Better me than you, he thought.

The attempt on his life had resulted in a nasty bullet hole in his upper thigh, but yes, Ashlynn was correct, one of their previous business associates—previous because he was now dead—hadn’t taken too kindly to Leyton’s tactics. In the end, the guy had died by Leyton’s bullet, and Leyton had endured a flesh wound that had hurt like a motherfucker.

“I was,” he admitted, peering around Brent and Jase to look at her, not breaking eye contact.

Due to Ashlynn’s position at the table on Max’s left side, her brother couldn’t see the mischievous gleam in Ashlynn’s eyes or the way she slowly ran her tongue over her plump lower lip, but Leyton could. He knew she was tempting him. Or trying to.

Ever since her twenty-sixth birthday party at Devil’s Playground, when Leyton had stumbled upon Ashlynn and Jase fucking in the VIP area, hearing his name mentioned during the erotic encounter, the tension between them had heated up significantly. Relatively speaking.

Ashlynn knew he had seen them, had overheard their conversation, and he suspected that had been her plan all along.

“That’s it, baby. Ride my dick. Are you thinkin’ about him right now?”

“God, yes.”

“Are you thinkin’ how good it’d feel if Leyton’s big dick was fillin’ your ass?”

“Yes.”

“You want him fucking your sweet ass while I’m plowin’ this pretty pussy?”

“Both of you. I want to feel you both.”

Just thinking about that night made his cock twitch. The idea of fucking Ashlynn’s sexy little ass while Jase filled her pussy had been the exact setting for many of his fantasies since that day. Of course, his thoughts had drifted further, imagining himself and Jase…

Fuck.

Not that any of it mattered.

Fantasies they were. Nothing more than fucking fantasies.

Ashlynn Adorite was off-limits. And by default, so was Jase. Period.

Swallowing hard, Leyton broke eye contact with her and turned his attention back to his boss. There was no sense giving in to Ashlynn’s lure, because Max had already warned Leyton away from his sister.

Oh, and one more thing … second-in-command or not, I better not ever catch you fuckin’ my sister anywhere. Certainly not in my bed or my favorite fucking chair, or anywhere else in my goddamn house. Got it?

That had been Max’s response to Leyton’s rant from the night Max had been shot. The night Leyton had sincerely believed he’d lost the closest thing to family that he had. In a moment of sheer panic, Leyton had threatened to fuck Ashlynn in an attempt to get Max to fight for his life.

It’d worked.

And now, Ashlynn was officially off-limits to Leyton. As far as Leyton was concerned, loyalty to Max came first and foremost.

Thirteen years ago, almost to the day, Max had saved Leyton’s life. Twice.

Sixteen years old, Leyton had been at a point where he no longer cared what happened to him. He’d been attempting to fit in even after four years in a new place, his father had been beating on him every chance he got, and Leyton hadn’t been able to see anything in his future. Max had been his saving grace when he’d first arrived in Dallas, becoming his one and only true friend, but during those dark years, Leyton had felt as though their friendship had become so one-sided he had no idea what he could offer Max. But his entire world had changed when Max had intervened after he’d happened upon Leyton getting ready to take his own life.

That night had ultimately changed the course of Leyton’s life forever.

During the years that had followed, Leyton had learned the true meaning of loyalty. The Adorites … well, the Adorites were a different breed, He’d even known it then. It didn’t take long for Leyton to realize what Max’s family was up to. They were mafia, plain and simple. Ruthless men and women who were both loathed and respected by every person they came in contact with. Their loyalty to one another went above and beyond anything else.

And now, as he sat at the table with the entire family—Max, Courtney, Brent, Ashlynn, Victor, Aidan, Madison, and Genevieve, along with the main enforcers—Leyton accepted that he’d become part of the family.

Which was the very reason Leyton couldn’t entertain the notion of giving in to the temptation that Ashlynn presented.

No matter how fucking much he wanted to.

Chapter Three

Anyone have a cure for boredom?

Ashlynn Adorite listened to the conversation that was taking place around her. She’d been pushing her food around on her plate for the past half hour, wishing the night would end. Or at least the dinner portion of the evening.

She wasn’t hungry.

Not for food, anyway.

She wasn’t interested in conversation.

Not at the moment.

And most importantly, she didn’t want to sit there and pretend she was.

It had been a long day and sitting still was becoming too difficult. She wanted to move around, burn off some of the excess energy that she’d stored up. Her afternoon meeting had gone as she’d expected it to, definitely nothing to write home about, but most of the time that was the case. A little arm-twisting, a few well-placed smiles, and the dumb fuckers she dealt with on a daily basis were eating out of her hands.

But she wasn’t working now. She was supposed to be having a good time.

For the most part, she looked forward to these dinners. Seeing her brothers and sister, even her mother, wasn’t a hardship. They were close-knit, got along well, and when they weren’t talking about business, she could usually enjoy herself.

She just wasn’t feeling it today.

Initially, she’d thought tormenting Leyton would be enough to brighten her day, but as usual, he was doing his best to pretend she wasn’t there. Which annoyed the fuck out of her, because she knew how much he wanted her. He was simply being stubborn.

That didn’t stop her from admiring him. With his dirty-blond hair, those bright, celadon-green eyes, the expensive, tailored suit that covered an impressive body, and the air of confidence he projected, Leyton Matheson was pretty fucking easy on the eyes.

“You okay?” Jase asked, leaning over and speaking directly into her ear.

“Never better,” she said by rote. It was the answer everyone expected from her these days, though it was the furthest from the truth.

“Careful,” Jase teased, his raspy voice low and sensual, “or I’ll tell Walter you don’t like his cookin’. You know how sensitive he is.”

“Do it, and I’ll cut you off for a month,” she mumbled, offering him a sweet smile.

“You wouldn’t last five minutes,” Jase replied, his lips discreetly brushing her ear and sending a shiver down her spine.

The beautiful man who watched her back, gave her advice, and yes, warmed her bed at night, knew her all too well. And he was right; she wouldn’t last one day, much less a month. He’d recently told her she had an addiction to sex. Ashlynn wasn’t sure that was the case, but she could admit she used sex—and sometimes booze—to mask the pain and fill the void that stirred deep inside her. She slid a glance toward her mother and frowned. She’d learned from the best, apparently.

She needed some air.

Just when Ashlynn was getting ready to make an excuse to leave the table, Courtney’s cell phone rang.

“Sorry, I need to get this,” Courtney said, hitting the button and getting up from her seat. She didn’t make it far before she turned back to the table, the phone to her ear. “Yeah, Dom. We’re here. Send ’em over. We’ll be waiting.”

“What’s wrong?” Max inquired as all eyes turned to them.

“RT needs our help. A guy’s been kidnapped, and he’s bein’ held somewhere close to here.”

Aw, wasn’t that fucking cute. They were consorting with the enemy. Again.