Page 67 of Ruthless God

“Does the same rule apply to you?”

“You don’t want me to go near other women?”

“Well, that would just be ridiculous,” I quipped. One side of his lips lifted in a ghost of a smile. “I don’t want to share you with anyone else.”

And if to help prove my point, our hostess chose that moment to come by, her eyes directly on Massimo.

“Did you need anything, Mr. De Luca?”

I slumped in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest protectively. Massimo watched me the entire time, understanding moving through his eyes.

“I don’t,” Massimo answered, his voice suddenly cold while keeping his eyes on me. They softened, along with his voice, when he asked, “What about you, darling? Do you need anything?”

I shook my head as the hostess sputtered out something I didn’t bother listening to before walking away.

“You won’t share me,” he said when it was just us once more.

And how badly I wanted to believe him. But made men were notorious for being unfaithful. Even Andre had cheated. Several times that I knew of… thatMomknew of, not that she would have said anything to him. She just accepted it as a part of her life. All the while, she remained blindly faithful to him.

I bit my lip.

“I’m a man of my word. Remember what we agreed on? Complete honesty.”

“Do you promise?” I asked, expecting some annoyance from him over my insecurity.

Instead, he answered impassively, “I promise.”

I held out my pinkie. A silly thing to do, I realized the moment I’d done it. He looked down at my hand as if he didn’t know what to do.

My face flushed, and I was about to pull back when I felt his pinkie twist around mine.

He didn’t say anything, and neither did I, wondering why the air in the room felt like it had shifted, pressing down on me and making it hard to breathe.

I pulled away when the server came by with our plates, breaking the spell. I looked down at my lap as the food was placed in front of me. We said nothing when the server left, and I mindlessly chewed on the bagel, trying and failing to dissect all the conversations we had before.

“What are you thinking about?” Massimo asked as I brought the fork to my mouth. I took a bite of the salmon and chewed slowly before I answered him.

“You’re different from what I was expecting.”

“You mean nothing like the rumors?”

I shrugged. Surely, he knew what was being said about him. If anything, I was sure he did nothing to stop them.

“I don’t believe in bringingmy workhome. Things would be different for us, just as it would be different for me outside of our home. My brothers know this distinction, although I sometimes think they test my limits just for the fun of it. They are nothing if not annoying.”

I smiled a little at that. Even when he was insulting his brothers, there was a fondness in his voice that was hard to miss.

I took another bite of my food, contemplating what he said. If what he said was true, then I had nothing to fear from him.

My eyes moved up to look at him before I quickly looked away when I realized he was staring at me.

I couldn’t imagine there would be a time when I didn’t fear him, even if it was just a little.

“How did you think this marriage was going to go?” Massimo asked, grabbing the glass of juice in front of him and taking a small sip.

“I haven’t really thought about it.”

And that was the truth. I always assumed the marriage would go as Massimo dictated, and I would have little say, so there was no point in thinking about how I might have wanted it to go.

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