Survival ( Book 2: Stronger Series )

32. Trouble

When I woke up in the morning, I looked down to find Jaden's sleeping form and couldn't help but smile. She had rolled over in the night, resting her head on my shoulder as she slept. It honestly amazed me how she could so quickly fill me with murderous rage and then melt my black heart the next.

I had given her so much in the last month, more than I was ready to, but I had already compared Jaden to the lion in the zoo long before she ever told me about it ... because that was exactly what I was afraid of. All I wanted was for Jaden to know her place—to respect and obey me without question, surrender all of her passion to me, and laugh with me like she was happy. But I couldn't force her to be happy. What I could do was everything in my power to make her happy, yet understand that it would never be enough. I just hoped she didn't end up like the lion in the zoo.

She would never be happy with me as long as she had something else to hold on to. I could see that she was trying to make me happy, but it was for her own self-interests and benefits. She knew what she needed to do to make things easier for herself, but the simple fact was she hated it. Jaden hated bowing down to me, but it was something she was going to have to get used to, and eventually, she would. She'd only been with me barely a short couple of months, but already there was so much improvement and so much potential.

I looked down at Jaden, feeling her soft skin beneath my fingertips. She flinched a little in her sleep when my hand grazed down her back, still sore from my belt yesterday. I couldn't be surprised that she had climbed the tree to retrieve her kite; she'd probably done it all the time before me because she was fearless—another trait I loved about her. It wasn't as if I didn't think she was capable or coordinated enough to climb a damn tree, but the simple truth was it was still dangerous, and anything that threatened her safety had me raging inside.

Daniel had fallen out of one of those trees a long time ago when we were young boys. He'd broken his arm then and our father had been furious, just as I was now. I had reprimanded the guards watching her and made sure they knew Jaden was never to climb another fucking tree again.

The sun started to shine through the windows and the light poured over Jaden's hair, igniting the beautiful reds and coppers that reminded me of fire. The fire I loved so much.

Eventually and reluctantly, I rolled out of bed, careful not to disturb her, and headed downstairs for my workout. After a good run and warm-up, I sparred with Scott for a while in the octagon; he and I were too equally matched for one of us to actually surrender. We would eventually just tire each other out.

Two hours later, I went back upstairs to find Jaden still sleeping in my bed. I took a quick shower and got dressed, Jaden now finally waking up by the time I was done. She stretched her naked body as I fastened my black chrome Rolex around my wrist, her slight wincing hard to ignore.

"Good morning," I said to her as I went to put on my jacket.

"Morning," she said quietly, looking away. I hated when I couldn't see her eyes.

And then my phone started to ring. I pulled it from my pants pocket and answered, walking away toward my closet and out of Jaden's earshot. I noticed she had been trying to listen in on some of my conversations lately. She thought she was sneaky, but she couldn't hide much from me.

"Yeah?" I said into the phone.

"Darren, it's Hagen. We've got a bit of a situation you're going to want to handle personally. We're on our way over to you now."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. It was too early for this shit already.

"What's the situation?" I asked.

"It's about your girl."

My head perked up. Well, now he had my attention.

"What's your ETA?"