Page 125 of Brutal Devil

I’m inwardly impressed by her defiance. It’s standard Luna, and I love it.

But I’m also a businessman. And her running them makes no sense when she’s in Iowa writing poetry.

“She doesn’t live here. How the fuck is she going to run the businesses?”

Saint’s expression shifts. He doesn’t say anything for a second.

And he doesn’t need to.

“She doesn’t live here,” I repeat. “She went back to Iowa the day after that shit went down with Amedeo.”

I’m waiting for my brother to repeat this truth, which I’ve kept locked around my heart for the last month like barbed fucking wire.

But he doesn’t.

“Where is she?” I growl.

“She’s here,” Saint says.

“Here where?”

“Here in the city. She didn’t fly out the next day. Doc said it was too soon, given the concussion. We set her up in a hotel until she was cleared for travel. But when the time came for that, Luna told me she decided to stay. She rented an apartment on the south side.”

I stare at my brother, everything inside me freezing. Going numb.

“You mean to tell me that Luna has been here in the same city as me for the lastfour fucking weeks, and no one thought to tell me?”

Saint winces. “We’ve all been instructed not to say her name.”

True. But fuck him.

“Since when do any of you assholes listen to my fucking instructions?” I hiss, furious.

My brother’s face is carefully expressionless. “We always listen to your instructions, Don Andriani.”

“The fuck you do.” I shoot out of my seat, restless as a caged lion. “Why is she still here?”

“You’d have to ask her yourself.”

Ask her myself? That means seeing her. And I can’t risk seeing Luna again. I’ll want her too damn much. I won’t be able to walk away a second time.

I pass a hand over my jaw as I start to pace my office. “Fuck.”

“I can drop you a pin with her address.”

I turn on him. “Have you been to her apartment?”

He shrugs. “Yeah. Wanted to make sure she’s settled in and all that.”

He’s been seeing Luna, and he never said a word. I want to strangle him, but I also want to know more.

“How is she?”

“You turned your back on her right after she survived being kidnapped and beat up by Amedeo the Animal. If you want to know how she’s doing, why don’t you see for yourself?”

“I did it to protect her, and you know it. She didn’t want this life, and if she stayed in it, it would have killed her.”

“Maybe, maybe not.”