Page 29 of Gluttony (Seven Deadly Sins #4)

“No, you’ll eat with us. I said no lies, remember? I don’t believe you’ll eat later for shit, so you eat with us. Now go, but don’t shower yet. I like the idea of you smelling like you’re freshly fucked.” I wag my brows and she rolls her eyes…our own little love language.

I watch her practically scurry away to her room, not even a glance toward the kitchen where I know the others are. Knowing she has no panties on right now is hot as fuck and I’d rather she didn’t leave my side, but I get needing space. And she can have it…in short bursts.

“What’s up, dickheads?” Taking Bowie’s panties from my pocket, I swing the torn material around as I enter the kitchen.

“What did you do?” Orion is first to look up at me from where he’s standing and stirring something on the stove.

“I caught a rabbit.”

“And the panties belong to said rabbit?” He continues to stir what I can now smell is a bolognese sauce.

“Of course they do. I wouldn’t want anyone else’s panties in my pocket. She’s it. The one.” I sit beside Hayes on one of the bar stools and he finally looks up from his laptop screen.

“She’s not the one, Hads. She’s only getting close to us to steal Orion’s family heirloom. She doesn’t want us.” He dips his head back to his screen, but I know he’s trying to avoid eye contact. He knows I can read him like a book and he’s trying to not give away how much what he said hurts.

“But, Big Brother, she’s not trying to rob us anymore.

She’s had plenty of opportunities, we’ve even left her alone in the apartment more than once, and has she tried anything?

Has she even snooped?” I know the answer, but I need him to say it out loud, to hear the truth in what I’m saying.

“You’ve been watching her every move since you had those cameras installed. ”

“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 the executive 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 before twisting 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.”