Page 85 of Ruthless God

“Married or not, you shouldn’t let another person become your distraction.”

“And I’m not.”

“Right.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Not that it seemed to have any effect.

“You’ve changed.”

“I’m still me.”

He shook his head. “No, you’ve changed. I don’t know how, and I can’t explain it, but one thing is for certain. You’ve changed since the moment you laid eyes on her. I just hope you still have enough ofLo Spietatoleft that you can still defend this empire we worked so hard to rebuild after our bastard father nearly destroyed it.”

I didn’t need a reminder about how shitty things had been when I took the helm. Amadeo had done such a good job at hiding just how bad things were for us. I hadn’t realized the bastard nearly drove us into the ground, left vulnerable for the vultures to come in and take us.

And my brothers hadn’t known the full extent of it. Elio knew more than Romeo and Matteo, but I had protected him from all the shit I had to do and would gladly do all over again to ensure their futures.

“Are you questioning me, little brother?” I asked, a little harsher than I intended.

He shook his head. “No. Just… worried.”

“You have nothing to worry about. Just have my back, and that’s all that’s needed.”

“I always got your back,” he answered.

I didn’t respond. I knew he had my back. My brothers’ loyalty was one of the very few things in this world that I was sure of.

That wasn’t what had my mind occupied. I looked out the window and wondered if what he said was true.

Had I changed?

21

MASSIMO

The flightto New York was uneventful.

I looked over to Elio as the plane landed. “You can relax.”

He glanced over at me. “Relax while we’re in Bratva territory?”

The look he gave me suggested he thought I was crazy for even telling him that.

I grinned. If Matteo took life as a joke, and Romeo took it too seriously, then Elio was cautious. Sometimes overly so. It had done us well over the years, helping us weed out all the dangers that came with the territory, but sometimes, I wished my brothers didn’t have too much of one thing.

I wished Matteo would get serious about something or someone, wished Romeo would smile more, and wished Elio would take more risks.

It wasn’t like I was one to talk. My brothers would probably say I took on too many responsibilities, even for my grown-ass siblings.

“Come on,” Elio said, standing up and stretching. “We need to get to the hotel. It won’t do us any good being out in the open like this.”

I got up, and we walked out of the plane. I could smell that familiar scent of New York City teasing my nostrils. The last time I was here, I was sixteen, helpless, and a Bratva’s captive.

Everything had felt hopeless then, knowing my father wouldn’t come for me. He always said if I was dumb enough to get captured by the enemy, then I probably deserved whatever death was coming for me.

It was because Elio didn’t give up his search that I was able to get out of there.

I hadn’t been back since. New York belonged to the Bratva, but before they were able to take this territory, it belonged to the De Luca. My granddad lost our territory over his own arrogance. The kind that only came with old age. The old bastard had lived well into his eighties before kidney failure finally did him in. Years of drinking finally caught up to him.