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
