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I turned, my gaze landing on Sebastian. The air between us was charged, heavy with unsaid words and tangled history.
I stepped towards him, closing the distance with a tentative heart. Our hug was awkward at first, until his arms encircled me tightly, almost fiercely. It felt as if he was trying to convey all the things that had been left unspoken between us.
“Good luck,” I whispered into his ear.
“I don’t need luck if I have you cheering for me,” he told me, and I smiled, feeling relief flood through me. Sebastianstill owed me groveling, but something about tonight made me nervous.
He touched my cheek tenderly. “I love that smile. Now, get back to Greyson before he boils over with jealousy and finds us a fucking lion or something to fight.”
Sebastian grinned slightly, and I grinned back.
When I made my way toward Greyson, the crowd melted away, making sure not to touch me. It felt like a gauntlet though, the crowd pressing away to leave me a space, with Greyson at the end, still on his throne.
I couldn’t read his face. But he held his arms out to me.
Settling onto his knee, I leaned in close, trailing my fingers through his hair in a deliberate act of seduction.
“All these mafia men,” he said, his voice a rumble of dark amusement, “and I’m pretty sure you’re the most dangerous thing in here tonight.”
Before I could answer, the crowd roared. I turned to find Jack stepping into the ring. His muscles rippled beneath his tanned skin.
He faced the first challenger, a hulking brute with a shaved head and all his chair on his chest.
Jack moved to meet him.
Pride swelled within me as Jack landed a crushing blow, the thud echoing through the cavernous room. The brute stumbled, faltered, and then crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The crowd erupted. I felt myself grin, but when I started to jump to my feet, Greyson’s arm around my waist held me rooted.
“Too early to celebrate,” Greyson told me.
My heart seized as another man stepped up without hesitation.
I turned to Greyson, my eyes wide in horror. The casual brutality of it was too much. He was going to make them faceopponent after opponent until they were beaten? “What’s he doing? Another challenger?”
Greyson met my gaze, unflinching, the corner of his mouth quirked upward in a half-smirk that didn’t reach his steely eyes. “If they can protect you, they can protect themselves.”
His indifference to their safety was so cold it stung. Greyson measured the worth of those around him by their ability to stand in harm’s way. For him, for me. It was twisted.
Before I could protest further, the man charged Jack. Jack moved with lightning speed. The two of them traded punishing blows. But Jack was quick and agile, even bloodied from facing multiple opponents.
I started to think Jack could win. I glanced at Greyson. “How many more?”
“Let’s not ruin the fun surprises,” he murmured.
“Nothing about this is fun!”
His arm around me was protective and hard. “They kept us apart for five years, Kennedy. Let’s be honest. It’s a little fun.”
Jack landed a blow, and the other man rocked back. As Jack was pressing forward, throwing punches to take that man down, a third man lunged into the fray.
The third man edged toward Jack from behind. Jack was so focused on his first opponent, he didn’t even see him. The roar of the crowd meant he couldn’t hear the footfalls behind him.
“Jack!” I screamed.
He turned just in time to react to the punch. But not in time to dodge it completely. The punishing blow knocked him backward.
He was outnumbered as he fought off the relentless assault from both sides. Sebastian and Carter started forward, only to be blocked by some of Greyson’s men.
I watched, horrified, as Jack took a hit that sent him staggering.
