Page 13 of Gluttony (Seven Deadly Sins #4)

Chapter Ten

Hayes

For the last two weeks, the new executive assistant has done everything we’ve asked of her.

The only hiccup being last weekend when she forgot my dress shoes.

And I know my focus should be on business and making sure my twin keeps his habit to a minimum, but she’s stealing it all.

Every corner of my mind is filled with thoughts about her, trying to figure out the thing that’s off.

Because I know, deep in my bones, that something is off.

I’ve been avoiding her, with the exception of the small meeting on Wednesday, and Crosby has noticed. The little shit gave me sass about it this morning when he brought in the coffee and scone Bowie delivers to his desk every day.

“I know I said I wanted to work out more this year, but I didn’t think you’d take it upon yourself to enforce it.

I think I’ve walked an extra five miles this week from just bringing you everything from your executive assistant.

” His glossy smirk and perfectly drawn raised brow were the last things I saw as he spun and walked out of my office with a chuckle.

Just to shut him up, I’ve asked him to let Bowie in when she arrives with my week’s dry cleaning. We used to get Abby to deliver it to the building manager of our apartment on a Friday afternoon, but she had earned that much. Bowie hasn’t earned a thing.

Her simple lies set her back a few thousand paces. The fact that she had her plump lips around Orion’s cock a few months ago set her back a few thousand more because who wants to work for someone that practically threw them out of their limo?

“Mr. Beckett, Miss Jones is on her way in.” Crosby’s voice sounds clear through the speaker, then there’s a click that says he’s finished.

I push the button to reply because my mum always taught me to use my manners. “Thank you, Crosby.”

There’s a light knock on the door before Bowie walks in with her hands full of dry cleaning bags.

“You can hang everything up in the closet, Miss Jones.” I nod toward the door in the corner of the room without looking up from my desk. It’s not a huge space inside, but big enough to hang a few shirts and suits until I take them home this evening.

“Yes, Sir.”

Goddamnit. Why does that word, from her, affect me so much?

A growl rumbles from my throat as I exhale, close my eyes, and silently begin counting to ten.

“Will that be everything, Sir?”

I don’t get to ten.

Why is the universe punishing me with her presence? I allowed her to deliver the dry cleaning…she was supposed to just fuck right off again when she was finished. Not speak to me, call me sir, and linger like a bad fucking smell.

With a deep inhale, I look up at her, but for once it isn’t the way her curves are accentuated by the perfect cut of her suit, or the way her bouncy waves hang over her shoulders that catches my attention.

My gaze zones in on the small cut on her cheek, just below her eye, surrounded by a bruise that looks a couple of days old.

That wasn’t there on Wednesday afternoon at the meeting, and it’s not fresh enough to have happened yesterday or today. I can pinpoint when this happened. I just can’t pinpoint why.

“What happened to your face?” Her answer will tell me more than she thinks because I’m watching for any and every inflection in her voice or body language.

Her eyes widen briefly, quickly, and I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t paying attention. Then she brings a hand up to her cheek and strokes her fingertips over the cut.

“This? This is nothing. I dropped my phone on my face in bed. Silly, really.” She shrugs and shakes her head before bringing her hand back down. “Anyway, is there anything else you need or shall I take my instruction via email and Crosby for the rest of the day?”

I sense a little attitude, but she’s talking out of her arsehole about the injury and the pounding in my ears is becoming overwhelming. I don’t have the focus to fight her on this right now.

“Please see yourself out, Miss Jones.” I’m barely containing my rage. It’s been a long time since this kind of anger has fueled me.

I don’t hear if she speaks before she leaves, and I’m not entirely sure if she goes straight away, but my eyes are drawn down to my desk, my breaths coming in thick and fast as the memory overtakes me.

“You know I hate it when I have to wait, Margaret.”

There’s a crash from the kitchen. It makes me and Hadley look up from our Legos and our eyes connect. We both know what this is. It’s not the first time.

“You did this, Margaret.” Another crash, followed by a scream, and Hadley is up, stepping over the Legos and rushing towards the kitchen.

I can’t let him get hurt too.

I rush after him, making it just as he jumps onto Father’s back.

“Stop!” He’s yelling, trying to wrap his arms around Father’s neck, but it’s difficult because we’re too small.

With Father’s attention on Hadley, I run to Mum, crouching beside her and carefully touching her bleeding cheek.

“Come on, Mum. Let me help you up. We should go somewhere until Father calms down.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Her lips wobble, like she wants to say more, but there’s another crash, making me snap my head around to see.

“Get off me, you little cunt.” Father’s face is red, Hadley has a good hold on him, and I’m content to watch, but that’s my mistake.

In the next second, Father rips Hadley’s arms from around his throat and throws him against the wall. Hadley doesn’t yell, but his face screams bad things right before he slides down the wall and lands in a heap on the tiled floor.

My body vibrates, my skin is getting hot, and it’s hard to breathe properly as my eyes narrow.

“I hate you!” The words come from somewhere deep inside me, shocking me a little, but I storm toward Father, grabbing the closest thing I can to hit him with.

I’m not thinking about my size now. I’m not thinking about anything, really, apart from protecting my mum and my twin.

Father’s twice the size of me so he easily stops me, backhanding me across the face and making me fall, then there’s a kick to my ribs as the edges of my vision get dark…

I shake myself out of it, calming down just enough to pick up my cell and type out a text to our group chat.

Me: My office. Now. We have a problem.

Less than thirty seconds pass before their replies show on the screen.

Wanker1: *Mrs. Doubtfire gif* On the way, Dear!

Wanker2: There in ten.

The next ten minutes tick by at a snail’s pace, my fury at Bowie’s new lie building with every second that passes. The fact that I’ve barely been able to find out any information of substance on her is not helping.

“Whose nuts are we crunching, big brother?” Hadley arrives first, closely followed by Orion.

I’ve been pacing, so I stop and lean back against my desk.

“Have either of you seen Miss Jones since the meeting on Wednesday?” I already know the answer because if they had, we’d all know about the bruise by now.

“Not up close, no.” Hadley grins, wide and carefree, like the devil is on both shoulders.

“No?” Orion just looks confused, because yeah, this isn’t my usual line of questioning.

“Someone hit her. Do we know if she has a boyfriend?” I’m fucked off that I haven’t been able to find this information myself.

“What the actual fuck?”

“Who do I get to gut?”

They speak at the same time and I have to take a moment to breathe, because both of those thoughts are running through my mind too.

Not for the same reasons as them, of course, but because she’s our employee, albeit only for the next three months.

Regardless, we protect what is ours, and for right now, she’s ours.

Something about that thought feels more right than anything else about her, but I’m not going to feed it any ammunition.

“I don’t know.” I hate those words. Information is my dopamine and it’s currently running on empty. “That’s what we need to find out.”

“It wasn’t the prick that bumped into her. I dealt with him already.” Hadley looks to the sky, deep in thought.

Orion and I share a glance before turning to my twin.

“You dealt with who, what, now?” Orion asks the question on the tip of my tongue, though I would have worded it differently and with a lot more cursing.

The grin that spreads across Hadley’s face is pure evil as he shrugs, crunching on his mints, all innocence fleeing the building.

“I may or may not have been watching from a distance for the last week…or two. Haven’t seen a boyfriend, but she was out late on Wednesday night. She went out, some prick shoulder checked her and called her an arsehole, I made him regret it.” He chuckles and wags his brows.

“Really, Hads? Didn’t we make an agreement? All three of us? Once a year. It’s not even close to May yet.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. I didn’t go that far. I just kicked the shit out of him for a bit, taught him some manners, and voilà! Sorted!”

“Okay, we’re going off track here.” Orion jumps in and brings us back to what’s important in this moment, and we completely ignore my twin’s overreaction to a situation because it’s nothing new. “Has your stalking actually been useful?”

“I wouldn’t call it stalking…”

“I would.” I fold my arms across my chest and grumble.

“Honestly, not a whole fuckin’ lot. She’s pretty boring. Spends her evenings in her tiny apartment, no messages to or from friends on her cell, no social media…” Hadley reels off the dull description of Bowie’s week.

Nothing is adding up. What twenty-something single woman living in the city that never sleeps doesn’t have a digital footprint?

“Where did she go on Wednesday evening?” Orion, again, with the sensible questions.

“I dunno. I was too busy dealing with the prick who insulted her.” Hadley’s grin doesn’t waver.

“So the one night she actually does something interesting, and you get distracted?” I shake my head because of course that’s how it happened.

“You endorsing my stalking?”

“Didn’t think you were calling it that.” Orion laughs when Hadley shoots him a look dripping with contempt.

“We’re going around in fucking circles here. How do we find out who hurt her?”

“Why are you so bothered by it, big bro?” Hadley raises both brows, his eyes two pools of condescension.

“Because she’s our employee, and nobody fucks with our employees.” I’m too quick to answer, it’s been ruminating through my mind since before we even began the conversation.

“Suuuure…” Hadley draws out the word and grins again.

“Okay, pack your shit and grab what you need for the day. We’re going home to plan.” Orion’s word is final. We always listen to our chosen brother, given that he tends to be our voice of reason.

“If you insist.” Hadley’s grin turns feral as he taps on his cell and brings it to his ear.

“Ginny? Can you hold my calls for the rest of the day and rearrange this afternoon’s meeting?

” There’s a pause. “You’re an angel. I’ll make Bowie bring you extra coffee.

Thank you.” He hangs up and looks up at us.

“Sorted, but I will have to briefly nip back later.”

“Do I wanna know why?” The pounding in my head hasn’t subsided and I take a moment to rub at my temples.

“Nah. Let’s go plan shit.”