Page 14 of Spark

I was sure Darren would see to that.

“I certainly hope so,” she said nervously. “We only want what’s best for your health, dear.”

“I know,” I said with a nod and focused on finishing my hangover cure.

Once I had showered and changed into a black cotton sundress, Hank and some other guard I had never seen before escorted me. This one was blond and maybe a head shorter than Darren; a little older, too. Where was Benito?

I looked up at Hank as I walked through the hall. “What happened to Benito?” I asked.

Hank didn’t respond; he didn’t even look my way. Neither did Blondie.

Whatever.

My headache was slowly subsiding, thanks to my pain meds, but my body still felt like shit. My jaw and stomach were sore from all the rapping and retching I did last night. I still couldn’t believe I did all that in front of Darren. I hadn’t anticipated him for another day, but I had obviously done a fantastic job at getting myself totally wasted in less than thirty minutes. Otherwise, I would have probably been terrified out of my mind. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d gotten drunk like that, much less had a sip of hard liquor.

Oh, wait. I do remember. And the ending wasn’t very pretty for me then either.

What a sight I must have been. Had I been sober, things probably would have ended very differently. Then again, I probably wouldn’t have snuck out at all if I had known Darren was back. Fuck.

I wondered if Darren enjoyed my little performance. Probably not. I was sure he was pissed with my recent behavior and the fact that I had snuck away from my guards. If anything, I was just showing him their weak spots. He should really be thanking me. Maybe that was what he wanted to discuss.

The patio was on the east side of the house and, of course, faced the ocean. The roof covered the entire span of the patio area, with large dark brown pillars to support it. The ground was an array of different orange-colored bricks laid out in a swirl pattern while large green ferns decorated each corner. There was a long glass table fit to sit eight people in the middle with bronze chairs all around it. Soft patio furniture strategically scattered around here and there, and a small fireplace centered between it all.

I sat down at Darren’s usual right while he read something on a tablet in his hands; he ignored my entrance completely until he was finished with his business. He was dressed casually today; a white dress shirt, buttons undone at the top, sleeves rolled to the elbows, no tie, and khaki dress pants. His hair was stylishly messy while that sexy light brown shadow lingered on his jaw and chin. At least Darren had one good thing going for him—he was fantastic to look at until he caught you looking, and then your heart stopped a little.

When he finally looked up at me, he had an uneasy smile on his face, but my scowl remained as I sat back in my chair. Breakfast was immediately placed down before us by the staff; scrambled eggs and slice bananas for me, an omelet for Darren.

“So how’s the jaw now?” he asked casually, but I could hear the snide undertone of his voice.

The nerve of this fucker. I felt the grip on my fork tighten as my mouth formed into a tight little smirk.

“Never better,” I said with a hard glare. My jaw was still stiff and talking tired it out quickly, but I wouldn’t give Darren the satisfaction. I could feel his eyes on me, lingering longer than usual. They almost burned.

“Good,” Darren finally said as he started on his plate. “It seems like it must be perfectly healed now considering how well you used it last night.” There was that lingering smirk on his mouth I was looking for.

“I’m glad you enjoyed the show.”

“Yes, it was very entertaining, actually. I’ve never seen someone imitate Ludacris so well.”

I slowly chewed my sliced banana before swallowing. “Consider yourself a lucky witness. I wasn’t expecting you for another day.”

“So because I’m not here, that suddenly means my rules no longer apply to you?”

I shrugged. “It just means I care less.”

“I see,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee. “Would you care more if I told you your actions cost Benito his life?”

“Nope,” I said automatically, taking another bite, even though my stomach squirmed a little at his confession.

I had my suspicions about Benito. I warned him. Once again, my ability to manipulate Darren was proving to be a productive experiment. Had I planned for Darren to kill him? Would there have been any other result? It seemed either you followed Darren’s rules or you died. I doubted there was an in between.

“Really?” Darren said, actually sounding fascinated.

“Really,” I said staring at him. “You obviously see those poor girls you sell as less than human. Why shouldn’t I assume the same thing about anyone who works for you?”

Darren considered me for a moment, a smirk forming on his lips.

“Interesting point,” he said slyly as he watched me. “Though, you should be careful with a statement like that. I may make you regret those words one day.”

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