Page 8 of Gluttony
He’d not been invited on a family mission since his return from rehab, or more accurately, since he’d missed the call to action when Max had been kidnapped. He’d not been asked to spar with any of his family—apart from when Sloan needed impromptu acting classes—and he’d not been included on any strategy talks. Not a single text message, nor a comment at the family dinner. Nada. Bupkis.
Feelings about that tried to surface, but he pushed them down instead, preferring to numb his brain in the monotonous action of paper ball throwing. While he shot at the dolls, aiming for their swinging feet, he kept one eye on the flat screen to the left of him. It broadcast the local news network, but nothing of note excited him. It rarely did.
Sliding his attention back to the dolls, he knew he’d have to get up soon and collect the trash. He was also running out of projectiles, and there was only so much manuscript he could ball up before his agent realized he hadn’t read the damned thing.
“All right. Here goes.” Tony screwed up his last piece of paper. “Two points if I hit one hard enough to make it swing and hit the ceiling.”
He shoots.
He scores!
“And the crowd goes wild.Hhaar.”
Tony threw his hands in the air, jumped up and did his best Rocky Balboa impression, but even that got dull after a while. There was no one to watch him.
He went back to his game until a familiar voice spoke on the television, nabbing his attention. He squeezed the crumpled ball in his fist and sat down on the sofa near the door, eyes on the screen. Griffin’s wife, Lilo, stood outside the Cardinal Copy network studio about to give a news report. Her lively brown hair caught a breeze and lifted, but her attractive face was focused, gaze turned inward as she listened to the communication microphone in her ear.
Damn, Griff was lucky to have her for his mate. All of his siblings who had paired up had scored well, but the idea of coupling up—falling in love—was a foreign concept he couldn’t relate to.
Women helped him sate his appetite temporarily, but that was it. He was too hungry... for sex, for pleasure, for conversation, for... more. It was always more with him, and one woman had never been enough for his insatiable urges. He could never have a relationship because soon enough, he got hungry again, and he hated it. Unchecked gluttonous desire eventually turned every taste to cardboard.
But Lilo, she was the center of Griffin’s universe. Lilo had come a long way in the past six months. She used to want to unmask the Deadly Seven, but then she fell in love with one of them. Now Griffin and his wife were inseparable, much like Wyatt and Misha, or Evan and Grace. Max and Sloan were the latest of his family to catch the bug.
On the screen, Lilo was about to cross to another reporter in a neighboring city when a knock came at Tony’s trailer door.
Thank Christ.
Without removing his eyes from the news report, Tony leaned over and opened the door for Max. “Guess who’s about to report?”
Light flashed in as the door rocked open, but no answer to his question. Tony looked over and tensed.
Not Max.
Bailey.
Now, there was a woman he’d happily sate his urges on.
Still standing at the foot of the steps wearing her hot-as-fuck Aviators and a black pantsuit, there was so much more about her that appealed to him. Killer curves. Smooth brown skin. Big eyes. Full rosy lips.Plenty. It was the only word that kept coming to mind. She flicked her jacket open and rested her hands on her hips. Such a casual move, but it drew his attention to the fullness at her chest in a way that made his blood heat.
His mouth watered.
This woman was his bodyguard.
He casually swung his legs around the sofa and stood. He moved toward her, eyes never leaving her face until he ducked to avoid the dolls. At the doorframe, he lifted his arms to grip the top in a pose he knew exhibited the best his rigorous gym schedule had to offer. And then he slid her The Smile. Empire Magazine called it the look of the year. TMZ said it could kill. Cosmo said a bunch of things he probably shouldn’t repeat. He just knew it made life easier.
Except Bailey didn’t react. Not a twitch. Birds flew past in the sky, crickets chirped, and the world kept turning.
After a beat of silence, his grin dropped. He glanced down at himself and patted his chest and abs. “Is this thing on?”
When he glanced up, he caught her sucking her teeth, unimpressed. Right. Well, Plan B, then. Plan A was a long shot, anyway. He smiled again. “We have to stop meeting like this.”
“You hired me.”
“I hired Nightingale. You didn’t have to come. Admit it, when the job came in, you were the first to stick up your hand.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. No one else was available.”
His swagger faltered. He shrugged. “A man has to try.”
