XXI
Dawson Rossi
H azel’s been acting differently with us these past few days. We’ve been coexisting like roommates with her, but she has barely been in the room long enough for any of us to talk to her.
We all expected she would be withdrawn and angry after seeing us with those girls, especially when Theo and I explained what had happened a few hours before.
What we didn’t expect is for Andros to kiss her the next day. He explained she had another nightmare, but Atlas was plainly murderous when he heard Andros had capitalised on her pain. None of us were happy about it, but we found it hard to argue against his point that we would have done the same if she’d asked like she did.
On this particular day, we’re all congregated in the kitchen as Andros runs through his recent tech updates on the Russians. Hazel comes storming into the kitchen, dressed like a bombshell in a black waistcoat and matching flowing trousers. She grabs a bottle of water and turns to us like a woman on a mission, as we all watch her in mutual silence.
“Who’s taking me to work, then?” She asks, tapping her foot in impatience. I try to hide my smirk but fail, an amused scoff escaping my lips. She pins me with an adorable, angry glare and I have to fight not to laugh.
“I will, Spitfire,” I hold my hand up, not bothering to hide my amusement anymore as I smirk.
Atlas pins me with a warning glare, and I roll my eyes at him. Hazel leaves the room and returns a few moments later with a jacket and her tote bag. Taking her hovering at the door as an indication she wants to leave, I grab my keys and walk outside to where my car is parked.
She slides into the passenger seat and I put the car in gear, driving us out of the gates with ease. The journey is mostly silent, a tense, suffocating pall in the air between us.
When we finally pull up outside Haven, my self control snaps.
“Look at me, Spitfire,” I turn to face her, watching as she battles her defiance. I grab her chin and turn her to me.
“Those women? Our dates for the evening? They were waitresses from one of our restaurants. We would never take someone we actually like to the place we had to go to the other night,” I look deep in her eyes, making sure she understood the true meaning of my words.
She doesn’t say anything, but I notice her starting to worry her bottom lip.
“I don’t know if you’ve realised, Spitfire, but you seem to have an effect on all four of us. I can promise you that none of us have thought or been with another girl since you came to our house,” I continue, trying my best to reassure her, despite my dominant side begging to be released.
“They slept in your beds,” she says matter-of-factly, her tone almost defeated.
“And we didn’t sleep in them that night,” I lean back into my seat, sighing as I rub a hand over my face, “They were all too fucked from all the free champagne to go home. One of them insisted on staying in our bed and then the rest followed.”
“Where did you guys stay then?” She raises her eyebrow, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Atlas stayed in his office. I stayed in the guest room, and Theo and Andros… well they honestly didn’t sleep,” I shrug.
She continues eyeing me warily as she takes in my answer, waiting a few moments for the information to sink in. When she nods her head in acceptance, I let out a surprised breath of relief.
“I don’t know why I feel like this,” she murmurs, a brief tone of vulnerability in her voice. She looks down at her hands and I pull her gaze to me again.
“Spitfire. We’ve made you feel like this. In case you haven’t realised yet, you’re ours. We’ve staked a claim on you, so you’re bound to feel the way you do when you see us with other women,” I grab her chin again and move my face inches from hers, “but in case you’re not clear, we only have eyes for you.”
The sexual tension crackles between us as I lower my fixation to her lips. She licks across the lower one, the movement going straight to my dick and making it jump up in attention.
All my senses are fine-tuned to hers as I lean in and connect our lips, feeling the sizzling bond of our kiss. I deepen it and she moans into my mouth as I ask for access with my tongue.
When I finally pull away, we’re both gasping for breath and completely infatuated with the moment we’re sharing. Unfortunately, Andros knocking on the window ruins the heated tension.
I open my car door and slap him over the head as Hazel climbs out. He gives me a mischievous grin before walking over to her and kissing her. She’s caught off guard as he pulls her body flush against him, dominating her mouth with his hand on the side of her face.
We all walk inside and separate from her as she heads to the bar. Only, we stop when we hear the sound of Denise’s shrill voice.
“Slut,” she scoffs at Hazel. From our spot on the balcony, where we’ve joined Atlas and Theo, we watch as Hazel turns around to face an outraged Denise.
“What did you just say?” Hazel asks, her voice psychotically calm. Theo takes a step forward, ready to step in, but Atlas stops him.
“I said you’re a slut. It’s incredibly slutty throwing yourself at our bosses like that. Don’t you have any dignity?” Denise argues, digging her own grave.
Hazel turns around and walks towards Denise as the whole floor goes silent, watching for her next move.
"Look, you've obviously got more legs than brains, so let me keep this short for you. Who I sleep with is none of your concern and for you to insinuate I'm sleeping with my bosses will earn you a slap," Hazel spits at a shocked Denise. I can't help but smirk at her comeback.
She sure is a Spitfire.
We stand in a place out of their direct eye line, watching as their interaction unfolds.
"You're just a little girl. They wouldn't want you anyway," Denise says smugly. I watch as a flicker of sadness falls on Hazel's face before she covers it up again.
"And they'd want you? Why haven't they already had you then? You've been working here way longer than me."
"Who says they haven't already," a smug smile spreads across Denise's face and I feel my fists clench. Atlas has to put a hand on Theo's chest again to stop him from interrupting them. We watch as Hazel stays silent for a second, obviously shocked by the image of us being with Denise.
It was a low point for all of us.
"Then why are you arguing with me if you've already had them?" Hazel asks, her voice wavering before turning around to walk away.
"Don't walk away from me, you BITCH," Denise lunges for her and we all step into action. Atlas and I grab Denise by her arms as Theo and Andros go over to Hazel and escort her up to the office.
"For fuck's sake, Denise. We've told you to watch your fucking tongue at work, haven't we," I glare at her.
"Sorry, Sir," she apologises seductively.
"Stop throwing yourself at us. It's embarrassing," Atlas mutters as her cheeks glow red and she looks down. He pushes her to me, and I hold her arm whilst he stands in front of her, bringing his face close to hers. I smirk at the terrified expression on her face.
"Now, you better leave Hazel alone, because if I hear one tiny comment from you about her or to her, I won't hesitate to throw you in the basement and rip those fake nails and veneers out of your body," I whisper, my eyes, no doubt, dark with danger.
She nods frantically and I let go of her arm. We watch with amusement on our faces as she scampers into the back.
We walk into the office to see Hazel sitting awkwardly in a chair as Andros and Theo lean against the wall next to her. She looks straight ahead, not addressing us as we walk round to lean on the desk in front of her.
"She wants to move out," Theo mutters, his face furious. I look at him and Andros in shock. Andros looks straight ahead, emotionless but I know him well enough to know he's hurting.
The room stays silent for a few seconds before Atlas finally speaks.
"No."
She looks up at him, her eyes filled with fire.
"Yes," she grits her teeth.
"No, Hazel. You are not moving out. Now stop arguing or I will not hesitate to put you over my knee right now,” he glares at her, getting dangerously close to where she’s sitting.
Her face flushes, "you wouldn't."