Page 43 of Gluttony

“The two boys attended a private boarding school, and that’s where they met their third. The final piece to their fucked up puzzle. They witnessed things they shouldn’t have, they did things they really shouldn’t have, and they promised to always have each other’s backs. Through thick and thin. One day, aprincess appeared and threatened to derail everything with her lies, so the boys buried her, deep, and promised to never let another take advantage in the same way.”

By the time I’ve finished talking, she’s asleep again. Shame, I had hoped she’d learn a little something about how we work, no matter how obtuse I’m being.

Is that…? I notice the small black device in her hand, realizing it’s her cell phone that we sent our driver to get while we were in the hospital. Why is she clinging on to it so hard?

Standing, I approach the bed quietly, watching for any small movements before leaning over her to take the phone. She stirs a little, just as I grab it, and her bright green eyes appear through thin slits.

I can’t help it, I lean down further and gently kiss her forehead. “Shh, sleep, Diamond. Sleep.”

She listens, her eyes closing fully again as she moans.

Once she’s stopped stirring, I use her thumbprint to unlock the phone and sit back down in the armchair, ready to scroll.

There are hundreds of missed calls from Hadley from before, and almost as many messages. The last one is him telling her the wolf wants to chase rabbits or some shit. I just shake my head because even though I knew it before, it’s in black and white right here. I can only hope this princess isn’t a deceitful little wench like the last one…

Then I see it.

A text message thread between her and someone called ‘Big Bro’.

I guess my brief hope about this particular princess was useless, and I should have stuck with my original belief because there is a lie here.

She told me she has no siblings.

Not only that, but when I look at the thread…I see plans being made to make up for Valentine’s day. A whole day of fun…on the day we saw her with Miller.

I’m not fucking stupid, I’m putting two and two together and easily coming up with four.

But why would she have him in her phone as Big Bro?

I immediately send the messages and the number to my own phone, and forward them on to the PI that Orion hired last week. He got fed up with me spending all my time trying to dig dirt on our executive assistant so this was our compromise.

Another secret…one that she will try and pry her way out of if I give her half a chance.

Well. No more chances.

My family is too precious to me to allow this harpy to fuck it all up with her lies.

Let’s see what she comes up with this time.

Chapter Seventeen

Bowie

“Shh, sleep, Diamond. Sleep.”

Those three little words make my lips tingle every time they flit through my sleep-riddled mind, prompting my body to sink further into the plush nest of soft sheets and plump pillows. There’s a high chance I’m dead because this feels exactly what Heaven would be for me. A comfy bed and complete and total silence.

“You’re going to pay for that, Bowie.”

Then the memory of the attack makes my entire body shutter, the cold chill spearing through my spine. Who was that guy? Something is just out of my reach, my mind closing up, like the protection mode gets activated without my permission every time I start to make sense of it all.

“Shh, sleep, Diamond. Sleep.”

This space between sleep and awake is as comforting as it is frustrating. When my lips tingle again, I search through my memories, trying in vain to figure out if the kiss I can still feel was real or just wishful dreaming. It feels so fucking real but atthe same time…Hayes? No fucking way. I’m beneath him, and not in a good way.

I must be feeling better if my subconscious is cracking sex jokes.

“You’re going to pay for that, Bowie.”

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