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“Yeah, I have. So why is she now crying in her room?” Hayes’s glare could kill a cunt if such a thing were possible, but it only makes me grin.
“Swift subject change there.” I shake my head and do a Bowie, rolling my eyes. “Might be because I told her about her apartment.” I shrug, leaning over to see what Hayes is watching.
“For fuck sake. We were gonna discuss it over dinner tonight.”
“She was trying to go back there after I fucked her in my office, so I had to tell her.” I turn to Orion. “How long ‘til dinner?”
“Fifteen minutes.”
“What happened to the no fucking rule?” Hayes’s attention is back on me.
“That’s your rule. I never agreed to it. But it’s in keeping with your plan to keep her close. Real close.” I wag my brows and laugh, my twin’s stare relentless.
“You’re a wanker.”
“Yeah yeah, I know. But I get shit done. She’s not gonna do us over. I’m telling ya. Maybe she was to begin with, but now…well, plans change.”
“You know he hates when plans change. It’s his kryptonite.” Orion throws a grin Hayes’s way.
“You can fuck off, too, Ry.” Hayes switches the video of Bowie on his screen to his email inbox, all neatly arranged, much unlike my own. “Now we know exactly who she is and all the fancy tech shit her ex did, it’s been much easier to find shit on her. And I have a lot of shit. Once it’s done, we’ll see where her loyalties lie.”
“Okay, enough shop talk, dinner’s ready.” Orion starts serving up pasta and sauce onto four plates, not even a glance our way.
I know he’s not on board with Hayes’s plan. He’s not being vocal about it but it’s obvious he’s become just as addicted to Bowie as me. I notice the longing glances, the way he watches her laugh with his secretary, Drew—who is a tough nut to crack, but she managed it a lot quicker than we thought.
For Orion, he’d prefer the direct approach. He wanted to speak to her about what Mickey told us, about knowing why she really approached us that night in the club, why she applied for theexecutive assistant position, but he was outvoted. I’m always up for playing with our food, and this plate is delectable. Orion’s worried that we’ll push her away, that I might be wrong and she isn’t as obsessed with us as we are her. Losing both of his parents really fucked him up, they were literally all he had left in the world, except us, so I know his main worry is that his heart will be smashed to smithereens if she leaves us.
I won’t let that happen.
Hayes can have his fun, but I know she’ll pass his little fucked up test, then we can keep her.
“I’ll go and get our girl.” I stand and pat my twin on the back. He growls at me but I just laugh, heading through the living area toward Bowie’s bedroom door.
I don’t knock because, as much as I’m willing to let her have her space, I don’t have boundaries, and she’ll soon learn that I won’t abide by hers.
When I walk in, she’s lying in the middle of her bed, beneath her duvet, head and all.
“Get out.” Her muffled voice has that bite to it that I love.
“‘Fraid not, Little Rabbit. Orion’s been slaving over a hot stove for at least thirty minutes. You wouldn’t want all his hard work to go to waste, would you? That’d just be rude.” I drop down onto her bed, pull back the duvet, and I’m greeted with that beautiful scowl in a messy halo of auburn hair. “You don’t even need to get dressed.” I pinch at the material of the short-shorts that are a part of her PJ set, and suddenly I want to get her a set in every color. They look good, the way they show off her long, pale legs, the way the top clings to her full tits. Yeah, I’m buying her some more of these and I’m going to demand she always wears them around the penthouse.
“I wasn’t planning to get dressed.” With a determined expression, she sits up, fixing me with a stern glare beforetwisting her body to a sitting position. “I’m assuming I have no choice here?”
“You assume correct.” I stand and offer her my hand. She glances at it, then back at my face, and I see the moment she makes the decision to take it.
“Good girl.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Bowie
Something has shifted since Monday night when Hadley decided to go hunting in our offices, making me the prey. I’ve had three days to witness these subtle changes from all three, like a decision was made without my input. They tend to do this a lot. They decide, they act, and I’m just supposed to go along with it. I mean, there are worse things than living in a penthouse with three ridiculously hot men but still, I want a voice and vote.
It’s taken me these last two weeks to realize that Mickey did the same thing, even though his intentions were miles away from theirs. Where they talk about protecting me and making me feel at home, Mickey always made it seem like I was the burden and he was the one forced to carry me.
Fuck that. I pulled my own weight but he just kept adding more and more and now I’m done.
I’m done with Mickey and his mental gymnastics. The fucker had someone beat the shit out of me, there’s no way back from that.