Page 128 of Ruthless God

Although, I didn’t think she had mentioned even once that he hit her. She came to me with a black eye that was well on its way to healing by the time I brought her into my home.

She never said Boris was the one who gave it to her. Which made me wonder if she might have found that trouble somewhere outside her marriage, got caught by her husband, and ran away.

But that was merely speculation on my part. I shook away the thought. I knew better than to make assumptions.

I was still trying to push away all thoughts of Lina when my phone rang. Mom’s picture came on the screen. My heart dropped.

Not once had she tried to call me since my marriage to Massimo and my move to Las Vegas. I was half-convinced she had forgotten about me. It might have been better that way, considering my heart still hurt just seeing her picture.

I picked up on the last ring before it went to voicemail and held the phone up to my ear. “Hello?”

“How could you?” Mom asked. She didn’t yell, but her tone told me she was angry.

“What?”

“How could you send Lina away when she came to you for help?” Mom asked.

I frowned. “How did you know—” I stopped when I heard Lina crying in the background. “She left her safe house?” I asked, surprised. “Do you know the Russians are looking for her?”

“Yes,” Mom snapped. “And you just turned her away. She’s your sister.”

“She tried to seduce Massimo,” I argued. What had she expected me to do?

“And you believe that man over your sister? How naïve, Luna. That man has probably fucked a dozen whores between the moment he said ’I do’ to now.”

“Are you seriously suggesting that my husband would cheat on me?” White-hot rage filled me as my mother’s accusation hung in the air, thick and suffocating. I gripped the phone tighter, my knuckles turning white.

“You don’t know Massimo,” I said, trying to keep the shakiness from my voice. I didn’t know if the tremors were due to anger or heartbreak at this point. “You don’t know anything about my marriage.”

“I know enough,” Mom retorted. “I know the kind of man men like Massimo are. I know the kind of twisted world he lives in. The world we as women would never be allowed in. The kind of world that gave them all the power and no accountability. Men like that don’t change, Luna. They don’t suddenly become faithful husbands.”

“Just because Andre couldn’t be faithful doesn’t mean Massimo is the same way,” I said and instantly regretted it. Silence followed through the line. “I’m sorry?—”

“Save it,” Mom interrupted. “How brave you are, now that you’re married to the head of Las Vegas.”

Even if I felt guilty for what I said, it didn’t take away the anger, the sting from before. If anything, it just made me even angrier. “Braver than you’ll ever be. Braver than you ever allowed me to be.”

I could hear Lina’s sobs growing louder in the background. It was a sound I recognized, one that had often echoed through our childhood home, the manipulative tone like an old song I knew well. Mom wasn’t stupid. She knew when Lina was lying to her.But she always, always chose to believe her lies, mostly at my expense.

I let out a small sigh. “I don’t want to fight, okay? I—Whereare you?” I asked, suddenly realizing the danger my mother might be in. Massimo had said Andre grabbed Mom and left Chicago after it was exposed that he was making deals with the Bratva and had taken some of Emilio’s men with him.

“We’re safe,” Mom replied curtly. “You don’t have to be concerned.”

I closed my eyes, feeling so tired and heavy all of a sudden. “Mom, you should know, Andre walked out on Emilio. He’s being hunted down right now. You need to stay away from him. Emilio can be reasonable. He won’t fault you or Lina for Andre’s mistake?—”

“What an ungrateful little bitch you are, Luna. After all those years that I raised you as my own.”

I froze at the sound of Andre’s voice through the line. My nails dug into my palm as I tried to keep my composure.

“Andre,” I breathed out, my voice barely above a whisper as memories of childhood fear and resentment bubbled to the surface. “This isn’t Mom or Lina’s battle. If you love them, let them go back to Chicago.”

He laughed, the sound sending chills down my spine. “Lina is going back to Boris. That was the arrangement. A wife for the Russian psychopath, and I would get backing from them when I try to take over Chicago.” I could hear Mom and Lina’s cries in protest over Andre’s words.

That felt too… simple. The Bratva only wanted a wife? No, there was more. Andre gave them something else besides Lina.

“Go warn Massimo, Luna. Tell him I’m coming for him and everything he holds dear. That means you, sweet daughter.”

“I’m not your daughter,” I gritted out.