I let her go, and she gave me a sad smile before turning away with Blondie. I felt
my lungs get heavy as I fought back the tears that threatened to choke me. I had to
stop this. I had to be able to fix it somehow. I turned back around with Hank and
followed him to Darren’s office like I was on death row, heading for the electric
chair. I hoped that maybe he would just want a quick fuck and then be done with
me. But I so doubted it.
When we reached the double oak doors, Hank knocked and waited for
confirmation to enter. I suddenly wished I wore something sexier than just my light
pink skort, white tank top, and running shoes. Maybe if I were in a nice dress, I
could distract him with my body and come up with a plan for Holly.
The door opened, revealing Scott who looked down at me like he knew what I
was in for. Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit. He stepped aside, and Hank ushered me
through. Stepping outside, Scott closed the door behind me, leaving me alone in
the room with Darren. Breathing suddenly became more difficult.
Darren’s office was huge. There were a few windows here and there, allowing a
nice view of the ocean, wood paneling against the dark brown painted walls,
burgundy rugs covering wood floors, and another fireplace directly across from the
large wooden desk toward the back of the room. Black leather chairs and couches
were arranged accordingly throughout the room, along with a conference table, a
fully stocked wet bar, and several well-stacked bookshelves.
I could hear clicking on the other side of the room, suddenly realizing as I stood
awkwardly at the door that Darren was typing something at his desk. He was turned
away from me, facing three monitors while he furiously typed away on his
computer. I could feel my nerves getting the better of myself as I awkwardly looked
around, trying to focus on a black and white photo on the wall in a shit attempt to
distract myself.
“Come here, Jaden.” I finally heard him speak, drawing my attention back
toward his desk. His voice was smooth and calm, yet it did nothing to ease my
suspicion. He was still typing, his eyes centered on the screen in deep
concentration.
Trying my best to conceal the wobbliness in my steps, I tentatively made my way
over to Darren’s desk and around to his chair. I tried to sneak a peek at the contents
of his desk, finding several paper documents scattered in neat piles, some charts,
others looked like reports, contracts, and some documents containing a triangular
shield-like logo with the name Triguard at the top of the letterhead. There were no
knick-knacks or picture frames, nothing of any significance or personalization.
Everything on his desk had a specific purpose, and as my eyes lingered on the pen
basket containing a long letter opener, I wondered if any of it contained a purpose
for me.
After a short moment, Darren finally stopped typing, making a few clicks with
his mouse before swiveling in his chair around to face me. Without even so much as
a glance, he grabbed my hips and pulled me onto his lap. I gasped in surprise, my
heart fluttering wildly, but didn’t fight him. Swiveling back around, Darren clicked
on his screen a few times, bringing up a new window.
“I want to show you something,” he said casually and then kissed the side of my
temple.
When the window finally loaded, I realized it was a video clip, more specifically a
clip from his security cameras. Darren clicked the play button and secured his arms
around my body, loosely caging me against him. He seemed relaxed as the video
began to play, but as soon as I was able to focus on the video, I became anything
but.
It was of Holly and me, running on the beach before stopping right in front of
the palm trees … where a camera had obviously been hidden. And then the camera
zoomed in, increasing the volume.
“So I did a little digging and went through your medical records, which
happened to be very easy for me to access, by the way.”
I instantly tensed. He’d heard the entire conversation. Every. Fucking. Word.
Unable to stop myself, I jerked against him, wanting to break his hold and delete
the clip, but that wasn’t possible. Tightening his hold, Darren’s grip on me abruptly
increased, pulling me back to him, and I couldn’t hide the shock in my breath. And
then I felt his lips against my ear.
“When are you going to learn I have eyes and ears everywhere,” he drawled.
Son of a bitch. He did have them everywhere, probably all over the island. In the
house, I knew for sure, but in the damn trees?
“Please don’t hurt her,” I nearly pleaded, unable to take my eyes off the screen.
“She brought this on herself,” he countered coldly.
“You baited her.”
“Yes, I did. To see if she would dig, and she very clearly did.”
“That’s not fair,” I said through gritted teeth. “She’s
