14. Massimo
14
MASSIMO
It was an impressive feat that she could both simultaneously tend to me and ignore me.
What am I supposed to do with you?
Her whispered words rang through my mind the entire time she took care of me.
Fuck, I had been out of it for most of that first day and night, but I remembered those words and the fact that she hadn’t left my side since.
I was feeling better. I wouldn’t usually stay in bed this long, but this was the only way she couldn’t avoid me, no matter how badly she wanted to.
And I didn’t fucking know what changed to make her avoid me. She hadn’t been like this when I brought her home.
So what happened?
A knock on the door drew me out of my thoughts and caused Luna to tense up from her spot on the recliner. The book on her lap fell to the ground. I doubted she was reading it to begin with.
“Come in,” I called out as Luna leaned down and picked up the book, offering a brief glimpse of the swell of her breasts. Fuck. Was this what I had resorted to? Ogling my wife from the fucking bed and not being able to do anything about it?
The door opened, and Lettie popped her head in.
Luna seemed to draw more into herself.
“Your brothers are here,” Lettie said.
I ignored the girl and focused on Luna. She didn’t like Lettie. But why?
“You can let them in,” I said without looking at her.
A small silence rang out, and I turned to see Lettie standing there… glaring at Luna. A wave of protectiveness ran through me, surprising even me.
“That’ll be all,” I said, a little more harshly than I intended. It got the wanted effect when Lettie hightailed it out of there. I took in Luna, about to ask her if Lettie had done something to offend her, but she stood up before I could say anything.
“I’ll get you some water,” she muttered before moving out the door. Never mind that I still had a full glass on the nightstand.
She walked out the door just as my brothers came, Matteo with his usual cocky smile. He said something to Luna when they passed, causing her to smile before she disappeared from sight. I narrowed my eyes at my younger brother, wondering why the fuck I was feeling so… unbalanced watching them interact.
“What?” Matteo asked when he noticed me staring at him.
I didn’t answer him right away, working to shove my emotions away.
“Did you guys find out anything more about the attack?” I asked.
Elio shot me a questioning look before he shook his head. “Nothing. The men who attacked us didn’t belong to any gang. It doesn’t make any sense that they would risk so much not having any skin in the game.”
I hadn’t expected any new information. Whoever planned the attack wasn’t messy. The fact that those men were instructed to off themselves if there was any risk of getting caught said as much. But fuck, if it wasn’t frustrating as hell. And what made those bastards so willing to just die for this?
Drug motivated? Or something else? It didn’t matter, because they had been prepared to die for a cause that had nothing to do with them.
“And when will you stop pretending like you’re still hurt?” Romeo asked.
“What makes you think I’m pretending?” I deadpanned.
Romeo shot me a small smile. “I remembered an attack from three years ago. You were hurt worse than this, and you didn’t stay in bed for this long. Hell, that time Elio got you home after the Bratva bastards got their hands on you at sixteen, you were hurt worse than I’d ever seen you. And you were ready to kick Elio’s ass for insisting you stay in bed for more than three days.”
I didn’t say anything. Just cracked a small smile. Beside Elio, Matteo threw his head back and laughed. “I don’t blame you. If I had a nurse who looks like Luna, who stayed by my side day and night, I might just stay in bed for another week or two.”
I grabbed the nearest object by my hand—a pillow—and threw it at the fucker’s face. Wished it was something harder.
“I already warned you about not speaking about Luna like that. One more time, I’ll kick your ass.”
If Matteo was worried, he didn’t show it. I had been going too easy on my brothers. I let out a small sigh of annoyance just as footsteps sounded from outside the door. We all turned to see Luna walking in with a glass of water. She froze when she noticed our attention.
“Is everything okay?” she asked softly. How skittish. Was there anything I could do to make her less so?
I grunted, which probably didn’t help.
Neither did my brothers’ gaze on her. Her movements were awkward and unsure as she walked further into the room with the glass.
“You can leave,” I said. She paused. I shook my head and turned to my brothers. “Leave. I’m sure you have things you all need to do.”
Matteo smirked. “Oh, we heard you loud and clear, brother. Come on, boys, Massimo wants to be left alone with his wife.”
Romeo shook his head, but even he looked amused. Fuckers. Once I felt better, reckoning was going to come for them. I waited until they closed the door behind them and patted the space next to me on the bed. Luna looked at it, then at me, her eyes widening, all her thoughts displayed so carelessly on her face. I held in a smile. It wouldn’t do for her to think I was laughing at her.
Cautiously, she sat down on the bed beside me, trying to leave as much room between us as possible. “Here’s your water.”
“Help me with it.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You need me to help you… drink water?”
A small ember ignited in those fascinating gray eyes of hers. Nice to see her family hadn’t succeeded in extinguishing her flame.
“It hurts my wound when I lift my arm,” I answered her seriously.
She looked like she was trying to decide whether or not she should believe me. I kept my expression neutral. Her lips twisted slightly as she moved closer to me and lifted the glass of water to my lips, gently tipping it back. I kept my eyes on her as I drank the water.
She licked her lips, her movements unsure, as if she didn’t know what to make of this.
I didn’t fucking either. It would surely give Matteo more ammunition if he could see me like this.
Once I finished, she pulled the empty glass away, holding it between both hands on her lap, her gaze down on the mattress.
I kept my eyes on her, taking in those delicate features and feeling a small pinch in my heart the longer I looked at her. I didn’t know what to make of this feeling. I reached up and rubbed the pain away, drawing her attention.
“Didn’t you say it hurts if you lift your arm?” she asked, looking at my hand over my chest. Fuck.
“Have you heard from your family?” I asked, changing the subject so I wouldn’t have to answer her.
She seemed taken aback. “My family?”
I nodded. “There has been word that your father already arranged a marriage for your sister.”
She sat up, her face showing her surprise. “What?”
I nodded.
She frowned. “Will I attend the wedding?”
“Fuck no,” I answered, a little more harshly than I meant and making her jump.
She looked at me, then at the door. She looked ready to bolt.
I let out a small sigh and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her in close to me.
She tried to resist. “Your wound…”
“Don’t worry about it.”
She pulled back until she could see my face. “Don’t worry about it? It’s all I’ve been worried about for days.”
“And you’ve made such a good nurse, I’m sure I won’t be bedbound for much longer.”
Something flashed in her eyes. She didn’t believe that I was supposed to be bedbound now, not that she would have called me out on it. So my wife wasn’t as na?ve as I had thought. Good to know.
“When I said you’re not attending the wedding, I meant I don’t want you anywhere near where it would be taking place,” I explained, wondering why I was bothering with this. She was my wife. She was supposed to do as I told her without question. But fuck me if I didn’t have this urge to tell her, to take away that startled look on her face. That look that could so easily change to fucking sadness, which would no doubt feel like a punch to the gut.
“Where would it be taking place?”
“New York,” I said, watching her face carefully. It seemed Andre had done a good job sheltering Luna from all the Lombardi’s business and everything that had to do with the mob, considering she gave no reaction.
“Lina is set to marry the heir of the Novikov Bratva.”
“Okay.”
I squeezed her to me. “We don’t… get along with the Novikov Bratva.”
Not getting along with those bastards was putting it lightly. I wanted to kill every single one of them. And I would. Sooner or later, New York would be mine, and the Novikov Bratva would be nothing more than a distant memory.
She frowned. “Then why would Andre set up an arranged marriage with them? Doesn’t our marriage mean there would be a truce between us and the Lombardi?”
Had she noticed she had referred to herself as a De Luca when she said us ?
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. But it’s nothing you need to worry about. But I will never allow anyone who belongs to me, who falls under my protection, to ever step foot in New York. Not while the Bratva rules over that territory.”
“And that means me?” she asked quietly. I looked at her, and she clarified, “I fall under the category of those under your protection.”
“Oh, sweetheart. You are at the top of the fucking list.”
Her breath caught.
I grasped her chin and lifted until she looked at me again. “Understand?”
“I understand. I don’t really want to attend Lina’s wedding. I don’t really want to see my family.”
“What did they do to you?” I asked darkly.
She pulled away from my grasp. “I don’t really want to talk about this.”
I opened my mouth to push her when she stopped me, placing her palm over my lips. The move was so bold and unexpected that I froze for a second. She must have realized what she was doing because she pulled away quickly.
“You should probably take a nap,” she said as a small yawn escaped. I took in the bags under her eyes, still very much prevalent.
“Sleep with me,” I said.
“W-what? I’m not the injured one.”
“I sleep better with you around,” I answered, pulling her down on the bed with me before she could respond. She was still holding the glass in one hand. I grabbed it and placed it on the bedside table before wrapping my arms tightly around her, and for the second time since our marriage, I found myself lying in bed in the middle of the day, just so my wife would nap.
Fuck me.