Page 55 of Ruthless God

And I didn’t fucking know what changed to make her avoid me. She hadn’t been like this when I brought her home.

So what happened?

A knock on the door drew me out of my thoughts and caused Luna to tense up from her spot on the recliner. The book on her lap fell to the ground. I doubted she was reading it to begin with.

“Come in,” I called out as Luna leaned down and picked up the book, offering a brief glimpse of the swell of her breasts. Fuck. Was this what I had resorted to? Ogling my wife from the fucking bed and not being able to do anything about it?

The door opened, and Lettie popped her head in.

Luna seemed to draw more into herself.

“Your brothers are here,” Lettie said.

I ignored the girl and focused on Luna. She didn’t like Lettie. But why?

“You can let them in,” I said without looking at her.

A small silence rang out, and I turned to see Lettie standing there… glaring at Luna. A wave of protectiveness ran through me, surprising even me.

“That’ll be all,” I said, a little more harshly than I intended. It got the wanted effect when Lettie hightailed it out of there. I took in Luna, about to ask her if Lettie had done something to offend her, but she stood up before I could say anything.

“I’ll get you some water,” she muttered before moving out the door. Never mind that I still had a full glass on the nightstand.

She walked out the door just as my brothers came, Matteo with his usual cocky smile. He said something to Luna when they passed, causing her to smile before she disappeared from sight. I narrowed my eyes at my younger brother, wondering why the fuck I was feeling so…unbalancedwatching them interact.

“What?” Matteo asked when he noticed me staring at him.

I didn’t answer him right away, working to shove my emotions away.

“Did you guys find out anything more about the attack?” I asked.

Elio shot me a questioning look before he shook his head. “Nothing. The men who attacked us didn’t belong to any gang. It doesn’t make any sense that they would risk so much not having any skin in the game.”

I hadn’t expected any new information. Whoever planned the attack wasn’t messy. The fact that those men were instructed to off themselves if there was any risk of getting caught said asmuch. But fuck, if it wasn’t frustrating as hell. And what made those bastards so willing to just die for this?

Drug motivated? Or something else? It didn’t matter, because they had been prepared to die for a cause that had nothing to do with them.

“And when will you stop pretending like you’re still hurt?” Romeo asked.

“What makes you think I’m pretending?” I deadpanned.

Romeo shot me a small smile. “I remembered an attack from three years ago. You were hurt worse than this, and you didn’t stay in bed for this long. Hell, that time Elio got you home after the Bratva bastards got their hands on you at sixteen, you were hurt worse than I’d ever seen you. And you were ready to kick Elio’s ass for insisting you stay in bed for more than three days.”

I didn’t say anything. Just cracked a small smile. Beside Elio, Matteo threw his head back and laughed. “I don’t blame you. If I had a nurse who looks like Luna, who stayed by my side day and night, I might just stay in bed for another week or two.”

I grabbed the nearest object by my hand—a pillow—and threw it at the fucker’s face. Wished it was something harder.

“I already warned you about not speaking about Luna like that. One more time, I’ll kick your ass.”

If Matteo was worried, he didn’t show it. I had been going too easy on my brothers. I let out a small sigh of annoyance just as footsteps sounded from outside the door. We all turned to see Luna walking in with a glass of water. She froze when she noticed our attention.

“Is everything okay?” she asked softly. How skittish. Was there anything I could do to make her less so?

I grunted, which probably didn’t help.

Neither did my brothers’ gaze on her. Her movements were awkward and unsure as she walked further into the room with the glass.

“You can leave,” I said. She paused. I shook my head and turned to my brothers. “Leave. I’m sure you have things you all need to do.”