Page 48 of Ruthless God

It had everything to do with my little wife playing her own version of hide-and-seek in our marriage.

One week had passed, and we’d barely spoken more than a handful of sentences to each other. And how could we have any kind of conversation when she spent most of her time trying to avoid me?

Fucking hell, had I been too rough on her that first night? Did she truly see me as everyone else? A fucking monster?

And why the fuck did that bother me so much?

“Are you listening to me, Massimo?” Elio asked across from me in the car.

“No,” I answered, letting out a tired sigh.

Beside me, Matteo let out a small chuckle while Romeo took me in. The last thing I needed was for my third brother to psychoanalyze me. Even more so than usual.

“Is everything okay?” Romeo asked just as the car pulled up to one of our strip clubs. It was a small, ugly building in probably one of the worst areas of the city. We conducted business there and went for meetings without fear of beingoverheard, considering the place was rigged to prevent signals from entering. There would be no cell service for a while.

If shit happened, we didn’t need to call for law enforcement or any kind of backup. I had enough men around to deal with it ourselves.

“Fine,” I answered when it felt like my brothers were all waiting for me. They didn’t look like they believed me, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I opened the door and got out before anyone could say anything, my eyes moving about and taking in my surroundings. I spotted a couple of my men around the premises, and Valentino’s bright cherry-red Corvette parked nearby. I shook my head as Elio came to stand beside me.

“One of these days, his love for that car is going to get him killed,” I said.

Elio grunted, but I knew he agreed with me. Having just moved up in rank put a bigger target on the fucker’s back than it had before.

“Let’s go see what Valentino found out from Chicago,” I said.

We walked to the entrance of the strip club and were immediately greeted by the scent of cheap perfume and the click, click, click of the heels from the few women present.

The club didn’t officially open for another three hours, but there were some entertainers around, willing to come in early in case we needed to hold any last-minute meetings.

Inside was barely lit, and the scent of alcohol and cigarettes teased my nostrils. Lenny, the bartender, and my eyes and ears, nodded at us in greeting, his eyes moving to the seats in the front of the stage. A girl was onstage, her bleach-blonde hair tied in high pigtails, her face full of makeup, with her outfit consisting of a fluffy pink bra and matching thong that left very little to the imagination. In front of her was Valentino, nursing a glass of scotch and a lit cigarette hanging from his lips. His eyes woulddart to the dancer every so often, but at least the fucker didn’t look distracted.

Friends with Elio or not, I had high expectations of my men, especially those higher up in rank, and Valentino wasn’t an exception.

A half-smile formed over his lips, the scar from his and Elio’swilderdays more prominent than usual. He turned and took us in, saluting.

Elio rolled his eyes. “He fucks around more than Matteo.”

Beside Elio, Matteo laughed. “Don’t insult me, brother. Valentino’s got nothing on me.”

Romeo rolled his eyes when Matteo started making a crude gesture with his hips that got some of the strippers nearby giggling. My youngest brother moved his eyes over them, a glint appearing.

I ignored them and headed over to Valentino. When I got close, he made a move to stand, but I shook my head, indicating that he should remain sitting while my brothers and I got comfortable in the surrounding chairs.

Valentino settled back in his seat, his light-brown eyes moving over to his glass of scotch.

“A little early for a drink, no?” Romeo commented.

“I haven’t had a drop.”

“Then why order it?”

Valentino shrugged. “Keeps my hand occupied, I suppose.”

“How was your trip?” I asked, wanting to get down to business.

“Interesting. It seemed your father-in-law had taken to entertaining a fewguestsjust days after your wedding to his beloved daughter.”

Beside me, Romeo tensed, and Matteo’s face darkened. Elio didn’t show much reaction, but that was because he was better trained. But I had no doubt he knew what this meant.