Page 13 of Gluttony

On the ride over, Hayes fixes his hair as we discuss what the sponsors have promised for our first music festival, but I know neither of them have their heads in anything business related tonight. It’s funny that they’re obsessed with the same woman, but for very different reasons. Hayes is determined to get rid of her, and Hadley just wants to get in her.

Me…? I’ve had her. Partially. And it was fucking magical so I can’t blame Hadley for wanting a shot. But Hayes is right, she’s an employee and we don’t mix business with pleasure. When we had her in the limo, she was just another girl. I wanted to fuck her right then and there, share her with the twins and destroy her body for our pleasure. We had a new driver that night, though, and we don’t bring women back to the apartment. Not ever.

Nobody but us enters our apartment.

When we share a woman, we rent hotel suites for the weekend.

The car pulls up in front of the flashy Mancini Hotel, where I have no doubt the sponsors’ reps are waiting at the bar inside, and there stands Bella. Bowie.

I don’t know how I feel about the change of name thing yet; whether I find it suspicious or not. I’m leaning toward not.

“She looks good enough to eat.” Hadley’s growl comes straight from his throat as he eyes her through the blacked-out windows. We can see out, but nobody can see in.

“Why is she so dressed up? I hope we’ve ruined her Saturday night plans.” The grumble from Hayes is to be expected. He’s holding a grudge and it’ll be difficult to shift it.

The car door is opened by a hotel attendant and Hadley is first out, practically tripping over himself to get to Bowie.Yeah, I like that better.Hayes waits for me to get out before he slides across the large back seat and follows.

“I brought your shoes, Sir.” Bowie’s smile is saccharine-sweet as she carefully tilts her head toward Hayes, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She got the right twin, though, so bonus points for her. Holding up the bag, Bowie doesn’t break Hayes’s eye contact, a silent challenge hidden beneath them.

There’s a twitch in Hayes’s jaw but he refuses to break first, and if we weren’t already late, I’d grab a bag of popcorn, but we need to get moving.

“I’ve got a fuckin’ brilliant idea.” Hadley’s whisper in my ear is not comforting. His ideas are, in fact, neverbrilliant. “Come on, Little Rabbit. We have a meeting you can sit in on. Take notes.” Without giving her a chance to protest, Hadley grabs Bowie’s wrist and pulls her to his side, leading her into the hotel and leaving Hayes and me open-mouthed.

“Fuck sake,” Hayes mumbles under his breath.

“Tonight just got a little more interesting.”

Chapter Seven

Bowie

I’m choosing to be a glass half-full kind of girl.

Sure, I was counting on Hayes calling me from his apartment, giving me the opportunity to get a look-see at the place. No one would bat an eye at me asking to use the bathroom when really, it would be a chance to snoop around a little. Get my bearings, maybe even take a couple of pictures for Mickey. Turns out, I was only half wrong since Hayes turned out to be the typical, predictable man I was hoping he would be.

On the downside, he was a cunt for calling me once they’d already gone out, destroying all my calculated plans.

But it’s fine. Who knows, maybe they’ll take me home tonight and before they get their dicks inside me, I’ll snoop and bolt. I could always blame it on my period. Nobody wants to share a woman who’s exhibiting the normal cycle of life, right? I know Mickey’s not a fan. Men are babies like that.

With this new goal in mind, I find myself at one of Midtown’s upstanding hotels with the big, emblematic letterMglowing at the top. Rumor has it the head of the mafia owns it, but that’s a little too out there for me to believe. People love to make richpeople seem mysterious and dangerous. I bet said mafia guy is also uber rich and looks like a rough and lethal runway model.

Ridiculous.

Mentally, I pat myself on the back for dressing in a versatile little black number. Not quite casual but nothing over the top, either. In any case, it had the intended effect when Hadley grabbed my wrist and hauled me inside to meet their guests.

“So, Bella, right?” One of the music festival sponsors sitting closest to me leans in, his long brown hair secured in a tie at the back of his head.

“That’s right.” Nope, so wrong, but after their lengthy account about how much they love classic rock, I bet they’d love my real name. “And you’re Jonathan, right?” He does not look like a Jonathan. More like a Bob. Geldof not Dylan.

“Yeah, but everyone prefers to call me Jon. How long have you been working for these guys?” Jon scrapes the plush chair across the slick floors in an attempt to get closer, so I help him by leaning on the armrest. I’m aware this gives him a clear view of my cleavage but there’s nothing I can do to avoid that.

“Not very long. Just started, actually.” My smile is genuine and for some reason I’m a bit surprised about that. After the first week I had, I should be running far and fast. It may be a sign that I’m losing my mind, but in hindsight, I actually had fun doing something…real.

“Ah, I see. Are they treating you right? Because we’ve got a need for a secretary or assistant for our adventure here.” It’s hard to tell if he’s being serious, outright flirting, or just being friendly, but I choose the latter because my life is complicated enough, I don’t need to add these two to the mix.

“Yes, they are. To be honest, I don’t really see them much at the office. I’m too busy running errands.” Except for when Hayes throws me dirty looks, like he is right this minute, allthe while trying to convince Jon’s business partner that they are absolutely the right fit for this festival.

Hadley, who is sitting across from us, is downing his shots as he sits back in the chair, watching us. A normal reaction to the murderous glint in his eyes would be to move away and change identities—which I’m capable of doing without a second thought. Unfortunately, I’ve got a job to do and red flags have always been my weakness.

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