Con turned and headed into the kitchen, which was complete pandemonium. Elle, Vanessa, and four large boys piled spaghetti, sauce, and loaves of thick grainy bread into huge dishes on the stainless-steel table in the center of the room.
Elle spotted us first. “Well, well,” she started, and I thought she’d was aiming the words at me, but I was wrong. “Look who showed up after all of the work was done. Nice, Yve. Real nice.”
This time Yve’s cheeks did take on a dusky tint. “Anything left to help with?”
Vanessa turned from the sink, wiping her hands on a towel. “There are another six boys out there in charge of setting the tables, and I’m a little scared to see how it’s going. Lord is supposedly supervising, so it’s anyone’s guess.”
“Perfect. We’ll handle it.”
Vanessa’s assessing stare landed on me. “You’re still under orders to keep your knee away from Con’s balls. I have plans for them later.”
I choked on the visual. She was certainly no longer the society princess I’d once thought she was. “Not a problem.”
Yve tugged me toward the doorway, and I followed.
Two long tables had been set up between the weight equipment and the ring and covered with white plastic tablecloths. Vanessa’s concerns had some merit, because four of the boys were on the other side of the room messing around with the punching bags. Lord was with them, demonstrating something. The other two were arguing over who was actually going to set the table.
Yve snapped her fingers and they looked up. “You, plates. You, napkins and cups. We’ll take flatware.” They didn’t move. “Now,” she added, and the boys sprang into action.
“You’re a general, aren’t you?” I said, a smile tugging on my lips.
“I get shit done,” she replied and then pointed to the pile of silverware. “You take forks, I’ve got spoons and knives.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I wasn’t going to argue.
“That’s right.” Yve winked, her saucy grin in place. It slid away when Lord crossed the room.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He looked at Yve and jerked his head at me. “Not you, him.”
“Are you going to make this a thing?” I asked. Keeping up the nice-guy act was starting to wear.
“Just didn’t expect to see him back here again so soon.”
“Lord—”
I placed a hand on Yve’s arm. “I can fight my own battles.”
She stared stubbornly back at me. “And so can I.”
Lord’s deep laugh boomed through the gym. “Looks like you don’t need me to start shit. You two have that covered on your own.”
Yve glared at him. “Do you want us to go?”
He shook his head. “No. But Con may drag him back into the ring before I let him leave. They’ve still got a score to settle.”
I opened my mouth to retort, but Yve stepped in front of me. “Don’t even think about it. We’re here for the kids tonight, and nothing else matters.”
A foreign feeling took up residence in my chest at Yve’s defense of me—a sense of belonging. How strange that I should feel it standing in a building full of people who had their own reasons to hate me.
Lord crossed his arms. “Fair enough. But I’m going to enjoy like hell eating off a table that Lucas Titan lowered himself to help set.”
I bit back a fuck you solely because of the boys watching us like we were the fight of the century. I said nothing, and instead wrapped my arm around Yve and pulled her close.
“Consider it our way of paying for our meal. I wouldn’t want something for nothing, after all.”
An argument broke out on the other side of the room, catching Lord’s attention.
“Shit. I’ll be back.”
“Don’t hurry,” I said, not bothering to lower my voice.
Yve poked an elbow into my side. “Leave it.”
I looked down at her. “I’m not exactly sure when you got the idea that I would back down from anything, but you need to reset that expectation, love.” Her eyes widened, but I pulled her to the table. “Let’s get this finished before Con shows up to gloat.”
DINNER GOT OFF TO A rocky start, but it finished more smoothly. Yeah, the guys threw barely concealed barbs at each other, but no blood was shed, so I considered it a win.
I was still reeling over Lucas’s term of endearment. Love. What the hell did that mean? Was that just some weird slip? Did it mean anything at all?
As if I wasn’t already confused enough, it just threw me for another loop. I thought about it for the rest of the evening, and continued mulling it over when I’d gone to bed alone because Lucas had some work to take care of. And it was still on my mind when I’d woken up once again with him wrapped around me. It sure beat worrying about whether someone—Jay, namely—might be out to get me.
And I was still thinking about it now, a week later, at Dirty Dog. I hadn’t seen Lucas much over the last seven days. He was working on some crazy big project, and had meetings constantly and calls that kept him up half the night.