Page 10 of Spark

Oh, Benito. You fucked with the wrong bitch.

Smiling to myself, I walked over to the wet bar, grabbed a bottle of Jack and a shot glass and sat on the floor behind the bar where I could hide and finally enjoy some well-deserved whiskey.

Let the fun begin.

* * *

With Jaden now secured back in her suite, I summoned Hank to my office for the meeting I had called him about earlier. I was able to return to the island a half a day early thanks to some serious micromanaging and three dead drug dealers. Turf wars were always messy, but give them an inch and an entire city is taken… or attempted, I should say.

Sid was sitting in the black leather chair across from my desk, waiting with an anxious look in his eye. I was currently flipping through Jaden’s medical file, looking over her latest updates and considering her current medical status.

I was pleased to discover that Jaden’s jaw and wrist were healing nicely, along with her ribs. I hadn’t planned extensive damage when I broke them; just enough to remind her of what I could do and who she was fucking with. She should be fully restored in the next month, assuming she followed her recovery plan.

Hearing her voice over the phone felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders, even if it was clipped and angry. I missed my name on her tongue and the way her voice shook when she was afraid. I planned to hear it again very soon. You never really realize how much you miss something until it’s gone. Of course, I only missed her sailor’s vocabulary or her argumentative mouth a little bit, but that was something that would diminish in time. The only thing I ever wanted to hear was her moaning my name in brutal ecstasy.

Much to my irritation, Jaden had, in fact, been diagnosed with depression, which wasn’t much of a fucking surprise. All she ever did was sleep and mope around like it was the end of the goddamn world. But it wasn’t the end of the world; it was the beginning of a brand new one, one I was very much looking forward to.

But I had been watching her while I was away. She had been much more difficult with her guards and staff than I had anticipated now that she could voice her frustrations. I had been so enraged, I wanted to turn around and fly right home to deal with her, but I had to handle my own shit first. And that shit was now officially handled.

When Hank finally gained access to my office, he quickly took the empty seat next to Sid and sat down, unbuttoning his suit jacket and tugging on his uniform black tie.

“Mr. Davis,” he said with a nod.

“So,” I said, closing Jaden’s medical file. “How productive has she been?”

Hank cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable.

“Not very, sir,” Hank said with disappointment. “She’s been far more difficult than usual. Lashing out, causing fights, and raising all kinds of hell. I don’t know what to do with her anymore. She just won’t listen.”

I looked over at Sid, knowing I wore a disapproving scowl across my face as I glared at him, waiting for an explanation. He was the brains behind her recovery.

He shrugged, looking down at his knees before finally answering. “This is normal. People with depression experience different symptoms all the time, and some of them are irritable, angry, and argumentative. This will pass.”

“I’m aware of the symptoms of depression, Sid. What I’m unaware of is how to fix it in Jaden’s case.”

“Can’t we just put the chick on some more meds or something?” interrupted Hank.

I instantly scowled at him, rage burning my eyes.

“That chick is my future wife and mother of my goddamn future children. Show some fucking respect, Hank,” I seethed.

Hank bowed his head in submission. “My apologies, Mr. Davis,” he said quickly backtracking.

“It’s not that easy,” Sid started with a deep sigh. “It’s not like Jaden has a chemical imbalance that can be fixed with a few prescriptions. She’s just upset over her current situation because she feels powerless. We just need to find a way to motivate her again. Give her something to look forward to besides sleeping and irritating her staff.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Hank chimed in, and I couldn’t help but glare at him.

“Sleep is her way of coping. She prefers it to her reality because she doesn’t have to deal with the pain of it,” explained Sid. “And when she is awake, irritating you and Benito is her way of distracting herself from her own pain. Her only form of real entertainment. We’ve got to give her a better reason to want to wake up in the morning.”

“The only motivation she currently has is to fantasize about killing me,” I said bluntly.

I knew Jaden still hated me and wanted me dead. I didn’t exactly blame her, considering what I had done to her, but eventually, I would change her mind. I just wanted something else entirely to motivate her to get out of bed.

Hank and Sid exchanged looks in response to my admission, but they shrugged in a way of agreement. They could see it in Jaden’s eyes whenever she was plotting something. Nothing ever came of it, but I knew when her eyes glazed over and her jaw clenched, she was plotting. My little open book.

“Well, we just need to change her mind,” Sid said positively.

I chuckled. He acted like it was going to be easy, but Jaden would always have a place in her heart that burned with hellfire for me no matter how good I was to her. But it didn’t matter. This tiny disruption would not deter my plans.

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