Page 174 of Ruins
With Santo.
With his cock…
I don’t know how I’ll ever be ready to take it. It’s...big.
I figured, like Luna once said, men with great bodies were compensating. The bigger the man, the smaller the…
But I wassowrong.
So incredibly wrong.
Lost in my fantasies about my husband’s body, I don’t realize I’ve been staring at Angelo until he speaks.
“You like what you see, Tiny?” he smirks, the cockiness dripping from his voice.
Oh, no.
I can feel the heat rushing to my cheeks, but I recover quickly, forcing out a chuckle. I point to the red ruby tattooed on his chest.
“Actually, I like that one.”
He looks down at it fondly and smiles. “It’s one of my favorites too,” he says wistfully before shaking himself out of his reverie. “What do you want to do now?”
“Can we go for a swim?” I ask eagerly.
Angelo chuckles and shakes his head. “Not unless you want a Santo shaped hole through the garage door.”
“If it’ll bring him home, I say yes!”
“We can’t,” he says with finality. “Let’s go.”
We make our way to the elevator and Angelo lets us in, once inside, I watch him quietly.
“Go ahead with your question, Tiny. I know you have one.”
“Did Santo say Ican’tswim?”
“No,” Angelo replies simply.
“Then why didyousay we can’t?”
Without warning, Angelo stops the elevator and locks eyes with me. His shirtless form is intimidating as he traps me against the wall and his frame. His hot breath tickles my face as he speaks.
“Let me ask you something, Piccola. Do you think I’m a good man?” My heart races, unsure of how to answer.
I blink at him, caught off guard by the question. “I— being a good man is relative,” I answer carefully.
His head tilts slightly, considering my words. “Do you thinkSanto’sa good man?”
I hesitate for a second, but the answer feels easier. “I’d like to think so.”
The pause lingers between us, heavy and expectant. I can tell he’s about to say something else, but the words catch in his throat. So, I speak first.
“It depends on who you ask and what you’re asking them.” I shift my weight and meet Angelo’s eyes. “For instance, Maksim. If you ask me about him, I’d say he’s a good man. I’ve only known him to be good to me; piggyback rides when I was younger, patching up a scraped knee. Maksim’s always beenMishkato me. But…” I trail off, biting the inside of my cheek. “It wasn’t until I got older that he started using me to date prominent people, to build alliances… or to marry me off to men like Santo.”
Angelo’s gaze lowers as he pulls away from me, but I catch the flicker of something else there, hesitation. It passes quickly, tucked behind the usual ease he wears so well.
“In order to swim with you, it would make Santo think I’mnotsuch a good man.” His tone is light, but the words sit heavier than before. “And when it comes to my brother… I’d like to be a good man.”
