importance to her was here tonight.
“You mistake my intentions,” she said quietly, turning her eyes away. “I tend to
people watch in crowds. It’s an old habit.”
Old habit, my ass.
Jaden took a long sip of her drink and moaned in satisfaction. “Mmm … damn,
that’s good.”
“Good. Focus on that for a while.”
“You got it,” she said, taking another sip.
47
ALITTLEENTERTAINMENT
Dinner turned into an interesting event. We shared a table with Dan, Katherine,
Matt, and regrettably Regina. Dom still hadn’t shown yet, and I was getting
pissed that he was late for this. Family was the most important thing in this
business, and if you didn’t prove that, you became untrustworthy. At least Jaden
was sitting quietly at my side while irrelevant conversation played out in front of
her. I’d spoken with Dan and Matt to make sure business was left out of the
conversation. I didn’t need Jaden picking up on anything she need not worry about.
“So Jaden,” Regina called out from across the table. “Where did you get your
hair color done?” she asked. “I’ve been dying to get that color for years.”
Jaden cleared her throat before answering. “Genetics Salon and Spa,” she said,
and everyone around the table immediately chuckled, myself included.
Smartass.
Regina looked confused. “Darren, is that downtown?” she asked me.
I scoffed, trying my best to curb my laughter. “Jaden is a natural redhead,
Regina.”
“Oh … well she could have just said that,” she replied quietly and went back to
picking at her salad.
“Where’re my brothers at!” came a loud, obnoxious voice off in the distance. I
didn’t even need to turn around to know Dominic had finally arrived.
“Here, Dom,” Dan yelled, waving at him.
I could hear Dom making his way over to our table, and for some reason, I felt
myself cringe. He was going to fuck this up somehow; I just knew it.
“What’s going on, family?” he said enthusiastically. I looked up at him to find a
tall young woman with long, dark brown hair and full pink lips clinging to his arm.
She looked as though she were a piece of candy stuck to his sleeve.
“Dominic, nice of you to finally show up,” I admonished him.
He gave me that signature look he always does when he blows off my scolding.
“What? I had business to take care of,” he said, taking a seat while the brunette
sat down next to him. I knew exactly what he meant by “business.”
Looking over his date, I recognized her immediately. She’d been one of the
slaves in the bi-weekly auctions from the beginning of the year. She didn’t sell due
to her height, so we sent her to Dom in Vegas. Obviously, he found a purpose for
her after all. She took one look at me, and the fear of recognition instantly lit up.
Luckily for her, she’d only ever have to see me once, but once was enough for most
of them.
“Holy shit, is this her?” Dom asked, pointing at Jaden.
I nodded. “Jaden, this is my youngest brother, Dominic. Dominic, this is Jaden.”
Jaden gave Dominic a small nod, and he just smiled.
“Damn, you picked a good one, brother. Boris wasn’t lying!”
Speaking of Boris…
I recently discovered his family had pulled him off life support a few weeks ago.
Edmund had apparently appeared at the funeral wearing a black hand prosthetic.
The thought had me grinning inside.
With Dominic happily steering the conversation to his latest venture to Tijuana,
my eyes fell to Jaden, noticing how often she avoided making eye contact with
anyone, including myself. She was quiet until she was spoken to, and it was rare. I
wasn’t that surprised she wasn’t met with more conversation considering they
were more afraid of my reaction to their questions than Jaden’s response. But the
one person who didn’t sense the warning was the one person I wanted Jaden to
have the least amount of interaction with – Regina. I was afraid at one point Jaden
was going to leap across the table and strangle Regina herself. I might have actually
allowed the entertainment. I’d never seen Jaden so annoyed in my life.
It made me wonder why I thought to bring her to this in the first place. While
leash. But the whole point of this was to test her. She did well in Alaska, and now, I
wanted to see how she handled the family. For the most part, she did well masking
her emotions during the dinner conversations, but I caught every slip she made
when her glares would sneak through the cracks of her concrete resolve. I had to
give her props for catching herself quickly before anyone else noticed. The only
thing she wasn’t able to hide was her subtle interest in the girl sitting one chair
over. I didn’t like it.
When mention of my unborn niece came around, I noticed Jaden shrink into
herself, her face becoming pale. Her knee began to bounce, the clear indication she
was nervous and uncomfortable. Jaden knew that just as Dan had expected children
from Katherine, I expected the same thing from her. I knew she didn’t have much
experience with children to go on, but she would someday find her motherly
instinct and make it work. And yet, through all her obvious insecurities, she still
managed to find her voice.
“What made you choose the name, Ella?” she asked. I tensed slightly at her
question, knowing the sensitivity of the answer.
Katherine gave Jaden a sad smile before looking to Dan, silently asking for
permission to answer. He gave her the tiniest of nods.
“It was my little sister’s middle name,” she replied.
Jaden’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as the weight of Katherine’s words reigned
in.
“Was?”
“Well, I think it’s time for dessert, huh? Aren’t you two supposed to cut a cake
or something?” Matt chimed in to divert the conversation. I found myself thankful.
“Yes, I believe you’re right. Come on, Katherine,” Dan said, taking Katherine’s
hand and helping her from her seat.
With dinner now over, the band began to play upbeat music, encouraging a few
couples to head to the dance floor. When Dan and Katherine were nearly out of
sight, Jaden leaned in to me.
“What did she mean ‘was’?” she asked.
“None of your business, that’s what.” I stood, buttoning my jacket back in place.
“Now I have some business to attend to while I’m here. You’re free to walk around,
but mind your conversations. Clive and Owen will be watching and listening.”
Jaden waved me off like I was a fly in her face, pursing her lips in rebellion as I
turned away from her. I was waiting for many of the business partners attending
the shower to bombard me, and I didn’t need Jaden within earshot of those
conversations.
During my discussions, I kept Jaden within my peripherals, wanting to know
where she was at all times and what she was doing. She was such a damn beautiful
distraction, another reason I should have left her at home. I went against my own
judgment when I said I wouldn’t
let her off the estate for a long-ass time, but if she
could display good behavior at moments like this, maybe I’d change my mind. I did
want to be able to trust her eventually, but that was years in the making.
And that potential trust was immediately diminished when I caught her having a
conversation with Dominic’s date. I didn’t know how long they had been talking,
but the moment I saw it, I signaled to Clive and Owen to break it up. I didn’t need
Jaden stumbling upon information that didn’t concern her. As the girl was removed
from the table, Jaden glared at me from across the way. I returned it with the slight
shake of my head, my face completely blank when she slammed her hand on the
table and rose from her seat. My eyes followed her as she began to wander about
the party, Clive and Owen not far behind.
As I made my way through-out the party, I approached Dominic, who was
ordering his fourth drink from the bartender, and slapped my palm against his
shoulder.
“You need to keep better track of your date,” I said.
“Why? What’s she doing?” he asked, his face suddenly warped with anger as he
turned to search for her.
“Talking,” I said. “We both know a silent slave is an obedient slave.”
He nodded. “I’ll take care of it.” He then snapped his fingers, summoning a
nearby guard and whispered into his ear. A few moments later, the girl was
escorted to the table nearest our sights where she would remain for the rest of the
party. I could see the warning glare Dominic was giving her from where he sat,
further satisfying me that he had things under control.
“So … how’s Vegas?” I asked him.
“It’s great,” he said, taking his drink and nearly slamming it back. “You should
come for a visit soon; see the new club some time. It’s doing really well. You could
even bring your new gem. I bet she’d love it.”
Yeah, I bet she’d love to see a bunch of half-naked slaves crawling around on
their hands and knees while balancing drink trays on their bare backs.
“We’ll see. I have been meaning to come out there, see how you’re handling
things.”
“I’ve been handling things just fine,” he said begrudgingly. “I’ve been at this for
over a year now. Everything’s good.”
“How’s the deal with Rourke coming along then?”
Dominic rolled his eyes. “Negotiations are coming along fine. There are some
permits that have to be secured first, but we’re working on that.”
That made me furrow my brows.
“It’s been months, Dom. This deal was easy. Construction should have begun
weeks ago.”
I had trusted Dominic with orchestrating a deal to construct a new warehouse in
Vegas for our human trafficking operations since the old one was practically falling
apart. And here he was, months later, still working on permits. For fucks sake…
He scoffed. “This deal is petty and you know it. Why am I wasting time on little
$100,000 contracts when I should be handling the million dollar ones?”
“Because you’re not seasoned enough to handle them yet. If you can’t negotiate
the smaller ones within a few weeks, then how do you expect to handle the ones
with more at stake on the table?”
“Because they’re actually worth my time. That’s why,” he snapped.
I shook my head. “You still have a long way to go, brother.”
He rolled his eyes, making me grit my teeth in irritation.
“Speaking of a long way to go, how’s your redhead acclimating?” he asked, his
eyes now landing on Jaden as she stood off towards the side of the house, watching
the band.
I forced myself not to glare at him. “She’s doing just fine.”
“Fine is right,” he sneered.
“Focus on your date, Dominic. Or have you forgotten her again already?”
He scoffed. “She’s sitting at the table like a good little kitten. No worries.”
A bad taste suddenly resonated in my mouth when I turned my head to see
Regina make her way over to Jaden, who was standing near the house, watching the
band, and immediately started chatting her up. Regina’s signature bitch stance
took over as she leaned on her hip and rested her hand over it. I couldn’t tell what
they were discussing, but given that Regina’s movements were jerky and sharp, she
was not being pleasant, yet Jaden remained unfazed and well composed. In fact, she
had a sly smirk lurking at the corner of her lips the entire time until she finally
burst out laughing. I could see Regina’s face heat up for a moment before she
suddenly lifted her fist and snapped it out towards Jaden’s face. Jaden merely
sidestepped Regina’s attack, causing her fist to collide right into the side of the
house that had been at Jaden’s back. Regina’s screech could be heard over the
entire crowd, even as the band played on.
“Damn it,” I whispered under my breath.
“Oh, shit!” Dominic immediately started laughing. “Did you just see that?”
“Ice,” I said to the bartender, holding my hand out. He placed a large glass filled
with ice on the bar and I emptied a few of the cubes into several napkins and
bundled them up.
“Excuse me,” I said to Dom, immediately standing and heading over to the
spectacle.
Clive and Owen were already separating Jaden from Regina, Regina clutching her
now bleeding hand to her stomach and panting like she was going to bleed to death.
If only she’d do us all a favor.
Jaden was smirking from a far as I took Regina’s hand and placed the iced filled
napkins over her knuckles. She whimpered and sniffled as I held the ice in place. It
wasn’t even broken and she was crying like it was the end of the world.
“Thank you, Darren. That’s so nice of you,” she said, sniffling back tears. But
the moment her eyes flashed a look of victory towards Jaden, I flashed a smile of
my own.
Increasing the pressure of the ice against her hand, Regina gasped as I regained
her attention. “Ouch! What are you-“
“You ever make a swing at Jaden like that again and I won’t hesitate to let her
beat the ever-living shit out of you. You understand? Matt’s cousin or not, I won’t
stand for it.”
“Ow, ow! You’re hurting me!” she cried.
“Do you understand?” I reiterated through gritted teeth, pushing down on her
injured hand.
“Ow! Yes!”
Upon her words, I instantly removed the pressure of the ice, took her other hand
and placed it on top of the ice to keep it still and released her.
“You should learn to play nice, Regina. It will suit you better.”
Her only response was to bite her quivering lip as she looked up at me in
disbelief. I shook my head and turned away from her to take Jaden by the arm and
lead her away.
“Well played, Jaden, now let’s get the hell out of here,” I said.
“Ugh, now? But things were just starting to get interesting!” she whined
sarcastically.
“You can brawl with Regina another time, but right now I’m looking to cash in
on a debt.”
“Ha!”
As we headed for the door, Matt came walking towards us, obviously unaware of
his cousin’s obnoxiousness.
“What happened?” he asked, his eyes looming over toward Regina still standing
by the house with the ice on her hand.
“Control your cousin, Matt. Apparently, she likes to throw punches and miss.”
“Ah, shit,” he sighed. “I’ll take care of it.”
As Matt headed off to Regina, I waved goodbye to Dan and Katherine and
escorted Jaden out to the front of the house, Clive and Owen not far behind us. Once
the valet had brought the cars around, I ushered Jaden into the passenger seat
before buckling myself in. I couldn’t have pulled out of the driveway fast enough.
“First things first. What did Regina say to you to cause that fiasco?” I asked.
Jaden chuckled. “She wanted to know what my intentions were.”
I snorted. Even I couldn’t deny the hilarity in that.
“What did you tell her?”
“I took a page from your book and told her my intentions were none of her
business.”
I smirked.
Brat.
“I imagine she took a page from your book and hated that answer?”
Jaden nodded. “So much so that she felt the need to call me a gold-digging
whore who’d better watch her back because apparently Regina is capable of
anything.”
I snorted again. “That was when you busted out laughing, right?”
“The exact moment.”
I shook my head and laughed.
“At least I now know she’s capable of punching walls,” she said with a shrug.
“You won’t have to worry about her anymore. I told her you’ll get full reign to
knock her out if it gets to that point.”
“Excellent,” Jaden said, an evil little smirk peering across her lips.
When we were finally on the highway, I pulled down the zipper of my pants to
free the straining erection that had been building since we left. “Alright, time to
pay up, princess,” I said. I could see her eyes on my lap, a small smirk on her lips.
“I hope you’re good at multitasking,” she said. “Because I’m about to push your
ability to the limit.”
Before I had a chance to respond, her hot, wet mouth was already swallowing my
dick whole.
“Fuck,” I groaned.
Jaden sucked on my cock like she was starving for my cum, and it was the sexiest
fucking thing. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel; my other