Page 130 of Spark

“You need to keep better track of your date,” I said.

“Why? What’s she doing?” he asked, his face suddenly warped with anger as he turned to search for her.

“Talking,” I said. “We both know a silent slave is an obedient slave.”

He nodded. “I’ll take care of it.” He then snapped his fingers, summoning a nearby guard and whispered into his ear. A few moments later, the girl was escorted to the table nearest our sights where she would remain for the rest of the party. I could see the warning glare Dominic was giving her from where he sat, further satisfying me that he had things under control.

“So… how’s Vegas?” I asked him.

“It’s great,” he said, taking his drink and nearly slamming it back. “You should come for a visit soon; see the new club some time. It’s doing really well. You could even bring your new gem. I bet she’d love it.”

Yeah, I bet she’d love to see a bunch of half-naked slaves crawling around on their hands and knees while balancing drink trays on their bare backs.

“We’ll see. I have been meaning to come out there, see how you’re handling things.”

“I’ve been handling things just fine,” he said begrudgingly. “I’ve been at this for over a year now. Everything’s good.”

“How’s the deal with Rourke coming along then?”

Dominic rolled his eyes. “Negotiations are coming along fine. There are some permits that have to be secured first, but we’re working on that.”

That made me furrow my brows.

“It’s been months, Dom. This deal was easy. Construction should have begun weeks ago.”

I had trusted Dominic with orchestrating a deal to construct a new warehouse in Vegas for our human trafficking operations since the old one was practically falling apart. And here he was, months later, still working on permits. For fucks sake…

He scoffed. “This deal is petty and you know it. Why am I wasting time on little $100,000 contracts when I should be handling the million dollar ones?”

“Because you’re not seasoned enough to handle them yet. If you can’t negotiate the smaller ones within a few weeks, then how do you expect to handle the ones with more at stake on the table?”

“Because they’re actually worth my time. That’s why,” he snapped.

I shook my head. “You still have a long way to go, brother.”

He rolled his eyes, making me grit my teeth in irritation.

“Speaking of a long way to go, how’s your redhead acclimating?” he asked, his eyes now landing on Jaden as she stood off towards the side of the house, watching the band.

I forced myself not to glare at him. “She’s doing just fine.”

“Fine is right,” he sneered.

“Focus on your date, Dominic. Or have you forgotten her again already?”

He scoffed. “She’s sitting at the table like a good little kitten. No worries.”

A bad taste suddenly resonated in my mouth when I turned my head to see Regina make her way over to Jaden, who was standing near the house, watching the band, and immediately started chatting her up. Regina’s signature bitch stance took over as she leaned on her hip and rested her hand over it. I couldn’t tell what they were discussing, but given that Regina’s movements were jerky and sharp, she was not being pleasant, yet Jaden remained unfazed and well composed. In fact, she had a sly smirk lurking at the corner of her lips the entire time until she finally burst out laughing. I could see Regina’s face heat up for a moment before she suddenly lifted her fist and snapped it out towards Jaden’s face. Jaden merely sidestepped Regina’s attack, causing her fist to collide right into the side of the house that had been at Jaden’s back. Regina’s screech could be heard over the entire crowd, even as the band played on.

“Damn it,” I whispered under my breath.

“Oh, shit!” Dominic immediately started laughing. “Did you just see that?”

“Ice,” I said to the bartender, holding my hand out. He placed a large glass filled with ice on the bar and I emptied a few of the cubes into several napkins and bundled them up.

“Excuse me,” I said to Dom, immediately standing and heading over to the spectacle.

Clive and Owen were already separating Jaden from Regina, Regina clutching her now bleeding hand to her stomach and panting like she was going to bleed to death.

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