XLII
Dawson Rossi
Bossman: Downstairs.
I groan, rolling my eyes as I chuck my phone across the bed.
You’d think he would let me have a lie-in, seeing as he was making Hazel scream all night.
Swinging my legs out from underneath the covers, I manage to sleepily dress in some grey joggers before padding down the stairs to the kitchen.
Atlas is sitting at one of the barstools. He looks up from his phone and beckons me to sit down. I take a seat and watch as Hazel patters around the kitchen, desperately pulling out ingredients to make, what I assume is, pancakes.
Her ebony hair is tossed behind her shoulders, dangling down her back in messy waves. She’s wearing one of Atlas’ white dress shirts, which rides up her tight body every time she reaches up. I don’t miss the way Atlas stares at her; it’s much like the way we all stare at her.
Pure adoration.
Thank God he’s finally accepted it.
I grumble and stand up, placing a kiss on Hazel’s forehead as I breeze past her to make myself a coffee. She jumps but smiles and stares at my bare chest for a second before snapping out of it and turning back to the mess she’s creating.
“You called, oh bossy one,” I drawl out as I wait for my coffee to brew. I turn to Hazel and smirk at her, “I’m glad you both made up, but if you make as much noise as you did last night, I will not be responsible for my actions.”
She blushes profusely, looking down at her feet in embarrassment. Atlas throws an apple at my head but I catch it with my quick reflexes before taking a bite out of it.
Grabbing my freshly brewed coffee, I walk back to my seat, but make sure to kiss Hazel before I sit down. She stares up at me with wide eyes, my hand on her chin, and I wink at her.
I take a sip of the brown, luxurious liquid and glance around from my seat. A frown spreads across my lips when I see Theo and Andros aren’t here.
As if they knew I was thinking of them, they both come through the patio door.
“Andros has an update,” Atlas informs me, nodding over to the door to his office. The four of us filter inside it, with Theo shutting the door behind him. Once everyone has settled into their seats, with Theo leaning impatiently against the door, Andros starts speaking.
“My team has made some developments. Do you want the bad news or the even worse news first?”
A frown dawns Atlas’ lips, the corners of his mouth turning down as he frowns at Andros.
“Just tell us everything,” I shrug, tapping my foot impatiently against the hardwood flooring.
“We’ve lost track of Alexei. He’s gone to the ground as far as my team and I are aware. The last sighting was a few days ago in Moscow.”
“How the fuck have you lost him?” Theo growls from the back of the room. I don’t even have to turn around to know the man is about two seconds from imploding.
“We’re working on it,” Andros turns in his seat, answering through gritted teeth as he addresses our resident hothead. I glance at Atlas, watching as he says nothing, despite the cogs clearly whirring in his head.
“What’s the other news?” Atlas finally asks, snatching Andros from his stare-off with Theo. For this one, Andros takes a deep breath before answering.
“Dmitri and his twin, Dominik… they’re Hazel’s half-brothers.”
Silence surrounds the room at Andros’ update. I chew my lip as I try to digest the information, but it floats around the room, seemingly non-absorbable to any of us.
“How did you work that out?” I break the silence, my voice quieter than I expected. Andros plays with his lighter, a habit he only indulges in the worst situations.
“We found their birth certificates. It took a while but we wanted to know everything about them. We also found the blood tests Alexei did with them so that he could basically walk into his position within the new Russian mafia.”
The sound of a door slamming shut rings out across the room and I shake my head, knowing it’s Theo. “Let him go,” Atlas warns as I rise from my seat. I sit back down and bounce my knee as I rest my elbow on the arm of my chair. Rubbing my finger across my lips, I try to figure out what this means for Hazel.
What this means for us.
“Do we tell her?” Andros asks, his face contorted into worry about our girl. I almost smile at the sincerity in his voice, realising his first thought was also about her wellbeing and not the mafia.
“Not yet,” Atlas answers, causing both Andros and I to frown at him in confusion, “We have to find the right time.”
Andros nods and stands up, muttering something about finding Alexei’s location. I follow him out but pause and turn back to Atlas.
“There won’t ever be a right time, Atlas.”
He looks up from his desk and nods once, “I know.”
I nod and shut the door behind me, leaving him to work out the consequences of what we learnt at the meeting. Andros disappears into his room and I immediately start to search for Hazel.
I see Theo through the patio doors and I go to join him. He’s standing, staring at the pool with a disgruntled look on his face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, tilting my head at him.
“She’s punishing us.” He points over to the sunbeds by the pool and I immediately see what’s wrong with him. Hazel is laying stark naked on the sunbed, her back and bare ass catching the sun rays.
“How do you know?” I chuckle at her daring move.
“She told me,” he mutters as he stuffs his hands in his pockets, “she said we weren’t paying her enough attention, so now we have to suffer.”
I can’t help but let out a loud laugh at his recollection of her words, notifying Hazel of my presence. She looks up from her position, sunglasses being the only clothing she seems to be wearing. An evil grin coats her face, before she turns back to her book and ignores us.
I nod my head over to her and we both approach the sunbed. We stand in her direct sunlight, our bodies providing an unwelcome shade over her small body and forcing her to look up at us again.
“Have you got suncream on your back, Spitfire?” I ask with amusement heavy in my voice.
“I’m not an idiot, Dawson,” she scoffs. Her sunglasses fail to hide her obvious eye roll.
“Did you just roll your eyes at us, Little One?” Theo asks, tilting his head in his ‘classically dangerous and evil’ way.
“You’re both blocking the sun,” she tries to force us to move with her hands but we stay rooted to our spots.
“Answer the question, Spitfire,” I drop my voice to a low, commanding tone and enjoy the way her body shivers at the sound.
“Maybe,” she drawls out, her lips stretching into a mischievous grin, “What are you going to do about it?”
Instead of answering, Theo and I exchange a look before he lifts her from the bed and unceremoniously throws her over his shoulder. She shrieks and pummels her fists against his back, glaring at me as I follow him inside.
“Don’t try and get out of this now, Spitfire. You angered the beast,” I smirk at her, watching as her face turns into a scowl. She relents in her attack on Theo’s back and hangs from his shoulders in defeat.
We stop by Atlas’ office and I open the door, making sure my body isn’t covering his view of Hazel in her current position.
“She’s misbehaving,” I cock my head over to her as I stare at Atlas, “Coming?”
He smirks and stands from his desk, shrugging off his blazer and following us up the stairs. We stop by Andros’ room and pull him out too, before heading into her room and shutting the door behind us.
Theo throws her onto the middle of the bed, where she glares in defiance at the four of us.
“You thought you weren’t getting enough attention, Little One?” Theo asks her, letting the others know about her rebellion as he addresses her.
“Seems someone needs some orgasms to show how much attention we can show her,” I rub my hands together as I grin evilly at her.