Page 135 of Spark

He sighed again as he leaned back into his chair. “It’s not that I don’t care, princess. It’s for your safety as well as my peace of mind.”

I turned to him in confusion. “Peace of mind?”

“You know you haven’t earned my trust yet.”

I scoffed. “That’s why I said someone in your inner circle. Someone you could trust with me.”

“You should know my trusted circle is very, very small. I don’t have a lot of room for trust in my line of work. Or my life, for that matter.”

“Is that why you won’t even let Anya and Irina talk to me? Why you chose to kill Holly instead of keeping her around for me?”

He nodded. “The less attachments, the better.”

“Maybe for you, but not for me. I’m still lonely, Darren.” He almost allowed a reaction to surface on his face. “Look, I know this sounds stupid, but I’m still starving for human interaction. I do the same thing every day with little deviation. I speak to no one but you and occasionally Clive and Owen, and no offense, but none of you are capable of holding enjoyable conversations with me. I can’t even talk to you about the things I like talking about.”

“Things like what? What can’t you talk to me about?”

I almost laughed at him. “Maybe things like Barbies and periods,” I sneered.

He rolled his eyes. “You mean pointless conversations.”

“Sometimes those are the best kind.”

Darren’s eyes glared at me, the rest of his facial features remaining passive as he studied me.

“And Camaro? Is she of such little significance to you?”

I scoffed, watching as Camaro began to dig up the grass where her toy had been. I really did love having a dog. Camaro was a great companion, and she did make me feel a little less lonely, but she still wasn’t human.

I shook my head and answered. “Camaro is just another utility to you. And she is a Band-Aid for me.”

“You would consider her companionship unnecessary then?”

“I would consider her companionship a farce,” I said bitterly to him. “You cannot replace human interaction with a dog and call it good.”

Darren sighed in annoyance again as he brought his fingertips to his temples and rubbed in circles. “You’re frustrating, you know that? You wanted to continue training—I allowed it. You longed to see snow for Christmas—I took you to Alaska. You needed companionship—I got you a dog. Some might see that as being ungrateful.”

I clenched my fists so hard I thought my knuckles were going to burst through my skin.

I let out a long, slow breath to keep myself from lashing out at him because I knew exactly where that would land me if I did—right over his knee.

“And you say I’m frustrating,” I replied cautiously.

“You need to learn to be happy with what you have, Jaden. Others do not have it as easy as you do.”

“Oh, I have it easy, do I?”

“Extremely. You should be thankful I allow you to even sit on the fucking furniture.”

That had me bursting up from my seat in absolute rage. Darren remained unfazed as I scowled down at him, my fists tightening at my sides. Eventually, I turned away to begin pacing in front of him across the patio, his eyes following my every move.

“You said if I wanted something all I had to do was ask,” I seethed as my eyes followed my path.

“Yes. I said you could ask. I did not say you would always receive.”

I blew a loud, angry breath from my mouth. Of course, he would twist his own words.

“You said I would be happy.”

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