Page 203 of Stand: Part One

Personally, I didn’t care as long as he didn’t disrupt their efforts.

But he was certainly disrupting my home life. Twice in the last week, I’d caught him fucking some of my maids, who were very clearly not interested in the engagement. I’d been furious and had to quickly morph into damage control mode.

My staff was loyal because I paid them well for their silence, protected them from harm, and treated them with respect and dignity while instilling a healthy dose of fear should their loyalties ever think to shift. Some of them were here by choice. Others were here because they had no alternative.

But if my brother thought he could disrupt the peace and structure of my home, he was dead fucking wrong. I gave him one final warning that if he fucked with my household in any way, he’d be out on his ass, brother or not. I

had enough chaos going on, thanks to him. I would not allow him to add more, especially since I was busy trying to actually create things instead of destroying them.

Lately, I had preferred to spend the majority of my time reinforcing my relationships with my allies, creating meaningful business transactions and finding new sources for product production.

With the Lobos gone and the fields destroyed, we’d lost a good chunk of revenue that needed to be replenished elsewhere. So far, Scott and I had yet to find a suitable replacement, and it was becoming problematic. I had a feeling I would need to start renegotiating contracts with certain associates very soon.

After about thirty minutes, I heard Jaden groan uncomfortably, creating an odd grumble of noises before she abruptly jerked to the side and vomited all over my father’s favorite and most expensive rug. Camaro jumped back with a whine to escape the splash, whimpering in a panic as she sniffed the air.

“Oh God,” Jaden croaked as she looked down at the mess in horror. “I’m sorry. It just came up so fast, I didn’t have any time. I don’t know where that came from.”

I felt the corners of my lips slowly curl upward.

Fucking finally.

50

Expected

I woke with my stomach twisting away in my gut, the sudden need to vomit incredibly overwhelming. Ripping the covers off me, I yanked myself out from under Darren’s heavy arm and raced to the bathroom, just barely making it to the toilet.

Luckily, there wasn’t much left in my stomach to throw up, but my abdomen clenched painfully all the same.

When I was finished, I dragged myself to the sink to brush my teeth.

“You okay?” Darren asked from the doorway.

“I’m fine. Just a little nausea.”

“Still?”

I side-eyed him before spitting into the sink, irritated by the fact that this was the third time this week I’d vomited. I’d been feeling shitty for the past couple of days, and as best as I tried to hide it, Sloane caught on too quickly.

I could battle the headaches and fatigue all day, but nausea was an entirely different beast.

And the last thing I wanted to deal with was being forced back into another round of mandatory bullshit bedrest.

“Yeah. Still.”

Bypassing Darren through the door, I went back to the bed to lie down, hoping to quell some of the unpleasant aftereffects. Darren silently followed and sat down beside me, his warm hand pressing against my forehead.

“You don’t have a fever,” he noted, pushing my hair from my face.

Looking up at the clock, it was about 7 a.m., too early for me, but I doubted Darren would go back to sleep now.

“I just want to lie here for a little while.”

Darren sighed, his big shoulders sagging while his thumb stroked the side of my jaw.

“I’ll have Sid come see you again this afternoon,” he said, the hint of an odd smile on his lips as he leaned down to kiss me on the forehead.

“Thank you.”