Strike, p.11
Strike, page 11
part #4 of Stronger Series
The wedding was already in just a few days, and I felt myself start to panic. What the hell did being Darren’s wife mean? Was there an advantage for me? Would I be respected more, or would I still carry the veil of a slave? Darren said my life would become more valuable to his enemies, but that was the only disadvantage I could think of.
If Darren was king of all this underground bullshit, would marrying him make me queen?
I was lying on a soft rug on the floor, my head on Camaro’s side, reading a book on my tablet when Darren finally came back. He smirked at me as he walked over to us.
“Comfy?” he asked as he looked us over.
“Bored.”
Darren held out his hand. “Come on, dinner’s ready.”
Setting my tablet up on the coffee table next to me, I took his hand and allowed him to help me up from the floor. Camaro stood quickly and followed us out with Clive and Owen not far behind.
The dining room was just as gorgeous as the rest of the house, but we walked right past it and went outside to a stone patio. It gave the perfect view of the lake, the trees, and the massive lawn.
Camaro was directed to a silver bowl opposite the table while Darren and I took our seats. I always assumed she forgot my existence when she was eating. She was so … passionate about her food.
After dinner, Darren and I went for a walk around the grounds while the sun began to set into the lake. Camaro stayed close to my side while Clive and Owen watched from the patio. He showed me the giant dog barn that housed ten kinds of mastiffs and hounds. We introduced Camaro to them through the fence, but they all just growled at each other to the point where Darren had to drag Camaro away by her collar until we were a fair distance away.
That was when I finally noticed the high-pitched neigh coming from the red barn. My hand immediately pulled at Darren’s arm, causing him to smirk down at me, confirming what I already knew.
“There are horses here?” I asked, barely able to contain my excitement.
“Several,” he replied with a smile.
“Can we see them?” I felt my eyes lighting up like a kid about to hold a kitten.
“Depends on how well your dog behaves.”
I turned to look at Camaro and leaned down.
“Sit,” I ordered. She sat immediately, her tongue hanging out as she waited for the next order. “Stay,” I finalized and then stood. She was sitting right in front of the barn so she could easily see me and had no need to freak out. I then waved Clive and Owen down to stay with her while Darren and I walked into the barn. I couldn’t help but feel the extra spring in my step as the thrill peaked.
We walked through the open doors of the barn that led into the stables. The smell of the hay and farm animals assaulted my nose, but I ignored it in favor of something so, so worth it. Inside, there were four adult horses. One was a creamy white with gray along her hooves and mouth, one black with whiskers of white here and there, a smoky gray and brown one, and a solid silver one.
“What are their names?” I asked, trying not to sound too excited. They were all incredible. I fucking loved horses. Growing up, I had gone to summer camp with horses almost every year until I got into high school. It had been the best part of my summer.
“The gray-brown one is Zac,” Darren answered. “The silver-gray one is Tula. The black one is Elsie. And the white one is Luna.”
Darren opened the gate to Luna’s stable and pulled me toward the horse. She stood tall, strings of hay falling from her chewing mouth while her tail swished back and forth to swat the flies from her backside.
She was so pretty. I felt my cheeks begin to ache from smiling.
“Do you ride?” I asked him.
Darren nodded. “Occasionally, when I can spare the time. Elsie is my horse.”
I glanced at him in acknowledgment as I began to gently run my hands along the side of Luna’s neck. She was incredibly soft.
“And Luna is yours now.”
My hand froze in place. What did he just say?
Turning around to look at him, I felt my gut twist. His arms were folded across his chest, that dark stare of his that always melted my resolve was in full force, but I didn’t back down.
“Did you just say mine?”
The corner of his mouth hiked to form a tiny crooked smile as he took a few steps toward me.
“Yes, I did. I was going to wait to give this to you, but I think now is just as good a time as any. Consider it your early wedding present.”
I turned back to Luna with a smile, unable to stop petting her. I had a dog, and now I had a horse. They weren’t humans who could understand me, but they were something.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said. His hands appeared on my shoulders and began to rub them down my arms, making my stomach clench.
“When can I ride her?”
“Do you know how?”
I scoffed. “I’m sure you know about my summer trips to horseback riding camp.”
He chuckled softly above me. “Of course, I know. But that was a long time ago. I don’t know how well you did or if you even remember how.”
“It’s like riding a bike,” I said with a smirk.
“We’ll see tomorrow.” His voice carried a challenge. I’d certainly show his ass tomorrow.
10
Panic
The following morning after breakfast, I met Darren by the stables, dressing in the riding outfit that had been left for me on the bed this morning. Light brown riding pants and black riding boots with a cream-colored long-sleeve shirt. I put my hair up in a ponytail and nearly ran to the stables. I was so fucking excited.
I found Darren standing outside with Elsie and Luna, talking to an older woman I hadn’t seen before. She had shoulder-length graying hair, wore a light purple sweater with a pair of jeans, and had a genuine smile on her face.
When Darren caught my eye, he turned away from her and smiled at me.
“There you are.” Gesturing to the woman, he said, “This is Jennice. She takes care of the horses.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Jaden,” she said with a genuine smile, holding out her hand for me to politely shake.
“You too,” I replied, keeping my skepticism to myself. She seemed too nice to be working for a man like Darren.
“Where’s Camaro?” Darren asked, his eyebrows knitting together in suspicion.
“I left her inside. She makes the horses skittish.” I felt my heartbeat become heavy. I hoped that was okay.
“Good,” he said with a nod. “We don’t need her scaring the horses.”
“Okay, Jaden, let’s get you ready to ride,” Jennice said as she turned to hand me a helmet. I looked over at Darren, my mood immediately turning sour.
“Seriously?” I asked him.
“Seriously,” he replied. His tone and scowl left no room for negotiation, so I begrudgingly complied.
Once the helmet was strapped to my head, Darren walked over to my side as I headed for Luna. He held out his hand as if to help me up. I smirked at him and shook my head.
“Please,” I said sarcastically. I grabbed the saddle horn, placed my left foot into the stirrups, and hoisted myself up with ease, swinging my right leg over Luna and placing it in the other stirrup in one fluid motion. I looked down at Darren with another smirk.
I was short, but I wasn’t that short.
Darren rolled his eyes, but I saw the little grin before it had hidden itself away. He climbed onto his horse just as easily – no helmet for him of course – and took hold of the reins.
“Come on, Jaden,” he said, tugging Elsie’s reins in the direction of the woods.
Nudging Luna’s sides with my heels, she began to follow Darren until we were side by side. With the sun shining and the breeze in my hair, the day was absolutely perfect. Luna was an easy ride, never going off trail or distracting herself with plants to munch on.
I hated how I wasn’t even surprised at how well Darren rode his horse. His form was perfect – back straight, shoulders relaxed as he moved with Elsie like she was a part of him. Fucker.
We trotted through a few trails until we finally ran the horses through a field, practically racing each other. It was nice to get the horses really going for a bit, feeling the wind in my hair and the sun on my face. It was perfect. Until it was time to head back.
“This was actually a lot of fun,” I said to Darren as we exited the trail, the stables not far ahead. “I’m glad we did this.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he replied, the small smile on his face alluding to his enjoyment as well.
The sounds of snarling and barking abruptly caught my attention in the distance, my eyes finding the source on the back patio of the house. Camaro was jumping up and down, growling and snarling as Owen fought to hold her collar. Ignoring their commands, she finally slipped loose of them and took off in my direction.
“Camaro, no!” I yelled at her, but Luna was already becoming unnerved.
With Camaro’s teeth bared, she barked and growled at Luna with me still on top of her. Luna neighed in panic and started to buck and trot wildly away from Camaro. I gripped the reins as tight as I could to prevent from falling off, my heart ready to leap out of my damn chest.
“Camaro, stop!” I shouted, but she was too focused on the horse. Even Darren’s commands were being ignored as he shouted at her as well. I could see Clive and Owen running for my dog, but before they even got anywhere close, Luna raised high on her hind legs, almost knocking me off the back, and took off.
Gripping the reins with all my might, I pulled for Luna to stop, but she just shook her head and kept running. My ass bounced hard against the saddle as I fought to stay balanced, my entire body feeling far too unstable for comfort. Camaro’s barking didn’t cease as she followed Luna and kept up with her pace pretty easily.
“Luna, stop, girl! Come on, calm down!”
With how close Camaro was running at Luna, I was afraid she might actually get trampled or even kicked.
I had no idea where Luna was taking us; she seemed to be running in absolutely any direction that was away from Camaro. Turning around to look back at where Camaro was, I noticed Darren racing after us with Elsie, holding some kind of gun in his hand. My heart immediately dropped into my stomach.
“Don’t you dare shoot my dog!” I yelled at him.
Dread enveloped my heart even more. If Darren killed my dog, I would never forgive him. There was already a long ass list of unforgiveable things he had done to me, but this would be at the top of the list. Camaro was just trying to do her job and protect me. She didn’t know Luna wasn’t a threat to me. Except for right now, Luna kind of was.
Doing my absolute best to get Luna to calm down and stop running was futile with Camaro constantly nipping at her heels. Someone had to get Camaro under control, but without the use of bullets!
Still racing through trees, I heard a whooshing sound followed by the faint yelp of Camaro. Turning my head, I watched my dog tumbled to the ground and fall into the grass.
“No!” I shouted, but immediately turned back around when a low hanging branch slammed into the back of my head. It wasn’t a gunshot. It couldn’t have been a gunshot. It was too quiet. It would have been so much louder.
You’ve seen Darren use silencers before.
They don’t muffle it by that much! It wasn’t a fucking gunshot!
Forcing myself to calm my shit, I focused on getting Luna to calm down. Now that Camaro was out of the mix, Luna should be able to see she was no longer in danger.
“Okay, Luna, come on, calm down,” I said, coaching her with my voice to get her to relax. She started to slow in the middle of a different clearing, giving me hope that this little panic attack was over. “There you go, good girl, nice and easy.”
When Luna finally came to a stop, I quickly vaulted from the horse, practically rolling into the grass, lying flat on my back but as far away from Luna as I could. My heart was racing, beating with an intensity that I felt against my sternum. My ass and legs were sore from the saddle, and my arms felt like they were going to fall off. My body was fucking shaking from all the adrenaline. Fuck, I never wanted to take off on a panicked horse again.
“Jaden!” Darren’s angry voice echoed in the clearing. I stuck my hand up in the air so he could see me.
“I’m here! I’m fine!” I called back.
Listening to him ride up with Elsie, I heard him jump down from his horse and rush over to me. I saw his eyes first, the deep blue scanning over every inch of my body, checking for injuries.
“Why are you on the ground? Are you hurt?” he asked, an edge to his voice as he assessed me.
“I’m fine.” Shooting up into a sitting position, I grasped his arms. “Please tell me you didn’t shoot Camaro. Please tell me you didn’t kill my dog.”
Darren glared at me before answering.
“Camaro was tranquilized. She’ll be fine. I thought you said you locked her up before you left.”
“I did. Someone must have let her out.”
Darren scowled something fierce, that dark menacing look in his eyes already creating shivers throughout my body. “Let’s go find out who.”
My stomach instantly clenched as he took my hand and helped me to stand. I didn’t like the sound of that.
“Climb on to Elsie,” Darren ordered as he made his way toward Luna.
Climbing onto the black horse, I turned and watched him slowly approach Luna. His gentle posture and careful movements seemed to do the job as Luna eventually allowed him to close the distance. It only took maybe a few seconds of his presence before she finally bowed her head and permitted him to press his hand to her nose. When he took her reins and started pulling her forward, she came willingly without issue, allowing me to release the breath I’d been holding.
When he reached me, he pulled out his phone to make a call.
“Jaden said she locked Camaro up. Find out how she got out,” he said and then hung up. The prospect that someone might be in huge trouble when we got back had me frozen in place. If it was a guard, then I didn’t care, but if it was one of housing staff, I’d feel really fucking bad.
He then handed me Luna’s reins before pulling himself up onto Elsie, directly behind me.
“Don’t let go of Luna’s reins,” he told me as he grabbed Elsie’s reins, holding them with one hand.
Snuggly fit on the saddle, Darren gently rode Elsie back to the stables, leading Luna back with us. I could feel the rage emanating from him, the heat seeping into my back and making my stomach shrink. He was in one of his moods, the ones that usually ended with pain, and lots and lots of blood. Fuck.
“Maybe Camaro escaped on her own,” I added hesitantly. “She is trained to do that.”
Darren shifted and brought his phone around for me to see. He was playing a video from the security feed.
“Does that look like she escaped on her own to you?” he asked, his voice dark and eerily calm.
The video showed the view from the hallway, right on the door of the master suite. With Clive and Owen not present, the doors were left unguarded, which was usual protocol. If I wasn’t in them, there wasn’t much need to guard them.
It didn’t take long before you could hear Camaro barking and whining, her claws pressing into the door as she scratched at it to get out. A few seconds later, a maid walking down the hallway caught notice of the noise. She opened the door just wide enough for Camaro to bulldoze through her and immediately raced down the hallway.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.
I felt Darren nip my upper ear, the quick sharp pain making me gasp.
“Mouth,” he whispered as he took his phone from me.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. He still had to remind me of my swearing every now and then. That shit was ingrained in my brain like a damn virus – incurable but treatable. “What happened to Camaro?” I asked as we passed the spot where I watched her tumble to.
“Scott took her back to the house and put her in her kennel.”
“Okay.” Her kennel would be the best place for right now. I planned to be there when she woke up so she wouldn’t freak out again.
When we got back to the stable, Jennice rushed over from where Clive and Owen were standing and took Luna’s reins from me.
“Oh, my God, Ms. Jaden, I’m so sorry. Luna can get a little skittish sometimes. Are you all right?” Her voice held the panic I had earlier, but I could see she was genuinely concerned.
“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you,” I said as Darren lowered himself from Elsie.
He held his arms out for me, and I didn’t bother to object as I placed my hands on his shoulders to allow him to help me down and then remove my helmet, passing it off to Jennice. Taking my hand, he led me toward the house while Clive and Owen followed behind us. But the sight of a young woman being dragged out of the house by one of the guards brought us to a complete stop. She was crying and struggling to get away from the guard as he pulled her down the steps of the patio toward us.
“This is the one who let the dog out,” he said, bringing her to a halt.
She was young, had to be in her early twenties, with mousy brown hair and blue eyes. But it was her face that held most of my attention. Several large, pink jagged scars ran across her entire right cheek, from the bottom of her chin, across her lips, and up to her temple, almost as if someone had slapped her with a broken glass bottle, the telling signs that she had been hurt on purpose. Sympathy filled my heart for her.
When her glassy blue eyes landed on Darren, fear coated them in a clear, salty liquid that spilled down her scarred cheek. My heart plummeted to my stomach as I recognized her fear. Normally, I felt nothing for those subjected to Darren’s wrath, mostly because they chose to deal with him in the first place. Whether it was business or employment, you had to understand the magnitude of the person you were working for. Ignorance was not an excuse.
