Conall shrugged unapologetically and brushed his hair off his face, even though it didn’t help because it just fell back around his cheeks again. “It wasn’t difficult to guess that you had a hard-on for Mancini. I’ve never seen one guy want another one so badly.”
“Should we talk about you when you first arrived here, sir?” Ardan smiled far too politely, almost condescendingly.
Conall laughed. “I know when I’m being told to shut up. You’re back for a while now, right? Can you go over my plans for Sloan’s birthday?”
Gabriel grinned. “Of course we can, sir. I’ll help.”
Chapter Eleven
Sloan’s birthday was a week later. They only had seven days to go over security measures Duffy had put in place to protect both the boss and Conall. Turned out, he hadn’t done a bad job with them. A few tweaks and it was perfect. Ardan told Duffy he’d done a good job, and even though Duffy seemed to be proud of the compliment, Ardan hadn’t missed the way he grunted in Gabriel’s direction. Nearly every one of their men had done the same thing when they were told Gabriel was now on their team.
One Italian in an army of Irishmen. It sounded like the start of a bad joke. Much to Ardan’s dismay, Gabriel certainly thought it was hilarious and made a point of making smart-ass comments whenever he had the chance, just to push the buttons of the soldiers who heknewcouldn’t do a damn thing. At least not while Ardan was around.
“You know they’re going to kill you the first chance they get, right?” Ardan asked Gabriel as he stared out at the foyer of the Exotic Virtue, one of the whorehouses owned by the company.
The Virtue was dazzled to the ceiling, with glittering lights and cherry colored balloons that floated across the floor and from strings on tabletops. Around the room were whores of all shapes, sizes, and identities, charming the birthday guests with lewd comments and straying hands. One had come up to Gabriel earlier, a young man that looked incredibly like Forrest, with big brown eyes and the face of a fairy. Though the moment his hand slid to Gabriel’s chest and he lowered his eyelashes, Ardan told him to get lost. He’d scampered off in fear while Gabriel laughed and dragged Ardan closer for a cheek kiss.
Now they stood on the edge of the foyer, watching the partygoers either fucking their night away or chatting with each other. Conall had already come in with Sloan, throwing open the door with a cheeky smile. Ardan had to give Sloan credit, he had the acting chops. He actually appeared surprised by the party.
“Hm?” Gabriel glanced at him with a grin. “Who is?”
“The men. They want to gut you for being a damn bastard to them.” Ardan sniffed in irritation, his hands curling into fists at his side. “The only reason they haven’t is because they know I’d kill them for it. Me or Sloan.”
“I like annoying them,” Gabriel said, with a loose shrug of his shoulders. His suit was silver tonight with striped pants that seemed too loud on him. Usually he went for plain, solid colors.
“You liked annoying me too,” Ardan muttered in a low voice, not expecting him to hear it. Or maybe he did want Gabriel to hear it. Frustration burned in his gut and he forced himself not to grind his teeth.
“Yes, I did. Do.” Gabriel nudged him, that exasperating grin back on his face. “Why do you hate me annoying anyone but you? Are you jealous?”
“I am not,” Ardan snapped, slapping Gabriel’s hand away from him.
Gabriel’s chest rumbled with laughter. “Aw, you’re jealous. That’s so cute.”
“Fuck you, Mancini.” Ardan went to turn away, but Gabriel grabbed his elbow and yanked him back. Ardan kept his balance, although he nearly tripped. That would have been embarrassing. He was known for his steadiness and light feet.
Gabriel dragged him in closer and plopped an annoying kiss on the tip of Ardan’s nose. “Do you want to?” He carded his fingers through Ardan’s hair, grabbing a fistful and hauling him closer. “How about we do that after this party is over? You take me back to this apartment I haven’t seen yet, and we can get down to the fun business. What do you say,tesoro?”
Ardan swallowed, excitement making his heart crash against his ribs in a way that hurt. He cleared his throat, attempting to gain a bit of control over himself. What did Gabriel do to him? His cock wasn’t having it, though. The imagery made him go from soft to a half salute so quickly that the rush of blood south should have made him fall over.
“Yes.” Ardan wrapped his fist in Gabriel’s button down shirt and leaned closer, Gabriel’s breath tickling his lips. “Yes, that sounds exactly what I want.”
Music started playing from somewhere off to the side and Ardan straightened, turning his attention to the middle of the room, where Conall had forcefully dragged Sloan onto a chair. If anyone else had touched the boss like that, he would have broken their fingers. But not Conall. Never Conall. Sloan would let him get away with anything.
There were hoots and whistles from the whores, who clearly knew what was about to happen, but Conall sent them a glare. Forrest, the ex-whore who was now some kind of union boss for the workers, stood next to Rourke, clapping his hands together wearing a big grin. He cupped his hands around his mouth, chanting Conall’s name, and Conall flipped him the bird, which earned him a slap to the ass by Sloan.
Conall rubbed his palms on the thighs of his leather pants. He was shirtless, his oiled skin glimmering under the lights of the foyer, his feet as bare as the top half of his body. He bounced on his heels, and Ardan suspected the tiles might have been cold on the soles of his feet.
Sloan leaned back in his chair, legs spread and smirking. Maybe he knew what was going to happen too.
Conall’s chest rose and fell in short, anxious breaths, and then the music grew faster in tempo and Conall began to move his hips in a sexual way. The cheers grew and Forrest laughed. From here, Ardan heard him yell “I taught him this” to a long haired brunet closer to Ardan.
The generals of the company stood off to the other side, and Ardan noted Jamie had his arm wrapped around a young blond man. He wasn’t paying attention to the show, too interested in the same whore who’d tried to get his hooks into Gabriel.
Everyone else’s attention didn’t matter to Conall anyway. He had eyes only for Sloan. He moved his hips fluidly, his cheeks a deep red as he gave Sloan a lap dance for the record books. His attention was focused solely on Sloan and everyone around them ceased to exist. The same could be said about Sloan. His attention narrowed on Conall and the way his pet moved, his unique turquoise eyes darkening at the show in front of him. The connection between them was as thick as any Ardan had seen before, and he couldn’t understand why they hadn’t admitted what they had was more than just fucking. Sloan had given Conall a high position in the company, something he hadn’t done for anyone else so quickly.
“Those two are hot,” Gabriel whispered, startling Ardan and reminding him that he’d only just been flirting with Gabriel minutes before.
Rourke walked over to them with Forrest right behind him, and grinned. “You two look like you want to get out of here.”
