3. Luna
3
LUNA
The days passed by in a blur.
I was able to avoid Lina as much as possible, or at the very least, not be left alone with her. Her happier mood made things easier, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that she was happy about my expectant move.
Before I knew what was happening, I was three days away from my wedding, and tonight was going to be the first night I met my soon-to-be husband.
I was nervous.
I stayed in my room and took in the pale-pink dress that had been delivered to me this morning. Andre wanted to put on an image, which was the only reason I got a new dress.
Despite being in the Lombardi family and having a stepfather who was so high in rank in the organization, I wasn’t allowed the same luxuries as some of the other women my age from similar families. I wasn’t allowed to go shopping for the finest clothes or get my hair and nails done at a high-end nail salon like Lina and my mother were allowed to do. Often, I would see them come home with guards carrying what seemed like endless shopping bags, happy and carefree.
I tried not to let that hurt me. I was used to the way things were, but to see my mother dote on one daughter and ignore her other one…
That was what hurt the most. Had she shown me just an ounce of the affection she showed Lina, I could have done without the fancy clothes or the trip to the salon.
I supposed it was a good thing I wouldn’t be living with her anymore.
I blinked away, trying hard not to wallow in self-pity, and returned to the problem.
The dress was pretty and expensive. Lina undoubtedly received a new dress for the occasion, but that isn’t what I should focus on.
The fact that I would be wearing this to meet my husband-to-be.
They were coming to dinner tonight, along with Emilio.
My hands shook as I brought them up to my face, trying to calm myself down. What would I do if he lived up to his reputation? What if he was mean? No one would stop him if he decided to do…
I didn’t know what he would do to me, but it wouldn’t matter. It would be a full house, and I knew for a fact that no one would stop him if he decided to carry me back up to my room and… break me.
My eyes burned at the thought.
I had to get ready soon. There wasn’t much time between now and when our guests would arrive. I was told Massimo would be coming with two of his brothers and a handful of men. The rest of his family—one other brother, a younger sister who was older than me by a year, his uncle and cousin, and all the higher-ranking men—would come either a day before Saturday or on Saturday, the day of the wedding.
My stomach hollowed at the thought.
Getting up on shaky legs, I moved over to where the dress, along with nude pumps with red soles—the epitome of luxury—lay. Slowly, I began to get ready.
Mom and Lina chatted quietly as they stood beside me on the staircase. If I didn’t already feel like an unwelcome guest in this house, standing next to Mom and Lina usually did the trick.
I tuned out most of their conversations, catching some words here and there, then quiet laughter. I blinked, pushing down the hurt.
Did she even care that I was going to get married to a man she deemed was too… rough, too mean for Lina?
It didn’t seem like it.
Mom’s phone vibrated, and she pulled it out of her pocket.
“Oh, they’re here. Why don’t Lina and I go down first? Luna, wait here for a few minutes, okay? You should make an entrance for Massimo.”
Like a staged pig getting picked to be slaughtered. I grimaced at the thought.
Mom rolled her eyes. “And for Christ’s sake. Can you plaster a smile on your face? You’re getting married, dear. You should be happy.”
Beside Mom, Lina smiled nastily at me. “Yeah. Be happy, Luna.”
With that, they walked down the stairs, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I ran my hands down the silky fabric of my pink dress. Pink, like innocence.
The Lombardi Famiglia were filled with traditionalist men who possessively guarded the purity of their women. Especially their daughters. I went to an all-girls school, an all-girls college that was heavily guarded by Andre’s men. Lina was expecting to start her first year of college this year. I thought about what I saw that night in the kitchen. She would no doubt have Andre’s men going with her. I didn’t think they would help keep her out of trouble. More likely, they would get in trouble with her. And although I sometimes wished I was as brave as her, I was just glad I wouldn’t be to blame for her actions this time. Couldn’t blame me if I wasn’t even in Chicago anymore.
I would be in Las Vegas.
With my husband and his family.
I shivered at the thought.
I hadn’t even had my first kiss yet. And the first time it happened, it would be a performance in front of made men in a church. Sounded sacrilegious.
Somehow, the thought of having my first kiss in front of everyone upset me deeply.
I shook it away.
Booming laughter coming from downstairs brought me back to reality—my reality. I could run and hide, but they would eventually catch me, and that would just make things worse.
I took a deep breath, grabbed a hold of the banister to steady myself, and started walking down the stairs.
The voices became louder the closer I got, and the more it seemed like there wasn’t enough air in the room for me to breathe. My vision turned hazy, and it felt like walking around in a fog.
I found Mom and Andre first. They both plastered on wide smiles I had never seen directed at me before.
“Ah, there she is,” Andre said. I could barely make out his voice. He sounded like he was underwater—or perhaps I was.
He motioned for me to come over, his eyes hardening a bit, telling me not to disobey. My feet moved on their own accord.
It took everything in me not to flinch in repulse when Andre placed a heavy hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face everyone.
My eyes came to Lina. She stood in the corner, an unhappy expression on her face. I had too much going on to even think about why she looked like that. I moved my gaze away from her and met Emilio’s. I bowed my head in respect, waiting for him to acknowledge me before moving my eyes to the other people in the room.
Three men stood in the center, and behind them were two other men who I knew were their guards. Not that it looked like they needed it, judging by their huge physiques.
The man standing to the left was tall. I recognized him from the pictures I scoured the internet for days after the news of my engagement.
Elio De Luca. The second oldest of the brothers. He had a serious expression that didn’t change even when our eyes met. Dark hair that was shaved close to the scalp on the sides and left long on the top. He had it tied up in a small bun. The style did nothing to soften his features. If anything, it just showed how… hard the man was. He had light-brown eyes that were probably his most mesmerizing feature, and he was considered classically handsome, with his strong Italian features, tan skin, and stubble along his hard jawline that looked rough to touch.
I moved my eyes away from Elio to the other man on the right.
Romeo De Luca.
The third brother. Dark hair with a hint of blond highlights. It came down in messy waves near his shoulders. He was about as tall as Elio, but not as serious or rough, though he didn’t smile. His eyes did soften marginally when he caught mine. He looked just like Elio. So much so that if I hadn’t done my research, I would have thought they were twins. Same strong features, same tan skin, same height, same muscular build. And the same light, golden-brown eyes that glinted in the light. The only difference was their hair. Romeo’s was a shade or two lighter with highlights.
I swallowed hard and finally took in the man in the middle. The man who should have been my focus all along, only I had been afraid to look at him.
My breath caught when I found his eyes already on me. Bright, forest-green eyes that were both arresting and unnerving. He was tall. Taller than both his brothers, and those men were tall already, easily towering over Andre’s five-eleven frame.
Broad shoulders and huge biceps that even the tailor-made suit he wore couldn’t disguise. He could easily crush me. My heart raced at the thought, and I tried to focus on anything else but that fact. He had nice golden-tan skin and dark hair. That was something.
My eyes took in the three vertical scars running down the side of his face. They were long and old. There was a rumor going around that the Bratva gave those to him when they captured him at sixteen.
Whatever the case may be, it only added to his roughness. And there was just something so… appealing about that, though I was sure most wouldn’t see it as such.
Beastly.
That was where the rumor had come from. The man’s size and the scars that obviously had been painful. They pulled his skin unnaturally. And it should have made me fearful… or repulsive.
I was mostly fascinated with his face… and scared of his size.
Massimo De Luca was a good-looking man despite the scars, or perhaps because of them.
My mouth felt dry, and I was suddenly very aware that all eyes in the room were on us.
Andre pushed me forward, causing me to stumble in the heels.
Massimo was there. I hadn’t noticed he moved. How quickly, quietly he was able to get to me. He wrapped his arms around me, causing my skin to tingle.
“Are you okay?” he asked. He had a nice voice. The baritone was deep and smooth.
I was struck dumbfounded.
“Our little Luna can be so clumsy sometimes,” Andre said with a laugh.
No one laughed with him, save for my mom. Everyone in the room had caught on to the fact that he was the one who shoved me forward.
My cheeks tightened in embarrassment.
I nodded at Massimo and pulled away.
Massimo kept his eyes on me, making me feel like a bug underneath the scope of an entomologist.
There was an intensity in his eyes that I didn’t think anyone had ever looked at me with before. What was he thinking? Why was he looking at me like that? And did he… like what he saw?
What did I hope for the answer to be? For him to like what he saw or not?
I gulped, thinking about all the ways it could be bad for me, no matter what the answer might be.
“Shall we move to the dining room?” Andre asked.
I couldn’t help the small flinch when Andre wrapped his arm around me, trying to direct me away.
Massimo held out his hand, halting everything.
How I wished I had the same power.
Massimo looked over my head to Andre, and I swore his eyes hardened as he took in the smaller man. But that couldn’t be right. Why would Massimo harbor any animosity toward Andre?
“I wish to speak to my fiancée alone,” Massimo said.
No one said anything for a moment. Then my mom sputtered, drawing everyone’s attention. “Luna is unmarried. And has never been alone with another man…”
She trailed off when she found the dark look on Massimo’s face. I was just trying hard to avoid eye contact with everyone. A part of me hoped Mom would have been able to convince Massimo that his talking alone with me was a bad idea.
I knew Massimo wasn’t the kind of man to bend toward anyone, least of all my mom, who was nothing more than a woman in this world.
“Do you believe I don’t have enough self-control that I would tarnish her if left alone for a mere five minutes?”
Romeo laughed, startling me. “I know our reputation is impressive, but I hadn’t realized it would be that impressive.”
Mom blushed and looked away.
“Five minutes,” Massimo said, the tone of his voice leaving no room for arguments. “Then I will bring her back, fully intact .”
I looked down on the floor at my feet, then to Massimo’s feet while everyone moved out of the room.
My nude pumps looked small and delicate next to his shiny black Oxfords. The contrast was just so obvious.
I blinked.
For a full minute, we said nothing.
Then Massimo broke it by saying, “Won’t you look at me?”
I sucked in a sharp breath. I knew of his reputation. Everyone knew of his reputation. At least, most people in our world did.
But what was he like behind closed doors? Was he just as ruthless as everyone made him out to be in public?
I looked up and met his green eyes for five long seconds before I couldn’t take it anymore and stared at his nose instead. Even so, I could see the way his jaw tensed… perhaps in annoyance with me.
“Like it or not, we’re going to be married in three days’ time.”
I nodded when he didn’t say anything after a beat. He was obviously waiting for an answer from me.
“It would make things easier if you could get comfortable around me.”
I shot him a look. How did he expect me to just get “comfortable” around him? His lips tilted up in a small smirk. “To start, perhaps you should stop being so scared of me.”
My eyes widened. Had my fear been obvious? I thought I hid it well.
That smile of his widened, and despite looking so… rough and scary , he was something else when he smiled.
My heart raced, and I wasn’t sure what to make of my reaction.
“Do you not talk?”
I hesitated. He wanted me to talk. Why? I thought men preferred their wives to be quiet and speak only when spoken to. Although he was talking to me.
“I do.”
He didn’t say anything. His eyes focused intently on me, seeming to be looking straight into my soul—something I didn’t want him to see—before he nodded. “You’ll do.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Before I could find the courage to ask, he held out his hand. “Shall we head to the dining room?”
I looked down at his hand, then at the man, before slowly placing my much smaller hand in his. His grip was firm but not tight, and his skin was warm and dry and not unpleasant . He pulled me closer to his body. Even in my five-inch heels, I didn’t reach his shoulder.
Hell, but just how tall he was.
I closed my eyes briefly, trying to will away the thought of our wedding night, of him crushing me, of the pain… so much pain.
Fear tried to slither its way inside my body, and I had to work to push it aside and just focus on the dinner.
Just get through this dinner, and then…
I didn’t know what.