Page 37 of Ruthless God

Kinder than I had expected. I didn’t want that kindness to turn into something ugly by being difficult. I nodded.

He seemed satisfied with my reply.

“I have to go. Be a good girl at home.” He bent down and pressed a quick kiss on the corner of my lips before turning and walking out the door, leaving me standing in the middle of a huge house, feeling out of place.

“Bye,” I whispered softly into the air. No one answered, not that I had expected one.

I didn’t take a nap.

I couldn’t seem to quiet my mind enough to get in any shut-eye. Then again, I knew Las Vegas would be different from Chicago, but this was like night and day.

What made Massimo think I could actually nap?

It had been only a few hours since he left. I’d unpacked most of my things, even the boxes that were sent here from Chicago.

I let out a frustrated sigh and got up from the bed, hesitantly moving toward the bedroom door.

Everything was just so quiet. I knew there were people around the property, but they were very good at keeping out of my way. I would have thought I was alone in the house.

I took the stairs to the bottom level, trying to remember where everything was from the brief tour Massimo had given me. But hell, why was this house so big?

I pulled up short when I came into the kitchen to find both Elena and Lettie standing there. They quieted as soon as they saw me, and I got the distinct feeling that they were talking about me, but that couldn’t really be the case. They didn’t even know me.

It must be all the stress leading up to the wedding and the wedding itself.

“Can I help you?” Elena asked, a sour look on her face.

I froze, not knowing how to deal with such hostility from strangers. At least the help from Andre’s house was respectable toward me.

“Can you talk?” Lettie asked. She turned to Elena. “Of course Massimo was roped into marrying a defective mafia princess.”

Defective mafia princess?

“Defective? Do you really think Massimo would be okay with you talking about his wife like this?” a voice rang out from behind me. We all turned toward it. Giulia stood by the threshold, her hands on her hips, and she was glaring at Lettie.

“No, ma’am,” Lettie said quietly, looking down at the counter. “I’m sorry.”

Giulia scoffed. “It’s not me you need to apologize to.”

Lettie looked at me, her face twisting a bit before she put on a neutral expression. “I’m sorry.”

I didn’t say anything to that. I wasn’t going to accept an insincere apology. Anger flashed in the other woman’s eyes, but she didn’t say anything either.

“This house belongs to Luna now that she’s married to my brother. Or do you not know that?” Giulia asked.

“Of course,” Elena said, looking down.

“Then I suggest you show a lot more respect when addressing the new lady of the house.”

“Of course,” Elena repeated. It seemed that was all she was capable of saying in front of Giulia.

I wondered just how much it pained her to say it like that. I couldn’t even get any satisfaction from that, still reeling over all that had happened.

Giulia grabbed my hand. “We’ll be by the pool. Come out with some snacks.”

She pulled me out of there without waiting for a reply. We walked outside to the backyard, and I took in the huge pool. Massimo had only shown me the inside of the house, so this was a surprise.

A nice surprise. I couldn’t even remember the last time I went swimming.