Page 41 of Gluttony

Orion was the one to make the winning call, and now we’re here, waiting for Miss Bowie Jones to be discharged so we can take her home.

She’s been cleaned up, X-rayed, and scanned, and the state we found her in certainly looked worse than it is. The doctor informed us that she has a bruised rib and possible concussion, but other than that it’s all superficial injuries. Not that I’d call a swollen cheek, a split lip, and bruises scattered all over her body superficial.

Hadley insisted we take her back to ours to keep an eye on her—as per doctor’s orders. Seeing as she’s already been there before, it’s not technically breaking our rules, was his argument. I disagree, but Orion is on his side and they outvoted me.

Wankers.

The pair of them are in her room with her now, doting on her every move while I clear her hospital bill. Some fucknut jumped her while she was putting out the trash and I have a feeling thatsaid fucknut is going on my twin’s list. Whether he waits until May or not is another matter entirely.

Bowie Jones is screaming with dangers for us, and this is just one more to add to our ever-growing pile of shit I can’t control.

“Is the car ready, H? Doc’s given the all clear.” Orion is first out of the room, holding the door open for Hadley to push the wheelchair out because he no doubt insisted he be the one to do it. The nurse is following close behind, but I can see he’s scared of getting too close to my twin, who probably gave him an earful when he got too close to Miss Jones.

“Yeah, he’s been circling the block for the last few hours because he doesn’t trust the valets.” I need to remember to give our driver a fucking raise at this point.

Charging ahead, I clear the way for our little entourage toward the exit, more so that I don’t actually have to look at her. She may be the current bane of my life, but seeing her beaten and bruised just makes me fucking angry.

The ride home is silent, but I know all Hell is going to break loose once we get back to our apartment. This is the calm before the incoming storm that we’ve brought upon ourselves for getting involved.

Our doorman brought a wheelchair out to meet us at the car after Hadley called ahead and deemed it necessary. So now the three of them are on the way up to our penthouse while I’m being a stubborn fuck and using the stairs. Just a few more minutes of peace to myself…

The door comes into view and I sigh, pausing with my palm on the handle and closing my eyes for a second. A mixture of relief and anger swirls through me and I can’t pinpoint why either of them are so prominent, but they are.

Muttering from Hadley’s room makes me roll my eyes, because of course that’s where she’s going. To be fair, the spare room isn’t ready for guests and I'm too much of a neat freakto allow an outsider into my personal space, but I could’ve put money on Hadley going all neanderthal and dragging her back to his cave.

Have her where we can all easily keep an eye on her.

“She’s sleeping. Hadley’s watching her.” Orion gently closes the bedroom door behind him after he exits.

“Of course he is. He’s always watching her, except the one time we fucking needed it. The one time it would have been useful and he could have stopped this whole attack before it even started.” I fill the water for the coffee machine and flick the switch, needing the black liquid to quench this thirst I can’t seem to shake.

“Were you actually worried about her, H?” Orion smirks and readies three mugs for the coffee, both of us moving around the kitchen fluidly because we’ve done this dance a thousand times before.

“I worry about all of our staff. I don’t want to deal with yet another temp to cover our temp. It feels redundant.” We both know I’m not telling the whole truth, but he doesn’t call me out on it. “One of us still needs to attend those meetings in Cali.” The coffee machine finishes whirring and I swap out the full mug for one of the empty ones, passing it to Orion.

“And by one of us, you mean Hadley?” He knows where my mind is at.

“Yeah. If he stays here he’s gonna hunt down the fucker that jumped Miss Jones and kill him before we have time to prepare.”

“He won’t agree to leave her, though. Unless we give him a real good reason.”

The second coffee is ready and I set about making the third.

“We need to give him a real good reason then, don’t we? Or should I say,youneed to give him a real good reason, because we both know he won’t listen to a word I have to say right now.” Picking up my mug, I leave Orion to finish making the drinks. “I’ll send him out and take the next watch.”

I head toward the bedroom and take my time opening the door. Hadley is sitting in a tall, black velvet armchair in the corner, his back straight and his eyes solidly on the sleeping form in his bed.

“Psst. Orion needs to talk to you. I’ve got this.”

Hadley frowns at me, like I’ve just spoken a foreign language he doesn’t understand.

“It’s okay, I can watch her. I need to watch her.” His gaze flits between me and Bowie, and if I know my twin like I think I do, he’s feeling some responsibility for not being there when she was attacked.

“It’s not your fault, Hads. You couldn’t have known what was gonna happen.” With a steady gait, I approach my twin and rest a hand on his shoulder. “Go, Orion has a fresh coffee waiting for ya.”

“Fine.” He huffs and stands with a scowl marring his features, making it known that he’s not happy about leaving the room.

Taking his seat, I get comfortable, coffee cup steaming in front of me.

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