Page 10 of Ruthless God

My heart raced, and I wasn’t sure what to make of my reaction.

“Do you not talk?”

I hesitated. He wanted me to talk. Why? I thought men preferred their wives to be quiet and speak only when spoken to. Although he was talking to me.

“I do.”

He didn’t say anything. His eyes focused intently on me, seeming to be looking straight into my soul—something I didn’t want him to see—before he nodded. “You’ll do.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Before I could find the courage to ask, he held out his hand. “Shall we head to the dining room?”

I looked down at his hand, then at the man, before slowly placing my much smaller hand in his. His grip was firm but not tight, and his skin was warm and dry and notunpleasant. Hepulled me closer to his body. Even in my five-inch heels, I didn’t reach his shoulder.

Hell, but just how tall he was.

I closed my eyes briefly, trying to will away the thought of our wedding night, of him crushing me, of the pain… so much pain.

Fear tried to slither its way inside my body, and I had to work to push it aside and just focus on the dinner.

Just get through this dinner, and then…

I didn’t know what.

4

MASSIMO

Luna Lombardi was interesting.

Straight black hair that fell to the small of her back, bangs that framed her delicate face, big gray eyes, small lips, and a small nose—she looked like a doll.

A breakable doll that I didn’t fucking know what to do with.

And I was fucking enthralled.

Fuck, but where had the Lombardi been hiding her? Surely she had men asking Andre for her hand in marriage the minute she turned eighteen, but she was twenty-three and unwed?

Were the Lombardi clan just fucking blind?

Whatever it was, I wasn’t going to question it because from the moment I laid my eyes on her, Luna Lombardi was mine, and no other fucker was going to take her from me.

My fist clenched around the fork before I forced myself to relax my grip. Jesus Christ. Since when was I led around by my dick?

And with the way she reacted to me, my losing control was the last thing she needed.

She was scared of me—that much was obvious, though she was good at holding onto her composure. I’d give her that.

She pushed the food on her plate around, barely eating. Not that anyone noticed. She didn’t talk for the entirety of the meal, and she barely looked up at anyone.

She seemed to draw into herself as if trying to make herself as small as possible to not draw any attention from anyone.

An impossible feat if you asked me. She simply outshined everyone, including her younger sister, who was the complete opposite of Luna.

The girl was confident of her footing in the world, perhaps a byproduct of having doting parents, but why was Luna so different if that was the case? Did her parents not dote on her as much as they did Lina?

My eyes moved to the younger sister. She ate her meal without a problem. She must have felt my gaze because she looked up and smiled slyly at me.