Chapter 11 #2
The tips of my fingers found a comforting rhythm against my pounding temples, my breath leaving my chest in a gust of irritation as I tried not to kill my own brother.
“Sure, Daniel. Any other pearls of wisdom you’d like to share before I have Sid sedate the fuck out of you?”
“Oh, fuck you, Darren! You know what? Maybe Mom really did get her wish after all when she faked that fucking war with her death to free us from Dad’s influence,” Daniel continued.
“As it seems, you didn’t turn out to be the big bad monster Dad had hoped for.
Mom would be so proud to see her sacrifice and clever manipulation had actually paid off. ”
I shook my head at the direction this argument had turned to, no longer interested in throwing knives at my brother while he returned fire with chewed-up pencils.
“I’m officially done with this useless conversation.
Pull yourself together, Daniel, and stay the fuck away from my wife before I have Sloane finish ripping you apart.
” I then turned my back on the pissing contest I had no desire to continue and glanced at Sid.
“Good luck with the surgery, Sid. Maybe you can sew his mouth shut too while you’re at it. ”
Once I was back on the main floor, I took the stairs up to the security room to review the footage of Jaden’s encounter with Daniel.
I knew Sloane would tell me the truth knowing full well I would eventually watch the footage myself.
But the anger I felt when I watched Daniel take a swing at Jaden had me wanting to go back down to the infirmary and finish what I started.
But first, I needed to check on Jaden.
Heading up to our bedroom, I could hear her rummaging around behind the bathroom door. Sloane was sitting in one of the chairs near the window, clearly waiting for Jaden as she stared outside.
“Find something else to do, Sloane,” I ordered, ignoring her presence as she quietly stood and left the room.
Stopping at the bathroom door, I could hear Jaden moving around noisily on the other side. Turning the knob, I growled internally when I realized she had locked the door.
Oh, Jaden, you know better than that.
“Jaden, open this door,” I ordered.
I could hear her immediately pause her movements, silence following my demand.
“Go away, asshole,” she replied, her voice expressing her obvious hatred for me, like that would somehow deter me.
“Open this door. Now.”
“Just leave me the fuck alone!”
“Goddamnit, Jaden, if I have to break this door down, you are not going to like the consequences,” I warned.
At my threat, I could hear Jaden’s footsteps move toward the door, but instead of opening it, she seemed to slump herself against it and then slide down to the floor.
“Good luck with that while I’m leaning against it,” she retorted.
I sighed in frustration knowing full well that I would need to extend some extra patience with her. She was pregnant, hormonal, and grieving the loss of her dog, so she would be even more temperamental than usual for the next couple of weeks.
Like that was any different than her usual attitude toward me, but I had a feeling it would take her a little longer to get over the loss of Camaro.
Maybe I should get her a cat.
Gripping the door handle tight, I yanked it back hard enough to break it through the doorjamb, the wood frame splintering as the door came loose. Jaden gasped, quickly scrambling to her feet as I nearly wrenched the door off its hinges and stepped through the doorway.
“What the hell!” she shrieked as she stood back from me. She had already changed into a short dark gray sundress that clung to her still damp skin while her bare feet slid along the slick wet floor.
“You know better than to think a single door is going to keep you from me.”
“Go away! You think I want anything to do with you after what you did to Camaro!? Stay the fuck away from me, you bastard!”
I rolled my eyes, grabbing her arm and yanking her to me. Her hair was still wet and her skin damp, but she smelled clean, like she had just stepped out of the shower.
“When will you learn,” I murmured as I moved her wet hair from her face so I could examine the mark on her cheek that Daniel had caused her. Her skin was still flushed from the heat of the shower, so the mark looked worse than it really was.
Her face formed a scowl as she looked away from me, but she held still while I looked her over.
That was, until her stubbornness got the better of her, and she swung her arm up.
I grabbed her wrist before she could land her strike against my face and gripped it tight.
Jaden growled when I refused to let go and lifted her knee to kick me.
“Let go of me!” she shouted as she continued to fight me.
Grabbing her other wrist, I pressed her against the wall to keep her still and looked down at her bare neck.
“Where is your necklace?”
“The same place my dog is! In the fucking ocean!”
I felt a growl rumble in my chest at her blatant disobedience. “You’re telling me you just threw over three hundred thousand dollars into the ocean?”
She scoffed as she sneered back at me. “That’s hardly comparable since what you threw into the ocean was priceless.”
“Correction,” I snapped, “you threw her over. The only reason she’s gone is because of you and your refusal to obey me.”
“That’s bullshit!” she shouted back. “You could have done anything else! Retire her, moved her off the property, given her to someone else. Anything but kill her!”
I paused for a moment as I stared down at her.
Tears had now started to form in her eyes, glistening like liquid crystal, and yet I felt nothing.
A better man would be affected by them. A better man might feel guilt for causing them.
But I wasn’t a better man. I was me, and I shook my head at her instead.
“You’re right, Jaden. I could have done any one of those things,” I said, lowering my face to her eye level. “But I didn’t because at that moment, I needed you to feel the pain of the consequences I had been warning you about for too damn long. You needed to learn. And it seems I hit my mark.”
Jaden’s eyes grew wide with hurt and disbelief as she stared back at me. And then she suddenly slammed her forehead into my nose.
“Fuck you!” she shouted angrily. Rearing back with a growl of frustration, my nose burning, Jaden continued to fight me, kicking at every square inch of me she could reach. “Fuck you, you goddamn evil piece of shit!” she screamed.
Sighing, I pulled her flailing body in close, wrapped my arms around her tightly, and lifted her off the floor.
“Let go of me, dammit!”
Ignoring her protests, I carried her over to the bed and laid us both down, holding her closely as she cursed and fought me. She could barely move an inch with my arms and legs wrapped tightly around her, but that didn’t stop her from trying.
Eventually, exhaustion won and her fighting ceased as she collapsed into another fit of tears in my arms. Despite my bruising nose, I lay there like that with her for a long time, letting her cry out her rage and sorrow into my chest, holding her through the pain she had brought on to herself.
Even in the throes of her obvious despair, I still couldn’t bring myself to regret my decision.
Remorse for causing her pain paled in comparison to the pain I would bring to the world if it tried to take her from me, and Jaden was no exception.
Every time she risked her life, no matter the reason, she was risking the agony of my retribution, and now we would both have to endure it together.
When she had thoroughly worn herself out, which didn’t take very long thanks to her pregnancy, she fell asleep.
Cheeks flushed, eyelids puffy, and hair still damp and messy, Jaden’s vulnerabilities did nothing to diminish her beauty.
Brushing the stray strands of her hair away from her face, I gazed down at a true angel of fury—my angel of fury.
It didn’t matter how much hell I put this girl through. If it involved keeping her safe, alive, and mine, there was no line I wouldn’t cross. If I had to break her heart every single day to accomplish that, then so be it. I could take her hatred for as long as she could give it.
But I had to admit, for a moment there, she almost seemed to be coming around.
Almost.
The attack on Legion had ruined much more than just Jaden’s surprise thirtieth birthday party, something I had been planning for weeks to try to compensate for the surprise pregnancy.
All of Carla’s hard work in organizing and coordinating with the captain, crew, and management firm had come together perfectly, and now she was fucking dead because apparently my yacht’s location was easier to find than expected.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely all that surprising for a group as sophisticated as General Rainer’s most psychotic remaining cult members to find a yacht like mine.
A good portion of them had perished in the crossfires of the numerous small-scale insurgencies we helped inspire throughout Africa and East Asia where many of them were stationed.
But for those that were left, once they discovered what happened to their beloved master, the general’s lawyers would undoubtedly have told them where to go.
And now even more of them were at the bottom of the fucking ocean.
Just like Camaro…
I sighed at the thought, clutching Jaden’s sleeping form even tighter to me. Too many times she had almost died for that damn dog, and now she was willing to take our child with her. Well, not on my fucking watch. She would get over Camaro eventually, especially when our baby was finally born.
After a few solitary moments of pure peace, I gently shifted my weight out of the bed, careful not to disturb Jaden as she slept. Heading out into the hall, I found Sloane standing outside at the end of the hallway, staring out the window at the ocean.
“I understand you allowed Jaden to throw my birthday gift to her into the water earlier today,” I stated bluntly.
Sloane turned to me, her arms crossed over her chest and a heated look on her face.
“Apologies,” she acknowledged with a nod. “My priority was to bring her back to the safety of the shore when she tried to swim away in search of her dog’s body. I did not see where it had been thrown, but I can organize a search party to find it.”
I groaned internally because of course my wife would irrationally think she could find her damn dog somewhere in the fucking ocean.
“Then I suggest you do so quickly before it starts to get dark,” I nearly growled at the sound of her tone. “I expect you to lead the search yourself since Jaden will likely be asleep for the next couple of hours.”
I could see her jaw clench before she answered with a lowered gaze. “Yes, sir.”
Trying not grind my own teeth, I turned on my heel. “And schedule someone to remove the bathroom door and repair the frame tomorrow morning,” I added as I headed down the hall.
“What about Daniel?” Sloane called after me.
I stopped just before the stairway to glance back at her. “He should be in surgery by now. And he’s not to go anywhere near her.”
Leaving Sloane to her tasks, I stepped out of the house in need of some air.
Standing next to my McLaren that was still parked in front of the fountain, I pulled out a cigarette and lighter from my jacket pocket.
I rarely smoked anymore, but there were just some days I could use a little something extra to take the fucking edge off.
Leaning against my car, I took a few drags from my cigarette and checked my phone for the latest emergency.
There was always fucking something. But I didn’t get the chance to check before my phone started to ring, the name of someone’s father I rarely had to endure speaking with.
The one I preferred to pretend didn’t exist at all.
Groaning internally, I answered the phone.
“Hello, Richard,” I greeted, a bite to my tone. He’d better have a damn good reason for calling me.
“I need to speak with you about something urgent,” he said, his voice seemingly rattled. “But not over the phone.”
My brows knitted as I absorbed his request. “Why?”
“It’s about my daughter.”
I scoffed, unconcerned as I took another drag from my cigarette. “Your daughter isn’t my problem. Take it up with Daniel. She’s been his problem since the day he married her.” As if I needed to add their shit to my never ending grocery list of problems.
Richard sighed in frustration. “Well, you see, that’s the other problem, Darren, because your brother is part of the reason I need to speak to you.”
I paused at the mention of Daniel being another potential catalyst for disaster.
What the fuck did you do now, brother?
“Explain,” I ordered.
“Not over the phone. Can you meet me at O’Neil’s?” he asked, the sense of desperation lingering in his tone.
I groaned aloud at another fucking task requiring my attention. “Fine. I’ll be there in fifteen.”
This had better be worth my time, or Katherine was about to become an orphan.