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.”
“Yeah, I bet,” I snapped, turning back to my plate, but he was still watching me,
his fingers scratching his jaw while his eyes wandered.
“It’s all just so fascinating, Jaden.”
I stopped in the middle of my cutting to read him. “What is?”
“How quickly your desensitization has grown.”
My desensitization …
“Wasn’t that one of your goals?” I said blankly, cutting into my eggs with my
fork.
“Yes, but again, you surpass my expectations.”
I looked up at him, my brows furrowed in confusion.
“I just inadvertently made you kill one of your own guards. How is that
surpassing your expectations?”
“Benito was expendable. He should have anticipated your behavior, and he
didn’t. Instead, he lost his nerve thanks to your manipulative and childish antics.
Yes, he may have dug his own grave, Jaden, but you handed him the shovel.”
I smirked.
“Happy to help,” I said with a genuine smile.
Darren actually threw his head back and laughed, that deep chuckle rolling into
my ears and making my stomach flutter.
“Oh, God … you are so perfect.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I replied, pushing my half-eaten eggs around.
“So are you less hungover to discuss more pressing topics?”
I huffed. My whole life was one big hangover now. What difference did it make?
“Not really, but you’re going to discuss them anyway,” I said. “So by all means.”
He smiled and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. My eyes
couldn’t help but follow the tattoos down his bare arms, my eyes lingering over the
golden hawk that clutched that shield so tightly.
“Your personal trainer has been selected.”
I turned my head toward him and gave him a confused look.
“My what?” I asked.
“She starts tomorrow,” Darren said as he took another sip of his coffee. “And
you are to follow everything she says. No arguments or complaints.”
“Wait. Who is this person?” I asked, gaping at him.
“Her name is Holly. She is going to help you get back on your feet until you’re
ready to leave the island.”
I scowled at him. “I don’t need help. I just need to be left alone.”
Darren rolled his eyes, sagging his shoulders, and gave me the most irritated
look.
“Really? Are we seriously going to do this already?”
I scoffed at him. “Did you expect anything less?” I asked with a smirk. Like
