13. Luna
13
LUNA
I walked around the house like a ghost, feeling like an unwanted guest in a place that was supposed to be my home.
It didn’t feel like my home.
The staff mostly ignored me, which would have been ideal over Elena and Lettie’s obvious disdain that they didn’t even bother hiding anymore.
I hadn’t eaten much, afraid Elena might have done something to my food because of her feelings toward me. What I did manage to eat were things I prepared myself late at night when no one was around. Luckily, Massimo’s schedule was long, leaving him coming in and out of the house at odd hours. It made it easier for me to avoid him, which was what I had been doing since that day I caught him in the shower… pleasuring himself and muttering out my name.
His hours also made it impossible to predict when he would be coming home, and I dreaded the day when I would no longer be able to avoid him.
How would I be able to meet his eyes?
My cheeks tightened just from the thought. The book I had been reading lay open, face down on my lap. I had given up trying to read when I found myself rereading the same sentence for the fifth time.
It was just as well, considering I had read the book before. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows . It was the kind of book I always thought I would read to my children when I have them.
My hands moved over to my still-flat stomach. It wasn’t like I was pregnant after that one and only time I had sex, but protection hadn’t even come up in the conversation. Did this mean Massimo wanted me pregnant?
How could I be pregnant when I still felt like a child?
Twenty-three wasn’t young, especially when it came to the women in my world. The only reason why Andre hadn’t made me marry a made man the moment I turned eighteen was because he didn’t care. No one had even known I had turned eighteen that year, and even if I had felt hurt over that, I was also relieved. I never mentioned it, and neither did anyone else in my family. Then the years just passed, and I really thought I had the chance of getting out of an arranged marriage, unlike most of the girls in similar families around my age. That was until the De Lucas decided they wanted an alliance with us.
And now…
Perhaps I was being fanciful.
I always wanted an enduring, lasting love. Even if that hadn’t seemed possible. I didn’t see that to be the case with Massimo.
I startled in my seat when a loud bang came from the front of the house. Commotion rang out, making my heart thud in my chest. I jumped out of my seat and ran out without thinking, pulling up short when I found Romeo coming inside the house first, a fierce expression on his face, followed by Matteo, then lastly, Elio and Massimo. I gasped, drawing the attention of the brothers, when I found Massimo draped around Elio, almost as if he couldn’t stand on his own, blood dripping from his body.
I didn’t know where he was injured, as the blood seemed to be everywhere. Massimo’s face was pale, his eyes nearly drooping shut, but at least he was awake. They moved to me suddenly, making me freeze on the spot. “Get Luna out of here,” he said.
I frowned. Did he think I was going to hurt him at his most vulnerable? A small pinch started in my heart. We didn’t know each other very well. He had no reason to trust me, but he had been sleeping by my side every night.
Matteo came up to me, holding out his hand as if to touch me, but changed his mind at the last minute.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
I nearly let him convince me to leave. I shook my head and took a step away from him.
“I’m not going anywhere. He needs help.”
“And we’ll help him,” Matteo said gently as if he were speaking to a child.
I looked over Matteo’s shoulder to see Elio helping Massimo up the stairs. I cautiously ran around Matteo and followed Elio. Luckily, Matteo didn’t try to stop me. I would have been no match for him, and I didn’t want to be stopped. I wanted…
I didn’t know what I wanted.
It wasn’t like Massimo and I had that close of a relationship, married or not.
But he had been kind to me.
Kinder than how most people had tried to convince me he would be, especially my family.
I didn’t want to leave him alone in case he needed me.
Perhaps that was too arrogant of me to think.
I kept my gaze on Massimo’s back. He was barely able to walk up the stairs. Had Elio let him go, he would no doubt fall down.
I didn’t think I had ever seen Massimo look so weak.
I didn’t like it one bit.
Massimo De Luca wasn’t a weak man.
We got to the bedroom Massimo and I shared. I quickly removed the e-reader and laptop I had placed on the bed earlier this morning, and pulled out the blanket so Elio could lay Massimo down.
Elio met my eyes as he passed me with Massimo. Something strange moved in them. I didn’t have the energy to try to figure out what that look in his eyes meant, so I ignored him and moved to the closet, pulling out some of Massimo’s clean clothes. The suit he wore couldn’t possibly be comfortable.
“Help me change him,” I said to his brothers. They stood frozen around his bed, looking at me as if they thought I was crazy or I had asked them to do something much more ridiculous than to help me change their brother’s clothes.
I gritted my teeth and tried to swallow down the annoyance.
Pushing past Elio, I moved to the bed and removed Massimo’s shoes and socks. The jacket proved to be a lot more challenging, considering how heavy Massimo was. I nearly fell off the bed had a set of arms not been there and blocked the fall. I turned around, surprised to find Romeo there.
He was the brother I hadn’t had any interaction with. I couldn’t even think of a single word we might have exchanged with each other.
Perhaps that was why I was so wary of him, freezing up as soon as I felt his touch. He ignored my response and helped me move out of the way just as Matteo grabbed the clean shirt I had laid out on the bed. Elio moved then and helped lift Massimo up.
They removed his shirt, showing me the full view of his wound for the first time. A small sound escaped my lips before I could help it, and three sets of eyes moved over to me.
“You really shouldn’t be here, girl,” Elio said, his voice gruff.
I felt annoyance over his dismissive tone.
I was not “ girl. ”
I squared my shoulders. “I’m staying.”
If they wanted me to leave, they could drag me out of here kicking and screaming.
After a slight pause, Elio turned away from me and went back to Massimo. His eyes were closed now, and I wasn’t sure if he had fainted from the pain or not.
“What do you need?” I asked, wanting to do something. Anything. Romeo looked over at me.
“Go grab the first aid kit underneath the bathroom sink.”
I nodded and rushed off. I didn’t need to think about why they seemed to know where the first aid kit was kept. This obviously wasn’t the first time Massimo had gotten hurt. Would this really be what my marriage to him would be like for the next… however many years Massimo would be with me? For some inane reason, I didn’t like the thought of anything happening to Massimo.
I moved back to the room with the kit. By then, they had already gotten Massimo’s shirt off him, leaving him in only a pair of black trousers. I set the kit on the bed, and Elio grabbed it without looking at me. I watched as he prepared the needle. I gasped when I realized what he was planning on doing.
“Will that hurt him?” I asked.
I knew it was a stupid question when all the brothers turned to me.
“Better he got hurt by this than to bleed out to death,” Matteo answered lightly. His eyes betrayed him. He was just as worried about Massimo as his brothers.
I climbed on the bed and sat down by Massimo’s side, grabbing a hold of his hand. Elio turned and took me in. I tightened my grip on Massimo, not wanting to let him go.
Thankfully, Elio didn’t comment on that.
Massimo opened his eyes then. There was a sort of glaze to them that made me think he might not be fully aware of the situation. He focused his gaze on me, then on my hand holding his before he brought it back to my face.
He didn’t say anything, and neither did I.
“Hold his hand tight, Luna,” Elio said. I squeezed it and watched as Elio pierced Massimo’s skin with the needle before it got to be too much and turned away, my gaze clashing with Massimo’s.
He grunted in pain but otherwise didn’t show any reaction. If anything, I was the one squeezing his hand.
“Sorry,” I muttered, blushing a little. I was about to pull away when Massimo tightened his grip on me. I held still in surprise, my breath catching. Our eyes met, and I nodded. I wouldn’t let him go until he needed me to.
I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that while Elio worked on Massimo. It couldn’t have been long, even if it felt like it.
I let out a small sigh of relief when Elio finished, and Matteo worked to clean him up. I had to let go of Massimo’s hand when they helped him put on the shirt.
“Should we call for a doctor?” I asked.
“Are you questioning my skills, little sister?”
I blinked. I wasn’t sure if he was joking or if I had truly offended him in some way.
Elio cracked a small smile then, and I knew I should be relieved he wasn’t angry with me, but a smiling Elio was just as intimidating as a stony-faced Elio.
“We’ll have Dr. Russo drop by tomorrow to check on Massimo,” Romeo answered, slapping Elio on the back roughly. I flinched at the sound.
“You’ll stay here with him until then?” Elio asked.
It didn’t really sound like a question.
I nodded. “I’ll take good care of him.”
Elio didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he nodded, almost as if to himself. “I don’t doubt it.”
With that, the brothers left, closing the door quietly behind them and leaving me in the room with Massimo, not knowing what to do.
His eyes were closed once more, but I couldn’t be sure if he was asleep or not.
I gently ran my fingers down his scars, letting out a small sigh.
“What am I supposed to do with you?” I whispered. Thankfully, he stayed asleep and didn’t answer me.
Three nights passed by in a blur. Massimo was in and out of consciousness that first night. He’d even gotten a fever, which Dr. Russo had said wasn’t serious enough to warrant bringing him to the hospital.
The doctor was an older man, probably in his late fifties or early sixties, who looked like an older version of Vito Corleone from The Godfather , with a no-nonsense attitude that kind of scared me.
Massimo stayed at home.
I had a feeling his brothers were trying to keep him away from the hospital until they couldn’t anymore. Thankfully, his fever broke midday the next day, and things were a little better when he opened his eyes briefly to look at me. And he’d only gotten better as more days passed. But he was still bedbound and pretty weak, so I stayed close to his side, doing as much as I could while ignoring the silly little hurt I’d felt over his history with other women, particularly one who was still in the house with her mom.
I let out a small sigh and looked up from where I sat on the recliner adjacent to the bed with a book I couldn’t even pretend I was reading. My eyes moved over to Massimo.
As if he could feel my eyes on him, his opened suddenly, surprising me and making my heart race. Even weak and injured, his green eyes still looked bright and mesmerizing. He still had the power to keep me frozen from a single glance.
He frowned at me. “Come to bed. What are you doing over there?”
I looked down at the book I had been attempting to read for the last half an hour or so.
“I thought I’d do some light reading before bed,” I answered.
The look in his eyes told me he didn’t really believe me. He pulled the blanket up from his side. “Come on.”
I stood and slowly walked over to him, wondering if it would seem rude if I were to climb onto the bed on the other side, where there was more room.
He looked at me expectantly.
Slowly, I climbed onto the side of the bed where he held the blanket open. He didn’t move back to make room for me, forcing me to lie close to him. I stiffened when my side brushed up against him, feeling just how hard he was and just how… un-hard I was.
He wrapped his arms around my middle and pulled me in even closer to him. I gasped, looking up and meeting his eyes.
“Relax. I’m not going to jump you. Too fucking tired.”
“Not tired. You’re injured. You should have been more careful.” I couldn’t disguise the slight scolding in my voice, but it was true. He should have been more careful.
Amusement quirked his lips. “Are you worried about me, little dove?”
I scowled before I thought better of it. “Little dove?”
His eyes widened marginally as if he was surprised by the little nickname. As if he hadn’t meant to call me that. I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel.
Warm and mushy shouldn’t be one of them.
I blinked and moved my eyes down to his throat.
“I’m worried about being a widow so soon into the marriage,” I answered, unsure of where this newfound bravery had come from. Perhaps because he was injured, or perhaps because of his apathy toward me, this marriage had made me feel safe. He wasn’t like Andre or the Lombardi men—the few instances where I had witnessed them treating their wives with roughness. Apathy was much preferred to roughness, I decided, and perhaps I was stupid enough to believe he would hold onto that.
My eyes jumped to his face when a strange sound came out of him. It took me a moment to realize he was laughing.
Not so apathetic now.
“Don’t worry. I won’t make you a widow so soon into our marriage.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I might have been the one to bring it up first, but I didn’t feel easy over how unconcerned he sounded regarding his own death.
He squeezed me to him. “Go to sleep. Nothing’s going to happen.”
Surprisingly, I believed him. I closed my eyes and moved my face closer to his chest. He didn’t stop me. If anything, it felt like he had pulled me closer to him and then closer still.
I let go, his words echoing in my mind.
Nothing’s going to happen.