Page 41 of Survival

Once we were done with our meeting, weheaded out as I had three more people to meet with that day. Fuck,it was going to be a long day, and now that I had Jaden in my life,she felt like more of a distraction when I was away from her. All Iwanted to do at the moment was crawl into bed with her and fuck heruntil I couldn’t feel my dick. But I had shit to do. That was whathappened when you had a criminal empire to run. No rest for thewicked. Not even when we’re dead.

~*~

I was sitting in the dining room, waitingfor Darren to come home so we could have dinner together.Apparently, he was running late;atleast,that’s what Scott told me when he escorted medownstairs. He stood off to the corner of the room in silence, hisarms folded across his chest as we waited. It was kind of awkward,really. I wanted to talk to him, get to know him better, hoping hemight reveal something I could use in this situation, but he neversaid a word to me unless absolutely necessary. So naturally, Idecided to test him.

I abruptly stood from my chair and hisrelaxed stance transformed intosomething intense and prepared.

“I have to pee,” I said, striding toward thedoorway where he stood.

“No, you don’t,” he said, gripping my armand preventing me from walking past him. “Sit back down.”

“No, I really do, I swear,” I argued, eyeinghim intensely. I only had to pee a little bit; I could have heldit, but I wanted to see how far I could get with him.

He gazed at me with a warning glare as hishand swallowed up my arm.

“I don’t think Darren would be too happy ifhe came home to find I had peed myself because you refused to letme use the bathroom,” I said cautiously.

“Only one way to find out,” he sneered.

I pursed my lips and gave him a no-nonsenselook.

“Come on, what am I going to dofromthe bathroom?” I continuedinnocently.

He stared at me for another second beforereleasing a harsh breath through his nose.

“Fine,” he said, and practically dragged medown the hall to the nearest bathroom. “You have thirty seconds,”he practically growled, pointing his finger in my face before heslammed the bathroom door behind him.

Jaden – 1, Scott – 0. It was a stupid win,but I had managed to get something I wanted through manipulation. Icould start out small like that, and eventually, work my way up tohigher requests once I had gained more trust.

I used the bathroom and washed my hands,checking my reflection in the mirror for any imperfections. When Iwas done, Scott escorted me back to the table, and I continued tosit and wait. Darren finally walked in five minutes later.

My stomach immediately tightened into knotsas I heard his voice speaking into his phone. He didn’t seem veryhappy.

“I don’t give a shit. You figure it out orI’ll find someone who will,” he bellowed into the phone beforehanging it up and placing it in his jacket pocket. He nodded atScott as he strode into the dining room, relieving Scott of hispost, and sat down at the head of the table.

I sat there with my hands in my lap,glancing at him every so often as he poured himself a glass ofscotch. I wanted to ask him if everything was okay but didn’t feellike being snapped at, so I just sipped on my water until Davidbrought out our food.

After a few seconds of eating our dinner andme fumbling with the silverware, he finally seemed to calm down abit and addressed me.

“So how was your day?” he suddenly asked mebefore taking a bite of his steak.

I turned my head to him and furrowed mybrows.

“I spent the whole day in my room. How doyou think it went?” I replied.

“Well,” he said, taking a sip of his scotch,“maybe if you’d stop testing my patience on a daily basis, perhapsyour day could be a little more fulfilling when I’m gone,” hefinished, turning his gaze to me.

I stared back at him hard, anger beginningto fill my stomach at his arrogance.

“You know how hard this isforme,” I stated.

“Yes, I do, but for some reason, you seem tothink I care,” he said, cutting into his steak again.

I felt my grip on my knife tighten.

Don’t stab him. Don’t stab him. Don’t stabhim … not yet.

“Maybe if you did,” I said through clenchedteeth, “I might actuallycarea little bit about my new rolein life.”