Unraveled (Guzzi Duet Book 1)(89)

She thought he cared enough.

He clearly hadn’t cared at all.

“Your brother called ahead of time and let the boss know what time your flight would be arriving this afternoon.”

Cara wanted to be angry at Tommas over that fact, but she couldn’t summon up the emotion. All of her anger was being saved for the one person who deserved it the most, and she knew Tommas had only been doing what was expected of him, as he’d allowed Cara to return to Toronto before Gian gave the okay.

“Am I at least allowed to grab some food on the way?”

“The boss has a lunch waiting, if you’re hungry,” Chris said.

Cara scowled, and walked on past the guy. “Lunch he can choke on.”





“You’ll be heading up alone from here,” her escort said as Cara stepped into the elevator. “The boss said it would be better if no one interrupted you two for the next little while.”

Cara turned to face Chris who was holding the elevator door back from closing.

“If I wasn’t so pissed off, I would thank you, but …” She let her unspoken words hang in the air, unsaid. “You know how it goes.”

The man nodded once. “Given the circumstances, I understand.”

Cara frowned, her embarrassment rising. “Do you know the circumstances?”

“I’ve known since the day he married his wife. I was invited by his grandfather to attend, since I had kept an eye on Gian for a great many years before that day. I have been around for more things that I care to mention at this moment, and you happened to be one of them.”

Ouch.

Just another name to add to her list of people who’d known, while she hadn’t.

“You must have thought I was foolish, then.”

Chris’s expression gave nothing away. “I think you were happy, and you made him happy. So, what business is it of mine, to tell my boss that he shouldn’t be happy, when I’ve watched him simply exist for too long?”

“That’s quite a black and white way of looking at it.”

“Maybe so.”

“Except I have the feeling that neither of us are happy now,” Cara said, “and that’s his fault, too.”

Chris nodded again, stepped back, and let the elevator door close.

Cara grew silent as the elevator began to move upward, and she eyed the security camera in the upper left corner of the tin box, pointed right at her. She wondered if Gian was watching, knowing that the elevator was solely used for entrance and exit from his penthouse, and none of the other suites in the building. Someone had to be watching that camera.

She shot it the middle finger for good measure.

Just in case.

Childish, maybe.

Who cared?

As the elevator came to a slow stop at the top, Cara was surprised to find her inner turmoil had almost calmed completely. She didn’t know what to expect from herself—more nerves, perhaps, but definitely well-deserved anger.

None of those feelings came immediately as the door opened.

White walls, a vaulted ceiling, and the huge brass and crystal chandelier caught her eye first. She stared upward, soaking in the familiarity of the penthouse, and remembering how the first time she had seen it, it had damn near taken her breath away. She almost wished that Gian had given her the decency of choosing somewhere else to have this fucking meeting. He had to know how the penthouse would affect her, how the memories would sting her.

Cara shook the heavy sensation off her shoulders, and walked further into the penthouse, down the entryway, and toward the main floor of the place. She didn’t have to be told to know that’s where Gian would be waiting for her. Not close to the elevator, where she could make a quick exit if she needed to, but deeper into the penthouse, where he might have a chance to convince her to stay.

She had news for him.

Cara wouldn’t be staying.

Ever.

Gian stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out over the busy city streets as Cara entered the dining room. As Chris had said there would be, a lunch spread was waiting on the large table. It looked as though it hadn’t been touched. Cara didn’t make a move to go near the food, or Gian as he finally looked over his shoulder to acknowledge her presence.

A wariness settled in his eyes as he looked her over, and his usual grin—that sexy, confident smirk that was always in place—had vanished. He seemed older standing there staring at her, like the weight of the world had come along and sat itself down on his shoulders for the moment. His hair, the longer strands at the top, were messier than normal. A clear sign he had been running his fingers through the dark strands, speaking of his hidden stresses.

“Cara,” he murmured.

She still didn’t move.

Not when he spoke, or when he turned completely to face her, and certainly not when her heart ached to go to him.

She didn’t realize how hard this was going to be.

Not being angry, or even knowing what she had to do, but actually doing it. Saying this would be final—the end of them, whatever they were. That was the hard part.

“I’m sorry,” Gian said.

“I wish that made a difference, Gian.”

“I know that I should have told you, dolcezza, there’s no reason why I didn’t, except that I was being selfish.”