Page 81 of Gluttony
Come on, Bailey, just one drink. Your parents won’t even know we’re missing. Don’t be a stuffy old matron.
Memories assaulted her mind.
To capture the attention of her parents, she had made a mistake, a deadly one, and she’d been making up for it ever since.
But was she confident with her choices now?
Was she still that blundering girl?
Was it okay to forgive herself?
Tony may have been the one who rescued her from the sewer, but their time together had shown a vulnerability in him she’d never seen before. He needed her to be strong. She had to stop worrying about destroying lives and start building them.
Bailey took the martini glass and then walked over to her trash can. She lifted the lid and dropped it in.
Twenty-Five
Tony cameto the door of the operations room with a sinking feeling. All the old expectations were exactly where he’d left them. But this time it was different. He had Bailey. He had his new power. So he straightened his spine and continued further into the room. The open space took up a few hundred square feet. Television screens on a wall flickered with the latest from the news networks. Paper, office documents and various computer devices covered the central strategy table. Two of the seven battle suits housed in the glass cabinets on the far wall were missing. At first, Tony assumed two of his family were already out in the city, causing havoc for criminal kind, but then he noticed Parker in the adjoined workshop area, already wearing his suit, hood down. The second suit was laying flat on the bench, interior exposed, and with some wires out.
Flint watched avidly, his spectacles down to the tip of his nose. Sloan was also there, sitting on a stool. Dressed in some grease-stained casual clothes, it appeared as though she’d been working with Flint on some sort of tech repairs.
Damn. Tony had thought he was on time. He should have known Parker would be early. The three of them appeared to have been at it for a while. A minor splash of guilt hit him when he thought of how he’d spent the afternoon, but then he shoved it aside. He’d needed the time to prepare himself mentally for what was to come.
He’d not been patrolling in months.
Sauntering up to them, he leaned on the bench. “Wha’cha doin’?”
Parker flicked his judgmental gaze at Tony. “Good, you’re here.”
“I said I would come, so here I am.”
The two men shared a tension-loaded look. Parker, no doubt, thought of some condescending response, but kept it leashed beneath a clenched jaw and blazing golden eyes.
Tony’s fists flexed at his side. Tonight was not going to go well if the dude glared at him the entire time. Tony’s patience was already worn thin, and he had the inexplicable urge to chase down Parker’s disappointment with a stiff drink.
The moment Tony thought it, he became acutely aware of how much of his drinking had been bolstered by the weight of expectations pushed onto him. Parker’s comment to Bailey about Tony being the best fighter wasn’t a slip. It was meant to get back to Tony. It had been a round about way to let him know that he had a responsibility, and he hadn’t been filling it.
Maybe it was just a compliment.
Problem was, Tony failed to recognize a genuine compliment these days. Most people he came into contact with always wanted something out of him. A selfie, a kiss, The Smile.
Except Bailey.
Sure, she liked his company, but this past afternoon, she’d let him make the demands.
At the thought of his mate, a warm feeling washed through him, releasing the tension knotted in his shoulders. He relaxed with a slow exhale through the teeth.
There were many issues floating between Parker and Tony. They used to be good friends. Parker’s public identity was just as much as a playboy as Tony’s. Parker left others running the day-to-day business of his billion-dollar tech empire, while he partied hard and pursued wayward entrepreneurial interests like opening clubs and restaurants, or adrenaline junky seeking activities.
Lately though, Parker had been less of a party boy and more of a workaholic. During his days, he went to his office, then came home and worked, either in the workshop or out on the street.
Tony shoved his thoughts down and shifted his glare to the suit.
Sloan smirked, eyes dancing between her brothers. “You both forget to wear your tampons today, or something?”
Parker bared his teeth at her.
Tony kissed the air in her direction, and she replied by putting her finger down her throat and pretending to gag. Good to see some of them hadn’t lost their humor.
