Page 103 of Spark

I laid there with Jaden for another half hour just stroking her skin and savoring the softness of her body, but seven a.m. was quickly approaching and, like always, I had shit to take care of. Carefully easing myself out from under Jaden, I pulled the covers back over her shoulders and watched her ease onto my pillow. Once her breathing evened, I changed into my workout gear, grabbed my phone, and headed down to the gym.

Scott was already there, curling weights in front of the mirror. I headed over to the end of the room and joined him. We lifted weights together for about an hour and sparred for another hour in the cage. Scott was the best training partner out there; he was the only one who could provide a challenge for me in one-on-one combat. He was the one responsible for training all of our onsite security and hiring trainers for those offsite. We didn’t just have guards in our organization; we had soldiers, a necessary requirement for a member of the Triguard. We didn’t fuck around with anything. Everyone was armed and trained, no matter who they were. Even my household staff had training.

When Scott and I finished in the gym, we had contracts to review for a new business proposition in Chicago. An associate wanted to overtake a failing hotel on the main strip so he could better launder his drug trafficking finances through it. He wanted me to go in on it because he knew I had the connections to legitimize it. And I did. I could actually use my own hotel down there instead of the apartment I rarely used. At least this way, I’d make money by having a residence there.

When we were finished, I handed Scott the completed paperwork to send off and stood up to stretch.

“Make sure the guns are ready. I’m going for a shower,” I said before heading for the door.

“Half hour,” Scott said with a nod.

I bypassed him and went straight to my room. Jaden should be up by now. I was letting her sleep in for the holidays to give her another reason to appreciate them, but when I got back to my room, all I heard was yelling.

“I just want to take her outside for a fucking second so she can go to the bathroom!”

“And I told you, you’ll have to wait!”

“Listen here, you stupid motherfu—”

“Hey!” I shouted entering the room, cutting Jaden off midsentence. She was red in the face as she stood between Romero and Alex, her arms crossed over her chest. “The fuck is going on?” I was looking directly at Jaden, so she’d know my question was directed at her.

Jaden took a big breath and released it as she tried to calm herself. “I just want to take Camaro out on the balcony for a quick second so she can go to the bathroom. But apparently, I can’t step foot out of this room without your permission! I’m sick of this!”

I looked over at Romero and Alex, who also seemed a little frustrated by the situation. “Out,” I ordered, nodding toward the door.

“Yes, sir,” they said in unison and left, closing the door behind them. Jaden immediately huffed in irritation and walked over to the window, turning her back to me. I looked over at Camaro who was sitting in her bed, chewing on a rope toy.

“Feisty this morning, aren’t we?” I said as I stalked toward her.

“Don’t undermine me, Darren. I effing hate that.”

At least she was substituting her cuss words, but I wouldn’t tolerate that kind of behavior.

“You know better than to argue with them like that.” My chest was almost pressing into her shoulders as she continued to brood. It was cute, but that didn’t mean she was getting a free pass.

“Was my request really so out of line? I was just going to go out on the damn balcony.”

Sighing deeply, I placed my hands on her hips and pulled her to me, keeping her back tight against my pecs. “Their job is to watch over you, and your job is to let them. They will not compromise my orders to make you happy. It’s for your own good.”

“I don’t see why it matters. You have a tracker on my collar. There’s no point in running again, so why the constant shadows?”

“That collar obviously didn’t stop you last time. I told you things were going to get worse. You have no one to blame for this but yourself.”

She was quiet for a moment before releasing a long, slow breath. She knew this was the consequence for escaping me, and she needed to accept that.

“For how long?”

I couldn’t help but tighten my grip on her. “For as long as I see fit,” I said, bending down to kiss her neck. She smelled so damn good.

I could feel her getting angrier by the second, the heat rising from her skin as she continued to brood like it would do her any good. I roughly turned her in my arms to face me, holding onto her upper arms to keep her in place. The glare she sported only made me smile. “Now, if you want to go outside, you’ll have to ask me nicely. I may have treated you a lot this week, but that doesn’t mean my rules are suddenly forgotten.”

She huffed again, releasing the breath through her nose while her mouth formed a tight little line. “Can I please take Camaro outside again?” she asked, trying to sound as nice as she possibly could.

Leaning down, I kissed her on the side of her head, satisfied with her plea. “After lunch, when you’ve calmed down. You’ll stay here until then, understand?”

I could see the strain in her jaw from my response. She was biting her tongue again.

“Yes, Darren,” she finally answered.

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