That made me pause only for a second.I couldn’t imagine with Katherine’s grooming that she would have made a mistake like that.But even if she did, it didn’t matter.
“I don’t care what she’s done,” I shot back.“That doesn’t mean I’m going to watch Daniel beat the shit out of her!”
“Then you should have left the room,” he snapped.“In fact, you shouldn’t have been there at all.”His dark eyes quickly glanced at Sloane in disappointment before returning to mine.
The doors behind us suddenly burst open, Daniel storming out into the hallway with a barely conscious and bruised Katherine hanging over his shoulder.Several guards followed them, reclaiming their posts throughout the house.
“Da—” I tried to shout at Daniel for being a piece of shit, but Darren’s hand slammed against my mouth, pressing the back of my head painfully into the wall.
“What Daniel does with his wife is none ofmyconcern, which means it isn’t yours either,” he snarled.He then held up my throwing knife for me to see.“I am curious as to why you decided to give her assailant a weapon, though.”
I furrowed my brows until he finally removed his hand so I could speak.
“Someone stopped me before I could finish the job,” I growled.
Darren’s eyes narrowed at me, the glare on his face becoming more menacing by the second.“A job that wasn’t yours to begin with.”
I rolled my eyes.“Don’t you have a guard to torture somewhere?”I replied dismissively.
“This isn’t a fucking joke, Jaden!”Darren roared down at me, making me flinch again, my shoulders instinctively hunching in a protective stance.“You’re pregnant now!Which means you have to start thinking about protecting our child instead of everyone else.This is exactly why I’ve been so strict with you since we returned home, and still, you defy me!You cannot put yourself in situations of conflict anymore!”
“I’m not an invalid, Darren!”I shouted back, shoving against his chest and getting absolutely nowhere.It was like trying to move a brick wall.“I’m still just as capable?—”
His hand returned to my mouth, his fingers pressing into my jaw and squeezing too hard.“Absolutely not,” Darren growled.“This is not a debate.If you put yourself in conflict like that again, I will chain you to the bed for the rest of your pregnancy.I will not have you risking the safety of our child because of your pride.You have Sloane and Camaro for a reason.Let them do their jobs.Do you understand me?”
The dark warning in his eyes had my stomach clenching harder than I was used to, but it didn’t stop me from grabbing at his wrist with both hands and failing miserably to remove him.From the corner of my eye, I could see Sloane stepping closer, concern etched across her face while Camaro whined at her side.
My muscles tensed under Darren’s threat.It didn’t come as a surprise, not in the slightest.That didn’t mean it wasn’t fucking bullshit.And the further along I got in my pregnancy, the stricter he would become.I’d be lucky to be able to walk outside by the time my third trimester hit.
“Jaden, I swear to God, if you defy me on this even once, you’ll be witnessing a lot more than just fantasy snuff films,” he warned, impatiently waiting for my submission.
My stomach immediately shriveled up, the dark bloody memories of what I had watched those women endure haunting my vision.I’d managed to compartmentalize it all away, and my good girl behavior kept me from suffering it again.But it seemed my unexpected change in hormones was affecting my mood and rationality.
“I understand,” I replied angrily even though his hand muffled my response.
Releasing his hold on my mouth, he exhaled a deep breath of satisfaction and ran his knuckles gently down the side of my glaring face.His jaw remained clenched, the hardness in his eyes reminding me that the man I was married to was not a man of compromise.
If I seriously had a choice, I’d rather he lock me away for the duration of my pregnancy than spend even five seconds listening to another condemned woman scream for mercy.
Without warning, his hand wrapped around the back of my neck and pulled me to him, his lips suddenly pressing down on mine in a deep kiss.
As much as I wanted to deny him, I relaxed my body instead, opening my mouth to allow his tongue to claim mine.The less I fought him, the sooner he’d get what he wanted and leave me the fuck alone.But the deeper he kissed me, the harder it was to ignore the heat growing at my core, my body conditioned to respond to his dominance.
“NowI have a guard to torture,” he emphasized, abruptly releasing me and storming down the hallway, leaving me there aroused and confused as shit.
“What the fuck,” I whispered under my breath, watching Darren disappear from my sight.
I looked back at Sloane who was standing down the hallway with Camaro, a blank expression on her face.She had even less of a clue than I did.
Turning on my heels, I marched my ass upstairs and stopped in the middle of the hallway, seething and clutching at the idea of looking for Katherine.I needed to know if she was alright.But I knew the damn answer to that already.She was probably still fucking unconscious.
“Don’t do it, Jaden.It’s not worth it,” Sloane said from the staircase.
My muscles tensed at her warning, my entire body stiff with anger, just juicing to end Daniel myself.I swore I’d see that motherfucker die before this child was born.My loyalty to Matt’s vendetta against him had suddenly increased tenfold.
4
REMEDY