Page 77 of Ruthless God

He didn’t say anything for a beat. Then he leaned down and kissed me. “You’re welcome.”

He pulled away from me, leaving me feeling slightly cold. Goosebumps broke out across my skin as he took me in.

“Let me fix up some breakfast and feed you.”

“Sounds perfect,” I said. And he did just that.

19

LUNA

I didn’t seemuch of Massimo over the next three days.

I thought he might be worried about what the marriage between Lina and the Russians would mean for him and our alliance with Emilio. It still didn’t make sense to me why Emilio would agree to Lina’s marriage so soon after my marriage to Massimo.

Emilio admired Massimo more than he did the Bratva. If anything, I thought Emilio hated the Russians almost as much as Massimo did. But if Emilio didn’t agree to this, it meant Andre was acting without hiscapo dei capi’spermission. It would be seen as a sign of betrayal. It could mean his death.

It could mean the entire family’s death, or at the very least, it would make Mom and Lina pariahs in their circle.

But that didn’t make sense because, despite Andre’s faults, he had always been loyal to Emilio.

A slight headache formed at the top of my head, and I let out a small sigh. I was getting nowhere, thinking around in circles. Had Mom and I been close, I could call her and ask her what was happening. Not for the first time in my life, I felt a small tinge of pain over the thought of our relationship and wondered what I could have done for Mom to treat me like this.

A hand appeared in my line of sight, and I startled, jumping out of my seat on the kitchen barstool. I would have fallen had Massimo not grabbed hold of me around the waist and pulled me into his hard body. I looked up at him with wide eyes. He was almost smiling.

“What’s got you thinking so hard, you didn’t even hear me call your name?” he asked, his voice smooth.

I blinked, trying to get my breathing under control. My hand was pressed against his chest, and I clenched my fist around his shirt without thinking before I forced myself to relax.

I shook my head. “Just about my family.”

He looked at me curiously.

I let out a small sigh. “About Lina’s marriage. I was wondering why Andre would set her up with the Bratva. Do you know the man she’s marrying?”

“I’ve never met him.”

I looked at my hand on his chest. He was in his usual suit sans the suit jacket. The sleeves were rolled up, showing off his tan forearms.

“I’ve heard of him,” Massimo said finally.

“Is he… is he kind?”

“Is anyone kind in this world,principessa? Especially ours?”

“You’re kind.”

He raised his hand toward my face, his fingers tracing over my lips. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out and taste him. “You still think so?”

I nodded, suddenly feeling shy.

“Hmmm,” was all he said to that.

His fingers moved away from my lips, and I nearly begged for them back, but then he was cupping my cheek and pulling me in close. The last thing I saw before I closed my eyes and gave in to his kiss were those mesmerizing green eyes of his.

As always, his lips were soft but firm, and they radiated enough electricity on my skin to power all of Las Vegas.

My heart skipped two beats before it fluttered excitedly in my chest, racing as if begging to be set free from its confinement in my body and moved to its rightful owner. As if my heart knew something I couldn’t even begin to consciously process.