Blood Sports by Daniel May

There are deadly games… and then there are blood sports. In Hanged Men territory, there are two rules: you don’t steal horses, and you don’t disturb their leader in his cozy retirement.

Someone broke the rules.
Jove Alms, an infamous kingpin who passed his crime empire onto his sons, is called home by signs of a traitor in his old territory. There is only one witness: a young stablehand with doe eyes and no clue what he’s stumbled into.

Tobias Nimh is just trying to get by. Working under the thumb of a slavedriving horse trainer, he spends his days trying not to get trampled, and mostly succeeding. When abducted and interrogated by mobsters, he assumes his time is up. He doesn’t expect rescue — or to overhear a mysterious phone call, making him a valuable pawn in a massive plot. Jove soon finds Tobias to be a thorn in his side as much as an asset. Impulsive, frustrating, and adorable, the kid is hard to hate and even harder to handle. Jove is first distracted, second annoyed, and finally… obsessed.

Meanwhile, Tobias keeps forgetting to fear for his life. It’s hard to focus on the big picture of criminal conspiracy when he’s too busy trying to pour cold water on his dirty thoughts. Jove is more than twice his age, ice cold, and comes from a world of murder and wealth Tobias can barely comprehend. Betrayals, conspiracies, and blood sports aside, the only real question is who will crack first.

Blood Sports is a dark MM mafia thriller. Written as the first in the Hanged Men series, it can be read as a standalone.