Page 160 of Ravage God
“Can I have a moment with the bride?”
Valentino hesitated for a brief second before he nodded, looked over at me once, and then headed out to the backyard.
Massimo stepped closer to me, and I resisted the urge to move back. Out of all of Elio’s siblings, I knew Massimo the least.
He had always been so elusive, and the fact that he had the reputation of being the “Beast of Las Vegas” didn’t help.
I shifted awkwardly on my feet when he didn’t say anything right away. Then, “I don’t usually get involved in my men’s family matters.”
I nodded, wondering where he was going with this. Was it something Valentino said that he heard and didn’t like? I didn’t say anything, and he continued, “But I should have been more involved with the Gambino family when Elio first showed his interest in you. I knew it wasn’t going to be fleeting like his other flings.”
I grimaced at the wordflings,and Massimo took a step closer to me. “For that, I am sorry.”
I paused before looking at him, my brows furrowing. “Why are you apologizing to me?”
“I should have stepped in sooner. Maybe then, you wouldn’t have spent so long under Joseph’s control.”
Oh.
I never blamed him for that. It wasn’t Massimo’s fault that I had a shitty father growing up.
“We can’t dwell on the what-ifs in life,” I said, repeating Valentino’s words.
Massimo nodded. “You’re right about that. We can’t change the past. But we can change ourselves for the future. And I wanted to take this time to welcome you to the family. I want you to know you’re one of mine now. And I always take care of what’s mine. So if you ever need anything, you can come to me.”
For the first time since he came by, I smiled at him. He didn’t smile back at me, not that I had expected him to, but his eyes softened.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“I mean every word, sweetheart.”
I nodded. “You know, they were wrong about you.”
His lips twisted in that familiar way Elio’s did when he was amused by something. “And what are they wrong about?”
“You’re not the Beast of Las Vegas. You’re sweet.”
He didn’t say anything. Then he threw his head back and laughed. My smile widened.
“How about we keep that between the two of us, yeah? I still have a reputation to protect, you know.”
I nodded. Made sense. His reputation probably kept a lot of the bad people away.
I held out my pinkie. “I will.”
He looked at it for one long second before hooking his pinkie with mine, winking at me.
“Come on. Let’s get you out there. The ceremony is about to begin.”
I nodded and let Massimo lead me out to the backyard to where Valentino was standing, waiting for me. I stayed by his side as the music played, and all the groomsmen and bridesmaids walked out. Valentino was walking me down the aisle.
“Tino?” I asked him, just before Gisele, our wedding planner, gave us our signal to walk.
He tightened his arm around me. “Yeah?”
“You won’t let go until the end?”
“I won’t let go until the very end,” he said.
