Pride : Deadly Sins Syndicate

by K. L. Ramsey

  Damion walked into the office that was going to be hers and quickly shut the door behind himself. They had given her the grand tour, while they waited for the deliveries that he and Finn scheduled, and even helped her pick the office right next to Damion’s. She liked that he’d be right next door to her if she needed him. Nix escaped into her new office to get ready for the ceremony and she was just about done.

  “The minister is here,” Damion almost whispered. “Wow,” he breathed, looking her over. “You look beautiful, Nix.” The way he spoke to her and looked her over in her wedding dress made her feel like blushing. “I love the dress you chose.”

  He had a designer friend send over about a dozen dresses for her to choose from. A few of them were just too big, but the one she loved fit like a glove. It was almost as if it was made just for her and she had to admit, she loved seeing Damion’s reaction to her in it.

  “Thank you,” she breathed. “I love it. Thank you for thinking of everything, Damion.” He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. He was in his tuxedo and looked good enough to eat. “You look very handsome yourself, Mr. Pride,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  “Thank you. Will you be changing your name or keeping yours?” he asked. That was an odd question to ask while he was holding her. She must have looked at him as if he lost his mind because he chuckled when she didn’t answer.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Nix,” he said. “I need to know for the marriage license. Honestly, I’m fine either way.”

  “Really?” she asked. “You wouldn’t mind if I kept Lust?”

  He shook his head, “Not at all. You had to live for so long without your last name, pretending to be someone else, I wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to change your name again. How about you just stick with Lust?” he asked.

  “Thank you, Damion. I appreciate your understanding.”

  “Of course. I’ll let the minister know how to fill out our names. Whenever you’re ready, we’ll be in the conference room waiting.” He gave her a sweet kiss and turned to leave her office. “Oh—I almost forgot,” he said. “I have a little something for you.” He turned back to her and pulled a small black velvet box from his jacket pocket, handing it to her. She carefully opened it, as if a clown would pop out to scare her, and when she saw the five-carat diamond staring back at her, she gasped.

  “This is not a little something, Damion,” she whispered. His smile nearly lit up the whole room.

  “Does that mean that you like it?” he asked.

  “I love it,” she said. It was a cushion-cut square diamond that looked as big as an ice rink. “It’s beautiful. I didn’t need a ring, though,” she insisted.

  “Well, it’s a done deal,” he said with a shrug. “My friend owns a jewelry store in town and he said that if you don’t like it or need it resized, go in to see him and he’ll take care of you. May I?” he asked, taking the box from her trembling hand. Damion slipped the ring onto her finger and pulled her hand up to gently kiss it.

  “Beautiful,” he whispered. “Just like my soon-to-be wife.”

  It was almost too sweet. Nix felt about ready to cry. Damion was giving her everything that she ever wanted—all the romance she could handle, along with hearts and flowers. “I won’t be long,” she promised. “I just need to touch up my lipstick and then I’ll be in.” Damion nodded and left her office, pulling the door closed behind him. Nix took a deep breath and let it back out, quickly checking her reflection and reapplied her lipstick.

  This wasn’t how she imagined her wedding day at all. When she was a little girl, she dreamed that her mother would help her get dressed and that her father would walk her down the aisle, but that dream was gone now. She at least hoped that Carter would be able to give her away but that couldn’t happen now either. She was going to have to settle for what she had and if marrying Damion Pride meant that she’d have to give up her dream of a big wedding, so be it.

  Damion

  Nixon walked into the conference room that had been set up as a makeshift church—complete with flowers and white toile everywhere. The room looked like something out of a dream and so did his soon-to-be bride. She took his breath away and she was going to be his—forever. That thought should scare the shit out of him, but it didn’t. He wanted Nixon and even though this started as a ploy to keep her from marrying into the Gluttony family, he had to admit that he liked the way things had turned out.

  She looked around the room and back up at him. “How did you do all of this?” Nix asked. “I had lots of help.” He had involved just about every able body on his staff to help transform the conference room for their ceremony. In just under an hour, it had turned into a magical scene from something out of a fairytale, and he was even amazed at what everyone was able to accomplish in such a short amount of time.

  “It’s gorgeous, really,” she said. “It’s everything that I ever dreamed it could be and so much more.”

  “I’m so happy that you like it, Nix,” he said.

  “Shall we get started?” the minister asked.

  “Of course, thank you,” Damion agreed. The ceremony was short and sweet since the minister that he had found was double-booked for the day and squeezing them in. He was thankful that he did so on such short notice. It took no time at all for them to say their I do’s and sign the marriage license. When he was told he could kiss the bride, he did so and then whispered into her ear, “You’re mine”. Damion loved the little shiver that he elicited from her and when she shyly nodded up at him, he wanted to whisk his new bride off to the closest private room and make her his officially.

  They thanked the minister, sending him on his way, and Finn took the hint easy enough that Damion wanted to be alone with his new wife, and made-up some lame excuse about having to be somewhere.

  “So,” Nix said. “Now that you have me all alone, what will you do with me?” she coyly asked. Damion growled and lifted her into his arms, making his way from the conference room back to his office. Nixon giggled and squirmed against his chest and he swatted her ass.

  “Time to make you mine officially,” he said.

  “I’m already officially yours, Damion,” she corrected. He let her slide down his body and onto his desk. He had thought about taking her over his desk since he offered her the job to come and work for them. Now, he’d have her close every day and that thought made him hard.

  Damion turned her away from him and pushed her down onto the desk. He raised her dress up her legs and when he realized that she wasn’t wearing any panties, he hissed out his breath.

  “I thought you might like that,” she breathed.

  “I love that you’re not wearing any panties, Honey,” he said. “Are you ready for me, Nix?” He kissed the column of her neck and loved the way she thrust her sexy, curvy ass back at him when he ran his fingers through her already slick folds. “You are,” he breathed into her ear. He knew that she liked it when he took her from behind. He always was a little rougher with her this way and Nix seemed to like her sex dirty and rough.

  Damion pulled the zipper down on his slacks to let his cock spring free. He quickly lined up his erection to her wet pussy and thrust into her body, loving the way she cried out his name.

  “Baby,” he crooned, pumping in and out of her body. He took her hard and fast and when he knew he wasn’t going to be able to stave off his orgasm any longer, he snaked his arm around her body and stroked her clit with his thumb. Nix went off, her orgasm milking his cock and he couldn’t help his release. He spilled his seed deep inside of her and smushed her between him and his desk. They were both breathing heavily and he gently kissed her shoulder.

  “Mine,” he growled.

  He and Nixon spent a whole weekend wrapped up in each other, back at his house, and it was wonderful. Damion promised that as soon as they could get away, he’d take her to a tropical island someplace for an extended honeymoon. Right now, they had to get the Gluttony Syndicate to agree to a meeting wit
h the three of them. The Pride, Envy, and Lust families were going to have to show a united front if they had any hope of getting Carter back. Of course, getting Rock to agree to lend his support to the three of them would only make their little alliance stronger. The four of them would be impossible to stop and Damion knew that there would be only one way to get his uncle to agree to help. He was going to have to swallow his pride and beg a little. Who was he kidding? Rock Greed would make him beg a whole lot.

  Monday morning came and they were still waiting to hear from Gluttony about their meeting. Finn had reached out but they had no response yet and he knew that worried Nix. He decided that it would do them both some good to head into the office and get her set up. If all went well, Nix was going to be the head of their procurement department. She was damn good at landing clients. It was what she did for Rock and why shouldn’t they use her talents to help grow their company? Plus, his new wife seemed to like the idea, so that worked in his favor.

  When he got Nixon settled, Damion spoke privately with Finn, telling him that he had to run a little errand. Somehow, his best friend could read him like a book and knew exactly what he was up to. Finn reluctantly agreed to stay behind and keep an eye on Nix and Damion made an appointment to go see his uncle. Rock wasn’t going to like that he was about to have his day interrupted by some groveling, but that was his problem. Damion wouldn’t leave Rock’s office without a commitment from the Greed family to work with and back the Pride, Envy, and Lust families. He couldn’t watch his wife lose her brother—she had already lost so much.

  He got to Rock’s office at about noon and parked in one of the visitor spots. The gold skyscraper that housed the Greed Syndicate had always struck Damion as ostentatious. Usually, families did everything in their power to blend in and lay low, but Greed flaunted his assets. His uncle seemed to play by a different set of rules than everyone else in the Syndicate and that made him a loose cannon, and possibly a valuable partner.

  Rock met Damion at the elevator. “Well, look who’s come to pay his dear uncle a visit,” Rock almost shouted. Yeah, he wanted everyone in the building to know that Damion was there to beg him for something. Why else would he be there? Rock was too smart to believe he was just visiting for the hell of it.

  “Rock,” Damion said, stepping from the elevator. “I’m your noon appointment. Can we talk privately?” he asked looking around the hallway at the team of guards that usually accompanied Rock wherever he went.

  “Sure,” Rock agreed. “I’m sure that this is going to be worth hearing,” he taunted. Damion followed Rock down the hallway to his corner office and shut the door on his way in, effectively shutting out all of Rock’s guards.

  “What can I do for you, Damion?” he asked.

  “You can help me out with Carter,” he said, cutting right to the chase.

  “Carter Lust?” Rock asked. He knew that his uncle had heard about what happened to Carter by now. Everyone in the Syndicate knew about Carter and his sister resurfacing and admitting that they are Lusts. And, they knew that Carter was being held by the Gluttony family.

  “I’m assuming you haven’t been living under a rock, Rock,” Damion said, laughing at his own joke.

  “You’re a comedian now,” Rock grumbled. “Just like your father.”

  “You don’t get to talk about my father, Rock,” Damion shouted. “You lost that right when you had him and my mother thrown out of the Syndicate. You were the reason he ended up in an early grave. He needed a purpose and you took that from him,” Damion said. His father was in his prime and Rock convinced the Syndicate to push him out. It was like what happened to Nixon’s parents but they didn’t kill his mother and father. Instead, Damion had to watch his father suffer in silence, consumed by his failure in the Syndicate. He was taught at a very young age that failing the Syndicate was failing at life and that was exactly how his dad felt. No matter how much his father tried to say that them leaving the Syndicate was for the best, Damion could see the sadness in his eyes. He slipped into a deep depression and lost his will to go on. By the time his mother had told him what happened, it was too late. The man that he knew was gone and only a shell of one survived. He ended up dying the next year and less than six months later, his mother passed from a stroke. It was as if she didn’t want to live without her husband and her body just found a way to join him in the afterlife.

  “I didn’t mean it that way, Damion,” Rock said. “I feel bad about what happened to my sister’s husband.”

  “And, your sister,” Damion reminded. The sadness on Rock’s face let him know that his uncle had regrets. It was hard to be a part of the Deadly Sins Syndicate and not have regrets.

  “And, my sister. I miss her every day. Listen, I know why you’re here. I heard about your marriage to Nixon—congratulations,” Rock said. Damion nodded. “How about you let me do this as a way to pay you back for all of the hurt that I caused you, Damion? And, it can be a little wedding present for you and your new bride. I like Nixon and wish you both only the best. You have the backing of the Greed family.”

  “Thank you, Rock,” Damion said. He went there today expecting to have to owe his uncle a favor to pay him back for his help. Instead, his uncle had offered his help and backing as a gift—to right old wrongs. He’d take it and count himself lucky.

  “What’s the plan?” Rock asked.

  “We don’t have much of one right now. Finn is trying to get a meeting with the Gluttony family. We’re hoping that having three—well now, four families show up, the Gluttony Syndicate will back down and hand over Carter. We need him to head up the Lust family if this alliance will work.”

  “Agreed,” Rock said. “How about you let me handle Gluttony. I have a way to secure a meeting with him and I know for a fact that he’ll show up.”

  “I’d appreciate that, Rock,” Damion said. He held out his hand and Rock shook it and pulled him in for a quick hug.

  “Glad to have you back, kid,” Rock said. “Thanks for trusting me.”

  Damion laughed, “I never said that, Rock. My father taught me one valuable lesson—you can’t trust anyone, not even family.” Damion turned to leave. “Just be in touch when you set up the meeting with Gluttony,” he ordered. “And, thanks, Rock.” He turned and left the office, not bothering to look back when he stepped onto the elevator. Having his uncle back him was a bittersweet moment for him. It wouldn’t bring back his parents but it was nice knowing that family had his back—even if he didn’t trust his uncle.

  Nixon

  Nixon knew that her new husband was heading straight to Rock. He didn’t need to tell her what his secret meeting with Finn was all about. They all knew that without Rock’s backing, their plan would fail. That was why she called Rock and told him that he was going to be paid a little visit by Damion. She also reminded her former boss that she had a whole lot of dirt on him—files that she saved on a thumb drive that if turned over to the right Syndicate members, would end up getting him and most of the Greed family members killed. Rock knew that she was telling him the truth. The one thing that he learned early on about her was that Nixon never played a hand she knew she couldn’t win. And, she didn’t bluff. Once she reminded Rock of those two things, he was bending over backward to agree to her list of demands—the first being that he agrees to whatever Damion asks of him without any strings or payback attached. The second being that Rock never tells Damion what she had done because what her new husband didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Damion needed to believe that Rock was doing this for him—to pay him back for all of the heartaches that he had caused his family. It was the only way to heal the rift between the two of them and find a way to move forward. It was the only way that the four families could work together and possibly bring Carter home.

  Damion got back to the office just after one with a big bag of Asian takeout. “Hope you’re hungry,” he said.

  “I’m starving,” she admitted.

  “Well, you are in luck. I got take out fro
m your favorite place and I thought we could eat it in my office,” he said, bobbing his eyebrows at her. Nixon couldn’t help her giggle.

  “Hey, do I smell Asian takeout?” Finn asked, ducking his head from his office.

  “No,” Damion lied.

  Nixon gasped, “Damion—you’re awful. Yes, my husband brought us back takeout. He’s just being a grumpy ass because I’m pretty sure he wanted to eat it naked with me, in his office.”

  “I’m all for eating takeout with you naked, Nix,” Finn teased.

  “Over my dead body,” Damion growled, stepping between Finn and Nix.

  “Oh come on, man,” Finn grumbled. “I’m just kidding around. I wanted to see how your meeting went.” This was the part where Nix had to pretend that she didn’t know where her husband had gone or who he met with.

  “It went well. I’m sure we’ll be hearing from the Gluttony family soon, in fact,” he said. “I have a contact that might be able to help,” he said to Nix as a way of explanation.

  “Oh,” Nix breathed. “That’s wonderful. When will we know?” she asked.

  “Soon, but for now, how about you take this back and go into my office?” he handed her a bag of food and turned to Finn. “And, because I know you can smell take out a mile away, this is your bag. You will not be joining us in my office, sorry,” he said.