Page 41 of Ruthless God

I tightened my grip around the towel, and his eyes flared.

“Still shy?” he asked casually.

I didn’t answer at first. I wondered how he thought I would just be comfortable with him after one night.

He didn’t need me to answer. He nodded and turned to the bed. I almost missed it, but my clothes were laid out on the mattress. Comfortable clothes.

“Go change. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

I shot him an odd look before I could help it. “That’s a myth.”

Perfectly arched eyebrows rose over forest-green eyes. “A myth?”

“That you catch a cold from being cold.” My face flamed hot. I wondered why I was even saying this. It wasn’t as if a man like Massimo would be interested.

But he didn’t look at me like I was weird. His lips twisted in an amused smile. “Is that so?”

I nodded, hoping a hole would form on the floor and just suck me in.

Anything to get out of this conversation. I shifted around him for my clothes. Massimo didn’t move. He stayed where he was and watched me as I quickly gathered the clothes in my arms and headed to the bathroom. I thought I might have heard an amused chuckle coming out of him, but that couldn’t be, right?

10

MASSIMO

Fuck,but my wife was an amusing little thing, wasn’t she?

A little shy, a little more reserved than I would have liked, but perhaps she just needed the right coaxing.

But was I the man for the job?

Fuck, if I knew. What would I know about coaxing anything out of anyone unless it was through force and violence?

I looked down at my hands. Scarred hands that had been drenched in the blood of men more times than they should have.

I didn’t know how to coax my wife out of her shell, but hell, if I didn’t want to see her direct a genuine smile at me.

A monster might have raised me, but I didn’t share my father’s belief in what a family should be. Neither one of us had a say in this marriage, but Luna had even less of a say. And she was handling everything better than I thought she would.

I didn’t want her to be scared of me, even if that was the case. She obviously didn’t know how to hide her feelings and thoughts. It was refreshing, if not a little concerning.

She would need to work on controlling her expressions better. I had a lot of enemies in this world, and now she did too, simply from association.

Even Giulia had learned to control her facial expressions better, only speaking up when we were alone and not in front of my men.

I should want my wife to be the same. There was just something about knowing I couldn’t protect her from this, like I couldn’t have protected Giulia, that fucking got to me.

The door to the bathroom opened then, and Luna walked out, stuttering in her steps when she found me still standing there. Had she hoped I would leave?

I held in a smile and waited for her.

She hesitantly moved over to me as if she were afraid I might bite her.

Only if she asked nicely.

Finally, she came up and stood in front of me. There was at least a foot of space between us.

“Is everything resolved?” she asked.

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