27. Massimo
27
MASSIMO
I found myself hesitating by the front door.
For the first time since I brought Luna home, I didn’t want to go inside my house, and it had nothing to do with my wife but the person she brought home with her.
Never mind the fact that if Lina came and asked her for help, it meant she was running from the Bratva. I really didn’t want the girl anywhere in my home and anywhere near my wife.
And I was fucking angry.
I’d stayed away from the house to give myself time to calm down, but I was still fucking angry.
Luna took a risk today.
An unnecessary risk at that.
I hadn’t considered assigning her a bodyguard yet because she hadn’t left the house without Matteo or me, but what happened today showed my mistake.
She left with only Luigi as her protection, and even if I trusted the man to help me run my estate, Luigi would have been no match for any Bratva fucker who might have shown up on my territory.
My fists clenched.
Just before I stepped onto the porch, my phone vibrated in the front pocket of my suit jacket. I pulled it out to see Valentino’s name on the screen.
“Tell me,” I said by way of greeting.
“Emilio is angry. He claims he had no idea Andre was planning the marriage to the Bratva.”
“And do you believe him?” I asked.
“I do,” Valentino answered without hesitation, surprising me.
I nodded, even if he couldn’t see me. I trusted Valentino’s judgment as much as I trusted my brothers’.
“It also convinces me of the fact since Andre and his wife are nowhere to be found.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“They never came back to Chicago after the wedding. It seemed they had packed up a lot of their things for their trip to New York. Their house is nearly empty, and most of the servants had been dismissed beforehand.”
“He knew he couldn’t come back,” I said. “Even if I hadn’t shown up with Elio, word would have gotten back to Emilio in some way that Andre and a group of Emilio’s men had betrayed him.”
Valentino scoffed through the line. “They think with the Bratva’s backing, they can overthrow Emilio from his throne.”
And that would be a stupid, deadly mistake on their part.
“Emilio had agreed to give us backing should we get into a full-out war with the Bratva,” Valentino said.
“He’s only doing that because he knew he’d need our help should the Bratva and Andre turn against him.”
Valentino chuckled. “True. What should I tell him?”
“Tell him I would appreciate the help should the time come.”
“Got it,” Valentino said. I hung up the phone and looked back to the front door, letting out a small sigh.
The house wasn’t quiet when I walked in.
Not how it used to be.
I could hear a woman crying. Anger fisted at my heart. If Lina had already made Luna cry, that bitch was gone.
I rushed to the living room where the sound was coming from, pulling to a stop when I realized it wasn’t Luna crying, but Lina.
Annoyance stabbed at me from the sound. I moved to turn, afraid Luna might have seen me and would ask me to help comfort her sister, but it was too late.
“Massimo,” Luna called out.
I paused, closing my eyes and praying for patience to a God I didn’t believe in.
I turned around to see Luna standing up and making her way over to me.
Lina was watching us with red-rimmed eyes.
“You’re home,” Luna said, grabbing my hand. And like every time she touched me, I could feel electricity jolt throughout my body.
She looked at me with guilty eyes. “Can I talk to you?”
I raised one eyebrow at the statement. “You could have talked to me this afternoon, principessa , when you decided to go on your little adventure.”
She bit her bottom lip nervously. I pulled it away with my thumb, running the pad of my finger over the plumpness of it and taking in her face. My heart pinched.
Fuck, but what was I supposed to do with her?
“Come on,” I said, grabbing her hand and leading her out of there, away from Lina’s imposing gaze.
We came to a stop in the kitchen. I turned around and grabbed her hips, lifting her up on the counter and crawling in between her legs. “Talk, baby.”
“Massimo,” she mumbled. “How am I supposed to talk like this?”
I shot her a half-smile. “You’ll figure it out. But I’m not having this conversation without touching you in some way.”
Fuck, but my knees still felt weak over the thought of anything happening to her.
I ran the tip of my nose over the side of her face. She let out a stuttered breath, drawing a smile from me.
“Lina—Lina is here.”
“I can see that. Why is she here, sweetheart?” I asked, though I already knew.
“Her husband is mean to her.”
I pulled back and looked at her. Her face twisted, and I couldn’t exactly figure out what that expression meant.
“It’s not an uncommon thing.”
Her bottom lip trembled, confusing me further. “I know,” she said.
“I’m sorry your sister doesn’t have a good marriage, but do you think it’s smart for her to come here? To her husband’s enemy?”
“You’re not…”
I shot her a look. Luna wasn’t na?ve. She knew we were not on good terms with the Bratva.
“Her coming here is a death sentence for her. She can never return to New York.”
Luna cupped my cheek. “She doesn’t want to. And I can’t turn her away. She’s my sister.”
“Some sister she’s been to you. No one would blame you if you did.”
“I know. It’s just… she was supposed to marry you. I think I was supposed to marry Boris, but Lina?—”
“Didn’t want to be married to Lo Spietato . And now you feel guilty about this? Thinking this is somehow your fault?”
She didn’t answer me, but her silence was enough. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her in close. “Listen to me and listen well. You are not responsible for other people’s actions. If you want to blame someone for your sister’s situation, blame her dad for setting up the arranged marriage to Boris, even after knowing his reputation. Or blame Boris himself for laying his hands on his wife. But not you. Do you understand me?”
“I understand,” she whispered, though I wasn’t fully convinced she did.
I let out a small sigh. “You are entirely too sweet… too fucking innocent for this world.”
And how I fucking yearned for her soul. She made me feel like I was drowning… dying.
“I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “Don’t be. It just means I have to work even harder to protect you.”
She smiled a little at my words, making the pinch in my heart tighten.
I fucking love you.
Fuck.
I loved her.
“Are you okay?” she asked. I tried to keep my expression neutral, not knowing how to answer her.
No, I wasn’t fucking okay. I loved her. How the fuck was I supposed to protect her from everything bad in this world? And how the fuck was I supposed to protect myself from her?
No, this wouldn’t do.
I wasn’t going to be the only one to feel this…
This weak. This heavy. This terrible.
She was going to love me back. And love me with everything good in her. She was going to willingly hand over her heart and soul to me just as easily as she had given her body to me. That was the only fair way, considering she already owned my heart, body, and soul.
Fuck.
I pulled her in closer to me and kissed her.
She made a small sound in protest and tried to wiggle away.
I kissed her harder.
And harder.
Until she yielded to me, softening against me and kissing me back.
“Massimo,” she breathed out against my skin when I pulled back. I cupped her tit and played with it roughly.
“I’m fucking angry at you,” I said.
She frowned. “Why?”
“Why? You left the house with no one to protect you but Luigi, a man pushing his fifties and who has no muscle mass, so to speak.”
“Luigi is…”
I shook my head. “Not capable of that. Anything could have happened to you. And then what the fuck am I supposed to do?”
Just the thought of her being anything but whole and safe and with me was unacceptable.
I nearly shook her, wanting to get her to see just how dangerous, how stupid it had been for her to agree to meet Lina.
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“You’re fucking right. It won’t happen again. And you know why?”
Her breath caught when she saw the dark look in my eyes. “Why?”
I leaned down until my lips touched her ear. “I’m going to punish you for it.”
“Punish me?” she asked.
I smiled, showing her my teeth.
“Luna?” Lina’s voice called out, interrupting the little bubble we managed to find ourselves in. “I’m hungry.”
I let out a small groan over the interruption.
It wouldn’t be long before she found us here.
“Tonight,” I promised. Hesitating. I knew I was going to regret this later. “The girl can stay.”
The smile she shot at me almost made the headache worth it.
“Thank you, Massimo.”
I cupped her cheek and took in her gray eyes. Would there ever be a time when I could deny her anything? I didn’t fucking think so. What a scary thought that was.
“Are you going to eat with us? I ordered some takeout. All it needs is some reheating.”
I shook my head. “I still have a lot to do.” I leaned down and kissed her cheek, hating the disappointment in her eyes but knowing I wouldn’t be able to stand eating an entire meal with the other girl. “I’ll see you tonight.”
She shot me a smile that made me feel I could take on ten thousand men. “Tonight.”
I pressed a quick kiss on her lips and backed away, heading to the office. I ran into Lina halfway there.
She paused, looking at me with wary eyes.
“I already told my wife you can stay. But any slight against her and I won’t hesitate to send you away,” I warned.
Her eyes widened at my words. I nodded before leaving her standing there. Hopefully, she got the message. I won’t have Luna hurt in any way. Especially not from a sister who I knew didn’t love her.
Not even a little bit.
Now I needed to call my brothers.
The Novikov Bratva won’t let it go that I was hiding their wife from them in my house. They already wanted my territory here in the West. Lina wasn’t worth going to war for, at the very least, not in their eyes, but it was as good enough of an excuse as any.
The tenuous peace I had been able to keep was falling apart at the seams.
It was time to prepare for war.
And I wouldn’t rest until the bloody end.