Page 11 of Ruthless God

I didn’t react.

How… interesting.

Wasn’t Lina Lombardi the one I was supposed to marry?

I nearly grimaced at the thought. Luna was already younger than me by ten years. At twenty-three, she was still too young, too naïve to the world to be married to a monster like me, but at least she wasn’t a cocky nineteen-year-old who thought she ruled the world.

I shook my head. One look at Lina and I knew she was trouble.

Luna was…

Hell, I didn’t know what to make of my future wife. Quiet. Reticent. Skittish.

I caught Elio’s eyes, sitting two chairs down from me. He was frowning. He didn’t agree with this marriage, mainly because Enzo had set it up. Which brought the question, why this family? Why the Lombardi Famiglia? I didn’t know, but I planned on finding out soon.

But first…

I had to get married.

And bed my virgin wife.

Hell.

The conversation bounced in and out of my awareness. I let Elio do most of the talking while I observed Luna.

She must have felt my attention on her because she stilled her movements, looked up and met my eyes, and went bright red before looking back down at her plate.

I meant what I said. I didn’t want her to be scared of me. Unlike my father, I didn’t believe in ruling over my family through fear.

In my opinion, there was no room for that under a household.

But I knew what I looked like. And I knew she must have heard things about me—something I was goddamn proud of.

The only way to rule the De Luca Famiglia was to instill a healthy dose of fear in my men. But this might not fare well with my wife-to-be.

And with my need for control…

I shook my head and went back to my food, barely tasting it.

“Massimo.”

I turned to Andre when the fucker said my name. His beady little eyes took me in. I didn’t trust him. Even without the fact that he was clearly working with Enzo, there was something shifty about the man that raised all my hackles.

I kept my expression neutral and turned to him.

“The trip might be short, but you must be tired. You haven’t even touched your drink.”

“Are you trying to get me drunk, Lombardi?” I asked with a smirk.

His skin flushed an ugly shade of red. Nothing like how Luna looked when she blushed. But then again, Luna wasn’t hisdaughter. His stepdaughter in name… although, wouldn’t it be more apt to call her his niece?

“Why would I want that? I am simply trying to be a good host.”

I grabbed my wine glass and brought it to the light, taking in the color. “A good host. Yes, I could certainly see that. Wouldn’t you say so, Elio?”

My brother took a small sip of his drink before he answered me. “Yes, I agree. Although, I think we’re too formal with each other. After all, we’re going to be family.”

“Yes,” Andre said, grabbing onto that. I wondered why he was trying so hard to kiss my ass. “Family. And may this marriage bring you lots of sons to help you defend all that’s yours.”

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