Page 6 of Ruthless God

I didn’t know what to make of the sight. Had Andre caught them, he would have killed the guard. That was a risk. I backed up a step, trying to get out of there. I was just going to pretend I didn’t see anything. In my haste to leave, I backed a little hard into the wall. A small thud sounded out in the quiet house, and the noise in the kitchen stopped. I didn’t think.

I turned and hightailed it out of there. I thought I might have safely got back to my room, but I was caught at the last minute. I barely managed to muffle in my scream when Lina pushed me up against the wall.

“Poor, stupid little Luna. What do you think you’re doing, walking around the house like a ghost?” She wrapped her handaround my bicep and squeezed it tightly enough that I was sure I was going to bruise there.

I gritted my teeth. “Let me go. You don’t want to wake the whole house up, do you? Wake your father?”

She laughed quietly. “You think they’re going to believe you over me?”

I had nothing to say to that, mostly because I knew she was right. They wouldn’t believe me.

“Here’s how things are going to go. You have one month left in this house before you’re married off to the Beast of Las Vegas and become a plaything for him. You’re going to shut up about what you saw, understand? Or I’ll make whatever time you have left here miserable.”

She already did. There wasn’t a single day in my life since the moment Mom married Andre that I wasn’t fucking miserable.

Tears stung my eyes but, thankfully, didn’t fall. I didn’t want to give her any more ammunition.

“Understand?” She tightened her grip on me. I let out a small pained cry then, which, based on the glint in her eyes, was something she enjoyed seeing very much.

I nodded. I wasn’t going to say anything, even without her threat.

She pulled away, and I let out a small sigh of relief. Lina might be younger than me by four years, but she was bigger than me, stronger than me. And she had her parents’ love, which made her more powerful than me.

She lightly tapped my cheek, and I flinched, making her laugh. “Good girl. Now why don’t you go back to bed and think of all the ways your future husband will break you. I know that’s what I’ll be doing tonight.”

She tittered softly as she walked away, back down the stairs, probably to spend the rest of her night with the guard, while I stayed where I was, trying to catch my breath.

My legs felt like jelly as I took in the empty hallway, her words echoing inside my head.

All the ways the Beast of Las Vegas could break me.

I didn’t know which I hated more—living in this house with everyone or my impending marriage toLo Spietato.

Hopelessness weighed me down, and it was taking everything in me not to just fall to the ground. I wasn’t sure I would be able to get up if I did.

What was I supposed to do now?

3

LUNA

The days passedby in a blur.

I was able to avoid Lina as much as possible, or at the very least, not be left alone with her. Her happier mood made things easier, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that she was happy about my expectant move.

Before I knew what was happening, I was three days away from my wedding, and tonight was going to be the first night I met my soon-to-be husband.

I was nervous.

I stayed in my room and took in the pale-pink dress that had been delivered to me this morning. Andre wanted to put on an image, which was the only reason I got a new dress.

Despite being in the Lombardi family and having a stepfather who was so high in rank in the organization, I wasn’t allowed the same luxuries as some of the other women my age from similar families. I wasn’t allowed to go shopping for the finest clothes or get my hair and nails done at a high-end nail salon like Lina and my mother were allowed to do. Often, I would see them come home with guards carrying what seemed like endless shopping bags, happy and carefree.

I tried not to let that hurt me. I was used to the way things were, but to see my mother dote on one daughter and ignore her other one…

That was what hurt the most. Had she shown me just an ounce of the affection she showed Lina, I could have done without the fancy clothes or the trip to the salon.

I supposed it was a good thing I wouldn’t be living with her anymore.