"I'll probably never understand that kind of individual."
"And you don't have to. They're not worth it."
But Jarrod's subtle tone and expression continued to intrigue the young woman.
"I don't know, but I have the feeling you're not telling me everything."
"What do you mean?"
She sketched uncertainly.
"I have the feeling that there's something else, and that it directly concerns my father and that unfortunate Brad."
Jarrod sipped his coffee.
"I don't know."
"That's not true."
"But even if I did know something as important..."
"You do !"
"Your father has his secrets, like everyone else. Some of them should remain within each..."
"Stop talking about nothing."
"And even if I did know, which I do."
Crystal raised her eyes to the sky again.
"There are certain things you can't reveal on behalf of the person in possession of the secret."
"Oh, please!" ironized Crystal fiercely.
"I'm sorry, darling. But to comfort you, I can also tell you about myself."
"No, I don't want to know anything about you!"
He brought his hand to his chest, falsely hurt.
"You'll end up breaking my heart, baby."
"Stop calling me that, I said!"
She took a deep breath.
"And while we're waiting for the incompetent police to arrest this Brad fellow, what am I supposed to do here, lock myself up in your big, luxurious suite?"
His unblinking gaze, imbued with a devouring fire, was the clearest of answers.
"I'm not talking about that! We're not going to spend our time doing..."
"Why not?"
"But...we'll eventually get bored of it, or worse, die of it! Then we wouldn't need this Brad fellow to do the work!"
He burst out laughing.
"I'd love to try it just to see if we could really get tired of sex and even die from it!"
Crystal gave him a sultry look.
"Okay, I'm sorry. And don't worry. I brought what he does so we don't get bored."
Crystal cleared the table while he fetched a large box from another bedroom.
"There's everything you like here, your favorite board games as well as movies, not forgetting cable to TV, but connection."
"You've got it in your cell phone."
"And I'm the only one who can use it."
His self-satisfied smile put her nerves on edge.
"I want to kill you myself. I was wrong, I'm beginning to understand Brad."
"I'd have been surprised if you hadn't," he murmured mysteriously.
They began with Celestia, a game Crystal was very fond of because of her delight in Gulliver's tale.
"Please tell me you have the cartoon too."
"I downloaded it a week ago."
She nodded.
"All right, then. We'll watch it after the game."
"On one condition."
Crystal squinted.
"What's that?"
"The winner..." and he took his time to continue. Crystal tried feverishly to guess what he was going to say, like the winner will decide on the vanquished's punishment, or that the winner will undress the vanquished who will remain naked for the rest of the day, or; the winner will become the vanquished's master for the day.
"...will decide the next game."
Crystal almost fell out of her chair, and angrily faced her lover's look of amusement, which had perfectly guessed her thoughts.
"So naughty. I almost blushed."
He really was handsome even in nothing but his casual clothes, jeans and black polo shirt and laceless tennis shoes.
Arrogant, insolent, rich, smart and debauched, the type fatal to any normally constituted woman, and the worst part was that he knew it.
She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling wet at the thought of what he might really have asked if he were the winner.
But he wasn't, not yet. She straightened up, looked defiantly at Jarrod and began the game.
It came down to a wire but Jarrod won his bet. He won and could have asked for anything. She giggled. As if Jarrod would bother asking, just from the way he'd led her to give him oral sex this morning.
Was it really morning?
"Before we go watch your beloved cartoon, I was going to choose our next game.
He barely hesitated.
"World Wonders, huh? Why am I not surprised!"
They looked at Gulliver together, as promised.
Two days passed. Crystal couldn't have thought that spending her time in hiding in this super-luxury suite was so bad, but it was still a literal golden prison. She still had so much to do, but even without this, she wanted to be free to move around, and besides, being confined in this place, with this man, was taking everything to the extreme...
And speaking of him, while they were in the middle of a game called Maracaibo, his mobile rang. From the look on his face, she could tell he was getting an update on the situation, and also that her imprisonment wasn't going to end any time soon.
She'd had enough.
When he hung up, Crystal knew she was capable of the worst.
"I think I'm going to lose again, Jarrod," she said in a neutral tone that nonetheless caught her lover's attention.
"It's the nature of the game, baby."
"You're so good at the game, I wonder if we've ever beaten you."
"I've lost before, just like everyone else..."
"And catch you off guard?"
He squinted.
"It's been done before, but rarely."
She rested her head on his hand.
"I see, just as I see that...Brad is still at large."
"Unfortunately, put the police near him, not to mention the bounty hunters. Your father put such a price on his head that..."
He concluded with an eloquent gesture.
"I see. May I go and get myself another cup of coffee?"
"Yes. But what docility! I wonder what's behind it." he exclaimed, amused but cautious.
"Who knows..."
Crystal rose gracefully and went into the kitchen. She stayed there a long time so that Jarrod could join her.
She played with a knife.
Her lover leaned against the doorframe.
"I never told you, although you must have guessed that I've killed people before. And at least five times with a knife."
Crystal faced him, nonchalantly playing with the sharp object.
"You're so confident in yourself that you let me use these sharp tools that can in no time become lethal weapons."
"I often count them and anything else you can use and lock them up at night."
"I can pick a lock."
"And I never sleep with more than one eye open."
He really did have an easy retort, which amplified her resentment, her frustration, her desire...
"Are you sure I can't do anything with this knife."
She could see that Jarrod was looking increasingly tense.
"No, you really can't. You're not going to get me with that knife."
"Who told you I was going to get you with it..."
He finally understood.
"If I get hurt," she still added, "you'll have to..."
But she didn't have time to finish her sentence, for Jarrod had already lunged at her at lightning speed.
"Stop it, you crazy bitch!" he shouted as Crystal slashed at her wrist.
He was able to grab the knife and throw it away, but she managed to injure herself.
"Look what you've done!" he shouted again.
"It was you who forced me to do it!"
"No, I didn't!"
"Yes, you did! And let go of me, you bastard!"
"I'll let you go when I want to!"
He held her from behind, restraining her in his steely arms, raising her injured wrist to him.
"I have to check if it's serious!"
"It is!"