should consider yourself lucky.”
A soft laugh left his throat as he rubbedhis face and began to pace the room slowly. His suit was a littledisheveled and he looked like he hadn’t slept much.
“Do you have any idea of the amount ofbullshit I have been dealing with because of you?” he roaredat me.
“Well, considering the amount of bullshityou’ve already put countless other womenand me through, you cannot imagine the immensity of the fuckI do not give,” I replied harshly.
He slowly shook his head at me. He seemedsomewhat collected on the outside, but inside, I knew he wasboiling with rage. I couldn’t really blame him, though. But, ofcourse, I wasn’t done fueling the fire.
“I don’t know what the fuck was goingthrough your head when you thought you might actually get away fromme. You had to have known I would find you.”
“You and I both know this was never aboutescaping,” I replied. “It was about sending a message, and Isuccessfully did that, so whatever happens next doesn’t matter tome because I did what I needed to do. And ya know what, let’s justbe honest here. You’re not mad at me for getting away. You’re madat yourself because you underestimated me like I said you would. It’s okay, Darren, you canadmit it.”
Darren stared at me for a short secondbefore his mouth curved into a smile and a low chuckle left histhroat.
“I suppose you’re right, princess. You are full of unexpected surprises …but it won’t happen ever again,” he promised darkly.
“I’m sure it won’t.” I glared back athim.
Challenge accepted.
~*~
I’m not really proud of what I did next, butJaden had to learn who was in control, that running away or eventhinking about running was never an option and that she wouldalways pay for it. For the last twenty-four hours, I had beendealing with some serious damage control. I was running on only afew hours of irritated sleep and was stressed and aggravated beyondbelief.
At least,my meeting in New York turned out to be successful as fuck, withthis year’s contract promising to be more profitable than lastyear’s. If Jaden had fucked that up, things would be even worse forher.
I had sent orders out for my men to finishtracking the rest of her family, but most of the immediate ones hadsuddenly disappeared. Her old boyfriend had vanished without atrace, along with her mother, brothers, and best friend, whichsorely pissed me off. I wanted that fuck’s head on my fucking desk.They did manage to find one family member, though …
I knew Jaden was weak and tired from theslight starvation Hagen had been putting her through. Normally, Iwould have been against it, but I wanted her to realize howgrateful she should be to me for taking care of her at my home.Plus, I wanted her essentially diminished for what I was about todo to her.
The first thing I did was backhand heracross the face, purposely splitting her lip. I wanted it to hurtevery time I kissed her