Page 70 of Ruthless God

He reached out and unbuckled my belt, causing a small gasp to escape me. We stayed like that for one… two… three long seconds before Massimo was undoing his own belt and climbing out of the car. He moved quickly. He was by my side just as I threw the door open, holding out his hand.

I let him pull me out of the car and hold onto my hand as he led us back into the house. We had to walk past the still-messy kitchen to get upstairs. I flexed my hand, wanting him to let go. He turned to me with a frown.

“I need to clean up,” I said.

He shook his head. “You need a nap.”

“A nap? What is with you and making sure I take a nap?” I asked. It was something he had insisted I do since the first day I came here.

He cupped my cheek, his thumb swiping under my eyes. I resisted the urge to burrow my face into his palm like a kitten with no survival instincts.

“You still have heavy bags under your eyes.”

“Is it bad?” I asked, suddenly wanting to see a mirror.

He shook his head. “You look beautiful, as always. But you need a nap.”

“You think I look beautiful?” I asked softly. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had said that to me and sounded like they meant it. Lina had always been the pretty sister, and though I was mostly okay with that, I always wondered if Massimo had compared my sister to me and felt… regretful that he hadn’t married her.

“You really don’t know?” he asked softly. “You’re beautiful, Luna.”

I smiled at him, and a strange look moved over his features. Before I could ask him about that, he was already leading me up the stairs.

“I’ll take care of the mess,” he said.

“That’s not fair to you?—”

He turned to me, cutting me off. “Remember what we talked about at the restaurant?”

We talked about a lot of things. I didn’t know which he was referring to.

“You’re giving me control. Part of that is not worrying about anything but doing as I say.”

I narrowed my eyes at him before I could think better of it. He looked like he was trying to hold in his smile.

“Do exactly as you say?”

He tapped the tip of my nose. “Notexactlyas I say, but close enough.”

Then he continued leading me up the stairs. I was in a daze, still reeling from his words, when we came into our room, and he stopped us in front of the walk-in closet.

“Stay here,” he said before walking away. I watched him disappear inside the closet for a few seconds. When he came back out, he was carrying one of his T-shirts and nothing else.

I frowned. Was he staying?

Wouldn’t that be… something?

A huge part of me wanted to be alone and think back on all we talked about this morning—the most we’d ever said to each other in our marriage so far. Another huge part was thrilled I could have him for more than a few hours a day at a time.

I was starting to crave Massimo’s presence.

But then he pulled me along until we stood by the edge of the bed, and without saying anything, bent down and pressed a sweet, tender kiss on my cheek. He pulled back and took me in as if looking for any signs of distress. I was far from it.

I was feeling… hot.

Especially when he started to take off his suit jacket. A thrill of excitement went through me over the prospect of him getting naked, but much to my disappointment, he stopped at that, leaving himself in black slacks, a white shirt, and a dark-gray tie.

I took in a huge breath just as Massimo’s eyes darkened, and he pressed another kiss on my cheek, this time closer to the corner of my lips.

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