Loveless was over by the Ukrainians, and I nodded toward them so Fionn would notice. He gave me a head tilt in acknowledgement, and together, we led our men in that direction.
As soon as we reached them, Loveless turned toward me, a grin spreading over his face. He damned near bounced on his toes. He was a man with a body full of tattoos that he hid under a leather jacket and jeans. Dark hair hung around the corner of hazel eyes, matching the short beard and upper lip sweater he kept neat and tidy. “Conall Morrissey and Fionn Killough. Two of my favorite people.” He grasped my hand and took a step back to give me a slow once-over. “My love, you look mouthwatering as always.”
Fionn cleared his throat, making Loveless laugh.
“You do, too, of course, Killough Junior. Absolutely divine.” He made a show of licking his lips. “I don’t know if I want to eat you all up or eat you out.”
Daire crowded behind Fionn at the same time I rolled my eyes.
“Mr. Loveless, you know the rules. Restraint. Use it. I’m a taken man and so is Fionn.” I smirked.
Loveless gasped and laid a hand on his chest. “Mi amor, you break my heart insinuating I flirt with men other than you.”
“And here I was thinking I was the one you focused your attentions on, Crux,” said a blond man seated beside the Ukrainian boss, Fedir Soletsky. The young man stood and held out his hand, which I shook. “Kyta Soletsky-Lazarenko.”
Realization dawned on me as I slid my gaze to Fedir and his right-hand man, Roman. Then, I turned my attention back to Kyta. “You’re Fedir’s son and...Roman’s husband.”
The Ukrainian mob from Pennsylvania were our allies, and while we’d heard about Fedir’s son’s marriage to Roman, we hadn’t been invited. It was a small ceremony for close family, but Fedir had sent Sloan a thank-you card for the suggestion of marrying his son to someone tocalm him down. From what I remembered, Kyta was a partier and a brat, and Fedir had reached his breaking point when it came to his only son.
This was the first time I’d met Kyta and he wasn’t what I’d anticipated. He looked younger than I’d expected, with short dark blond hair and a splash of freckles across suntanned cheeks. He wore fitted jeans that melded with his thighs and an even tighter shirt that could’ve passed for a second skin. When Roman stood to wrap his arm around Kyta’s shoulders, I realized Kyta barely reached the taller man’s shoulders.
“I am this one’s husband, yeah.” Kyta grinned up at Roman.
Fedir also rose and held out his hand to me, and I shook it with respect before he did the same with Fionn. There were always a lot of handshakes at events like these. “I’m sorry to hear about Sloan going to Rikers. As we told you when you reached out with the news, you have our full support.” He gave me a lopsided smile. “Unless we’re in there.” He nodded toward the cage in the center of the room. “Then, we like winning.”
I laughed when Fallon sputtered behind me. “We’ll see. Our man is good at what he does. He’s a former MMA fighter.”
“Mm. Fallon Maher.” Loveless’s gaze drifted behind me to stare at Fallon. “I forgot how pretty you were. A real jewel.”
“Eyes to yourself, Loveless.” Aspen shifted closer to Fallon’s side while Cillian took the other. They weren’t the type I’d want to mess with. They were both brawny and had killed a lot of men with their bare hands. They were titans protecting their partners, and the suits they wore did nothing to hide their strength. Their possessiveness was hot to watch. Aspen shifted, his fingers twitching like he wanted to grab his gun. His navy tie complemented his umber skin. It was strange to see him without his favorite cap, but he also looked nice with his short dark hair on display.
“He’s not yers to ogle,” Cillian agreed with a glare. Like Aspen, he was wearing navy as well, and when I’d first seen them, I’d held back a joke about them matching each other. His light brown hair was slicked back, and while he looked suave, he was no less threatening.
Vail and Rowen sidled near, too, and it was damned adorable how defensive they were of each other. The moment Loveless’s eyes went to Vail, I knew I needed to put a stop to his pointless flirtations. He was purposely riling people up to get them in the mood for fight night.
“Mr. Loveless. Crux. Stop teasing my men.” I gave him a sweet smile with a hint of serious warning. “Their boyfriends are here to defend them tonight, and you know how agitated they get when a person of your...prestige flirts with the men who belong to them.”
Loveless laughed and held up his palms. “Fine, I relent.”
A loud boisterous argument broke out somewhere behind me, and Loveless’s expression changed in the blink of an eye. The playfulness disappeared and ferocity slid onto his face instead, then the scary side of him came out to play. It was almost as if someone had turned off the heat. Cold seepedinto my veins and under my skin. I’d never seen someone’s mood change so whip fast, but Loveless took his business very seriously. Anyone messing with his pride and joy ended up dead. Loveless took joy in torture.
“Excuse me. I have a couple ofgueststo handle,” Loveless murmured, crackling anger lingering in his tone as he swept past me, Fionn, and our men.
Kyta shivered. “Fuck, he scares me.”
“It’s best to stay on his good side,” I admitted with a snort.
Fedir laughed. “I would agree, especially after seeing what he’s done to people.”
“What has he done to people?” Vail asked, eyes wide with the kind of curiosity that would get him killed one day if he wasn’t careful. Sloan had moved mountains to keep Vail safe after he’d pushed one too many of the wrong buttons in the criminal underground.
I shook my head. “Nothing for you to worry about, Vail.”
Vail opened his mouth, but Rowen shushed him quietly and laid a kiss on his cheek. Almost immediately, Vail relaxed and leaned into Rowen with a sigh.
He didn’t need to ask anyway, because the moment Loveless got close to the arguing men, he pulled out his famous garrote from his pocket and wrapped the line around one of the men’s necks. He yanked the line hard, and despite the large number of people in the room, a silence fell over the crowd and their attention turned to Loveless choking the man.
The man struggled, scratching at Loveless’s hands with desperation as his face turned red, then blushed purple before it started to fade out to a worrying blue. The other man he was arguing with backed away, fear so blatantly obvious on his face that I could see it from a distance.
