Page 87 of Spark

She nodded. “Of course. Anything else?”

“And a bowl of raspberries, please.”

She nodded again. “I will inform the chef. Would you prefer coffee or tea?”

“Tea, please. Green, if you have it.”

“I will be right back,” she said with another nod and turned away to the kitchen.

I returned my gaze back out the window, aware that Romero had joined Alex at his side, his hands folded in front of him as he watched me. A few short minutes later, the same woman from before brought out a silver tray containing my tea and placed it on the table in front of me.

“Your breakfast will be out shortly. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you,” I said nicely.

See? I can be nice sometimes… when the occasion called for it.

Pouring my tea, I stirred a few scoops of sugar in it and took a sip. It was perfect.

Not long after that, my breakfast was brought out and placed in front of me, and my stupid, deprived mouth couldn’t help but drool. I had loved crepes ever since my high school days in French class when we got to experience French cuisine. I hadn’t had crepes since coming to Darren’s captivity. In fact, I never really got to experience anything that wasn’t healthy for me except for the occasional glass of wine. I’d hoped that maybe the holidays would give me a bit of a reprieve.

Cutting into my breakfast and taking my first bite, I couldn’t help but moan in total satisfaction. These were fantastic. I ate my breakfast in earnest, finishing my entire plate as well as the bowl of raspberries. I felt like I was going to burst from it all, but it was worth it. When I was done, I piled the plates up on the tray and stood from the table to stretch before turning to my guards.

“I’m going to explore the house. A polite distance would be appreciated,” I said as nicely as I could. I didn’t want the giant on my heels everywhere I stepped.

“I’m sure it would,” Romero replied, “but it’s not guaranteed.”

Yeah, yeah.

I grimaced at him before turning on my heels to begin my expedition. The cabin was a lot bigger than I thought it was. There were five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and a finished basement, complete with a gym, sauna, and showers. There was an entertainment room, a study, a sunroom of nothing but windows looking out over the lake, a gigantic five-car garage, and of course, Darren’s office. The rooms were all lavish with a woodland décor and rustic interior.

Even though the cabin wasn’t as big as Darren’s estate, there were still plenty of guards posted throughout and staff busying themselves. No one looked at me. No one said a word. Even here, I was invisible. Some faces I recognized; others I didn’t.

But the one face I recognized the most was the guard who dragged me out of the house to meet Darren and that poor gardener, the same one who assisted in his torture. But something was different about him as he walked past me, his eyes deliberately avoiding me, just like mine were supposed to be avoiding him. With a bald head and the only hair covering him being the dark patch on his chin, I quickly figured it out. His fucking ears were missing.

I couldn’t help but commit a double take as my eyes locked onto the shredded and scarred remains of his ears. What the fuck happened to them?

“Eyes elsewhere, Miss Jaden,” Romero ordered. I turned back around to face them as we kept walking.

“What happened to his ears?” I asked quietly.

Romero and Alex gave me strange smiles, like it was funny but they weren’t sure if they should tell me.

“Come on,” I pleaded. “It’ll be our little secret.”

Romero nodded for me to move forward. “Mr. Davis cut them off. Since Eric can’t listen to directions, Mr. Davis felt like he didn’t need them.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, and the two of them almost ran into me.

“Fucking hell,” I whispered under my breath. Had I caused that, too?

“Mouth, Miss Jaden,” Romero reminded me sternly.

“Yeah,” I said, biting my lip in thought before turning back around to continue my expedition.

Forcing Eric and his lack of ears from my mind, it took me a little less than an hour to explore the entire cabin and learn the layout of each floor, all the while with my guards no more than ten feet away from me. You’d think I’d be used to constant shadows by now, but I still hated how limited my privacy was.

Looking out the wide window of the sunroom, I loomed over the grounds and found myself wanting to explore the outside now. I probably needed special permission before I could do that, though. So I turned to Romero and Alex.