Page 53 of Ruthless God

“Better he got hurt by this than to bleed out to death,” Matteo answered lightly. His eyes betrayed him. He was just as worried about Massimo as his brothers.

I climbed on the bed and sat down by Massimo’s side, grabbing a hold of his hand. Elio turned and took me in. I tightened my grip on Massimo, not wanting to let him go.

Thankfully, Elio didn’t comment on that.

Massimo opened his eyes then. There was a sort of glaze to them that made me think he might not be fully aware of thesituation. He focused his gaze on me, then on my hand holding his before he brought it back to my face.

He didn’t say anything, and neither did I.

“Hold his hand tight, Luna,” Elio said. I squeezed it and watched as Elio pierced Massimo’s skin with the needle before it got to be too much and turned away, my gaze clashing with Massimo’s.

He grunted in pain but otherwise didn’t show any reaction. If anything, I was the one squeezing his hand.

“Sorry,” I muttered, blushing a little. I was about to pull away when Massimo tightened his grip on me. I held still in surprise, my breath catching. Our eyes met, and I nodded. I wouldn’t let him go until he needed me to.

I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that while Elio worked on Massimo. It couldn’t have been long, even if it felt like it.

I let out a small sigh of relief when Elio finished, and Matteo worked to clean him up. I had to let go of Massimo’s hand when they helped him put on the shirt.

“Should we call for a doctor?” I asked.

“Are you questioning my skills, little sister?”

I blinked. I wasn’t sure if he was joking or if I had truly offended him in some way.

Elio cracked a small smile then, and I knew I should be relieved he wasn’t angry with me, but a smiling Elio was just as intimidating as a stony-faced Elio.

“We’ll have Dr. Russo drop by tomorrow to check on Massimo,” Romeo answered, slapping Elio on the back roughly. I flinched at the sound.

“You’ll stay here with him until then?” Elio asked.

It didn’t really sound like a question.

I nodded. “I’ll take good care of him.”

Elio didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he nodded, almost as if to himself. “I don’t doubt it.”

With that, the brothers left, closing the door quietly behind them and leaving me in the room with Massimo, not knowing what to do.

His eyes were closed once more, but I couldn’t be sure if he was asleep or not.

I gently ran my fingers down his scars, letting out a small sigh.

“What am I supposed to do with you?” I whispered. Thankfully, he stayed asleep and didn’t answer me.

Three nights passedby in a blur. Massimo was in and out of consciousness that first night. He’d even gotten a fever, which Dr. Russo had said wasn’t serious enough to warrant bringing him to the hospital.

The doctor was an older man, probably in his late fifties or early sixties, who looked like an older version of Vito Corleone fromThe Godfather, with a no-nonsense attitude that kind of scared me.

Massimo stayed at home.

I had a feeling his brothers were trying to keep him away from the hospital until they couldn’t anymore. Thankfully, his fever broke midday the next day, and things were a little better when he opened his eyes briefly to look at me. And he’d only gotten better as more days passed. But he was still bedbound and pretty weak, so I stayed close to his side, doing as much as I could while ignoring the silly little hurt I’d felt over his history with other women, particularly one who was still in the house with her mom.

I let out a small sigh and looked up from where I sat on the recliner adjacent to the bed with a book I couldn’t even pretend I was reading. My eyes moved over to Massimo.

As if he could feel my eyes on him, his opened suddenly, surprising me and making my heart race. Even weak and injured, his green eyes still looked bright and mesmerizing. He still had the power to keep me frozen from a single glance.

He frowned at me. “Come to bed. What are you doing over there?”