Page 12 of Spark

“Move, bitch! Get out the way! Get out the way, bitch! Get out the way!” came Jaden’s voice as she rapped along with the lyrics, a bottle of Jack Daniel’s in her hand as she stood on top of the pool table in the corner of the room. Her back was to me as she danced to the song in her silky white pajamas, rotating those hips of hers and stretching her arms above her head. She was clearly too drunk to even notice the doors had been kicked in or too drunk to care.

The song then remixed to “Get Back,” and Jaden nearly lost her shit as her feet instantly switched to a fighting stance and her fists came out to fall in line with the rhythm of the bass. She rapped the lyrics like it was another language, and if I hadn’t been so pissed, I might have actually laughed at how cute and entertaining I found it.

It was then that she finally turned around and noticed me standing right behind her, my arms folded across my chest as my glare finally caught her face. Yet she didn’t react. No thanks to the alcohol. Instead, she pointed at me, a big goofy smile on her face as she rapped, “I ain’t playing around. Make one false move, I’ll take ya down. Get back, motherfucker! You don’t know me like that! Get back, motherfucker! You don’t know me like that!”

Had this not been so dangerous, I probably would have pulled up a chair and watched the show, maybe even tossed a few hundreds in the air, but the fact was Jaden was still recovering, was on medication, and was at risk of falling and further injuring herself. I had to call the curtain.

I quickly marched over to the pool table, swept my arm under Jaden’s knees, and caught her upper body gently, easily removing her from the table and setting her down on her feet before me. It might have been the first time I picked her up without a single hint of protest from her.

Jaden swayed from side to side as the bottle still hung from her left hand. I snatched it out of her hand, setting it on the pool table behind her. Nearly half of it was gone.

Fucking Benito…

I glared down at Jaden, my hands on her shoulders to hold her steady, but all she did was giggle at me. I grabbed the remote to the stereo, which happened to be sitting on the edge of the pool table, and turned off the system.

“Hey!” she whined. “I likethatsong.”

I shook my head at her. She was already slurring.

“What have you done?” I asked darkly, my hands now moving to her face, tilting it up so I could examine her eyes. Bloodshot.

She smiled and chuckled. “I got into the liquor cabinet,” she slurred with another giggle.

“I can see that,” I replied angrily, looking over her face. Flushed.

And then she turned, bent over, and threw up all over the rug under the pool table.

Fuck…

I quickly stood behind her, held her hair out of her face, and rested my arm under her pelvis to keep her supported without putting too much pressure on her ribs or stomach. She threw up for several minutes, eventually dry heaving since her stomach had now completely emptied all over my rug. When the nausea had passed, she slumped in my arm while her other arm rested on the pool table to support herself. After easing her down onto one of the nearby chairs, I placed a trash bin in front of her and stormed out of the room.

“Is she okay?” Hank asked as I bypassed him.

“Get her cleaned up,” I ordered and went straight for Benito’s throat, hauling him back up against the wall. He barely even fought me.

“HOW THE FUCK did you let this happen?” I roared at him, slamming him back into the already broken picture frame.

“I- I don’t know. I left the room for one second—”

“You left her alone?!” I shouted at him as he cringed in fear. I shook with fury.

Rule number one was that Jaden was to remain within sight at all times. No exceptions.

“No, she manipulated me. I didn’t mean—”

“You were warned about her tricks, Benito. You were supposed to be watching her… and you failed.”

“I-I, I didn’t… I wasn’t—”

“It’s okay, Benito. Don’t worry.” I got in real close to his ear. “At least you’ll get to die your own man and not someone else’s worthless whore.”

Benito immediately ceased his struggle as he caught on to my words. And then I snapped his neck.

Benito’s lifeless body fell to the floor in a heap, and I stood over him in complete satisfaction. I had listened to his little conversation with my worthless whore earlier today, not to mention the bruises he’d put on her already damaged wrist. He was lucky we were on the island and not back at the estate. Otherwise, I would have taught all of my guards a lesson in respect. I would not tolerate others disrespecting Jaden, especially to my face. I would always defend her honor. To disrespect her was a direct insult to me, and I would not fucking have it. Blood would spill first.

After calming my racing heart, I dragged Benito’s body from the hallway and out of Jaden’s sight. Even though she should probably get used to the sight of death around me, I didn’t want to give her stomach another reason to jump ship. I then pulled out my phone and arranged for two new guards to arrive in the morning. One to relieve Hank and watch Jaden at night and the other to replace Benito. Hopefully, the next two wouldn’t turn out to be disappointments.

I then dialed Sid, who answered on the first ring.

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