Page 21 of Ruthless God

So I wasn’t the only one who noticed the stark contrast between the sisters.

Giulia smiled at me. “I like her. And I want you to be happy.”

I leaned down and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “This is nothing you need to worry about. Understand?”

She rolled her eyes. “Just because I’m the youngest doesn’t mean I can’t worry about my brothers.”

I smiled a little at the fire in her voice. I hoped to God she would always have that fire inside her and that this life would not extinguish it.

My eyes moved back to Luna. And perhaps, to help Luna rebuild her fire because it was there. Years spent with her family hadn’t doused it completely.

The song was nearly ending, and Elio cut in, leaving a sour-faced date in the middle of the dance floor.

He said something to Enzo before pulling Luna out of the fucker’s arms, not waiting for him to answer. I felt something lifted off my chest once she was finally away from the fucker. I knew my brother would keep her safe.

My brothers took turns dancing with Luna, and by the time Matteo had her in his arms, she was able to relax a little. She even smiled at him—not one of her fake smiles, but a genuine one that made my chest hurt.

Fuck me. What would I need to do to get her to smile like that at me?

When we finally made it back to the table, my brothers had done their job well and instilled fear in any fucker who might want to dance with Luna or Giulia.

I pulled Luna’s chair closer to me, about to tell her to eat some more, when a small commotion started at the far end of theroom that soon caught on with the rest of the crowd, much like a forest fire.

“Bed her, bed her, bed her!”

The chants were easy to make out.

Matteo and Romeo joined in on the fun while Elio cracked a smile.

Luna tensed when she realized what everyone was shouting. She looked at me and quickly looked away when she found my eyes already on her.

Marco led the charge, coming up to us and putting on such a good façade I almost believed the fucker wasn’t angry over our “little” altercation.

But I could see the fucker scheming, thinking of ways to kill me.

I almost wished he was stupid enough to try.

I stood up and blocked Luna from his view. Him even looking at her for a second was a fucking second too long. I didn’t want the slimy little fucker anywhere near her.

And if I didn’t want the crowd to get too rowdy, I would need to take Luna away from there.

I was fucking done with this party anyway.

I stood up and held out my hand to Luna. She looked at it like it was a poisonous snake about to bite her before she realized we were in public. She put on that fake smile of hers that I fucking hated and placed her hand in mine. I pulled her up and held her close, looking over at Elio, who got what I wanted and stood up, too, along with Romeo.

Matteo stayed behind with Giulia while my two brothers helped keep the crowd away from Luna and me. Didn’t mean some fucker wasn’t able to get through. We walked through the crowd as men shouted lewd things that only made Luna tense further in my arms while men patted my back as if I was doing something so fucking noble as bedding my wife.

Lina went near Luna and whispered something in her ear, causing Luna to pale while Lina looked on with a satisfied smirk. I looked at the girl, and I knew she could see the hardness in my eyes as she blanched and quickly moved into her mom’s protective arms. As if that would really protect her if I decided to go after her.

More and more of the Lombardi’s family dynamic was being chipped away for me to clearly see how they fucking function, and what I saw, I didn’t like.

I wrapped my arm around Luna’s shoulder and pulled her in close, not that she seemed to notice. She was too lost in her own head, letting her sister’s words affect her.

And I didn’t need to know what was exchanged between them to know it probably had something to do with me.

We finally made it to our hotel room. Romeo and Elio stood by the front, blocking everyone out. How they fucking beat us here when we took the elevator, I didn’t know. But I was this close to drawing out my gun. Nothing disperses crowds more efficiently than the booming sound of a bullet being fired. Only the thought of dealing with the headache from the hotel’s staff after that stalled me.

I quickly closed the door behind us, Luna moving further into the room while I stayed by the door, listening to all the crude things those men said.