“Lucy?”

“Hmm,” she murmured, turning her distracted gaze from the dancing couples in yet another attempt to find Mack. She knew better. Of all places, her brooding bounty hunter boyfriend would be, the dance floor was the least likely.

“I’m attempting to introduce you to an associate of mine,” Vladimir said drily.

“Oh,” Lucy gasped, her head turning sharply. She set her champagne glass down on the table with a clatter and looked around guiltily. Her focus had been so sharply engaged on finding Mack that she’d spent almost the entire day ignoring her sister and brother-in-law. Jane barely noticed Lucy’s distraction since she despised social gatherings and spent most of the afternoon and evening fidgeting in her Gucci dress and grumbling about her inability to strap a gun anywhere to her person. Vladimir had been kind enough to escort Lucy without comment, though she felt his disapproval at her distraction.

He sat directly to her left, Jane on his other side. Lucy stood with him and Jane and smiled at the couple that Vladimir turned to. “Niccolo, you remember my wife Jane.” Jane accepted a handshake from the tall, darkly handsome man.

“Of course,” Niccolo said warmly, squeezing her hand. “A pleasure as always Mrs. Sitnikov.”

Jane nodded but didn’t say anything. She dropped her gaze from the other man and pulled her hand away quickly. Lucy gazed at her sister curiously. Jane wasn’t the friendliest person in the world, but she wasn’t one to walk away from a challenge. If there was something Jane felt strongly about she was usually the first to say something. Loudly and with emphasis.

“Niccolo, my sister-in-law, Lucy Miller,” Vlad turned to Lucy, a hand on her back. “Lucy, this is Niccolo DeLuca, a business associate of mine.”

Ah, she thought to herself as the other man took her hand and squeezed it politely, another mobster then. His suit and watch were certainly very expensive looking, and he had that same sinister aura surrounding him that Vladimir had. She eyed him closely as he ushered a very beautiful woman in a red dress with long, loose black curls forward and introduced her to their group as Maria. At first Lucy thought she was shy, because she refused to lift her eyes, simply murmuring a polite greeting. But then she did look up, straight into Niccolo’s eyes and Lucy saw fiery, flashing defiance as the other woman excused herself. Then, jerking her arm out of Niccolo’s hold, she strode away. The man stared after her for a moment, his thick, dark brows drawn starkly down, his lips compressed. He looked toward another man, off to the side of their table and jerked his chin in a nod, indicating the man should follow Maria. Lucy blinked, shocked at the interaction, then quickly averted her eyes before anyone noticed her observation.

It was then that she caught sight of Mack, standing across the ballroom, drink in hand, watching their table as though he’d been there the entire time. The breath stopped in her throat and her heart ached at the sight of him. He was handsome beyond words. She turned away from their table without another word, certain she wouldn’t be missed anyway and made her way toward Mack.

As soon as he saw her coming he set his beer glass down on the nearest table and began striding toward her, meeting her in the middle. They stopped a few feet apart. He made no effort to touch her. She could see her betrayal in his eyes. He hated that she was there without him. Not on his arm. But it was his fault for choosing not to come with her. All this was spoken silently, a screaming match without sound.

“Mack,” she said lamely. “You’re here.”

“I was invited,” he said shortly, his voice just shy of an outright sneer. “Why wouldn’t I come?”

She took another step toward him. His eyes flared, heated with that familiar combination of lust and anger. “I just wished you would’ve swallowed some of that pride and come with me.”

“It’s not about pride, Lucy. It’s about loyalties. And in this ballroom, loyalty matters.” He spoke coldly, his eyes even icier. “You made your choice. You can go crawling back to the Sitnikovs, enjoy their unlimited pockets and influence. I don’t need your bullshit. Call me when you’re ready to grow up and make big girl decisions.”

Lucy gasped, her face paling. “Is that really how you want to end things with me?”

He didn’t say anything, just stared back at her angrily until she whirled, blinded by tears and determined to leave before she cried in front of him. He grabbed her arm and swung her back around. She stumbled, falling against his broad chest. He steadied her, but she tried to shove away from him, completely fed up with his terrible behaviour.

“Didn’t say I was ending things,” he growled.

“Well I am!” she snapped back.

“Not fucking happening, baby.”

Jane came flying out of nowhere barreling right in between Mack and Lucy, effectively breaking his hold on Lucy. Without a single word Jane proved exactly where her loyalties lay when she sent her fist flying into Mack’s stomach. Lucy’s mouth fell open in surprise. Though Jane was small, she was feisty. Her time as a city police detective gave her both guts and skills, which is how she’d met and eventually partnered with Mack Hudson. He barely flinched at her tap to the belly and merely smirked down at her as she took a protective stance in front of her sister.

“You’re a great partner, Hudson,” Jane snarled up at him with narrowed eyes, “but I swear to god, if you touch my baby sister one more time, I will let my husband dismember you. And you know he’s just itching to take you apart simply because you’re male and hanging out with me on a regular basis.”

Lucy blinked a few times to get over the shock of the moment and noticed Laney, the bride’s private bodyguard, standing next to her. Apparently, she’d accompanied Jane to intervene on Lucy’s behalf. Though the two women were barely acquainted, Lucy liked Laney because Boris was head-over-heels in love with the Japanese beauty and she was giving the Russian behemoth a run for his money. Laney touched Lucy’s shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look while Jane continued to give Mack hell.

“Boris speaks very highly of you,” Lucy murmured into Laney’s ear, leaning close to the other woman.

“Is there a problem here?” a deep, accented voice asked from behind the women.

Lucy’s eyes widened and both she and Laney turned on the spot to face Vladimir Sitnikov. Holy horse shit. The Russian mob boss not only looked devastatingly handsome in a tuxedo, but devastatingly deadly when pissed off. Which apparently was what happened when he found his wife in a corner punching her business partner who was threatening her sister. Lucy turned to say something to Laney and found the other woman had simply vanished. Hmm, silent and smart. Score one for Boris.

Lucy decided to take a page from Laney’s book and the moment Vlad turned his deadly gaze on Jane and Mack she fled for the nearest exit.