Page 91 of Ruthless God

“You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here,” Matteo said when I took too long to answer him. I blinked. His smile widened. “I am here to entertain.”

I frowned. “Entertain?”

“Yeah. I’m sure you’re bored out of your mind since Massimo left for New York.”

I bit my lip, not wanting to agree with him. There wasn’t really much of a difference between when Massimo was here and when he wasn’t to how I spent my days, which was just pathetic, now that I thought about it.

Mom used to go shopping when she was bored. She usually took Lina with her. But I hadn’t ventured out on my own and wasn’t sure what protocol Massimo had put in place for me, and there was still a part of me that was uncomfortable spending Massimo’s money.

“Come on,” he said, not giving me a choice when he came up close to me and pulled me out of my seat. I flinched from the contact, and Matteo looked closely at me. “I know we don’t know each other very well,” he said carefully. “But you’re married to Massimo, which means you’re my family now. And I don’t ever hurt my family. So you have nothing to be scared of, okay?”

“Right.”

He tapped my chin gently. “You probably don’t believe me, but I plan on showing you that with time. Now, Massimo has left your protection to me while he’s… occupied. And I take this very seriously. I am to keep you safe and make sure you don’t die from boredom.”

“Don’t die from boredom?” I repeated. “Did Massimo really say that?”

He smiled, putting me at ease. Matteo definitely wore his mask better than his brothers. “Not in so many words, but Massimo and me, we’re like this.” He crossed two fingers to show me how close they were. I smiled, and he seemed to relax a little. “I can almost read his mind.”

“Almost?”

He nodded and grabbed my hand. I didn’t flinch from him that time. “Yup. Now come on, let’s go shopping and spend a good chunk of Massimo’s money.”

I let him pull me out of the house and straight to the sleek black Aston Martin parked in front of the property. He opened the passenger door for me before moving over to the driver’s side.

“Seat belt, little sister. You’re in for a wild ride.”

Matteo was…interesting.

I had never met a made man who talked as much as he did.

He didn’t seem to like the silence all that much. Or perhaps he was trying to put me at ease by talking to me about nonsensical things as much as possible.

Whatever it was, it did put me at ease.

I found myself relaxing in the seat as he rambled on about De Luca’s history with Las Vegas. How his grandad had settled down here when he ran from the Sicilian mob after being caught in bed with the daughter of one of the underbosses.

How the family started out in the gambling scene when it was just taking off in Nevada and how soon that expanded to more serious stuff like the gun trade overseas, opening brothels, andrunning the drug ring that spans all the way to the East before the Bratva took control of New York, and they had to cut back. It would explain why the De Luca was warring with the Bratva, which didn’t help ease my anxiety to know Massimo and Elio were in their territory now, about to crash Lina’s wedding.

“Do you think they’ll be okay?” I asked Matteo when he pulled to a stop in front of the strip. It wasn’t even noon, and the desert sun was already drumming down on us. Despite that, there were people out and about, trying to take in as much of Las Vegas as possible.

Matteo cut the engine and turned to me. “Don’t let Massimo hear you doubt him. He wouldn’t like it.”

I frowned. “He wouldn’t like me worrying about him? I am worried though.”

“Nothing to worry about, Luna. Massimo and Elio can take care of themselves, and they have each other’s back.”

“They’re not God. They can get hurt.” Or, heaven forbid, worse. I didn’t want to even think about that.

He shook his head. “Massimo wouldn’t have gone into the Bratva’s territory if he didn’t think he could get out of it.”

Before I could say anything else, Matteo exited the car and walked over to my side. He opened the door for me before I could get my belt off. I squinted my eyes from the sunlight as Matteo led me away.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“I am taking you shopping. Giulia’s birthday is coming up, you know.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t know that.”

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