Page 78 of Gluttony
“Good. Meet me in Ops at five tonight and we’ll gear up and patrol. Sensing gluttony might be the key to finding this plant thing.”
It was on the tip of Tony’s tongue to say that he had prior commitments, including but not limited to his Netflix and Chill sesh with his lady, but he clamped it down.
Patrolling. He could do that. No problems. He bit his nails.
“Tony?” Parker prompted.
“I’ll be there.”
Twenty-Four
Bailey spentmost of the afternoon with Tony at his place. Both had been shaken by the news revealed at the meeting. Bailey, in particular, had not before fully grasped the enormity of the situation. These people who created the plant monster had their operation reaching around the world. They experimented on anything and everything they could get their hands on, including pregnant women and children… and they were preparing for war. Not just any war, an all out apocalypse, and the Deadly Seven were the only ones standing in their way.
Settling into the theater room with a bowl of popcorn and soda, Bailey sat on one of the leather recliners. Tony stood before the screen, using a remote to flick through the available streaming selection of movies. The man had been adamant they spend the afternoon together before reality hit. Tonight he’d be out patrolling the city disguised in his battle suit, making his first appearance as Gluttony in months.
“What do you think their end game is?” she asked.
From the way Tony’s shoulders tensed, he didn’t want to talk about it, but she insisted. She asked again.
Coming back to the leather recliners, he sat next to her and slid her a resigned glance. “They created us to sense sin. The initial plan was to train us as soldiers and then send us out into the world to execute the ones who sinned the most. Our birth mother thought we were to use our powers to target the worst sinners and convince them to be better, only using our abilities as a last resort. When she learned the Syndicate wanted us be judge, jury and executioner, she made it so our powers would only manifest when we had a mate to balance us, and help keep us sane. So... long story short, they want to raze the world of sinners and build a utopia of saints.”
“Surely you’re not serious.”
He gave a grim nod of the head and then stole a piece of popcorn. “Deadly.”
“Wow.”
Tony lobbed the popcorn into his mouth. “Mary used to have visions of the future when she worked with the Sisterhood. She saw two variations, one where we were used to create this destructive future, and one where we prevented it. The Sisterhood didn’t want to take a chance and wanted us dead. Mary believed we could be saved.”
“Oh my God.” Bailey slunk low in her chair. “And the people who created you are still trying to replicate what they did with you, but with clones they can grow every two years in a tank?”
Tony nodded, then grinned and pointed his remote at the big cinema screen. “Harry Potter?”
The man could snap off his worries in an instant, but Bailey wasn’t so adept. This news shocked her to her core. Forget about the years of work she’d sacrificed to fighting human terrorists, the Syndicate had created inhuman threats, and they weren’t even on the CIA radar… not that she’d ever known. If Liza considered turning to her FBI friend, then perhaps Bailey should reach out to her old agency. Except, she trusted them less than a glass of Cosmo. And Homeland? They feed those guys raw meat for meals. They were ruthless. Going to them with this news might not end well for anyone.
“Bailey, don’t worry,” Tony said, capturing her hand. “It will be fine.”
“How?”
“We fight.” He thought about it. “And we do what you said. Turn Daisy to our side and then use her intel to take them down from the inside.”
“Assuming she’s in a position of trust, and the intel is good.”
“She’s Julius’s only daughter with him. Surely she’s his most trusted.”
Bailey wasn’t so sure it was as clear cut as that.
“Come here,” Tony said. He shifted the bowl of popcorn to his other side and then lifted her with strong hands over the armrest until she straddled him. Positioning her hips against his, he lowered his voice seductively. His rumbling purr penetrated her system. “Let’s not talk about it now. We have each other. Let’s focus on that.”
And then he used his lips to brush hers with a tantalizing sweep before nibbling her jaw and kissing her neck. Finding her erogenous zone beneath her ear, he went to work undoing her tension. A moan escaped, and she arched into him, enjoying his grunt of approval when her breasts pressed against his chest.
“That’s it, baby,” he murmured. “Let’s forget our problems, just for the next few hours.”
It was unavoidable. The tension left, just leaked out through her skin with every kiss and touch of his mouth. Being with Tony was like something she’d never experienced before. He was attentive, wanting, and loving. He was home.
* * *
After Tony had leftto meet with Parker, Bailey gathered what belongings she could find in his apartment, and got ready to leave. They’d spent most of the afternoon watching precious little TV, but plenty of each other. Tony had been true to his words and made her forget about the outside world and its heavy problems.
